L1, L1/L2, L1/L5 RTK Module Selection
2nd May 2022
Most RTK correction service worldwide are still L1/L2 type.
If to use with worldwide RTK correction service, choose L1/L2 RTK receiver to avoid compatibility issues (note 1).
If only high precision relative positioning is required and a local RTK base could be setup, such as robotic lawn mower or drone light show applications, then all L1, L1/L2, and L1/L5 RTK rover works equally well with the same corresponding type locally setup RTK base. Below table shows signal reception situation of the available models.
note 1:
This is due to RTK computation works by using common signals that both the base and rover tracks.
a. When using L1/L5 RTK rover with L1/L2 RTK base, since only L1 signal is tracked by both base and rover, effectively the L1/L5 RTK rover will be handicapped to L1 single-frequency RTK receiver performance.
b. When using L1/L2 RTK rover with L1/L2 RTK base, since both L1 and L2 signals are tracked by base and rover, the L1/L2 RTK rover will be able to function at L1/L2 dual-frequency RTK receiver performance.