Dragonsnake
New Member
Hello everyone. I have been a javad user for about 2.5 years since December 2022. In that time, I've learned a lot about the subtle nuances of the javad software. When I first started using the javad gps system, I constantly used the 'auto setup rtk engines' button since it supposedly automatically sets up the 4 engines in the software to use the best possible satellite signals that the base can see at that moment.
However, I would encounter a rare software bug that happened perhaps once or twice a month, in which the 'auto setup rtk engines' would set all 4 engines to the same exact satellites, which cripples the usefulness of signals variety. Even worse, this bug would take hours to go away, sometimes clearing nvram would help, sometimes it wouldn't.
Upon doing some research, I found a post by Matt Johnson which discusses how to manually program the engines. In his guide, he mentions setting 8 signals per engine and changing the max signals per engine to unlimited. I followed his guide, and briefly tested in the woods and while it seemed to work, once I got out in the open, I couldn't get any readings and even after 60 seconds the rover would not get any shots. Likely because it was getting overwhelmed with the unlimited signals and 8 signals per engine.
So I took Matt's idea and tried to water it down slightly, so to speak. I put all 4 engines back to their default maximum allowable signals, and I set each of the 4 engines to 7 signals a piece (instead of Matt's 8 signals per engine.)
I have been using this technique for over 6 months and the results have been great. I have been getting slightly above average performance in the woods, and I have been made immune to the 'same signals in each engine' bug. I haven't touched the 'auto set up rtk' button in over 6 months and everything has been going great, so no more hammering that button over and over.
These are the exact satellites I use for each engine:
ENGINE 1
USA A
GAL E
USA B
GAL D
GAL C
GAL A
BDS A
ENGINE 2
USA A
GAL E
USA B
BDS C
GAL F
USA F
USA D
ENGINE 3
GAL D
GAL C
BDS E
BDS B
USA E
GLO A
GLO D
ENGINE 4
USA D
GAL A
BDS D
BDS A
GLO B
BDS F
GLO C
I would also like to mention that I clear nvram every single time I am done with my current base set-up, keep in mind that you will have to put the cell phone APN name back into the base memory (easy to do) and you will also have to re-enable the grayed-out base signals in the base menu option 'system signals and tracking' since for some reason a few of them grey-out after clearing nvram, all very easy to do though. All these options are in the base menu once you connect the rover to the base over bluetooth.
Just wanted to share this since I had a lot of frustration with the 'same satellites in each engine' bug over the years and this fixes that, this technique also removes the constant need to press 'auto setup rtk engines' which you should actually not use anymore at all with this manual programming technique since it will wipe out your manual satellites that you will be programming in.
In fact you should make sure to turn off the 'auto setup rtk engines' timer which will automatically set up the rtk engines as if you pressed the button manually, by default it is roughly every 30 seconds , it's in the general options somewhere, set that to disabled. And what's more, I seem to be getting slightly better than average performance, in my opinion.
I survey between Boston and New York City so I am not sure if that matters where I am in the world, but I will make mention of it.
Enjoy and discuss.
However, I would encounter a rare software bug that happened perhaps once or twice a month, in which the 'auto setup rtk engines' would set all 4 engines to the same exact satellites, which cripples the usefulness of signals variety. Even worse, this bug would take hours to go away, sometimes clearing nvram would help, sometimes it wouldn't.
Upon doing some research, I found a post by Matt Johnson which discusses how to manually program the engines. In his guide, he mentions setting 8 signals per engine and changing the max signals per engine to unlimited. I followed his guide, and briefly tested in the woods and while it seemed to work, once I got out in the open, I couldn't get any readings and even after 60 seconds the rover would not get any shots. Likely because it was getting overwhelmed with the unlimited signals and 8 signals per engine.
So I took Matt's idea and tried to water it down slightly, so to speak. I put all 4 engines back to their default maximum allowable signals, and I set each of the 4 engines to 7 signals a piece (instead of Matt's 8 signals per engine.)
I have been using this technique for over 6 months and the results have been great. I have been getting slightly above average performance in the woods, and I have been made immune to the 'same signals in each engine' bug. I haven't touched the 'auto set up rtk' button in over 6 months and everything has been going great, so no more hammering that button over and over.
These are the exact satellites I use for each engine:
ENGINE 1
USA A
GAL E
USA B
GAL D
GAL C
GAL A
BDS A
ENGINE 2
USA A
GAL E
USA B
BDS C
GAL F
USA F
USA D
ENGINE 3
GAL D
GAL C
BDS E
BDS B
USA E
GLO A
GLO D
ENGINE 4
USA D
GAL A
BDS D
BDS A
GLO B
BDS F
GLO C
I would also like to mention that I clear nvram every single time I am done with my current base set-up, keep in mind that you will have to put the cell phone APN name back into the base memory (easy to do) and you will also have to re-enable the grayed-out base signals in the base menu option 'system signals and tracking' since for some reason a few of them grey-out after clearing nvram, all very easy to do though. All these options are in the base menu once you connect the rover to the base over bluetooth.
Just wanted to share this since I had a lot of frustration with the 'same satellites in each engine' bug over the years and this fixes that, this technique also removes the constant need to press 'auto setup rtk engines' which you should actually not use anymore at all with this manual programming technique since it will wipe out your manual satellites that you will be programming in.
In fact you should make sure to turn off the 'auto setup rtk engines' timer which will automatically set up the rtk engines as if you pressed the button manually, by default it is roughly every 30 seconds , it's in the general options somewhere, set that to disabled. And what's more, I seem to be getting slightly better than average performance, in my opinion.
I survey between Boston and New York City so I am not sure if that matters where I am in the world, but I will make mention of it.
Enjoy and discuss.
