I currently use a DJI Matrice 300 RTK & Zenmuse P1 (M300/P1) to complete agricultural surveys, but unfortunately, I can't collect Ground Control Points (GCP) with this unit. I don't need to collect GCP's very often, hence want to avoid locking up capital in an item which will not be utilised.

I am aware that the Phantom 4 RTK can be used to collect GCP's, however, I already have the M300/P1, hence don't want to invest in another drone that will not be utilised.

However, since I use drones for Agriculture and don't have a multispectral sensor, if I purchased a Phantom 4 Multispectral drone, can anyone advise if I could use this unit to collect the GCP's (just like the Phantom 4 RTK)?   This would be a better capital investment since I could also use this drone multispectral imaging as well.

Any advice here would be appreciated...

I have already run out of battery in the RTK GNSS survey antenna (best option for surveying GCPs), so I took the GCPs by placing the P4M in the center of the GCP. It would seem that the gap with the ground is about 5cm.

This remains a troubleshooting / DIY solution, not really precise! But won't you confuse it with the DRTK-2?

For GCP surveying :
You can use Sparkfun's RTK surveyor kit. It's not very expensive, enough to capture GCPs and as accurate as a Trimble, Leica antenna...
SparkFun RTK Surveying Kit - GPS-17370 - SparkFun Electronics

For Multispectral:
Be sure that the capabilities of the P4M match your needs. Many people buy first and inquire about specifications later. You just have to see the number of threads about it.

Thanks LV_Foresty for your advice.  ... cheers.

@Drone Boss: The P4M itself (or any RTK DJI drone such as the M300 you already have) will not be able to collect precise positions w/o a source of corrections (NTRIP or a local base). If you have either of those already, you should be able to use your M300 the same way you'd use a P4R or P4M (put the drone on the spot, record the coordinates, and adjust by the offset b/w the CMOS center and the GCP on the ground).


@LV-Forestry thanks for the tip on the SparkFun kit! We use Emlid Reach RS2's but that looks like an even less expensive (but viable) option!

patiam Posted at 7-28 08:25
@Drone Boss: The P4M itself (or any RTK DJI drone such as the M300 you already have) will not be able to collect precise positions w/o a source of corrections (NTRIP or a local base). If you have either of those already, you should be able to use your M300 the same way you'd use a P4R or P4M (put the drone on the spot, record the coordinates, and adjust by the offset b/w the CMOS center and the GCP on the ground).

Hi,
The sparkfun surveyor is really awesome. If you only need to survey GCPs this is the best option.
Then in post process on QGIS (open source) it is possible to do almost everything that a receiver such as Trimble, Leica, ER... can do. So why pay so much? Moreover, free NTRIP providers are more and more widespread and of good quality.

Thanks for the advice Patiam & LV_Forestry. In the field today to try as suggested .... cheers.