RTK and NTRIP

RTK and NTRIP

ArduDeck has a built-in NTRIP client that streams RTK correction data from any NTRIP caster straight to your vehicle's GPS. With corrections flowing, an RTK-capable receiver moves from a plain 3D fix to RTK Float and then RTK Fixed, taking position accuracy from meters to centimeters. No external tools, no separate injector.

Location: Telemetry screen > Add Panel > RTK / NTRIP

In the built-in "All Panels" layout the panel sits as a tab behind the GPS panel. Like other telemetry panels it can be popped out into its own window. The panel is available on MAVLink (ArduPilot) connections.

Caster settings

Open the panel's Settings section and fill in your caster:

Field	Notes
Host	The caster server name, e.g. rtk2go.com or caster.centipede.fr. The mountpoint does not go here.
Port	Default 2101, the NTRIP convention.
Protocol	Auto, v1, or v2. Auto tries NTRIP v2 first and falls back to v1, then remembers what worked for reconnects. Leave it on Auto unless your caster misbehaves.
TLS	Encrypted connection for casters that offer it.
Username / Password	Leave the username empty for anonymous casters. The password is kept in ArduDeck's encrypted key storage, not in plain config files.
Mountpoint	The stream to pull. Use List if you don't know it.

List fetches the caster's sourcetable and shows every mountpoint as a dropdown (name, format, country), so you can pick a stream near you instead of copying it from a website.

Settings are saved automatically and restored on the next launch. Any standard NTRIP v1 or v2 caster works: public networks like RTK2go and Centipede, national CORS networks, or your own base station.

Position upload (GGA)

Most network casters, and every VRS-style network, need to know where you are before they send corrections. Leave Send vehicle position (GGA) enabled and ArduDeck reports the vehicle's own GPS position to the caster at the configured interval (default every second, first report immediately on connect). If the vehicle has no fix yet, the panel shows Waiting for fix and starts reporting as soon as a fix arrives.

How corrections reach the vehicle

ArduDeck reassembles RTCM3 frames from the caster stream and verifies each frame's checksum before forwarding, so a torn or corrupted frame is never injected. Complete frames are packed into MAVLink GPS_RTCM_DATA messages (fragmented per the MAVLink spec for frames larger than 180 bytes) and sent over your existing telemetry link as they arrive. The GPS receiver on the vehicle does the rest.

Reading the status

• The header shows the connection state, a live data rate while connected, and any error in plain language.
• The Corrections section counts bytes received, complete RTCM messages forwarded, dropped frames, GGA uploads, and a breakdown of the RTCM message types coming from the caster (useful for confirming the mountpoint carries what your receiver expects).
• The RTK result itself shows in the GPS panel next door: the fix type steps through DGPS, RTK Float, and RTK Fixed as the receiver converges.

Fleet-wide corrections in multi-vehicle mode

With the Multi-Vehicle engine running, the engine takes over the caster connection: it holds the single NTRIP stream and injects corrections into every connected vehicle, so the whole fleet gets RTK from one subscription. The panel shows which mode is active with a badge, Via orchestrator (fleet) or Direct link, and the forwarded counter becomes Forwarded to fleet with a count of vehicles receiving.

Only one injector is ever active per vehicle. Starting the engine hands over a running direct connection automatically, and stopping it hands control back, so corrections never arrive from two sources at once.

Reconnect behavior

Transient failures (network drop, caster restart, stalled stream) reconnect automatically with backoff. Permanent failures (unknown host, wrong credentials, missing mountpoint) stop and tell you what to fix instead of retrying forever.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
"Host not found"	The mountpoint was typed into the Host field, or a typo in the server name	Host takes only the caster server, e.g. caster.centipede.fr; the mountpoint has its own field
"Connection refused"	Wrong port	NTRIP casters usually listen on 2101
"Mountpoint not found (caster returned its sourcetable)"	Mountpoint name wrong or retired	Click List and pick a current mountpoint
"Authentication rejected by caster"	Bad or missing credentials	Check username/password; some casters also lock mountpoints to accounts
Connected, but no RTK Float/Fixed	Receiver not RTK-capable, mountpoint too far away, or wrong correction format	Pick a mountpoint near you with a format your receiver supports (check the RTCM message-type breakdown)
GGA upload stuck on "Waiting for fix"	Vehicle has no GPS fix yet	Corrections start flowing once the vehicle reports a fix

See also

• Multi-Vehicle for the fleet engine that distributes corrections to every vehicle
• Map Overlays for terrain and airspace layers on the telemetry map