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How to configure Septentrio Mosaic-X5 and Mosaic-H
Introduction
This page is only valid for mosaic-X5 and mosaic-H based boards: simpleRTK3B Pro, simpleRTK3B Heading, simpleRTK3B Micro Septentrio, and simpleRTK3B mPCIe.
In this guide, we will show you how to connect, configure key settings, manage data output, and ensure that the GNSS modules are operating at their best performance for your application.
Get started
To use the mosaic-X5 and mosaic-H based boards, you basically need to go through the following steps to achieve an RTK fix and reach centimeter-level accuracy with your RTK board.
Step A: Connection and firmware check
Connect to Septentrio web interface
- Connect the GNSS antenna to your receiver. Make sure the antenna has a good view of the sky for testing functionality. Otherwise you won’t see satellites signals.
- Connect the receiver to your PC via the USB port labelled as POWER+GPS. When you connect this product to a PC for the first time, the PC may not recognize it. You will only see a new Hard Disk in your computer. Open it and install the Septentrio driver. After installation, disconnect and reconnect again — your PC will then recognize the receiver. This only needs to be done once.
- Open a web browser and type in http://192.168.3.1 to access the Septentrio web interface. The first time you connect you might be asked to log in. All our Septentrio receiver boards come with an ArduSimple user account from the factory; use ardusimple (lowercase) for both User Name and Password fields, and press Login.
Check firmware version
- To check the firmware version, navigate to Admin > About. The current firmware version is displayed under Receiver Identification.
If the firmware on your mosaic-X5 or mosaic-H receiver is below version 4.15.1, we advise you to update, as this guide relies on that version or above. Please check the Firmware update section of this guide.
Step B: Configure the receiver
To assist you in configuring your mosaic-X5 or mosaic-H receiver, we have prepared several example configuration files.
Load a configuration file
- Find the configuration file that best fits your project requirements in the table below and click to download it to your PC. These configuration files are based on firmware version 4.15.1. Before loading a config file, please follow the previous step to check your firmware version, and update it if necessary.
| Configuration | File |
|---|---|
BaseDetails
This will set your receiver as a
base station providing RTK correction
data to other receivers.
Here you can find the list of commands included in the config file. Configure the receiver as a Base in Auto mode:
|
Base_4.15 |
Rover 1Hz
Details
This will set your receiver as
a rover at 1Hz update rate.
Here you can find the list of commands included in the config file. Enable on all ports the most important NMEA messages at 1Hz refresh rate:
|
Rover_1Hz_4.15 |
Rover 100Hz
Details
This will set your receiver as
a rover at 100Hz update rate.
Here you can find the list of commands included in the config file. Enable on all ports the GGA NMEA message at 100Hz refresh rate:
|
Rover_100Hz_4.15 |
Rover 1Hz + send NMEA messages to Bluetooth plugin
Details
This configuration allow you to connect the receiver to your mobile device via Bluetooth communication plugin on Xbee socket.
Here you can find the list of commands included in the config file. Enable on COM2 port the most important NMEA messages at 1Hz refresh rate:
|
Rover_1Hz_NMEA_plugin_4.15 |
Rover 1Hz + send GGA message to plugin
Details
This configuration file allow connection
to NTRIP client with VRS mountpoints.
Here you can find the list of commands included in the config file. Enable on COM2 port the GGA NMEA message at 1Hz refresh rate:
|
Rover_1Hz_GGA_plugin_4.15 |
- Before loading a configuration file, you have to set the recevier to its default configuration. Go to the main menu Admin > Configurations, and under Copy Configuration File set Source to RxDefault and Target to Current.
- As you are resetting the configuration, you will be prompted to create a new default user. We recommend that you use the same ardusimple User Name and Password that we include in our receivers by default. The Factory User Name and Password are hardcoded by Septentrio, and should always be set to RxAdmin and S3pt3ntr10. Press Login.
- Your receiver is now set to default configuration, with just the user information and IP Settings set to provide the web interface.
- To load a configuration file, go to Admin > Expert Control.
- To access advanced receiver settings, select Proceed.
- Under Expert Console press the Upload Script button to browse your computer storage and select the configuration file you want to load into the receiver.
- The console will show the list of configuration commands applied to the receiver. The current configuration to boot option will appear at the bottom right corner of the web browser. Press Save.
Step C: Get RTK corrections
To achieve centimeter-level accuracy with GNSS receivers, RTK corrections are required. There are two ways to obtain them:
- NTRIP correction service (the simplest option): This method requires only a rover receiver and access to a correction service, eliminating the need for a dedicated base station.
- Base–Rover setup: In this setup, you operate a local base station that generates RTK corrections and transmits them directly to the rover via radio.
NTRIP correction service
NTRIP (Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol) is a protocol for streaming GNSS data over the internet. It enables the transmission of real-time correction data from a reference station to a rover or user device.
To obtain credentials (server address, port, username, and password), search for available RTK correction services in your country.
- Share your internet connection with the receiver via USB and receive RTK corrections by following the video tutorial.
- You will see corrections coming in, and within a few minutes you will have RTK Float or Fixed. Note that when you restart or reboot the receiver, the IP address will change. You will need to check the new IP address and connect your receiver.
By adding a Shield for Septentrio Native Ethernet connected to the arduino rails of an ArduSimple simpleRTK3B Pro and simpleRTK3B Heading board, you can access an NTRIP correction service over an ethernet cable connection. This allows you to connect your RTK receiver directly to your home network router, for example.
- Align and insert the Native Ethernet shield into the Arduino rails headers of the RTK board.
- Move the switch on your RTK board to 5V = OUTPUT. Connect the shield to your ethernet hub with an RJ45 Ethernet cable. Connect your receiver to your computer through the USB port labelled with POWER+GPS.
- Open Septentrio web interface. Go to Communication > Ethernet. At the Ethernet Interface Mode, check Power on. In most routers, automatic IP is used. To work in this way, select DHCP. If you prefer to set up your local IP manually, you can also do it from this menu. Press OK.
- Go to Corrections > NTRIP > +New NTRIP client. At mode, choose Client. Set the Caster, Port, User name, Password and Mount point. At Send GGA to caster, select auto. You will see RTCM coming in. In a few minutes, the Position mode will change to RTK Float or RTK Fixed.
- You can also connect to NTRIP using your mobile device, which is convenient for fieldwork. For more information, check our tutorial How to use centimeter GPS with any Android app (mock location).
There are three communication plugins that can be used to access an NTRIP correction service: WiFi NTRIP Master, 4G NTRIP Master and Ethernet NTRIP Master. If you want to know more details, check the section use a communication plugin to connect to an NTRIP Caster.
-
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Base-Rover Corrections
A Base-Rover setup requires two RTK receivers: one configured as a Base that sends correction data via a radio module to the other receiver configured as a Rover.
-
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PluginsRadio module eXtra Long Range (XLR)
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PluginsRadio module Long Range (LR)
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- Configure one receiver as a static base station; download the base configuration file, and load it into the receiver.
- Configure the second receiver as a rover; download the rover 1Hz configuration file or rover 100Hz configuration file, and load it into the receiver.
- Insert the radio links into both of your receivers, and the base station will start sending RTK corrections to the rover receiver.
Advanced functionality
Firmware update
If the firmware of your mosaic-X5 or mosaic-H is below version 4.15.1, an update is required:
- For simpleRTK3B Pro (mosaic-X5), download the latest stable firmware for mosaic-X5.
- For simpleRTK3B Heading (mosaic-H), download the latest stable firmware for mosaic-H.
- Go to Admin > Upgrade. Select the downloaded firmware and press Start upgrade.
- In a few minutes, you will see it display Upgrade successful.
- The next time you connect to the receiver (after updating the firmware), you will be prompted to create a new user. Enter your preferred User Name and Password, and for Factory User Name and Password use RxAdmin and S3pt3ntr10.
Configure using the web interface
The Septentrio web interface allows you to easily create GNSS receiver basic configurations, and the following steps will guide you through the process.
Configure as a Rover
This configures the RTK receiver as a Rover at 1Hz refresh rate, connected via USB or any other port included in the board. Alternatively, you could skip the steps below and instead download the Rover 1Hz file from the table of configuration files, loading it into the receiver.
- Go to GNSS > Position. At Mode, choose Rover and check all position modes. Click OK and Save configuration.
Send NMEA messages to XBee socket
This configures the RTK receiver as a Rover at 1Hz refresh rate, connected via a communication plugin in the board XBee socket. Alternatively, you could skip the steps below and instead download the Rover 1Hz plugin file from the table of configuration files, loading it into the receiver.
- In the menu bar, go to Communication > Serial Port.
- Set the Baud rate of COM2 at 115200 bps, because most of our communication plug-ins work at 115200 bps. Press OK and Save configuration.
- In the menu bar, go to NMEA/SBF Out. Press +New NMEA stream > Serial port > COM2.
- At Interval choose 1 sec and check your preferred NMEA messages. If you don’t know which one to choose, we suggest checking GGA, GSA, GSV, RMC and VTG because they are used by most of the applications. Select these messages and press Finish. However, be aware that Bluetooth bandwidth is limited. Enabling these messages will limit the maximum transmission rate to 1 Hz. If you want to use a higher frequency, you can either use the USB connector or reduce the number of transmitted messages to avoid exceeding Bluetooth’s transmission capacity.
- You will observe Data Streams outputting NMEA and RTCM messages to COM2. Press OK and Save configuration.
Configure as a Base
If you want to configure your board as a Base station, you can set its coordinates in different ways. As a starting point, you can download the Base file from the table of configuration files, loading it into the receiver.
In the ArduSimple tutorial How to determine the exact position of your base station, we provide a detailed explanation of how to configure your receiver as a static base station.
Create your own configuration file
The current configuration can be exported as a local .txt file, which facilitates use with other receivers.
- Go to Admin > Configurations and press the download button (green down arrow) from the Current configuration.
- The output file includes the name of the receiver, either mosaic-X5 or mosaic-H, along with the date in the <Year>-<Month>-<Day> format.
Revert to factory default
- You can set the mosaic configuration to its default settings via the Admin > Configurations. At Receiver Configurations, you can check the Different from factory default. Select RxDefault from the Source drop-down list, and select Current in the Target menu. Press OK.
Heading configuration (mosaic-H)
The following section is applicable exclusively to users of the boards equipped with the mosaic-H module. It does not apply to other boards with the mosaic-X5 module.
Follow this dual-antenna installation guide to get accurate heading data from the mosaic-H module.
- The heading output represents the clockwise angle from True North to the vector defined by the baseline extending from the master antenna (designated as GPS1 on the board) to the slave antenna (designated as GPS2). The pitch angle denotes the inclination of the vehicle or drone with respect to the horizontal plane.
- By default, the antennas should be mounted longitudinally along the vehicle’s axis, with the master antenna (designated as GPS1) located at the rear.
- Heading accuracy depends on antenna separation — the longer the baseline, the better the accuracy. A 1‑meter baseline is typically needed for sub‑degree precision, though this isn’t always practical for many vehicles. With a quality setup, 0.5 meters can still give good results, while 0.3 meters will work but may produce a noisier output.
- For optimal performance, both GNSS antennas should be identical and oriented consistently with respect to one another — for instance, the antenna cables should exit from the same side on each unit. This ensures proper alignment of the RF phase centers, which is essential for heading accuracy (note that the actual RF phase center is frequently offset from the antenna’s physical center). Furthermore, the RF cable lengths for both antennas must be identical to achieve the best possible results.
- Open Septentrio web interface. If you cannot install the antennas with default setup, go to GNSS > Attitude. At Attitude Offset, set the Heading and Pitch offset.
- At Attitude Information, you can check the heading information of your vehicle.
Record log file
You can use the web interface menu to log data onto your PC, or you can insert a Micro-SD card into the board SD card slot to log data automatically every time the receiver is powered on. After a logging session, you can download its contents to your PC to replay the data and simulate field conditions for debugging and testing purposes.
In this guide, we cover logging from the web interface into a PC, but if you have problems with the onboard logging please contact us.
Note that if you insert the SD card while the receiver is connecting, the SD card may not be detected and mounted.
- Go to Logging. At +New NMEA stream, select the NMEA messages you want to log, usually GGA, GST, GSV and VTG. SBF (Septentrio Binary Format) can be analysed using SBF Analyzer, replayed with RxControl or converted into other common formats such as RINEX or KML using SBF Converter. For example, if you want to log a Rinex file for PPK analysis, go to +New SBF stream and check RINEX. For more details, you can go to our tutorial How to generate RINEX files with simpleRTK3B Pro.
- The log file will be saved in the SSN folder. You can use your preferred tool or custom program to analyse the NMEA data. For SBF data, we recommend using SBF Analyzer to review and visualize your log data.
Documentation
If you are an advanced user seeking detailed information, please refer to the following Septentrio documentation and tutorials:
- Mosaic-X5 reference guide
- Mosaic-H reference guide
- How to enable the latest anti-spoofing OSNMA service on your Septentrio receiver
- How to share your Septentrio base station with RTK2go via Septentrio Native Ethernet
- How to configure simpleRTK3B Pro (mosaic-X5) receiver and connect it to ArduPilot
- How to configure simpleRTK3B Heading (mosaic-H) and connect it to ArduPilot
- How to use PointPerfect with Septentrio receivers
- How to generate RINEX files with simpleRTK3B Pro
- How to load antenna calibration files to Septentrio receivers
- How to build your own self-hosted NTRIP RTK caster on a Synology NAS
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