Sparkfun Reference station wifi set up

GPS/GNSS
1

I have configured my SparkFun RTK Reference Station to firmware version 4 and set up the SSID and password via serial. The reference station is connected to my network, and the IP address is displayed. However, when I try to connect to the IP address using Putty on my PC, the connection is being rejected. Could you please let me know if any additional configuration is needed to view the NMEA or RTCM messages in my Putty terminal via Wifi?

2

Hi Praveen J P,

Please check you have “TCP Server” enabled:

I hope this helps,
Paul

3

I enabled the TCP server via serial configuration and obtained the port number 2948. I then connected both the reference station and my PC to the same network. However, when I tried to connect using Putty, entering the reference station’s IP as the host name and 2948 as the port, the connection timed out.

regards,
Praveen

4

Hi Praveen,

Please check you have selected “Telnet” as the Connection Type. (SSH is not supported.)

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I hope this helps,
Paul

5

Thank you for your reply. I have tested the method you provided, but it still shows the same behavior (connection refused). Please find my configurations below. I also noticed that when the reference station is in rover mode, it tries to connect to WiFi but fails, displaying some errors in the serial output. I have added a screenshot of this below. However, when I change the mode to WiFi config, it shows my SSID and host IP on the display. After connecting to my network and switching back to rover mode, the WiFi disconnects. Please let me know if you need any further details or clarification.

server enabled
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regards,
Praveen

6

Please find below the wifi error message.

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regards,
Praveen

7

Hi Praveen,

Apologies. I have not seen that error message before. I will need to ask my colleagues for help.

Can you please confirm if you are using firmware version 4.1? (You mentioned version 4 in your first post.)

Are you also connected by Bluetooth and/or Ethernet?

Does your WiFi network support 2.4GHz? (The ESP32 does not support 5GHz.)

Best wishes,
Paul

8

Thank you for your prompt response. I am currently using firmware version 4.0. I have successfully connected via Bluetooth and am able to receive NMEA data. However, I have not yet tested with Ethernet. My WiFi network is 2.4GHz, and the device successfully connects when in WiFi config mode not in rover or base mode.

I appreciate your assistance and would be happy to provide further details if needed.

9

Thank you Praveen,

Please try upgrading to v4.1. When you have upgraded, please reset all settings to the defaults (s r y) and then reenter your WiFi details. Apologies for the extra work, but v4.1 does include some important changes (how the WiFi passwords are stored, and some changes to the TCP Server).

I hope this helps,
Paul

10

Thanks for your solution. I will try to upgrade to 4.1.
regards,
Praveen

11

Hi Paul,

I have updated the firmware to version 4.1 and reset all settings to default via the serial configuration. After entering my SSID and password through WiFi config, I attempted to connect. However, when the device tries to connect to the WiFi network in rover or base mode, it suddenly reboots and starts from the beginning, continuing in this loop. Please find the reboot details in the serial output below.

I can still connect to the WiFi network in WiFi config mode, as was the case previously.

Please let me know if you need any further details.

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Best regards,
Praveen

12

Hi Praveen,

Thank you.

I can now see the same issue:

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Previously, I did not have an SD card inserted. I see the error now, after inserting an SD card.

I think the ESP32 is running out of RAM. The SD task is using some extra RAM and this causes the WiFi task to fail. If I disable Bluetooth to save RAM, the unit is able to connect to WiFi and I can use PuTTY to view the NMEA data.

Please try replicating this to confirm this is the issue:

Disable Bluetooth:
s b b
You should see “b) Set Bluetooth Mode: Off” in the System Menu
Exit the menu (this saves the settings):
x x
Then force a system reset with:
s d r

RAM use on the Reference Station is on a “knife edge”. We know there is not enough RAM to run ESP-Now and Bluetooth simultaneously. I think in your case, enabling TCP Server is using additional RAM and preventing WiFi from working…

Thank you,
Paul

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13

Thank you, Paul. The device has successfully connected to the WiFi network, and I can now receive NMEA data through Putty.

Thank you for your solution.

Best Regards,
Praveen

1 Like