GNSS Handbook

GNSS Handbook

The Kalmix GNSS Handbook explains how satellite positioning actually works, from first principles to the protocol layer. It covers the GNSS pseudorange equation and receiver clock bias, signal bands and constellations, the RTCM correction protocol that RTK depends on, and the coordinate-system pitfalls that can put a perfect fix off the map. Written for engineers integrating GNSS into robotics, AGV, agriculture, and field-automation hardware.

14 articles Engineering series GNSS / RTK resources
Overview Kalmix GNSS Handbook is a free engineering series covering GNSS fundamentals, satellite ranging, pseudorange, satellite geometry, L1/L2/L5 signal bands, constellations, RTCM correction protocols, and geographic coordinate systems including WGS84 datum issues for developers building RTK-based machines.
RTK Meets IMU: Why Can a Continuous Track Still Be Wrong?

A continuous track can still drift. See how IMU measurements, Kalman filtering and wheel speed shape a position estimate, with a GT-01 tunnel example.

Nov 04, 202612 min read
PPK from Logs: Can You Trust a Track Solved After the Fieldwork

RTK gives a position now. PPK uses recorded GNSS observations to build and check the final trajectory, with particular value in weak segments, mobile mapping, and UAV flights.

Sep 29, 202613 min read
OSR to SSR: What Changes When PPP-RTK Corrections Stop Looking Like a Base

OSR and SSR change what a GNSS receiver receives. PPP, PPP-AR and PPP-RTK show how correction content affects convergence, coverage and receiver support.

Sep 23, 202611 min read
RTK Goes Networked: What Breaks When Every Rover Wants Its Own Base

Network RTK turns one physical baseline into a regional service through CORS, multi-station modeling, virtual bases, shared grids, and quality control.

Sep 14, 202614 min read
The RTK Trick: How Does Carrier Phase RTK Reach Centimeter Accuracy

Carrier phase RTK reaches centimeters by reducing shared errors, resolving integer ambiguity, and checking whether a Fixed solution remains trustworthy.

Jun 28, 202616 min read
RTK GPS Demystified: What It Takes to Reach Centimeters

RTK GPS adds correction data to ordinary GNSS for centimeter positioning, but the receiver, correction source, antenna, and workflow all matter.

Jun 14, 202617 min read
GNSS Errors Mapped: Why a Perfect Satellite Still Lands You Off by Meters

GNSS error budgets start in space, pass through the atmosphere, and end at the antenna, marking which residuals a receiver can model and which require RTK.

Jun 04, 202614 min read
How GNSS Works: One Equation, Four Satellites, End of the $100,000 Clock

How GNSS receivers turn satellite timing into pseudorange measurements, solve four unknowns with four satellites, and output position, velocity, and time.

Apr 17, 202616 min read
GNSS Signals Explained: Why Your Receiver Ignores Most of the Sky

Frequency support, antenna bandwidth, firmware, and corrections explain why two GNSS receivers can see the same sky but use different satellites.

Apr 14, 202613 min read
RTCM Unpacked: The Binary Protocol Your RTK Fix Actually Depends On

RTCM is the correction stream behind RTK fixes; reliable deployment depends on frame sync, MSM choices, base coordinates, MT1230, and correction age.

Apr 06, 202614 min read
Beyond WGS84: Why a Perfect GNSS Fix Can Still Put You Off the Map

A perfect GNSS or RTK fix can still appear shifted when your receiver, correction service, map layer, and software use different coordinate frames.

Mar 28, 202620 min read
Inside NTRIP: Why Seven Lines of Code Can Unlock Centimeter Accuracy

NTRIP delivers RTK correction streams over the internet, but reliable fixes still depend on caster access, mountpoints, RTCM payloads, and correction age.

Mar 07, 202617 min read
Mastering NMEA 0183: Why Your Device Needs to Read Between the Commas

Learn which NMEA 0183 sentences reveal position and RTK state, how checksum validation works, and where receiver output stops being trustworthy.

Feb 14, 202628 min read
GNSS Accuracy Decoded: Why Positioning is a Game of Probabilities

What kind of sensor GNSS is, why its accuracy is stated as a probability, and which conditions must match before two accuracy claims can be compared.

Feb 03, 202620 min read