Using an external GPS unit with Survey123

[DanielMcIlroy]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anybody has used an external GPS unit in conjunction with Survey123?

There doesn't seem to be anywhere to select a COM port within the app, nor is there an option to define that in the Connect app.

Collector appears to have an input option for positioning. If Survey123 doesn't have it currently, are there plans to add this functionality in future releases? I have been promoting Survey123 and Collector internally, but I am a bit concerned that this functionality (or lack of it) may be a deal breaker for some of our users.

Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Dan

[JamesTedrick]

Survey123 uses the system-provided location provider.  For iOS and Android, this normally means connecting the external receiver to the device; devices that have been designed to work with iOS and Android become the location provider.  On Windows, there is still the tendency to use COM ports for connection instead of supplying the GPS information to the system location provider- this can be addressed with a bridging program like GPSDirect - GPSComplete: GPSDirect,GPSReverse, LocationFixer GPS NMEA Windows 7 Windows 8 Windows 10 Sensor Driv... 

[DanielMcIlroy]

Thanks for that James. We are looking to use Windows Surface devices in the field, and yes the COM port still reigns supreme.

Are there any plans to add COM port selection to the windows version of the Survey123 app?

[J_P_Montagne]

Survey123 on my iOS device still does not see my external GPS (iSXBlue2+). I've tried turning location services off for Survey123, setting it Collector, but still it will only use the internal location. I'm glad to hear that perhaps soon, this functionality will be added, but otherwise I don't think your your statement that "... this normally means connecting the external receiver to the device" is accurate. If there's a trick to this, please share!

[JamesTedrick]

Hi J.P.,

Can I ask what version of iOS is on the devices?  We know of an issue in iOS 11.2 that affects some external GPS receivers

[J_P_Montagne]

Hi James,

I would have had the most up-to-date version of iOS at the time. Currently, I'm running 11.3.1. If there is a way to use Survey123 with an external GPS, I would be ecstatic! If not, I may be forced to transition my work to Collector, and I'm not looking forward to that.

[BertKraan1]

Today I saw a Stonex S500 connected to survey123 over 192.168.10.1:9000 via the wifi accesspoint provided by the Stonex ...

[JamesTedrick · Accepted solution]

Hi Bert,

In the time since this discussion, Survey123 now supports external GPS receivers either through direct connection or network connection, as you saw.