Skip to main content

NMEA specification

Overview

Reach RX MFi supports streaming of the following NMEA messages:

Message IDDescription
GGATime, position and fix type data
GSAGPS receiver operating mode, satellites used in the position solution, and DOP values
GSTPosition error statistics
GSVNumber of satellites in view, ID numbers, elevation, azimuth, & SNR values
RMCPosition, velocity, and time
VTGCourse and speed information relative to the ground
ZDAUTC day, month, and year, and local time zone offset
EBP*RTK base position

*This is a custom Emlid NMEA message.

Reach RX outputs all the messages with the GN talker ID at the following frequences:

Message IDTalker IDDefault frequency
GGAGN5 Hz
GSAG*1 Hz
GSTGN1 Hz
GSVG*1 Hz
RMCGN1 Hz
VTGGN1 Hz
ZDAGN1 Hz
EBPGN1 Hz

*Reach RX outputs GSA and GSV messages with the successive talker IDs-GP, GL, GA, GB.

Protocol

iOS device accessories shall declare at least one “SupportedExternalAccessoryProtocol” parameter in their identification information during authentication. This protocol is not standardized and allows for the exchange of any data between the device and its proprietary application on the iPhone.

For example, we use this protocol to send a standard set of NMEA messages to ArcGIS Field Maps. Reach RX creates special External Accessory profiles: com.emlid.nmea for sending NMEA messages. ArcGIS FieldMaps uses this profile for reading NMEA stream.

Exchange process is the following:

  1. iPhone sends StartExternalAccessoryProtocolSession (0xEA00).

  2. The device starts sending data.

  3. iPhone sends StopExternalAccessoryProtocolSession (0xEA01).