Use high-accuracy GPS

Note:

The Collector for ArcGIS (Classic) help site is retired and no longer being updated. To learn about Collector retirement and to find the latest information on data collection, see Collector retirement.

If you are using a high-accuracy receiver, you need to configure Collector to work with it. Connect your receiver to your device. Then, in Collector, select the receiver, create a location profile, and specify your desired accuracy. You can also configure Collector to perform GPS averaging during your collections.

Connect your receiver to your device

Collector supports receivers integrated into devices, as well as external receivers connected via Bluetooth or serial connections. If your receiver is integrated into the device, proceed to the next section, Select your receiver in Collector. If you are using an external receiver, follow these steps to connect it to your device:

1. Verify that your GPS receiver is compatible with Collector.

   Your receiver must support the output of NMEA sentences. Check your receiver's user manual to see if it does. If it does but isn't already configured to do so, the user manual should also have instructions on how to configure the receiver to output NMEA sentences. These instructions need to be completed before connecting the receiver to Collector.

2. Turn on your receiver. If using a Bluetooth receiver, place it near your device.

   If using a Bluetooth receiver, go to your device's Bluetooth settings and view Manage Bluetooth devices. Wait for your receiver's name to appear in the list.

   Tip:

   If your Bluetooth receiver doesn't appear in the list, make sure it isn't connected to another device. To disconnect a Bluetooth receiver from another device, in the device's Bluetooth settings, select the receiver's name, select Remove device, and select Yes.

3. Connect the receiver to your device in one of the following ways:
   • If using a Bluetooth receiver, select the receiver's name in Manage Bluetooth devices and select Pair.
   • If using a serial receiver, connect its cable to your device.

Select your receiver in Collector

Once your GPS receiver is connected to your device, specify that you want the receiver to provide GPS locations in Collector. Once a receiver is selected, this is the only source of positions that is used until a new receiver is selected.

1. After signing in to Collector, from the Map Gallery, select Menu and select Settings .
2. On the Location tab, under Location provider, select the receiver that is listed.

   The GPS Receivers list displays.

3. If your receiver doesn't appear in the list, add it by taking the following steps:
   1. Select Add a receiver to display a list of connected receivers.
   2. Select your receiver and select Continue.
   3. If you are mounting the receiver to a pole, enter the antenna height.
   4. If you are using a serial GPS receiver, specify the COM port and baud rate and select Test to check that your connection is successful.
   5. Select Add.

   You are returned to the GPS Receivers list and your receiver is listed.

4. Select your receiver and select Switch.
5. If you need to change the antenna height, COM port, or baud rate, select your receiver, select Details, enter the information, and select Back .
6. Select Close to return to Settings.

Create a location profile in Collector

A location profile defines the coordinate system and, if required, datum transformations to apply when locations are received from your GPS receiver. The location profile applies to both internal and external receivers. It's recommended to create a location profile when you're using a correction service.

1. In the Settings of Collector, on the Location tab, under Location profile, select the name of the location profile currently in use. Select Add a profile .
2. In the Search box, type the name or ID of your receiver's correction service's geographic coordinate system (GCS) to filter the results in the list, and then select the correction service's GCS.
3. If your map uses a projected coordinate system, select Projected.

   Caution:

   It is important to make sure the correct filter is selected at the bottom of the screen because some geographic and projected coordinate systems have the same name.

4. In the Search box, type the name or ID of the map's coordinate system to filter the results in the list, and then select the map's coordinate system.
5. If a datum transformation between the coordinate systems of your receiver's correction service and your map is not available, select Continue.
6. If a datum transformation between the coordinate systems of your receiver's correction service and your map is available, you are prompted to specify the data collection area. To zoom to your location on the map, select My Location . Once you have zoomed in to the data collection area, select Continue and select the desired datum transformation from the list of available transformations.

   Note:

   You can only specify the data collection area on the basemap when your device has access to online data via Wi-Fi or a cellular network.

   The datum transformation list is sorted by relevance, with the most relevant transformation based on the data collection area listed first.

   Some transformations such as grid-based transformations are not currently supported.

7. Provide a name for the location profile and select Add.

   The location profile is added to the Location Profiles list.

8. Select the new location profile from the Location Profiles list and select Switch to set it as your current profile. Select Close to return to Settings.

Specify the required accuracy and confidence in Collector

Your organization may require that all data collected meet a specific minimum accuracy and confidence interval. In Collector, you can set the required accuracy of GPS positions, and whether the positions need to meet a 95 percent confidence interval, to ensure that data you collect meets your organization's data collection standards.

1. In the Settings of Collector, on the Location tab, under Location accuracy, enter the required location accuracy for data collection.
2. Select the units for the required accuracy.

   Note:

   To change the units of measurement between metric and imperial, in the app's Settings, select the units you want to use in the Measurement units section on the General tab.

3. If your organization requires a 95 percent confidence level in the data collected, enable 95% confidence under Accuracy report.

   When this setting is enabled, the horizontal accuracy required for data collection is calculated with a 95 percent confidence interval instead of the 63 to 68 percent provided by the default calculation using root mean square (RMS).

4. Select Menu and choose either your current map or Maps to exit the settings.

Enable GPS averaging

Your organization may require that you collect a number of points for a single location and average their information to get a final location and accuracy. In Collector, you can set the required number of points to be averaged to get a single location. Any time you use GPS location in your data collection, the required number of points will be collected and averaged for point features, as well as for the individual vertices of lines and polygons.

Note:

Streaming to collect lines and polygons and GPS averaging are mutually exclusive: you can't average the values and stream at the same time.

To use GPS averaging, enable it in the app's settings. All collections done using the GPS and without streaming will use averaging if it is enabled.

1. In the Settings of Collector, on the Collection tab, enable GPS Averaging.
2. Select Number of locations and provide the number of GPS positions you want to average to determine the location and accuracy for your collection. The default is five positions.

Once GPS averaging is enabled, your data collection using the GPS will perform averaging on each point collected. When you start a collection, you'll see a banner showing the number of points that have been averaged so far, along with the current averaged accuracy. Once a location has been obtained and while averaging is in progress, you'll see a red dot indicating the current averaged position on the map.

When the number of locations you specified in the setting has been obtained, averaging completes, the banner disappears, and a point is placed on the map. To stop averaging before it completes, select Stop Averaging, discarding the averaging you have done so far.

Your receiver is now providing locations to Collector. As you collect data, you will provide your organization with high-accuracy data that meets its standards.