ArcGIS Collector: Configure App with Arrow GNSS on Windows 10

Are you ready to learn how to configure ArcGIS Collector with Arrow on Windows10 for use with SBAS or Atlas (non-RTK) applications? This article will guide you through the simple setup, using Collector 10.4. 

First, make sure that you have initially paired your Arrow with your computer/tablet. If not, we suggest you to download our Quick Setup guide that you can find on our website.

Click here for the direct link to our Quick Setup guide (see pages 17 and 18):

https://eos-gnss.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Arrow-Series-Quick-Start-Guide_Rev1.1.pdf

1 – Adding your Arrow receiver in Collector 10.4 (Location Provider)

Open Collector 10.4 and click on the Menu icon on the top left of the window and then select Settings at the bottom:

From the Settings window, click on Location, followed by Integrated Receiver as shown below:

A windows should appear. Click on Add a receiver:

If the Bluetooth pairing was previously done, your Arrow receiver should appear on the list. Select your device and click on Continue:

The next window would ask you to enter your Antenna height:

Note: If the elevation is irrelevant for your job, you can leave this blank. If you are doing RTK data collection, and your application requires elevation measurements, then enter an antenna height, taking into account the pole height, the antenna mounting plate and the antenna phase center offset.

2- Switching GPS receiver to use your Arrow device:

You should now see your Arrow receiver on the GPS receivers list. To use the Arrow receiver instead of the integrated receiver, click on your Arrow and hit the Switch button:

The receiver used by Collector should now be your Arrow receiver (shown as Current):

Collector should now be using your Arrow receiver position instead of the internal location of your Windows 10 pc/laptop (make sure that Collector is now using your Arrow receiver has the Location Provider):

3- Configuring your Location Profile

Location Profile allows you to setup receiver/map coordinate systems and also on-the-fly datum transformations. While in the Settings window, click on Default below Location Profile:

Note: The default coordinate system for the receiver is set to WGS 1984.

Click on the ‘’+’’ button to add a new profile:

Select the coordinate system used by your receiver. If you are using SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS, and GAGAN) or Atlas L-Band services as your source of differential correction, make sure you choose ITRF 2008 as the coordinate system used by the Arrow:

Next, select the coordinate system of the map that you will be using:

Followed by the datum in which your published map is in.

Below you can see a typical configuration with SBAS:

US Profile (using SBAS/WAAS correction):

Note: Please confirm your published map coordinate system/datum with your GIS department.

4 – Connecting your Arrow receiver in the Map view

Click on the Menu button (top left of the screen) and select Maps:

Select the map that you will use:

When your map is displayed, Collector will create the connection (Bluetooth) with your Arrow receiver. Note that the Location cursor (top right) should be active.

The Location status icon (bottom right) would be green and if you click on it, the valuable metadata of your receiver will be shown as below:

Collector allows you to record the GNSS metadata along with the collected features. Refer to Esri’s documentation on Collector on how to setup your database for data collection.

You are now ready to collect data in the field!

5 –Troubleshooting

It could happen that the connection to the Arrow is not made correctly. This can be caused by Windows not opening the Arrow’s Bluetooth port properly.

If this happens, click on the Location cursor to deactivate the connection and go back in the Maps selection using the Menu button (top left). Select again your map and retry. You can also try to deactivate/reactivate the Location cursor while staying in the Map view. Most of the time, it fixes the issue after 2 or 3 retries.

Note: Please wait for about 5 seconds when disconnecting and reconnecting to the Arrow. That delay will allow the Bluetooth manager of your pc/tablet to close and reopen the COM port properly.