Where do I get RTK corrections without paying a subscription?
Three paths, in order of how much they depend on somebody else: your state's real-time network if it has one and will have you, a community caster, or your own base station for about $300 once. The trap to avoid is assuming the national CORS archive will do it — it covers the whole country and it cannot steer a tractor, because it is a post-processing archive rather than a live stream.
What actually works
About twenty states run one. Free where it exists — but many restrict accounts to agencies, surveyors and contractors on public work. Ask in writing.
Free, if you qualifyThe sovereign answer. ~$300, once, and nobody can change the terms on you afterwards.
~$300, onceThe NOAA/NGS CORS archive tells you with great precision where you *were*. Live guidance needs a correction stream arriving now. Confusing the two is the most common wasted weekend on this subject.
Any internet-delivered correction needs working data where the tractor is, which is its own problem on most ground worth farming. A base station with a radio link sidesteps it; a cellular NTRIP stream does not.
Run the numbers
- Autosteer: dealer quote vs. built yourself → — free calculator, works offline.
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