Activate a receiver for Ditch Assist Lite

Ditch Assist® Lite is licensed per receiver. Each Emlid Reach gets its own unlock code, made for that receiver's serial number. You type it in once. The tablet checks it without internet, and it never expires.

Until a receiver is activated, the app treats it as a plain GPS. You can record surveys, but guidance and contours stay locked.

It takes three parts:

1. On the tablet: the app reads the receiver and shows a request code.
2. On your phone: you scan the code and email it to us.
3. On the tablet again: you type the 10-digit code from our reply.

Before you start

• The app is in Lite mode: an orange LITE MODE banner across the Home screen (Switch to Ditch Assist Lite)
• The Reach is switched on, and has been for a minute or two
• The tablet is on the Reach's own Wi-Fi network, with Location switched on (Join the Reach hotspot)
• A phone with a camera and email. No phone? Any email account works: see No phone handy?
• The simulator is off. If you were practising with Simulate, disconnect it first (how)

Time: about 5 minutes on the tablet, plus the wait for our email reply.

Part 1, on the tablet: get the request code

Tap Settings

Look at the column of big buttons down the right-hand side of the screen. Settings is the fourth one down, with a gear icon. Tap it.

The Settings screen opens.

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Tap Activate a receiver

Near the top of Settings is a box called Ditch Assist Lite, right under Mode. In that box, tap Activate a receiver. It's bottom left in the box: green letters with a small QR-code icon.

A window opens called Activate Ditch Assist Lite.

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The same window also opens from the Activate button in Pre-Flight Checks. It opens by itself when you tap Start on the Grade screen, or try to make or follow contours, with a receiver that isn't activated yet.

Tap Connect

The window says Connect to the Reach first: join its WiFi hotspot (password emlidreach), then tap Connect. Tap the green Connect button under that line.

Is the Reach already connected, for example from a workflow? Then the window skips this and shows the request code straight away. Go to step 5.

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Wait a few seconds

The button changes to Connecting… while the app reads the receiver's serial number over its Wi-Fi.

That's all activation needs. It works even on a Reach that isn't sending its position to the tablet yet.

A red line appears instead? It says what's wrong, for example Tablet isn't on a Reach hotspot…. See If you get a red message.

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Check the receiver's name

You should see the receiver at the top of the window: its type and the last 4 characters of its serial number, for example Reach RS3 · …C777. The code we send back works on this receiver only.

Under it: Step 1 with a square QR code and the Request code, then Step 2 with an empty box for the unlock code. Leave the window open.

The QR code and request code are blurred in our pictures. On your tablet the QR code is a sharp black-and-white square.

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Part 2, on your phone: send the request code

The tablet has no internet while it's on the Reach's Wi-Fi, so the request goes from your phone. Leave the activation window open on the tablet.

1. Open your phone's camera

   Use the normal camera, the one you take photos with. Point it at the QR code on the tablet, as if you were taking a picture of it. You don't need to press the shutter button.

2. Tap the link that pops up

   After a second or two, a small banner or button appears on the phone's screen. It often shows an envelope or sales@ditchassist.com. Tap it.

   Nothing pops up? Hold the phone a little further back and keep it still. Still nothing: send the code from the tablet instead (No phone handy?).

3. Tap Send

   Your phone's email app opens a new email that is already filled in. Don't change anything. Tap Send. On most phones it's an arrow at the top right of the email.

   To: sales@ditchassist.com

   Subject: Ditch Assist Lite activation

   Ditch Assist Lite activation request
   Request code: DAI-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX
   Receiver: Reach RS3
   App: v1.5.4 (2026-10-15)

4. Wait for our reply

   We reply by email with the unlock code for that receiver. It looks like this:

   From: sales@ditchassist.com

   Subject: Ditch Assist Lite activation code

   Hi Pat,

   Your Ditch Assist Lite activation code for Reach RS3 serial XXXXXXXXXXXXC777 1 is: 1234567890 2.

   On the tablet: Settings → Ditch Assist Lite → Activate, enter the code and tap Activate.

   The code is tied to this receiver and never expires.

   Ditch Assist support · sales@ditchassist.com

   If the app read the receiver before its serial number was ready, the email names a Wi-Fi id instead of a serial, for example (Wi-Fi id XX:XX:XX:XX:C6:98). That's fine: it matches the receiver's row in the app that ends with the same characters (see the activated receivers list).

   The email says Settings → Ditch Assist Lite → Activate. On the tablet that button is called Activate a receiver. Part 3 below shows every tap.

   Keep this email. The same code activates this receiver again on a new tablet, or after the app is reinstalled.

   You can tap Close on the tablet while you wait. The request code stays the same for that receiver.

No phone handy? Copy the request code

You can send the request code from the tablet, or from any email account.

1. Tap Copy

   In the activation window, Copy sits at the right-hand end of the Request code line, right under the QR code. Tap it.

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2. Check it says Copied

   Android shows its own small notice first. Then Copied appears in a black bar along the bottom of the screen. The request code is now on the tablet's clipboard, ready to paste.

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3. Switch the tablet to Wi-Fi with internet

   The Reach's Wi-Fi has no internet. Join your shop or house Wi-Fi, or a phone hotspot. How: Change the Wi-Fi network.

4. Start a new email to sales@ditchassist.com

   Open your email app. Write Ditch Assist Lite activation as the subject.

5. Paste the request code

   Press and hold your finger in the message area until Paste appears, then tap Paste (press and hold). Add the receiver type, RS3 or RS4.

6. Tap Send

   Then join the Reach's Wi-Fi again (Join the Reach hotspot). Our reply comes the same way as above.

Part 3, on the tablet: type in your code

Have our reply open on your phone. The tablet must be on the Reach's Wi-Fi.

Open the activation window again

Still open on the tablet? Go to the next step.

Closed it? Open it the same way as before: Part 1, steps 1 to 3. The button that reopens it is Activate a receiver in the Ditch Assist Lite box in Settings. The window shows the same request code, with an empty box under Step 2.

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Tap the box under Step 2

It's the white box with grey 0000000000 in it, at the bottom left of the window. The heading above it reads Step 2 — Enter the 10-digit unlock code we send back.

A keyboard with number keys slides up from the bottom of the screen. New to typing on the tablet? See Typing and hiding the keyboard.

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Type the 10 digits from the email

Type them exactly as they are in the email. The box takes numbers only, no spaces.

The Activate button beside the box stays grey until all ten digits are in, so a half-typed code can't count as a wrong try. After the tenth digit it turns green.

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Tap Activate

Tap the green Activate button, right next to the box. The tablet checks the code itself; it doesn't need internet.

If the code is right, a green message runs along the bottom of the screen: Ditch Assist Lite activated for Reach RS3 · …C777. The window closes by itself.

A red line under the box instead? See If the code is rejected.

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Check the receiver is listed

Go to the Settings screen if you aren't there already (step 1 of Part 1). Look in the Ditch Assist Lite box, under Activated receivers. You should now see your receiver with a green tick, its type, the last 4 characters of its serial number and today's date.

For example: Reach RS3 · …C777 · 2026-10-17.

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Tap Pre-Flight Checks

It's the orange button at the bottom of the column down the right-hand side of the screen, with a checklist icon. A window called Pre-Flight Checks opens.

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Check it says Lite active

The top row, Controller, now reads Emlid Reach RS3 · Lite active with a green tick. The ONLINE label at the top is green, and there is no Activate button any more.

When you're done, close the window with the X in its top right corner.

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Straight after activating, some tablets show a window called Your tablet may drop this Wi-Fi. Tap Open Wi-Fi settings and turn off Switch to better Wi-Fi networks. What it means.

If the code is rejected

A wrong code makes the tablet vibrate. A red line appears under the box: That code doesn't match this receiver. Codes are issued per receiver. Nothing is broken, and the receiver is fine.

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Work through these in order:

1. Check each digit

   Compare the box with the email, one digit at a time. Two digits swapped round is the usual mistake. To fix it, tap in the box and use the delete key on the keyboard. The red line goes away as soon as you change a digit.

2. Check it's the right receiver

   Look at the top of the window, for example Reach RS3 · …C777. The serial number in the email must end with the same 4 characters. If it doesn't, the code was made for a different receiver and won't ever work on this one.

3. Ask for a code for this receiver

   Send us this receiver's request code: scan its QR code again (Part 2). Don't keep retrying the old code.

4. Stop after a couple of tries

   After 5 wrong codes the app makes you wait: Too many attempts — try again in 60 s. Each wrong code after that doubles the wait, up to an hour. See Wrong codes and the lockout.

Right digits, right receiver, and still refused? Call Ditch Assist support on 1-833-DITCH-AS or email support@ditchassist.com. Have the request code from the screen ready.

What a licence unlocks

LiDAR & Mapping unlocks once per tablet, by connecting to a control module, a DIG module, or an activated Ditch Assist Lite receiver. The simulator doesn't unlock it.

One code per receiver

• The code belongs to the receiver, not the tablet. A code made for one Reach won't work on another. A second receiver needs its own licence.
• New tablet, or the app reinstalled: connect to the receiver and type the same code again. That's why you keep the email.
• Several receivers on one tablet: activate each one. They all show in the list.
• Moving the receiver to another machine: nothing to do. The licence goes with the receiver.

The activated receivers list

In Settings, the Ditch Assist Lite box lists every receiver activated on this tablet, under Activated receivers. Each row shows the receiver's type, the last 4 characters of its serial number, and the date it was activated.

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To take a receiver off this tablet, tap the red Remove at the end of its row. The app asks Remove this receiver?: Ditch Assist Lite will stop working with Reach RS3 · …C777 until its unlock code is entered again. Tap Remove to confirm, or Cancel. The same code activates it again later.

A receiver whose licence has been withdrawn shows a crossed-out circle instead of the tick, and Revoked at the end of its row. It no longer gives guidance.

Sometimes the app reads a receiver before its serial number is available, because the Reach was still starting up. That row shows the last 5 characters of the receiver's Wi-Fi address instead, for example …C6:98. It still works.

Wrong codes and the lockout

A wrong code makes the tablet vibrate and shows That code doesn't match this receiver. Codes are issued per receiver. The red line clears as soon as you start correcting the digits.

After 5 wrong codes the app stops taking codes for a while: Too many attempts — try again in 60 s. Each wrong code after that doubles the wait (2 minutes, 4, 8…), up to an hour. The countdown ticks down on screen, and it carries on even if you close and reopen the app. A correct code resets the count.

If you get a red message

When the window can't read the receiver, a red line at the bottom says why. Fix the cause, then tap Connect again.

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Still stuck? See Fix Ditch Assist Lite problems, or contact Ditch Assist support with the request code from the screen.