Magnet Field vs. Pocket3d – Different Elevations with Identical Localization
I have been using Magnet Field for about a year now and we have experienced a grade bust with Magnet software when comparing to our foremans Pocket3d software. For some background info:
We give all our foremen a GR3/GR5 base/rover setup that they use on a daily basis on their sites. These bases are setup and localized using survey control, usually provided by the GC we are working for or the hired surveying firm. They are all using Pocket3d, thus we localize all our projects in this software as well. This also makes importing the .gc3 file into our machine control dozers/graders an easy process. Once we localize using the aforementioned process, I import that .gc3 file into my Magnet Field software. I use either a GR5 or a HiPer VR and connect to the foreman’s base on site. We check grade on control points that are part of the localization.
After having issues with an elevation difference between softwares before, I spoke with Topcon Support and they told me to change a few settings in my survey configuration within magnet including; legacy mode in the localization screen, transmit as if zero offset antenna, and use relative calibrations. Unfortunately these settings have yet to provide any remedy to the problem.
This past week I marked a road to be milled with cut/fill values only to have the foreman come behind me and tell me he was shooting .10-.15 lower on all my spots. I checked to ensure we were using the same surface and localization and made sure the appropriate settings were on in my config. AFter this happened, I setup some points at our office and did a localization with pocket3d AND Magnet Field both, also alternating between using a GR5 as a base/rover and a HiPer VR as a base/rover. Unfortunately, I still got the same results regardless of the receiver combination. Localizing in magnet field and importing to Pocket3d (as a legacy localization) still provided the same results.
I have spoken to everyone I know of that could help with this issues and the most common answer I’m getting is that Topcon really doesn’t know how to fix this issue and their only solution at the moment (after the above mentioned suggestions didn’t work) is to change the rod height accordingly to match the grades we are getting in Pocket3d.
If anyone has any experience with this issue or has any guidance I would greatly appreciate it.
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