I guess what I'm suggesting is put up or shut up...
No China Junk on my equip List
Good old made in the USA or Canada
Setch Equipment LIst
DC
2 New Carlson Surveyor Plus
Carlson SurvCE Ver 3.02
Carlson SurvCE Ver 3.02
Robot
Leica TS12
Type TS12 P 2" R400
S.N. 269895
Art No. 791307
Equipment No. 4944492
GPS
Sokkia Gsr1700Csx RTK L1 Two rovers, One base
post process soft Spectrum Ver 4.21 L1 dongle
Satel 3ASd 1 watt, Stubby, 15cm, 30 cm GainFlex.
Computer
Xi Computer S/N: 037019
Intel Core i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHZ
Mem 16.0 GB
Win 7 64.0 Bit
Autodesk C3D 2013 subscription Service pack 1
AVG Antivirus
HP 111 Roll feed 24" plotter.
Hello Shawn
Budget shopper these china GPS units are available at the check out
till at wall mart. Yes self check out in case some one see you buying
one of these pigs.
Yes i have two ford pick ups in the driveway and a Polaris quad
Have a nice day day.
PK
The X-90 sounds very tempting. They are geared toward OPUS and I bet that they do that well. My question is- how well does a pair function for a static baseline? What post processing software do you all recommend?
If I were to get one, I would definitely like the scalability to add several units to measure static.
It seems to be a no-brainer that it will do it, but no one has mentioned it yet.
Mark,
I have post processed my X90 receiver and my Topcon Hiper base unit. I used the Topcon Hiper as the base, and processed the X90 as the "rover", and the results matched the OPUS solutions within a few hundreths, both horizontally and vertically.
I use both Topcon Tools, and GNSS Solutions. I have a full version of Topcon Tools, that allows for L1/L2 processing. I also have the free version of GNSS Solutions, that allows for L1 processing. That was my main processing software until just a few months ago when I was able to obtain a copy of Topcon Tools from a fellow surveyor that was retiring.
I plan on adding another X90 receiver to my toolbox in the very near future. I am used to having 4 receivers for control work. I recently sold my 2 Promark3 units, and upgraded to the X90 receiver, and will add the second X90 receiver to get back up to 4 receivers.
> Is your opinion about this "junk" based on actual usage?
I think we'll take that as a no then.
I can appreciate your desire to support American products/jobs. The X90 is manufactured in China. If that's a problem for some, as it appears to be with you, then there are certainly alternatives. However, the X90 is fully operational, and it isn't heavy. Bulky perhaps as compared to other receivers, but not heavy. (I'm pretty sure it would float).
You might have communicated your point better to have just said something to the effect of, "This device is made in China and I don't like to support the Chinese economy." This would not be debatable. However you didn't say this, you said it was "junk" even though, quite clearly, you have no experience with it to make this determination. We would refer to this as an ad hominem attack as it is based on prejudice rather than fact.
I won't go into the sourcing of all of your products, but to be quite honest, we live in a global market. American made products have components from all over the world. Even this Chinese X90 has components sourced from an American company (one of those big corporations you favor so much).
Again, I don't take issue with your patriotism, but I do take issue with your unsupported (unsupportable) claim that these are boat anchors and junk.
Jimmy,
That is exactly the kind of info I am looking for. Thanks!!
My only experience with GPS is on a boat and using survey control by others that was all screwed up. But maybe I should get into it now. Mostly I do very small jobs in an area with dense vegetation and steep hills, but I think I have a significant highway project coming up soon.
Couple of questions.
Does this use a data collector? Or just plug into an office computer to download data, then send to NGS for corrections based on a CORS station?
There is a CORS about 5 to 15 miles from where I work and others 40 miles away. Is that acceptable? Will accuracy be degraded by that distance?
Are there other similarly priced units now or known to be coming out soon?
I have always liked the way my old Ashtech receivers from Z-12s through Z-Surveyors and Z-Extremes will do the OPUS but also true kinematic and start/stop which allows me to collect twenty, thirty points or more in one file and do a batch process. Can these X-90s be used in such a way or are they limited to static?
Another thought.... I wonder how many of these boxes will still be around and functioning at a high level in two decades or longer?
I guess I am confused?
- Sokkia is made in Japan
- Leica is made in Switzerland
- HP laptop made in China
- HP printer made in China
- AVG Antivirus is Czech
- Satel radios are made in Finland
I too have a Ford pickup, it was made in Canada. But they seem to have done a great job.
Just saying, I don't get this example.
M
Thank you for your repley
The Sokkia GSR1700CSX have a super tough magnesium housing and titanium bottom mount
and a very clever Lithium battery port. the GSR 1700 CSX Form factor is Spot on weight and Size
And daily yes daily i beat the GSR1700CSX to the point that it will just not stop working in fact the unit over 3 years
have only been in the shop once for a firm wear upgrade i am disappointed that the 1700s have been so reliable.
Should the GSR1700CSX will stop I would get a Topcon SR an possibly a Leica with a receive only UHF Board
so the battle is between Topcon OR Leica.
Next
The The XI desk top is built in California i have no toy Lap top.
Sokia GSR 1700 CSX perfect unit with a NOVATEL GPS board inside from Canada EH.
Yes HP Has sold ther sole to China so thats there curse.
Well Finland anybody who lives that far north of Alaska needs a warm hug...
In summary these are not junk Country's like CHINA eh
PK
Mark I posted this below and it probably escaped your attention, so I copied it here.
"I have always liked the way my old Ashtech receivers from Z-12s through Z-Surveyors and Z-Extremes will do the OPUS but also true kinematic and start/stop which allows me to collect twenty, thirty points or more in one file and do a batch process. Can these X-90s be used in such a way or are they limited to static?"
Could you enlighten?
BTW.. I thoroughly enjoyed your write up on the RTK pirates. It seems to me it is a huge "ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM" issue. Surprised no one has even mentioned it.:-S Maybe hitting too close to home??
Sorry dude,
The majority of the electronics you own is made in China, including the XI desktop monitor, motherboard, power supply. They may assemble in California, but that's only the paint job.
What about your TV? Stereo? Mobile phone? Router? China, China, China, China, maybe Korea.
You can't escape the reach of Mao if you want to be plugged in.
> Thank you for your repley
>
> The Sokkia GSR1700CSX have a super tough magnesium housing and titanium bottom mount
> and a very clever Lithium battery port. the GSR 1700 CSX Form factor is Spot on weight and Size
> And daily yes daily i beat the GSR1700CSX to the point that it will just not stop working in fact the unit over 3 years
> have only been in the shop once for a firm wear upgrade i am disappointed that the 1700s have been so reliable.
>
> Should the GSR1700CSX will stop I would get a Topcon SR an possibly a Leica with a receive only UHF Board
> so the battle is between Topcon OR Leica.
>
> Next
>
> The The XI desk top is built in California i have no toy Lap top.
>
> Sokia GSR 1700 CSX perfect unit with a NOVATEL GPS board inside from Canada EH.
>
> Yes HP Has sold ther sole to China so thats there curse.
>
> Well Finland anybody who lives that far north of Alaska needs a warm hug...
>
> In summary these are not junk Country's like CHINA eh
>
> PK
HP sold their sole, huh?
You're very angry at China. So angry it has affected your writing abilities.
You have a very impressive equipment line-up, though, I'll give you that. I, however, am a two-man operation trying to eek out a living in a poor economy in a depressed area. I drive a twenty year old Jeep. My dad started out with a rock on a string for a plumb bob and an old piece of pipe for a transit. I thought I was doing pretty good until you came along and made me feel like some low-class Walmart shopper (no offense Walmart shoppers). I must look pretty small from up there on your high horse. C'mon down off your soap box and work around a real American: I'm achieving my dream without having to brow-beat anyone along the way.
Wait...
What?
I'm having a hard time hearing you over the rattle of all the coin I saved.
Picked one up from Mark last Friday. I plan my first project for saturday. Very easy to use, matches up great with my L1 Sokkia Stratus.:-)
I really enjoyed Shawn Billing's review in American Surveyor on these units. Pretty amazing. Is it true they will only track a maximum of 6 satellites at a time?
Dave Ryan,
Arcata, Ca.
No.
I believe that its 12 satellites.
Loyal
I understand the snob appeal of the 20k units but what I don't understand is why someone would be so foolish as to spend 20k on something they could get for under 2k. I suppose if I were marching up and down an interstate project the maybe the 20k unit would be a necessary evil.
I too had a problem with it being made (or assembled) in China, but after talking with the folks at iGage I decided that these folks were not going to steer me in the wrong direction and I bought 2 units. Haven't had them long enough to give an expansive review, but what I have seen so far is quality...not junk.
By the way...I buy my field clothes at Walmart, can't afford LL Bean.
A bit of food for thought...or question...when someone can bid on a job for half the fee you want for the same job, there is a reason for that. I work out of my home because the economy crushed our industry. That being said I can do the work for a lot less than the guy with the crystal palace and the 20k GPS unit. Think about that.
> I don't understand is why someone would be so foolish as to spend 20k on something they could get for under 2k.
The price point for dual-frequency static receivers is rapidly changing, witness the X-90 and the Triumph-2. The days of $20k static boxes is gone.