Regarding RAMS. Remote Assistance and Monitoring.
I have an 8" Winbook tablet that runs Windows 8, that only cost $125. If you put a MyFi in your back pocket, you have perfect remote control. You actually are only using the MyFi as a router, and data is not even going over the internet. It works wonderful.
My only real use of this so far was to avoid standing in knee deep water for the 10 minutes it took to get a shot in a swamp. With the LS on a bi-pod out in the water, I sat on dry land which was very nice.
My other use of the remote control involves sitting on a porch enjoying an adult beverage, instead of standing in the rain while I run tests with the LS.
Richard,
Where I work, we have a lot of fence posts that I locate by placing the receiver up on the post with no rod used at all. The LS contains extremely accurate tilt sensors that fully account for the rod height, and which the user can turn off, or leave on. If you have to lean the pole to locate something, it is possible to do it with a high degree of accuracy.
It would definitely be incorrect to assume that there has been more development work done regarding regarding topographical surveying than cadastral.
Regarding, the ability to mix and match with the DC that I use with my robot. My old data collector uses an SD card for data storage. Using a small card reader that fits in my pocket, I can save a job file, or open a job file with the LS, or my old data collector in a matter of seconds. No PC is needed. My old data collector can reduce all conventional shots to grid without any difficulties or effort. So there is seamless handling of data. The LS can read and simple text files, in addition many others.
Most importantly, you need to remember that you can get a good fix in the forest...you do not have to find a clearing.
Thanks John
I'm more than conscious my comments are from lack of even seeing one in the flesh yet alone using one.
Appreciate your comments.
I wasn't out to rubbish the device, but was speaking out what my thoughts and process would be in certain circumstances.
In a real live demo then 'my conditions' and any queries coming from such would be put to the test and answered accordingly, demonstrated in real terms through actual use.
I would love to see one in real use and particularly under forest canopy.
Is their a type of tree(s) it doesn't like? They aren't all equal in terms of denseness of leaf structure etc.
Pine trees are a problem.
Heavy deciduous with leaves is very doable, bare deciduous forest in winter is a piece of cake.
Pine, spruce and Fir trees are hit or miss, sometimes I've had to wait a while to get a usable FIX . some BIG cottonwoods are a problem if they are fully leafed
Ravelode, post: 327680, member: 9551 wrote: Pine, spruce and Fir trees are hit or miss, sometimes I've had to wait a while to get a usable FIX . some BIG cottonwoods are a problem if they are fully leafed
I can't get a fix in heavy canopy. But I've seen Matt's picture of a fix in heavy canopy and that's what I call light canopy:) Basically, if there are some holes where you can see sky you might get a fix. But it will not fix if ALL of your light is filtering through layers of leaf (or needle) canopy. And, with verify turned off and confidence level set way low, you can get a bad fix (or at least a poor position for whatever reason) under canopy. There's only so much you can do; it's still GPS.
I'm a big fan of the "Great Tripod in the sky" If there are 3 holes to sky, where the 3 legs of an inverted tripod would go, it can be gotten.
Nate
mattsib79, post: 327523, member: 1138 wrote: The data collector and receiver are all in one. There is no need to "get above the obstructions". See the picture that I posted earlier in this thread. It was a picture of my daughter using the LS at 4.0' high.
The form factor is very different but after using it, I would not want to go back to a 2 meter pole.
" There is no need to "get above the obstructions"."
Really?! You must work in a flat desert with no trees! What does your daughter do when she is in the middle of field of 7' tall dense vegetation? There are many occasions where we have to raise the receiver far above our ablity to see or reach a data collector...
I got an LS Friday. Matt S. had it up and running that morning and I did a lot survey that afternoon.
Mr BS surveying, I'm jealous!
Nate The Surveyor, post: 328127, member: 291 wrote: Mr BS surveying, I'm jealous!
Yea, I am the man now!
Not fixing like I had hoped, but its still new to me.
BS Surveying, post: 328824, member: 9461 wrote: Not fixing like I had hoped, but its still new to me.
Yes, unfortunately it's not magic yet. But what's good is that some others might say you are getting a fix when it's not a reliable one and could actually be a few to several feet off. JAVAD keeps you honest:)
BS..
When you get some time give me a call. I would love to go over a few things with you.
You can find my number on the LS by going to the Home screen, and pressing Support. Select Live Support, and you will see a list of some very useful people, and their direct phone numbers.
John Evers
Duane Frymire, post: 328947, member: 110 wrote: Yes, unfortunately it's not magic yet. But what's good is that some others might say you are getting a fix when it's not a reliable one and could actually be a few to several feet off. JAVAD keeps you honest:)
You are most likely right. I bought the LS because I was sick of getting bad shots with my yellow unit.
Duane Frymire, post: 328947, member: 110 wrote: Yes, unfortunately it's not magic yet. But what's good is that some others might say you are getting a fix when it's not a reliable one and could actually be a few to several feet off. J
I have occasionally been confused by my RTK screen (SurveCe) saying fixed but obviously differing with a previous shot on same point.
Not feet, but 200å± mm, both low PDOP, and relative error diffs.
Only to find another later shot and all good again.
Makes me wary.
Your statement probably very true and not just for colour yellow.
See them several feet off a lot!
"Will it work in the Trees?"
I hear this question a lot, and by "a lot" I mean "if I had a nickel" a lot. As in most things the answer is definitively "sometimes". I find myself, at times, amazed where GNSS will give a fixed solution (sub-decimeter 3D). And then other times I'm surprised when it will not. There are so many variables to the question that it is impossible to answer with a simple yes or no. I've found the LS to work in places I would have not thought GNSS would work. And then other times, not so much. I think a lot of it has to do with how the constellation, at the moment of observation, relates to the holes in the canopy. What may work now, might not work an hour from now and vice versa.
"Will it give a bad fix?"
I haven't found the GNSS receiver yet that can't be fooled into giving bad answers. The way to use the LS to prevent ACCEPTING a bad answer, is to use the confidence level found in Verify with V6 Resets. "Fixed" is a statistical likelihood that the integer number or cycles between the rover and the base have been correctly solved. But it is a statistical likelihood, meaning that there is a statistically small chance that it is wrong. Using Verify with V6 resets will continually repeat the process of solving those integers over and over again until the statistical likelihood of a wrong answer becomes infinitesimally small. I use a confidence level of 10 when working in canopy. This means the receiver will accrue no less than 10 independent fixes before it finishes Phase 1 of collecting a point. Next in Phase 2, it goes through a smoothing process. The positions of the independent fixes vary a bit more, but once the engines are allowed to remain fixed, the epochs becomes more consistent, the bulk of the data used to create the point come from this quieter Phase 2. All of the epochs in Phase 2 are compared to the Phase 1 coordinate. If any epochs in Phase 2 significantly disagree with the coordinates of Phase 1, they are discarded and the engines are reset. If Phase 2 continues to disagree with Phase 1 such that 30% of the epochs in Phase 2 are discarded, the whole solution is discarded and started again at Phase 1. Once Phase 2 is complete, a new "Validate" Phase resets the engines one last time and collects an additional 10 seconds of data. This provides the maximum separation in time between the first fix and the last fix, improving the likelihood that the fixes are correct. All of this is automatic. With other receivers, I would take a shot, then force a loss of fix, then record another shot. This would give me a single redundant check. I would have to inverse between the first and the second to see how they agreed. Javad does that on the fly and instead of a check, I get 10-20 checks over the course of collection.
Generally this is really only necessary in difficult environments. In the open, I generally just collect and let the 6 fixed engines provide the redundancy for me.
I hope this helps. As John said, the Live Assistance will give you contact information to people who know how to use the equipment.
Shawn Billings, post: 329063, member: 6521 wrote: Once Phase 2 is complete, a new "Validate" Phase resets the engines one last time and collects an additional 10 seconds of data
Is the Validate function active in the current release of J-Field, or is that still in beta?
I'm pretty sure it is active now, Jim. Go to the quick setup screen (bottom middle button on the "Prepare" screen or the compass and tilt button on the action screen), select Verify which takes you to the Verify Settings screen. The bottom of the screen should have a button labeled "Validate Result". There you can pick how many engines you require to be fixed before the validate procedure begins.
