Topcon Hipers on RTN

The All-Services-Activation for Port d would only be useful if your were planning to use a plug-in cellular modem like a Raven Air-link, which is an obsolete unit. So while you might purchase that option, you are almost certainly not planning to connect to the network that way, it would provide no benefit whatsoever.

The only other thing is the range restriction, which depending on the age of your unit, could be 2,500 meters or 4,000 meters. Either would be a problem for single baseline solutions.

It would still be worth paying to have that restriction removed from the OAF because you are better off to run single baseline solutions when your baseline length to the nearest station is say 10 miles or less.

> The All-Services-Activation for Port d would only be useful if your were planning to use a plug-in cellular modem like a Raven Air-link, which is an obsolete unit. So while you might purchase that option, you are almost certainly not planning to connect to the network that way, it would provide no benefit whatsoever.
>
> The only other thing is the range restriction, which depending on the age of your unit, could be 2,500 meters or 4,000 meters. Either would be a problem for single baseline solutions.
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> It would still be worth paying to have that restriction removed from the OAF because you are better off to run single baseline solutions when your baseline length to the nearest station is say 10 miles or less.

Thanks Jerry! I was talking with one of your sales associates today about it and he brought up the possibility of needing to purchase a port option to deal with the communications with the RTN, but he also said something about getting rid of the range restriction as well. He said that whatever it was it was a $1200 option. I was hoping not to have to buy it so that I could spend the money on the GLONASS upgrade.

Had wondered if this was possible yesterday myself, thanks for the post!

Depends on the type used, but network use increases the likelihood that you will run into any limits of baseline lengths that are programed into your unit.

I know this is a little off subject, but would the use a plug-in cellular modem like a Raven Air-link on a Hiper GGD be a poor setup? Or is there a way to connect through a cell phone?

> I know this is a little off subject, but would the use a plug-in cellular modem like a Raven Air-link on a Hiper GGD be a poor setup? Or is there a way to connect through a cell phone?

I now have the Topcon Hiper Lite plus working on the Florida DOT RTN. I am using it with a Carlson Surveyor+ running SurvCE 3.03 with a WiFi connection to a mobile hotspot and it does not need a cable to communicate the corrections from the RTN to the the receiver.

Other than the iPhone in my pocket providing the WiFi hotspot, here is a picture of the whole setup:

You can get around the range restriction using VRS, and I'm not sure unlocking the second port is necessary if the units have bluetooth.

WARNING ... I've recently tried to set up both a Hiper Pro and a Hiper Lite (that was nearly fully unlocked) on the FDOT RTN and I could not get it work with Survey Pro 5.4, using any settings (VRS, MAC, Nearest Single, Direct IP). There seems to be some kind of Firmware/Software conflict. The guy at the FDOT confirmed I was properly connected and getting data, but my DC kept getting hung up on a set-up screen that it's supposed to automatically move past.

I tried the same two units with Carlson SurvCE3 and they both worked fine.

I'm going to try to downgrade to an older version of Survey Pro because I had both units working on 5.01 (I think) -- but that was before the FDOT upgraded their software.

Anyway, if you have SurvCE, you should be fine, if you have Survey Pro, I'd highly recommend a demo with your DC to see if you can get it working.

EDIT ... I should have read the rest of the thread before posting ... I didn't realize this was old thread ... still, someone might find this useful.

We used an Airlink Raven for years. They were fine but they added weight to the pole and the cord stuck out of the face of Hiper and over the years a couple bumps and drops by the crews damaged both the expensive cords and the port. They also required the purchase of a static IP per unit with is an outdated concept and I'm not sure is even available anymore.

It's real easy if your DC has Wifi and you have a portable Wifi hotspot.

Yes, getting the RTN setup up and running was my excuse to get a new data collector. I had a TDS Recon running Survey Pro 4.5. No can do on that one (no WiFi support). I have only done some testing with it so far. Haven't used it on a real job yet. I tried one day and it wasn't working at all. I found out the nearby CORS station was down (FDOT is not real good about communicating that info.), so that may have been the problem.

Is it survey pro 4.5 that doesn't have wi-fi support or the data collector you were using? I'm on survey pro 4.7.1, trying to get on the FPRN network myself, but having problems finding the wi-fi option in the reciver settings... starting to wonder if my version has no wifi support.

> Is it survey pro 4.5 that doesn't have wi-fi support or the data collector you were using? I'm on survey pro 4.7.1, trying to get on the FPRN network myself, but having problems finding the wi-fi option in the receiver settings... starting to wonder if my version has no wifi support.

Are you also using a Hiper? The original Hipers themselves doesn't have on-board wifi. You have to use a DC that has Wifi, and connect the DC to your mobile hotspot. Then you use the "Internal Internet" setting on Survey Pro, and enter the IP and Port data for your connection, to get access to the FPRN.

I eventually got a Nomad with Wifi, Carlson SurvCE, and I use a cellular hotspot. I still occasionally try to get my Ranger/Survey Pro 5/Hiper Pro doing on the FPRN, but it still doesn't work. For some reason, SurvCE works for me, Survey Pro does not.

I've got a Hiper+, but yeah I've got wifi on my data collector with my cell phone as a hotspot. It's looking like the older versions of survey pro don't support wifi connections, only bluetooth... I'm just hoping I can get someone to verify that as I don't see it mentioned in the users manual.

> I've got a Hiper+, but yeah I've got wifi on my data collector with my cell phone as a hotspot. It's looking like the older versions of survey pro don't support wifi connections, only bluetooth... I'm just hoping I can get someone to verify that as I don't see it mentioned in the users manual.

You are making a Wifi connection from the DC to your hotspot AND a bluetooth connection from the DC to the Hiper. But, you won't find the WiFi setting within survey pro (even in version 5). To get the Wifi connection started, close out of the Survey Pro, and go in the windows settings, activate your Wifi, and connect to your hotspot. Then, when you go back into Survey Pro, the Wifi Connection between the DC and the Hotspot will remain active. Then you activate the bluetooth connection between the DC and the GPS, select internal internet, set your IP and port, and you should be good to go.

I ended up getting a Carlson Surveyor+ with SurvCE with my cell phone as my mobile hotspot. With that the FDOT RTN works for me about half the time depending on how the base stations are doing around me. The Leesburg station has been down for quite awhile which curtails my RTN activities.

I can't seem to find the "internal internet" option anywhere, I'm thinking that's on the 5.0+ versions of survey pro. I uploaded some screen shots of my data collector showing all the receiver options I have available, if you care to take a look. http://imgur.com/a/3DSMD

My bad, it's "Current Internet", not "Internal Internal". In your third pic, where it says "Dial-Up Connection", use that pull down menu and select "Current Internet".

Hmm, the drop down menu for that is blank, no items to choose from. It seems odd that it would have it under dial up connection when it's not dial up. Clicking "manage connections" under dial up connection asks me to add a modem, VPN server, or proxy. Neither of those options appear to be what I'm looking for either unfortunately.

Yeah, but that's where it is for me.

If that's not an option for your version, I guess we can assume it's not needed. I see you left your IP/Port blank.

This IP/Port a pretty generic setting that should pull up several different NTRIP options. BTW, to try this, I think you should also set your Rover type to NTRIP, if that's an option, since I see you have it as VRS-non NTRIP.

If it works, you should get something that looks like this, with about a dozen different options (VRS, MAC, CRM, RTCM2.3 or 3.0, etc.)... you'll have to know the username/password that you registered with the FPRN.

This is where TDS hangs on me every time. It goes to the next screen and just stays there saying "Waiting for base position .... " I can't get past that point. If you do, let me know ... works fine with SurvCE, though.

It gives me an error message requiring me to select a modem when I only put in the IP/Port. I'm thinking I have to select something under "dial up connection" as in your case, problem is there ain't nothing to select.

I went ahead and email spectra tech support to see if they might know what's up. Thanks for all your help, I'll be sure and update the thread if I hear anything back from spectra.