hi, I have found that the radio link gets disrupted when up against tall trees/vegetation and was exploring the idea of using an external antenna on a backpack to get a little closer to the ground features I want to topo (like trees). Does someone have experience using an external antenna with the rover for this purpose? I often use the sun shot option to offset the features but wasn't sure if the external antenna might help these obstructed locations.
If you are referring to the UHF antenna, then yes, it is possible. In fact, older units required external UHF antennas. I run an external whip antenna with my Leica kit when mounted on our UTV.
We have found it in our interest to bring a whip antenna with 25' of cable to most jobs. It is not often used, but it sure can save a lot of time when working the the edges of reception with low topo features.
The R8 antenna connection is compatible with the SMA connector for the whip antenna cable kit.
I used to attach the whip antenna + mast to R8 bases quite a lot. Never did it with the rover personally, but it will definitely work.
If you are working around heavy vegetation, do yourself one big favour and get a modern receiver
Some the new kit out there is a whole generation better than an R-8 - and it shows up especially with canopy
They really are that much better
Yes, when I used even a R10-1 in the trees with a R8-2 base I’d sometimes spend 10-15 minutes waiting to get a good enough fix and sometimes the elevation would be off 5 to 10 feet. Now with R12i rover and R780 base, it takes about 5 seconds. But new receivers won’t change radio reception problems.
Thanks for the feedback on this. Yeah I’m using the R8. So I’ll try using a zephyr antenna with gnss on rover range pole. One day I’ll be able to upgrade to the newer versions.
Long ago I noticed that my body could block the radio connection if I stood in the way, so I had a metal clip made that fit on top of the rover rod, just under the Leica dome. Voila - much better radio reception.
