With the untimely and sudden death of my Allegro CX, I needed to get a replacement quick, so I bought a Carlson Surveyor+, a discontinued model that they're clearing out. I took delivery on Thursday, but have had very little time to check it out. It has a built-in bluetooth radio, but in my very brief testing this afternoon I wasn't able to get more than about 100 feet of range with it. For tomorrow's work I'll be using the Parani out of my Allegro via an absurdly kludgy lash-up (think Beverly Hillbillies). Unless I'm doing something wrong with the internal BT -- which has no external antenna -- I'll have to come up with a more elegant means of mechanically pairing the Surveyor+ and the Parani. (I already have some parts on order toward that end, as the temporary solution I'll be using tomorrow won't last long in normal field use.)
Regarding batteries, my Surveyor+ came with only one, though there's room for another in the battery compartment. Nosing around the web suggests that they're both hard to find and expensive -- $80 is the lowest price I've seen, and I found only a few vendors that carry them. Did Juniper Systems (makers of the Surveyor+, which is a rebranded TK6000 near as I can tell) really create a unique battery form factor for a device that only lasted a few years on the market before being superseded?
Jim Frame, post: 322045, member: 10 wrote: With the untimely and sudden death of my Allegro CX, I needed to get a replacement quick, so I bought a Carlson Surveyor+, a discontinued model that they're clearing out. I took delivery on Thursday, but have had very little time to check it out. It has a built-in bluetooth radio, but in my very brief testing this afternoon I wasn't able to get more than about 100 feet of range with it. For tomorrow's work I'll be using the Parani out of my Allegro via an absurdly kludgy lash-up (think Beverly Hillbillies). Unless I'm doing something wrong with the internal BT -- which has no external antenna -- I'll have to come up with a more elegant means of mechanically pairing the Surveyor+ and the Parani. (I already have some parts on order toward that end, as the temporary solution I'll be using tomorrow won't last long in normal field use.)
Regarding batteries, my Surveyor+ came with only one, though there's room for another in the battery compartment. Nosing around the web suggests that they're both hard to find and expensive -- $80 is the lowest price I've seen, and I found only a few vendors that carry them. Did Juniper Systems (makers of the Surveyor+, which is a rebranded TK6000 near as I can tell) really create a unique battery form factor for a device that only lasted a few years on the market before being superseded?
What is the model of the Parani radio you're wanting to use at the instrument?
As for the form-factor of the battery of the Carlson Surveyor+ (aka Juniper TK-6000), it is a Li-Ion battery that has been used in both the Surveyor+ and MINI (Juniper Archer) products since circa 2009. Carlson specified a Li-Ion battery for the Surveyor+ collector as a means to give the device better performance over the NiMH battery(ies) used by the Allegro line. As battery technology evolves, it's a fair statement the footprint and price-point of the battery solution(s) will also continue to evolve. Having said this, spare batteries for the Surveyor+ are still available through Carlson-authorized dealers (cite p/n: 6100.217.000) and I've found them to be very good performers.
I dont think the Carlson Surveyor + has a very long bluetooth range. When I use it to turn on the base GPS, I just walk about 20 feet or so with the rover and then turn it on with the same data collector, and it never picks up the base station's bluetooth. When we use the Surveyor + with a one man crew running a robotic total station we connect the data collector with bluettooth to the total station remote connection device and let that talk to the total station.
I have found the batteries to last years, I would get a spare it should run the data collector all day. I think it was about 100 from Haynes last time I brought one.
We get about 300-400' from our Leica 1200 to our Surveyor+
dmyhill, post: 322139, member: 1137 wrote: We get about 300-400' from our Leica 1200 to our Surveyor+
Maybe it is my GPS Unit that has the short range bluetooth.
Ladd Nelson, post: 322129, member: 307 wrote: What is the model of the Parani radio you're wanting to use at the instrument?
I have SD1000 units at both ends, both with 5dBi antennas. I routinely get 1200 feet with them, and have gone as far as 1900, though I noticed some slowdown in throughput at that distance. With a directional antenna at the gun I've gotten half a mile.
Jim Frame, post: 322148, member: 10 wrote: I have SD1000 units at both ends, both with 5dBi antennas.
You should be able to use the http://www.senaindustrial.com/support/downloads/#parani_software&apos ;">ParaniWin application to pair a SD1000 with the Surveyor+ as discussed in http://update.carlsonsw.com/kbase_attach/857/DataCollector_Parani_Quickstart.pdf&apos ;">Carlson Knowledgebase Article 857 or holistically in this http://www.sena.com/download/manual/manual_parani_sd1000-v1.0.1.pdf&apos ;">Parani-SD1000 User Guide. Otherwise, since you already have a pair of SD1000 units, you should be able to continue to use them via the COM1 or COM2 port on top of the Surveyor+.
Hayes has the backup battery for under $100.
http://www.hayesinstrument.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=2518
I'm pretty sure this is the same USB parani long range Bluetooth I have (around $100)
http://www.kanda.com/products/Sena/PARANI-SD1000U.html
It says 300m, but I think I've taken it out 1200' or so with no problem.
Ladd Nelson, post: 322183, member: 307 wrote: You should be able to use the http://www.senaindustrial.com/support/downloads/#parani_software&apos ;">ParaniWin application to pair a SD1000 with the Surveyor+
I had no trouble pairing the Parani with the native Surveyor+ BT, I just couldn't get any useful range out of it. In desperate straights, I kludged a temporary solution in order to get some work done, bolting the Parani directly to the COM1 port:
That wasn't so bad, although it's a fragile setup and definitely will be altered when I get parts and time. What really makes it an ugly rig is the power solution: 
Eventually I'll run the radio off the COM port, which has +5v on pin 4 according to Juniper documentation. But for now it's AA bats and bungee cords.
i just got a surveyor+... my experience with my sokkia cx 105 - i can walk at least 200' behind a house and it's still connected with b/t.
i was lucky to get 4 batts... you will want to always unplug and turn off the unit while exchanging batts - otherwise it'll indicate low charge and you have to 'reset' the battery.
after this while - about 5mo- the screen seems like the touchscreen needs to be recalibrated (easy).
i like it so far. i have the gps module and only thing i wish it had is an updated gsm modem - seems like it doesn't want to work as good as a hot spot but i think it's because it's old tech... but still i think it should work better.
how much did you pay for that surveyor+ ?
Jim Frame, post: 322045, member: 10 wrote: With the untimely and sudden death of my Allegro CX, I needed to get a replacement quick, so I bought a Carlson Surveyor+, a discontinued model that they're clearing out. I took delivery on Thursday, but have had very little time to check it out. It has a built-in bluetooth radio, but in my very brief testing this afternoon I wasn't able to get more than about 100 feet of range with it. For tomorrow's work I'll be using the Parani out of my Allegro via an absurdly kludgy lash-up (think Beverly Hillbillies). Unless I'm doing something wrong with the internal BT -- which has no external antenna -- I'll have to come up with a more elegant means of mechanically pairing the Surveyor+ and the Parani. (I already have some parts on order toward that end, as the temporary solution I'll be using tomorrow won't last long in normal field use.)
Regarding batteries, my Surveyor+ came with only one, though there's room for another in the battery compartment. Nosing around the web suggests that they're both hard to find and expensive -- $80 is the lowest price I've seen, and I found only a few vendors that carry them. Did Juniper Systems (makers of the Surveyor+, which is a rebranded TK6000 near as I can tell) really create a unique battery form factor for a device that only lasted a few years on the market before being superseded?
Jim
I hate to say it but you probably should have just paid more for the newer Surveyor 2 with the internal
class 1.5 bluetooth and gotten away from the external parani's .
I have heard that that Surveyor+ can get out to 500-700' with the internal class 2 bluetooth.
I have a Getac 336 with internal class 2 bluetooth that will reach 700' to a SD1000 with a stub antenna.
I have the class 1 bluetooth cap that I use and have not been able to reach it's limit yet. I can get out to
1000-1200' with a stub antenna on a sd1000.
Is it too late to return it and upgrade to Surveyor 2 ?
I needed something ASAP -- I had them overnight it to me -- so waiting for a Surveyor2 wasn't an option. (All the vendors I contacted told me that the Surveyor2s were on backorder, with no certain delivery date.) The Surveyor+ was $2500 including the SurvCE license, so a good enough deal considering that I'm working again. I have some projects that just can't wait, so even if I threw the Surveyor+ away after completing them, I come out ahead!
2500 is a good deal especially with the license included.
Maybe before long they will have a trade in program you can take advantage of.
Been too long to have the class 1 bluetooth integrated into collector I think.
Hopefully all new collectors will have the class 1 from the get go.
I would think you would be able to get 5-600' in line of sight with a 3 dbi antenna
on a sd1000 on the instrument.
Jim Frame, post: 322310, member: 10 wrote: I needed something ASAP -- I had them overnight it to me -- so waiting for a Surveyor2 wasn't an option. The Surveyor+ was $2500 including the SurvCE license, so a good enough deal considering that I'm working again. I have some projects that just can't wait, so even if I threw the Surveyor+ away after completing them, I come out ahead!
If you go ahead and invest in what you really need to operate, the residual amount of equipment left over will probably be among those items on someone's want list.
You can still load your SurvCE onto the unit that will serve you best.
B-)
The manual for the Juniper TK6000 (aka the Surveyor+) states that the module is Class 1 and specifies a range of up to 75 meters. With my Sokkia SRX3, it seems I had trouble connecting at a distance of as little as 100 feet. That said, if I'm using my total station robotically, I pair the Surveyor+ to the RC-PR3 remote controller, and let the RC-PR3 talk to the instrument. That connection is specified (by Sokkia) as useable at distances of up to 300 meters. Where I see a longer range as beneficial is when I'm running the robot conventionally, i.e. 2 man party. If I'm at the instrument, and the rod man is tied up on something, I can walk around with the prism pole and take shots in the meantime, without having to walk back and forth between the prism pole and the total station for every shot.
The Surveyor + is a Class 1 Bluetooth device. This is the highest / best class that is available. Class 1.5 (which isn't official) and Class 2 are lower power, and therefore lower range, devices.
My guess is that because the antenna is inside a magnesium case it's not radiating effectively. It may be on the short side, as well.
I've been using a data collector with a long (about 7") external antenna for several years now, and haven't found it too unwieldy. It gets in the way occasionally, but the collector itself gets in the way much more often than the antenna does. After 3 years of banging it around, I had to replace the antenna recently. The cost was around $20 shipped, so no big deal. I carry a spare in the box just in case.