Controller Software: I've heard of Carlson, Microsurvey, as well as each manufacturer's respective software. Is there anything else out there?

The original. Spectra Precision Survey Pro. Originally known as TDS.

I think that it is still being sold in spite of them rolling out Origin. Time will tell how well it gets supported.?ÿ ?ÿIt has been only minimally supported for some years.

@norman-oklahoma?ÿ

Thanks for the info! It's old but quite expensive, which is a bit of a shame; perhaps not that expensive but compared to Carlson... Carlson's pricing so far seems the most reasonable. Microsurvey has a cheaper buy-in price but appears to escalate drastically as soon as you add features.

Just thought I'd share what I've found so far. Caveat being that it's actually kind of hard to find information on some of these programs because searches drag up "survey" software for programs designed to collect and organize census data/people's opinions, etc... you know... "surveys" lol. Per my previous post I feel like most companies sites could be a little easier to navigate, but many don't quite share that opinion (but keep in mind I'm new to this of course).

Carlson seems like the best bang for the buck so far but another (big) caveat is the fact that I haven't actually even used it yet.

X-PAD

Posted by: @keithscadservices

Carlson seems like the best bang for the buck so far but another (big) caveat is the fact that I haven't actually even used it yet.

Carlson has a large user base. You won't be going wrong with that. Microsurvey is a B.C. based company, which may be important for you. It would serve you well, also.?ÿ

The drawback to SurvCE at present is that beyond ver. 6.? they will not be supporting any equipment not Carlson branded.

I bought in @ ver. 2 just because they DID then support a wide range of instruments/receivers.

Posted by: @sergeant-schultz

The drawback to SurvCE at present is that beyond ver. 6.? they will not be supporting any equipment not Carlson branded.

I have not heard about this and believe it to be a false statement.

@mark-mayer?ÿ

Microsurvey is a B.C. based company

How about that huh? West Kelowna actually, one of the nicest areas of the country. I don't necessarily have a preference for 'Canadian' products but I think in this case it warrants a deeper look. Right now I'm gravitating towards using Leica instruments (same parent company). What actually steered me away from them is the fact that I would need to spend an extra $2,000 just for robotic control. It almost feels like that's an error on their website as that's a crazy jump in price from the basic version. Carlson is an extra $500 (and $1000 cheaper).

@sergeant-schult

The drawback to SurvCE at present is that beyond ver. 6.? they will not be supporting any equipment not Carlson branded.

I'm curious where/how you heard about this. I'm going to look into it anyways so I might be able to add some clarification as I'm going to chat with their sales rep. A move like that would KILL their sales. The cost of developing and maintaining the software would be far too much if they only sold it to those using their total stations (having a relatively small presence in the hardware side of things).

?ÿ

U can go to the MicroSurvey Support Help Desk under downloads and use their fully functional demo...limited to 30 points.

Survey Pro also works in demo mode.?ÿ Would assume SurvCE/PC also?

Microsurvey has a newer Android Fieldgenius also.

Not sure if still offered, but Polaris has a Fieldgenius offer with their GNSS products??ÿ But I prefer www.Emlid.com products.

https://www.polaris-gnss.com/home

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Posted by: @brad-ott

X-PAD

I hear SurPad is a rebranded X-PAD? (EDIT: meant SurvX, not X-PAD).

Demo?

https://esurvey-gnss.com/product/software/surpad

?ÿ

@timd1971?ÿ

Doubt that, XPAD is developed by Geomax which are part of the Hexagon stable (Leica etc.). None of the screen shots on that website look anything like XPAD.

@lukenz?ÿ

You're correct.

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Sorry, mixed up with SurvX app.

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https://iggps.com/XPad/XPad.htm

Will X-Pad run...Leica GS18? Carlson BRx7? Trimble R10/R12?...GNSS receivers? Or will it only run Geomax?

@i-ben-havin?ÿ

Apart from the igage GNSS receiver's not aware of any other non-geomax products it will run other than a handful of manual total stations. Much prefer it to survPC though.

?ÿ

Leica and Geomax may be from the same stable but like to pretend they are horses for different courses.

Posted by: @norman-oklahoma

The original. Spectra Precision Survey Pro. Originally known as TDS.

I think that it is still being sold in spite of them rolling out Origin. Time will tell how well it gets supported.?ÿ ?ÿIt has been only minimally supported for some years.

TDS/Survey Pro was my favorite.

@jmorgan I still use it!

Posted by: @jmorgan

TDS/Survey Pro was my favorite.

It has been around since the days of the HP48, so there is a large installed user base. And familiarity breeds acceptance. OUAT it was the clear leader. No longer.?ÿ?ÿ

@keithscadservices I have used a lot of different data collectors, I currently have Carlsons and it will do most things you need it to, but they have the lousiest manual I have ever tried to use. Field Genius manual is much better.

@lukenz?ÿ

Leica and Geomax may be from the same stable but like to pretend they are horses for different courses.

My impression is that Hexagon owns all of these companies, but there is very little communication/collaboration between companies. I don't know if they went on a buying spree at some point or what... One example is that Hexagon owns BricsCAD (an AutoCAD clone), but they also own Microsurvey whom (if I remember correctly) utilized the iCAD platform. If they pooled their resources they could develop a really good product.

It's worth mentioning that BricsCAD used to undoubtedly be the absolute best AutoCAD alternative going. It's still "okay"... kind of... in that many people are very fanatical about it. I unfortunately found the '21 version to be legitimately broken. Seeing BricsCAD's regression makes me wonder what the long term effects of being under the Hexagon umbrella will be. Maybe they're saving up for something big (in a positive way) and maybe not.