Field Software Poll

SurvCE 100%... I've used SurveyPro, TopSurv, and Trimble.

I may not have the best example but my whole office runs Carlson products both the surveyors and engineers. Everything flows together a million times better. Can't beat the customer service either.

For the other programs they were all mixed match within the same company. One collector had this and one had that. Complete chaos IMO. So I don't have anything nice to say....

N.W. Staker, post: 419564, member: 11801 wrote: SurvCE 100%... I've used SurveyPro, TopSurv, and Trimble.

I may not have the best example but my whole office runs Carlson products both the surveyors and engineers. Everything flows together a million times better. Can't beat the customer service either.

For the other programs they were all mixed match within the same company. One collector had this and one had that. Complete chaos IMO. So I don't have anything nice to say....

Carlson tech support is second to none, that is the icing on the cake.

I started off with Sokkia SDR, followed by Trimble Access, Topcon Magnet and now Carlson SurvPC.

In Order of preference, Carlson SurvPC, Trimble Access & Sokkia SDR (Tied), Topcon Magnet.

Carlson SurvPC is so user friendly and the ability to customise individual settings is really easy. A well thought out software and also I am able to view live the linework I am picking up on the ground.

SDR and Access is user friendly too however the inability to see live what I am drawing is a downer to me. In acess, I was unable to set various constant preset and had to manual change each time I shoot my backsight and my topo points.

Topcon Magnet, started using from version 2 all the way to version 4.1. I found it buggy and had problems exporting out my raw files correctly. There was live map functions however the coding for linework was a problem as I only can change some control codes and not all and my map would start lagging even though I am using a full fledged tablet.

Never have used Access or SDR. Survey Controller is what we run out R8 with and I've run our 5603 with it a few time too. Simple enough but not very feature filled in a user friendly way.

Luke J. Crawford, post: 419624, member: 11382 wrote: Never have used Access or SDR. Survey Controller is what we run out R8 with and I've run our 5603 with it a few time too. Simple enough but not very feature filled in a user friendly way.

Access is light years ahead of Survey Controller.

sireath, post: 419610, member: 9370 wrote: SDR and Access is user friendly too however the inability to see live what I am drawing is a downer to me. In acess, I was unable to set various constant preset and had to manual change each time I shoot my backsight and my topo points.

As I've always said, "it won't do it" and "I don't know how to do it" are NOT the same thing.

Obviously I'm heavily biased toward Trimble Access, for countless reasons. To be fair to SurvCE, I haven't seen it in probably close to ten years. But Trimble and Leica were always vastly superior at handling the geodetic aspects of GPS than programs that were written for plane surveying and then adapted to GPS. And Access is about as user friendly as you can make something that's also that powerful.

Fieldgenius is best in offset routines. SurvCE is best in totality as the only data collection system with CAD module. Smartworx is best in coordinate transformation.

Topcon Magnet Field works fine for me.

Not sure why so many dislike.

I think dealership don't support it very well.

I've been a long time TDS user and like it. I suspect when our current data collector is near the end of its life cycle and we will end up with Magnet.

Lee D, post: 419657, member: 7971 wrote: Obviously I'm heavily biased toward Trimble Access, for countless reasons. To be fair to SurvCE, I haven't seen it in probably close to ten years. But Trimble and Leica were always vastly superior at handling the geodetic aspects of GPS than programs that were written for plane surveying and then adapted to GPS. And Access is about as user friendly as you can make something that's also that powerful.

I've never run GPS with CE. We run Survey Controller on the R8 & Captivate on the GS16 & MS60. I like Captivate a lot for GPS work, it's so-so for TPS. That's a good point though, some software is more adept at TPS or GPS.

I've Field Genius and SurvCE.
Prefer FG, but Carlson is ahead in several areas.
Overall if had to chose I'd go FG.
(However I'm very fluent in FG, not so in Carlson.)
Choice made on way line work is organised and used.
On screen selection for points and lines in FG preferred.

However I find FG rather slow at times to load and work with jobs once over 500 points.
Takes ages to load the program on my Allegro MX
Carlson doesn't suffer from any such issues.

Also FG upgrades a too expensive IMO.
No idea about Carlson.

Richard, post: 419720, member: 833 wrote: I've Field Genius and SurvCE.
Prefer FG, but Carlson is ahead in several areas.
Overall if had to chose I'd go FG.
(However I'm very fluent in FG, not so in Carlson.)
Choice made on way line work is organised and used.
On screen selection for points and lines in FG preferred.

However I find FG rather slow at times to load and work with jobs once over 500 points.
Takes ages to load the program on my Allegro MX
Carlson doesn't suffer from any such issues.

Also FG upgrades a too expensive IMO.
No idea about Carlson.

CE upgrade is $150. Version 5 is leaps beyond earlier versions. I would like to try FG but no one that I know of runs it in my area.

leegreen, post: 419678, member: 2332 wrote: Topcon Magnet Field works fine for me.

Not sure why so many dislike.

I think dealership don't support it very well.

We have several dozen Magnet Field licenses. It runs best on Windows 10. It was made for a PC platform so if you're using it on something else it might not run the best. Our field tech's don't see a need to use anything else. Magnet could use better help documents.

I tried to get away from the Trimble teat, but, IMHO Access is the best for us. We have tried SurvCE and FieldGenius in the recent past, each having aspects that were liked and not liked. Still love my old Geodimeter keyboard as I am curmudgeon though, it only shows its true age when used as a robot (which is all we do). We have run TDS, Survey Pro, Survey Controller (old Access) and some stuff I wrote and can't say that I am a fan. Maybe I should revive the crap I wrote, make it work better and call it Curmudgeon Survey with a Pro version that actually lets you see what you collected

Norm Larson, post: 419745, member: 7899 wrote: I tried to get away from the Trimble teat, but, IMHO Access is the best for us. We have tried SurvCE and FieldGenius in the recent past, each having aspects that were liked and not liked. Still love my old Geodimeter keyboard as I am curmudgeon though, it only shows its true age when used as a robot (which is all we do). We have run TDS, Survey Pro, Survey Controller (old Access) and some stuff I wrote and can't say that I am a fan. Maybe I should revive the crap I wrote, make it work better and call it Curmudgeon Survey with a Pro version that actually lets you see what you collected

In college my professor had a Geodimeter 600(?, looked just like the Trimble 5600) with the keyboard that had SurveyPro loaded in it. The board would pop onto the instrument or on to a rod cradle for running robotic. It worked quite well but never liked the external rod radio system. My 1st job had Leica TCA 1103's with SurveyPro onboard. The "data collector" was just a remote control so everything was stored on the gun. They had dual faces and since the controller was just a remote, every keystroke on the remote could be seen on the instrument or vise versa. Great for training and their was no radio on the rod.

linebender, post: 419740, member: 449 wrote: We have several dozen Magnet Field licenses. It runs best on Windows 10. It was made for a PC platform so if you're using it on something else it might not run the best. Our field tech's don't see a need to use anything else. Magnet could use better help documents.

We have Magnet on a FC-2500 & 3 robots on-board. The FC came with an used Sokkia and the other 3 came with the license when purchased new. I have never run it on a PC based system so I may be pre-judging it. We run all of the above with SurvCE or SurveyPro, crews discretion.

Our hardware is 100% Leica and we use the Viva firmware for GPS. However, we use SurvCE for 99% of total station work; my excellent co-worker prefers SurvCE and I fully understand why as it is very intuitive.

SellmanA, post: 419765, member: 8564 wrote: Our hardware is 100% Leica and we use the Viva firmware for GPS. However, we use SurvCE for 99% of total station work; my excellent co-worker prefers SurvCE and I fully understand why as it is very intuitive.

Can't knock Leica hardware. It may look "fragile" but it's never disappointed yet. Can't wait until they sell a geo-license for the MS60.

I've used TDS, SurvCE, Access, Smartworx & now Captivate. Because of pure happenstance I've gone fully Leica hardware over the last 4 years. There was a learning curve transitioning from SurvCE controller software to Smartworx/Captivate but once embraced I'm a fan. This is such a Chevy v. Ford v. Dodge thing though. I've always said if you could put a Chevy transmission behind a Dodge motor on top of a Ford frame (diesel anyway) you would have something truly amazing. In general I think everything goes smoother keeping your survey gear all in the same family though.