I didn't plan on upgrading my v.6 copy of Star*Net.?ÿ I saw no reason to, as it did everything I need it to do.?ÿ But fate had other plans.
I began installing and configuring a new workstation a couple of days ago.?ÿ I bought and installed a Siig parallel port card to accommodate my Star*Net dongle, as I've always had good results with Siig port cards.?ÿ However, Star*Net didn't see the dongle on the new machine.?ÿ A little nosing around on the Siig website revealed that this card uses a virtual address instead of a legacy address, and so it won't work with dongles.?ÿ No problem, I thought, I'll just move the port card from my old workstation over.?ÿ But Star*Net still didn't see the dongle.?ÿ I tried changing just about every option on the port that I could find, but no go.?ÿ Well, I thought, I guess I can keep using Star*Net on the old machine while I ponder my options, so I put the old port card back.?ÿ But Star*Net now didn't see the dongle on that machine, either.?ÿ I guess I somehow broke the 30-year-old dongle.
Star*Net is so deeply embedded in my daily workflow that I was dead in the water without it, but the $2k upgrade cost gave me pause, so I spent the next couple of hours considering alternatives.?ÿ
I have TBC, but I've only used it for GPS vector processing and surface modeling.?ÿ I don't use a Trimble data collector, and didn't see any easy option for getting my total station data into TBC.?ÿ And I don't know my way around the adjustment options for terrestrial data (centering errors, instrument errors, etc.).?ÿ
I downloaded a trial copy of Columbus, but pretty quickly got discouraged by the learning curve there, too.?ÿ
In the end I bit the bullet and bought the Star*Net upgrade.?ÿ?ÿAside from some changes to the interface there's not much difference between v.6 and v.11.?ÿ And so far I'm finding most of the differences annoying, but that's more a reflection of my calcified habits than a knock on the software itself.?ÿ But at least I don't have to worry about the USB dongle lasting 30 years, because I'll likely be dead by that time.
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Star*Net is so deeply embedded in my daily workflow that I was dead in the water without it
That is me, too. One worthwhile thing that they added a few versions ago is access to all the data convertors without additional cost.?ÿ They have put in some error trapping/formatting warning things that are probably very useful to new users, but for a 25 year user like me are merely "hamburger helpers" that get in the way. So it goes.?ÿ
When I took my latest job I contacted Microsurvey and asked if this organization owned any copies of StarNet. We did, they informed me, from 2002, which was before Microsurvey took the product over. There is nobody here from that era, no records, no disks, no dongle, nothing.?ÿ They could have easily denied that we had any rights at all and insisted on us paying full price for a new copy. And they knew it. But they honored the 2002 registration and upgraded us to current for $800 less than full price.?ÿ?ÿ
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It sounds like you "bit the bullet" early enough that the opportunity cost of trying to make the old dongle work did not skyrocket beyond the cost of the upgrade.
Or much beyond it, eh?
It sounds like you "bit the bullet" early enough that the opportunity cost of trying to make the old dongle work did not skyrocket beyond the cost of the upgrade.
That's pretty much the way my thinking went.?ÿ But as cheap as I am, those decisions don't come easily.
I have V7. Does V11 have improved plotting? V7 has some quirks and bugs.
If it is any consolation, I have version 10 and found the cluster detect quite useful.
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The only "plotting" I have used is creation of the KML for viewing in Google Earth.?ÿ We use it as a Q&D method to show others the work we did to justify our bill or as a quick visual on the work done by crews.?ÿ It works for our purposes in that regard.