Hey All,
We just purchased our second Trimble S6 and were given a free licenced copy of TBC to experiment with.
Are there any surveyors out there using TBC for simple residential projects? The majority of our work is restricted to Contour/Topo Surveys, Setout Surveys, As Built Surveys and Subdivisions on small residential lots. Our current office software is simple but more than capable for this work.
We also fairly regularly prepare facade surveys or large scale Detail Surveys which would benefit from some of the features of TBC. One of our instruments has been optioned with Trimble Vision and our intention is to eventually be able to supply photographs overlayed with survey information to clients.
Is it worth trying to use TBC for all of our projects or will it just needlessly complicate smaller jobs?
Also in experimenting with TBC I have found that it seems to have very limited import options. Our other instruments are all Sokkias running onboard SDR software, if we were to change over completely to TBC we would need to be able to import SDR files to the software, at the moment I can't find a way to do this. Has anyone else tried it?
Any advice is appreciated
Thanks
So What Does The Free Copy Cost You Next Month?
Is it worth even playing with if it is too much?
Paul in PA
I used TBC at the firm I worked for before I went solo. I only used it to process GPS data and large traverses for least squares adjustment. After adjustment, I exported a coordinate file for import into Carlson to complete drafting. I thought it worked great for that.
It works great for what it does, but if you don't need it for Pete's sake don't voluntarily submit yourself to Trimble's software business practices. 😉
> It works great for what it does, but if you don't need it for Pete's sake don't voluntarily submit yourself to Trimble's software business practices. 😉
:good: Or Leica's
The firm I work for is a Trimble shop - TSC3's, S6 & S8, R8 & R10, DiNi so we have already succumbed to Trimble's pricing model 🙁
We have TBC. We use very very rarely - mostly for large networks and adjustments and occaisionally for combining observations from multiple instruments. While I do think its a good product for what it does, its overkill for most organisations. And, typically for Trimble, it can be very very expensive in both upfront cost and in training and support
Why change if you current software works for you?
Thanks for the replies guys.
As far as I know there isn't a monthly fee associated with the licence so thought it would be worth experimenting with, sounds like it may be more trouble than it's worth.
Current software is an Australian package named 'Geosurv', very basic package capable of reading in coded data, automatically stringing lines and producing contours. All the additional information our Trimbles are capable of recording, notes, attributes, photos etc are all stripped from the data when imported.
> Thanks for the replies guys.
>
> As far as I know there isn't a monthly fee associated with the licence so thought it would be worth experimenting with, sounds like it may be more trouble than it's worth.
>
> Current software is an Australian package named 'Geosurv', very basic package capable of reading in coded data, automatically stringing lines and producing contours. All the additional information our Trimbles are capable of recording, notes, attributes, photos etc are all stripped from the data when imported.
Don't know, but if it's free and you have the opportunity to play with it; why not see how you can incorporate it into your workflow. The pictures can be pretty helpful.
All modules? Unlimited time? Maybe. Read the fine prints anyway.
Great question(s). I use TBC a lot. With the new releases you can see they are trying to expand the robustness of the software. As they push their Trimble Vision I see the incorporation in TBC. It does some pretty cool stuff but in IMHO I am not sure its worth the cost. Don't get me wrong, if you already have the goods (R10, VX, etc etc) then by all means explore the software. I have used its surface features (doesnt touch Civil 3D) but for simple quantities and earthwork its pretty cool. It is a bit clunky to me but its easy to figure out. I think it has potential and its heading in the right direction but it does not replace your cad (although you can do linework etc). They are incorporating machine control and other features that will benefit earthwork folks.
I would like to see them bring in more of the features in their Realworks (modeling software) but that comes with a hefty price also. TBC is great software built around GPS. They are now expanding its features to include options for remote storage and sharing of jobs (doing this for awhile). Again, lots of cool stuff that may not benefit everyone for its cost.
Hope my hoopla helps.
I use TBC on a daily basis, mainly for import and QC of RTK data but also for static processing and for easy management of JPG files, etc. Since you have invested in Trimble Vision, you should explore the photogrammetric capabilities of TBC. Transferring high def panoramas over the radio link is time consuming; using a cable speeds it up a bit. But if you capture a panorama at every setup you have a photo record of what the instrument saw, and the ability to make photogrammetric observations comes in right handy sometimes. The front end cost of a TBC license is about $3,000 US; the way I look at it is that comes out to about $15 per day. If I can't recoup that then I'm doing something wrong.
My $0.02
