Jim Frame, post: 385111, member: 10 wrote: In the case of TBC and the Triumph-LS, mark-to-mark. In don't think I've encountered a vector export that isn't mark-to-mark.
But imported observations surely don't show up as being reduced mark-to-mark. Otherwise, You'd never be able to correct antenna height blunders. What I'm asking about is a utility to edit RTK vectors (change antenna height or disable vector entirely) before they are exported to Star*Net. If GNSS solutions can do that, that ought to work.
John Hamilton, post: 385116, member: 640 wrote: I do not (usually) process RTK vectors in TBC.
Yes, the price tag on TBC pretty much leaves it out of the running, Both the first cost and the continuing overhead cost of the rent-instead-of-own Trimble business model are non-starters.
Kent McMillan, post: 385126, member: 3 wrote: What I'm asking about is a utility to edit RTK vectors (change antenna height or disable vector entirely) before they are exported
You can do that in TBC, though the only time I've done so was on a project I managed for another firm. Their crews were using Trimble receivers and controllers, so I had to run the files through TBC in order to get at the vector data. GNSS Solutions might have the same capability, though I'd be surprised if it can import RTK data from anything other than an Ashtech controller.
Kent McMillan, post: 385130, member: 3 wrote: Yes, the price tag on TBC pretty much leaves it out of the running.
Actually, I think I was looking at the wrong price list. Trimble's yearly "maintenance fee" basically amounts to insurance along the lines of: "Nice survey office you have here. It'd be a shame if anything happened to it."
Kent McMillan, post: 385169, member: 3 wrote: Trimble's yearly "maintenance fee" basically amounts to insurance
Trimble hasn't gone as far as Autodesk, though. You can still buy and operate a copy of TBC without paying an annual maintenance fee. You won't get upgrades when your initial maintenance coverage runs out, but vector processing doesn't change much, so if that's all you use the software for you can skip the maintenance agreement renewal. I only use TBC for vector processing and surface modeling, so I don't keep the maintenance agreement up.
Kent McMillan, post: 385126, member: 3 wrote: But imported observations surely don't show up as being reduced mark-to-mark. Otherwise, You'd never be able to correct antenna height blunders. What I'm asking about is a utility to edit RTK vectors (change antenna height or disable vector entirely) before they are exported to Star*Net. If GNSS solutions can do that, that ought to work.
Check with Mark Silver but as far as I know GNSS Solutions vectors are mark to mark. Any way it would be foolish to not correct any blunders before exporting any data. Vectors are given in X Y Z formats and you do not easily define an antenna height in XYZ values.
Paul in PA
SPSO (the blue version of TBC) is $1995 list; maintenance is $399 / year, $599 to reinstate. I suspect there are substantial discounts available from the usual suspects.
There are occasionally trade-in / trade-up deals that can really change the initial price too.
Not horrible, probably reasonable.
All of the STATIC post processing software that I have used (which in NOT all of them by a LONG SHOT) "returns" the Mark-Mark Vector (and associated stats). On the other hand, RTK software isn't quite so consistent.
The Trimble RTK vectors in a .dc file (or at least all of the .dc files that I have seen), are expressed PC (L1 Phase Center) to PC, WITH a covariance matrix, and lots of other good info. Piece of cake to import into a least squares program.
The Carlson RTK files that I have seen lately don't seem to contain ANY actual vector data [directly], just a Lat/Lon/Eh (and North/East/"Elev") of the remote station, and a "HRMS & VRMS" (and misc. DOP, Satellite, epochs, etc.). Now this may be the result of HOW the Carlson software is "setup" by the user, I don't know. Obviously one can compute Mark-Mark dx,dy,dz vectors from that data, but getting a 3x3 covariance matrix out of it is beyond me...
My OLD RTK gear ran Carlson Surv-Star, and it didn't save much of anything (SPC/UTM/LDP Coordinate & Ellipsoid height, and a few non-statistical items). I know that the receiver (rtk engine) was computing all the good stuff, but Surv-Star was not saving it (or I never figured out how to make it do so).
I believe that ALL RTK "engines" compute the PC-PC vector WITH a covariance matrix, BUT it's up to the data collector to READ/STORE this information.
Personally I like the PC-PC vector, simply because YOU can edit the Base-HI & Rover-HI/Rod values quite easily, others may disagree.
Loyal
Loyal, post: 385243, member: 228 wrote: I believe that ALL RTK "engines" compute the PC-PC vector WITH a covariance matrix, BUT it's up to the data collector to READ/STORE this information.
Personally I like the PC-PC vector, simply because YOU can edit the Base-HI & Rover-HI/Rod values quite easily, others may disagree.
Yes, logging the vector at the rover as Phase Center to Phase Center is the only method that makes any particular sense. Just as you should be able to edit session details like antenna height in most Static and PPK processing software, likewise you should be able to for RTK vectors before exporting the vector in some standard mark-to-mark format for adjustment in third-party software like Star*Net.
I think what may be posing a problem in this discussion is my use of the word "export", which to me means the GPS vector in some standard third-party format ready for adjustment, as distinct from merely downloading the observational data in some manufacturer's specific and/or proprietary format for further processing.
BTW one question that has arisen is how to convert .rw5 RTK vector files in Carlson format to Star*Net format. If anyone is willing to have a go at converting one such .rw5 file, I've posted it here:
https://surveyorconnect.com/community/threads/converting-carlson-rw5-format-to-star-net.327812/
