GNSS receiver recommendation

The thing about using Carlson in the office is that you shouldn't have any trouble coordinating with most major brands of field equipment.?ÿ Leica may be an exception - they have always been a tough nut for 3rd party developers to crack.?ÿ

I-gauge I'm hearing good about. Easy on the wallet.

I'm generally a Javad fan. But, I can see situations where Javad's progress, and your need to get your job done could get entangled. I believe that this is improving though. Updates are coming more slowly, and more thoroughly checked for bugs.

No matter what you buy, it's a serious paradigm shift. My recommendation is to go watch some body run modern gnss equipment for a day, and sample several brands.

I even think Javad has one that works with Carlson DC.

I use Javad. No plans to change.

N

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That's not actually true, maybe historically...but not now.?ÿ Almost every unit that Leica makes, with the exception of the new GS18T works with/or is compatible with Carlson Software including their total stations, robotic total stations, and gnss receivers.?ÿ?ÿ

Posted by: cwlawley

That's not actually true, maybe historically...but not now.?ÿ Almost every unit that Leica makes, with the exception of the new GS18T works with/or is compatible with Carlson Software including their total stations, robotic total stations, and gnss receivers.?ÿ?ÿ

Very pleased to hear that.?ÿ I really like Leica equipment. Their software, not so much.

A year or two ago, you still had to pay a fee to Leica to unlock the capability for their GPS heads to work with Carlson.?ÿ It was not an unsubstantial amount of money (i.e., sufficiently protectionist that we stayed with Leica data collection).?ÿ Is that still the case, or is Leica more open now?

Is,

I have been a Javad user for almost five years. I use it for all of my GPS work.?ÿ

I use Carlson SurvPC on a Carlson RT3 for terrestrial data collection and Field to Finish.

When the project scope has both, my workflow always has two elements, GPS control and Robotic data collection. I have always transferred GPS data to the RT3 via thumb drive. Occasionally when no RTN is available and the data has to be post processed there is an additional step involved, which often gets messy.

Now, Carlson has what they call Hybrid,+ which allows RTN based data collection simultaneously with Robotic measurements. They sell a 360 prism with threads on it for a GNSS receiver. It allows me to run my Leica 1203 and my RTN connected Javad T-2 from the same rod. I've only used the setup in testing mode, but I have plans to do a real topographic job with it tomorrow. I'm not crazy about the additional weight on the rod.?ÿ

The resection routine allows the results from both systems to be used in the calculations, if desired.

I will assume that the rigorous filtering, monitoring, comparing and testing that the Javad LS provides during data collection will not be available from the Carlson software. This is in my most humble of opinions. I know nothing about how the Carlson software does it's thing. I love F2F!

I am curious how others are doing with this Hybrid+ update. Any comments would be appreciated.

JA, PLS SoCal

Leica may be an exception - they have always been a tough nut for 3rd party developers to crack.

Trimble isn't exactly friendly in this regard, either.?ÿ Don't they encrypt their robotic data stream to lock out non-Trimble controllers?

For long battery life (10hrs), four constellations, very lightweight, 8Gb static storage, small footprint, easy USB charger and low cost. I suggest you look at a Sokkia GCX3 "the bullet".

Lee please send me a quote info at?ÿ geo-sl dot com

Thanks.

I've used the IG8 from Igage since May, 95% off the NYSNET network, and sometimes as base/rover with a Carlson BRX6 (engineer friend's rover)... Works great, and I will give a plug to those guys as there support is absolutely amazing! Being a small business the price was also a good selling point.

Ran base/rover a few weeks ago when the network was down and post processed the base, went back after the network was back up and the difference between a 5 hour static solution and 300 epoch network solution was less then 0.02', both horizontal and vertical.

Also being a Carlson user in the field ( since 2005) and the office ( since 2008) the learning curve was small.

So far I've been pretty impressed with the IG8 and will be hopefully adding another for a base...

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Norman, I used to think that as well but their new software is pretty slick.

Posted by: Plumb Bill

Norman, I used to think that as well but their new software is pretty slick.

captivate is a good bit better than viva was, and viva was darn good.?ÿ disclaimer- i've run leica exclusively for the last 5-6 years (save a few rentals here and there), was hardly doing any field work for the decade prior to that, and ran leica back in the 90's/early aughts.

the decade i mentioned was in a company who ran trimble exclusively.?ÿ and while i didn't get too much time on it, i did recognize that it was a fair bit more intuitive than the leica i'd been used to.?ÿ but when i went to drop big change opening my own shop, i tried everything.?ÿ which, at the time, was viva.?ÿ it was light years beyond what i'd dealt with a decade before, and because the local leica shop is SUPER supportive, it took all of a week or so before i felt like i had my flyin' shoes.?ÿ here and there i'd have to call with some kind of ntrip or mountpoint question, but as far as in an operational sense, i certainly didnƒ??t feel like my workflow was compromised at all.?ÿ basically, it was working faster than i was- or, i never outran it.

when captivate came out the few niggling wants and needs i had with viva were largely addressed.?ÿ i admittedly don't know what the alternatives are.?ÿ but with captivate i'm basically bringing finished CAD files back into the office.?ÿ linework and coding, once you set it up, is almost too easy.?ÿ and after using it for a bit you find all the shortcuts and escape hatches and whatnot...

i'm not claiming it's the best or that i'd never use anything else.?ÿ i just can't imagine anyone else can be doing anything significantly more intuitive or advanced than what i'm working with, and the one thing i do know about all the leica gear i've run- it stays in tune and will take a ton of inadvertent abuse (the kind your average "i don't give a f-" rodman or crew guy dishes out).

Posted by: lsitnj

Lee please send me a quote info at?ÿ geo-sl dot com

Thanks.

Not sure what you are asking from me? I don't sell this stuff.

Haha sorry I thought for some reason that you are Topcon/ Sokkia dealer

I don't sell it, I just know how to make it work.

JAVAD sales associate here so may be biased.?ÿ I use Carlson office and field but use JAVAD for GNSS.?ÿ I like the Triumph LS because the hardware and software are designed specifically for RTK.?ÿ It has configurations for differing levels of confidence, so it's easy to set for a certain task and have others use it for that purpose.?ÿ It has documentation reports that give you analysis and reporting abilities for all the shots, so you have a record of the measurements and their reliability for your job files.?ÿ I have a base/rover setup consisting of Triumph 2 and Triumph LS.?ÿ When not using base/rover you can use Triumph 2 with Carlson and NYSNET and Triumph LS with NYSNET, so have 2 network rovers.?ÿ Batteries on LS last 24 hours so when I forget to charge it's still ready for the next day.?ÿ I could go on but don't want to sound like a sales pitch on here, just sharing some info.

Posted by: FrozenNorth

A year or two ago, you still had to pay a fee to Leica to unlock the capability for their GPS heads to work with Carlson.?ÿ It was not an unsubstantial amount of money (i.e., sufficiently protectionist that we stayed with Leica data collection).?ÿ Is that still the case, or is Leica more open now?

Leica GS18T works only with Leica CS20 dc. Carlson DC is not capable to run this receiver.?ÿ

Posted by: Jim Frame

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Trimble isn't exactly friendly in this regard, either.?ÿ Don't they encrypt their robotic data stream to lock out non-Trimble controllers?

I dont know if the data stream is actually encrypted, but the S series radio uses a frequency hopping algorithm which is proprietary - which has the same effect

I got a quote today for Leica GS18T with CS 20 and accessories etc, 1 year Smartnet subscription for ...$36,320.00. I was always a big fan of Leica's hardware , I just can't justify the price difference when compared with other vendors.?ÿ