GRAFNAV/GRAFNET Pricing Offer

That's pretty cool that they are offering this Jim. I used to work directly with members of the Novatel team years ago and they were always very helpful to work with. I hope the software works for you (and others).

Ric

Jim Frame

I honestly have no idea what is happening here with TGO/TBO/Whatever...

But it is clear to me that Jim Frame has rendered the SC & BL dot com community a great service in contacting Novatel regarding GRAFNAV/GRAFNET.

Kudos to you Jim Frame

> This puts GRAFNAV/GRAFNET pricing on an equal footing with TBC, at least as far as GPS processing and adjustment go. Decisions, decisions...

The Grafnav/Grafnet package looks (at least from the specs and product description) actually better than the behemoth Trimble TBC bloatware that attempts to do everything but generate invoices. For the user who just wants to process GPS vectors using data in the native binary formats of various survey-grade receivers, the Grafnav product would seem to have a natural advantage. Tough decision. I bought the (cheap) L1-only standard version of TBC but am dreading loading and trying to use it.

Why Trimble Business Center? An odd name for GPS processing software.

Maybe it makes the client contact, signs the contract, plans the project, you print out your directions as far as what observations it want, go out gather the data (the only thing it can't do), it processes and adjusts and invoices the client.

Oh no, the computers have taken over!

That's a commanding discount. Bravo for Novatel/Waypoint for stepping in to provide a like priced choice for those TGO users faced with some sort of upgrade.

> Why Trimble Business Center? An odd name for GPS processing software.

Well, maybe Trimble Profit Center was a bit too bold.

How about a "FREE" processor?

Lets NOT forget the NGS' PAGES_NT!

It is a world class processor, and it's FREE!

Not the easiest program to learn (and/or run), but it's all there (including the lastest Absolute Antenna files), and it does come with INSTRUCTIONS and examples (if I recall correctly).

Loyal

How about a "FREE" processor?

As a minimum, if there decision is final to let TGO go, it would have been a good promotion by the manufacturer to give free of charge the standard version (that somewhere around $500 that Kent is talking about, I believe) of TBC to the users of TGO.

The crowds across the street must be rolling their eyes.

For me, this problem has been positive, it's a great opportunity. I get to learn a new software from another manufacturer that I enjoy more and more (and does not cost a thing) as well as receiving on a plate a topic of interest for my 2011 continuing professional development exercise.

> > This puts GRAFNAV/GRAFNET pricing on an equal footing with TBC, at least as far as GPS processing and adjustment go. Decisions, decisions...
>
> The Grafnav/Grafnet package looks (at least from the specs and product description) actually better than the behemoth Trimble TBC bloatware that attempts to do everything but generate invoices. For the user who just wants to process GPS vectors using data in the native binary formats of various survey-grade receivers, the Grafnav product would seem to have a natural advantage. Tough decision. I bought the (cheap) L1-only standard version of TBC but am dreading loading and trying to use it.

What's the price for L1 only on TBC?

Do they have it automated to go get precise ephemeris files from the net as you need them based on the files you are working with? Also will it retrieve CORS files you need to process against your own static sessions? Seems like a no brainier to me for software to make life better for GPS static processing.

> What's the price for L1 only on TBC?

I was quoted $495 for the Standard version which will do L1 processing, but not multi-frequency.

It comes with what looks like a ton of other stuff that may or may not be useful to anyone who doesn't intend to make a career out of running the software.

I own the full package, used almost exclusively for post processing kinematic for airborne flights, rarely use the static portion. I bought because they have a very robust PPK engine and the software was really tuned for moving platform work, far outperforms Leica LGO and I have heard Trimble TGO for large kinematic data sets.

These guys build good software and have even better support, 2nd to none. Best software support of any software I own!!!

I would guess TBC is going to have a bunch of stuff this doesn't, however if you just want to process GNSS data it is a good software.

Has a LSQ adjustment for static data.

A bit of a clarification on how it processes all the various data. You first convert your native receiver file to their format and then import that datafile into the software. Convertors for almost everything out there, the one exception I have found is the Trimble boards in the Applanix IMU systems.

How about a "FREE" processor?

pages can be downloaded here: ftp://ftp.ngs.noaa.gov/pub/pnt6/

For a user that does the bulk of its work in RTK mode and only need to process baselines data from times to times, the return on investment on TBC may be weak.

TBC has many survey/civil features beyond GPS processing and I like the fresh feel of the software. But the software is very limited on the presentation aspect. I understand that it was not its intent. However, many users prefer to do their survey/civil (including network adjustments) work with various and more polyvalent software on the market that work within AutoCAD.

In regards of Grafnav/Grafnet, the good thing about is its independant status and its focus on processing as the main component of the software. If the object of purchasing a software was to process L1/L2 baselines, that's the one I would get, guaranteed.

> the behemoth Trimble TBC bloatware that attempts to do everything but generate invoices.

Bloatware? What makes you call a 1.4GB (compressed!) download bloatware?

It took me 4 tried before Trimble's servers would let me download the whole thing without disconnecting me, but I finally got it. The install is massive.

> > the behemoth Trimble TBC bloatware that attempts to do everything but generate invoices.
>
> Bloatware? What makes you call a 1.4GB (compressed!) download bloatware?
>
> It took me 4 tried before Trimble's servers would let me download the whole thing without disconnecting me, but I finally got it. The install is massive.

That's even worse than I thought. Holy smoke!

Annual Maintenance?

Kent,

Do you know what annual licensing would be for the L1 only version? From reading Trimble's site and past experience, they have maintenance fees for everything.

I was a TGO user and am exploring my options. I have 2 dual-frequency receivers, but when I perform static surveys, I have lots of data, short baselines and mix in a Promark 3 so L1 is all I need.

I have played with GNSS Solutions, but cannot get it to play nice with the TOPCON Rinex data. Also exploring TOPCON Tools, which is my frontrunner right now.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

🙁

Annual Maintenance?

> Do you know what annual licensing would be for the L1 only version? From reading Trimble's site and past experience, they have maintenance fees for everything.

I didn't ask what the maintenance cost might be. I really just needed a piece of software to process L1 vectors right now. If the maintenance is too much, I'll just throw TBC away and move on.

Annual Maintenance?

I'll guess that the software maintenance isn't mandatory. You buy the license and it is yours to do as you will. Data collector software is the same. Many software developers use that business model not just Trimble.

Maintenance typically entitles you to major upgrades at no cost beyond an annual subscription. For example, except for the unforseen GPS time bug, GPSurvey and TGO would have continued to be used by many users without maintenance agreements.

FYI I am running TBC and as a long time GPSurvey/TGO user, I like the new version...a lot.