This receiver showed up as an ad on RPLS today when I logged on. Is anyone using one of these? How's the performance? It says it is compatible with SurvCE and other common data collection software.
I have seen, handled, and played with one a month or so ago, but as yet have no actual experience with a set.
Considering the overall build quality, historic dealer support, and Trimble BD-970 board, (oh...and PRICE), I expect it to be great setup.
Just my 2-bits (not much help),
Loyal
I have a pair on these, and they are rock solid. We are using it with SurvCE and no problems. I have had these for about a month now and I have had nothing but great things to say. The support is GREAT, battery life is longer than I want to work in a day (12+ hours), quick to fix, reliable solutions, nice package...
I will be buying more of these!
I am in the market for a base/rover setup, and was disappointed that Survey Pro won't communicate with these. Mark is unbelievable with customer support. My x90 units are rock solid, and I would expect nothing less from these.
Jimmy, I thought you were a SurvCE man? You could always sell the non-transferrable Survey Pro.
The IG8's are 1 of a shortlist of 2 packages that I plan to buy in the near future. The price is pretty persuasive in itself. I demo'ed the parents or grandparents one of the IG8's and the performance was pretty impressive, too.
To me that looks very good as a base unit able to transmit RTK corrections over cellular. I just sent an email to igage asking what Ntrip configurations it can support. They mention APIS, which I am not familiar with.
John Hamilton, post: 456888, member: 640 wrote: They mention APIS, which I am not familiar with.
API = Application Programming Interface. (I would have pluralized that with a lower case "s" to avoid confusion if I were composing the web page.)
With regard to RTK corrections:
JT,
When I was solo, I had one SurvCE collector, and one Survey Pro collector. I ended up using the Survey Pro more, and just got so familiar with it, I stayed with it. I toy around with SurvCE some, but now that I merged with my current firm, I have 6 Survey Pro collectors (including my personal one), so it would be pretty difficult to swap at this point. I sure like Mark's receivers.
Jimmy
Jim Frame, post: 456917, member: 10 wrote: API = Application Programming Interface. (I would have pluralized that with a lower case "s" to avoid confusion if I were composing the web page.)
With regard to RTK corrections:
From an email...
APIS is a system where the data you collect is automatically transferred via the cell connection back to your office. A super system to safe guard data and to get the job back to the office long before you get back.
John Hamilton, post: 456921, member: 640 wrote: APIS is a system where the data you collect is automatically transferred via the cell connection back to your office.
I stand corrected. I hope they let us know what APIS stands for.
Sorry for the delay in answering these questions. Been traveling for holiday AND I just got a new laptop (to go with the new Google Fiber at my house, but that is another story.) I just successfully re-logged in here--ugh!
Gavin: RTCM3 You can select from CMR, CMR+, sCMRx, RTCMv2.3, RTCMv3, RTCMv3.2 and RTD. The RTCM 3.2 is MSM. The GNSS board manufacturer (T) suggests that you use RTCM3.2MSM for best results with matched base/rover pairs which track GAL and BDS, however in my testing I can not see any difference in performance to sCMRx. (Please note that the iG8's do sCMRx which is purposely NOT compatible with CMRx. The extra 's' at the beginning is 'Scrambled' and is in place to prevent generic devices from being used with mainline offerings with CMRx. However, most mainline devices support RTCM3.2MSM so no harm done, except in networks that ONLY broadcast CMRx to purposely lock out generics.)
APIS is a proprietary method for hooking a Base and multiple Rovers together when the base has an 'inside' IP address from the cellular provider. (I do not know what APIS is an acronym for, sorry.) The Base sends a correction stream to a server, the server pushes the corrections back out to one or more rovers. The serial number of the base is the 'mount point' for the rovers. Any CHC or iGage RTK receiver is compatible with any other CHC or iGage RTK receiver.
There is a pretty good FAQ on it for the X91+ receivers [ https://www.x9gps.com/Tools/X91_plus/FAQ/Using_APIS_CHC_RTK_Recievers.pdf&apos ;">here ]. Use of the APIS server is free, but you have to have a CHC or iGage receiver to use it. There is a limit to the number of rovers, but it is more than 200 so I don't think anyone has ever run up against it. I believe that APIS is similar to Carlson's 'Listen-Listen' service,
The iG8's are actually easier to connect to APIS than the X91+ because you can completely configure them from the front panel. Or you can configure them from the Wi-Fi interface. Or you can configure them from an Android phone using the 'GNSS Tools App'. Once you configure them, they stay configured. You can just turn them on and the base starts transmitting to the server, when you turn on the rover it connects and fixes. You can also alternatively have a base broadcast corrections to the UHF radio AND the APIS server. That way you can use the UHF radio until you run out of range and then switch the rover to the cellular connection.
When you use APIS, you pick the correction format separately (so you can use sCMRx, RTCM3.2MSM, RTCM3.0 or any of the other supported formats.)
There is supposed to be a FAQ online that shows how to connect APIS on the iG8, but I can't find it online. I have a copy on my PC and will push it up later this week and post a link here to it.
Battery Life: Just finished extensive battery life testing. Results are [ https://ig8g.com/out/faq/iG8_PowerEstimates_RevC.pdf&apos ;">here ]. We advertise 12-hours, we should probably change that to 8:40 to 11:20 depending on the operation mode. You can get 12-hours in static only mode if you turn off ALL the radios. We include a power cable for the base with every kit, so I don't think that it is a big deal. You can run the base on one internal battery, with an external battery on the ground. Then the fourth battery can be hot swapped into the rover after 10 hours to extend operation to a full 15-hour death-march-day.
What version of Survce is required for the iG8?
5.06 was the first version that it was natively supported in. The latest beta (probably released as 5.08) also includes full support for G-Vectors, so it will worth the update to the new version.
Are demo's available?
Mark,
Is there anyone in the greater Houston area using the system?
Is Galveston in 'Greater Houston'? If so, then yes. Steve at High Tide has a pair. I think he uses as two rovers in his SBL network. He has quite a few other receivers so he can probably do a comparison to other models too.
Mark,
Yes, Galveston is close by, I would be interested in talking to Steve.
I think I sent you a private message (but I am not positive that I did because it has changed). Just call me if you don't get it, I may be getting to set in my ways to learn something new.
I ordered a single iG8 to hopefully use as a base receiver. I had a good conversation with Mark, and I believe the iG8 will work just fine, freeing up the R10 that we usually use as a base (because it is the only receiver I have with Ntrip server built in). I also sometimes use an R7 with an external modem and send the data to an NTrip caster in my office. I use Trimble data collectors so getting one to use as a rover would mean changing to a totally different data collection system, etc, not likely to happen. But I am open to using one as a base. I do have an X90, works just fine as a static receiver.
I will post my experiences here using one as a base for Trimble rovers once I try it out (hopefully later this week).