We are in the process of upgrading to a new data collector and wanted some thoughts on the various ones on the market. We were fortunate to have the TDS Ranger but it is going on the blink so we will now get a new one. I hvaen't really heard much good about the Spectra Precsion Pro Data Collector running Survey Pro as I hear it's a bit quirky. Anybody using anything that they are thrilled with? We will most likely demo a few...Thanks for any input.
We are changing from Carlson to topcon tesla. Only been using the tesla a few weeks. It seems all right but not all that thrilled with it. I think I would try and stay with the rangers. Good luck
I run a Ranger 3L with Spectra Precision Survey Pro. 5.2.2 and have no problems. I use it daily for robotic and VRS and it's quick and never locks up, as others have reported. I have used all the the older Ranger models and a Recon and they all needed re-booted a lot more often than this model. The only time I ever lock it up is if its trying to communicate with the robot or receiver and I've forgot to turn one of them on, which is my fault. I wonder if some that are having the problems have 5.0 installed on an older Ranger that may not have enough memory or processing speed to handle the program. The original Survey Pro 5.0 that came on the the 3L had a few bugs at first, but they were addressed very quickly with updates. The only problem I had with the collector is what seemed like buttons sticking once in a while, but the dealer said it was a known problem and took care of it with an operating system update.
I do worry about what direction Survey Pro is heading now that Trimble owns it. Each update seems to be loosing some of the TDS feel I've known for years.
Kelly
I think a consideration is what office software and what other field hardware, from what I have experienced and read here and other boards, NOT all play as nice as some others.
I don't have any recent 1st hand experience other than with Leica's own DC software that is on board their products, my opinion is that there is less to go wrong in the finger pointing game if you can source the hardware/firmware/software ALL from the same vendor, this of course limits your options, BUT at least whatever you get will be fully supported.
There are some obscure exceptions, one being that the Leica parent also now owns MicroSurvey, so I suspect Field Genius in the field with MicroSurvey in the office will play well with Leica field hardware and should just improve with time.
SHG
I think that most DC's are compatible with popular software.
I've used TDS for DC software for the past 16 years, and it worked fine with LDD and works well with Carlson Survey.
I've used a Carslon DC one or twice, but prefer TDS.
It only matters if you're able to up/download, and the DC file is in a format that you can use with your office software.