Javad tech support is very good. If you get in deep trouble, hook it to the internet, and you will soon be fixed. Shawn Billings can "see" inside, and run your LS, with a remote connection.
Mr Smith, get somebody down there, to show you a Javad. I can say, starting with a Javad, (first gps) would be an awesome thing.
Call one of these guys, and get a demo.
John Evers
Mount Sterling, Ohio
tel: (614) 595-9412
john@pssllc.com
Shawn Billings
Kilgore, Texas
tel: (903) 985-0102
shawnbillings5688@gmail.com
Matt Johnson
Columbus, Ohio
tel: (614) 327-4036
mattjohnson00@gmail.com
Michael Glutting
San Jose, California
tel: (408) 770-1770
michael@javad.com
Matt Sibole
Georgetown, Indiana
tel: (812) 399-2483
matt@surveyingky.com
Adam Plumley
Lawndale, North Carolina
tel: (704) 477-3603
apsurveying@gmail.com
Even a user of the equipment, in your area, could demo it for you.
N
We spent six hours today accomplishing about an hour's worth of productive work. We were attempting to work in an area that is normally GPS acceptable. Not today. Truthfully, we could have accomplished more in an hour or less with standard total station operation. The term "frustrating" does not begin to describe our feelings.
Going to give it one more chance on Monday but not holding my breath.
A week ago, GPS was our friend on the same job in different areas. Today, it was the ultimate time-waster. Plenty of satellites but no results. It was as if we had entered the Bermuda Triangle of GPS performance.
Thomas Smith, post: 367404, member: 980 wrote: Is the accuracy I would need for a boundary survey (1:10,000) tough to obtain with gps?
Here in the Pacific NW we have lots of tree canopy also and not everyone has GPS. It's greatest use is for putting a job on state plane. I use it, but could see getting along without it except for that. A lot of agencies are starting to demand project be put on the grid for conformance to their GIS systems.
You can meet your accuracy requirement with points that are somewhat widely separated. You will have trouble doing so with points close together. The precision of GPS vectors is generally going to be +/- 5mm or so (depends on the units and the conditions present) for points close together and only very slightly more for points widely separated. That is if PDOP and multipath conditions are good. It is also very possible to get very poor data out of GPS if you force it into places it shouldn't be.
RTK is great for getting that one remote point that you would otherwise have to run numerous traverse legs to get to. In the west that means tying section corners. You could also use it to set up your control, then make your boundary ties wi,th the TS.
If you do go for it, make sure you also go for some software that allows you to simultaneously adjust your GPS and terrestial vectors. StarNet, SurvNet, TBC, SPCO, or LGO for example.
call up Mark Silver at iGage and get a single X90-OPUS unit for less than $2k. Best survey purchase ever.
Two or more and you could be taking naps instead of running the robot.
Brad Ott, post: 367453, member: 197 wrote: I bet that you will find enough open sky around the 100 to 300 acres of heavily wooded mountainous terrain to make RTK/RTN GPS useful.
Rent or borrow here and there to either prove me right or to prove me wrong.
Also, I paid about $335 per month for two years and now own my particular gps setup outright. It makes me very efficient (money).
Reach out to [USER=1087]@Mark Silver[/USER] at igage.com to see what he might be able to do for you.
OK Brad so what kind of CHC system did you end up with, and RTN, RTK ? That price seems rather low for a two receiver system unless you go OPUS like I have. (from Mark Silver - of course)
This is NE and you still have to chase wire, stonewalls and such so unless you can GPS everything you still need the instrument (robot). I think static control would be the biggest bang for the money, two OPUS receivers. The new CHC unit Mark has includes GLONASS which will help around canopy. If you have lots of $$ then go for the Nate special, we all want one, it's just about ROI.
Half Bub is sort of on to something. Cheap Static GPS. Set them up, around your project. Your total cost would be some 5k, or something. But, for the long run, the Javad is more complex, but your final throughput, will be very different. And, cost is higher. 21k and some change. After you see BEAST MODE, you'll wet yourself, (compared to Static).
I have heard well of Mark. Top knotch for me would be Javad. But Why don't you go and see? It's coming down to GPS. Every surveyor will one day have it. Of some kind.
N
Every person will one day have it... It's not too long before a hybrid terrestrial/gps solution will be broadcasted to the masses.
Check out Mark Silver at Igage. We have two of his OPUS 90 units and just got a RTK base rover setup. Its the real deal and priced very attractively. We put the CHC GPS head to head with are Hiper II's and the Hipers do not compete in tough conditions . Crews fighting over the new stuff. New units will track Galileo, bidue aswell.
I have done some testing and we were seeing .03' in both vert and horz compared with the Robot . VRS seems to be more accurate since we are now using Trimble based boards. Topcon never seemed to work well with the verticals on NC VRS system. I am looking to sell the Hiper II if anyone is interested, Base and Rover.
What Data collector goes with the Mark Silver GPS system?
Will it run with TDS, Carlson, or any other?
N
Nate The Surveyor, post: 367610, member: 291 wrote: What Data collector goes with the Mark Silver GPS system?
Will it run with TDS, Carlson, or any other?
N
Several, your choice;
IF Mr. Smith is already on the Carlson Train, then that could make sense.... however those units are only one watt.
I cannot see being without a 35 watt radio.
When you add The data collector, it's at maybe 17k with shipping.
And, the Javad is at 21,200, with shipping. With 35 watt radio.
I have not seen the Mark Silver units.
I know what I'd do. I'd consider selling the robot, and buy the Javad... It's that good!
But, he will have to make that call.
N
Nate The Surveyor, post: 367616, member: 291 wrote: IF Mr. Smith is already on the Carlson Train, then that could make sense.... however those units are only one watt.
I cannot see being without a 35 watt radio.
When you add The data collector, it's at maybe 17k with shipping.
And, the Javad is at 21,200, with shipping. With 35 watt radio.I have not seen the Mark Silver units.
I know what I'd do. I'd consider selling the robot, and buy the Javad... It's that good!
But, he will have to make that call.
N
Honestly do you think it could replace the robot? GPS here has always been difficult due to canopy. It would be great to get more use of gps. Could you do topo work under canopy?
Totalsurv, post: 367621, member: 8202 wrote: Honestly do you think it could replace the robot? GPS here has always been difficult due to canopy. It would be great to get more use of gps. Could you do topo work under canopy?
Call John Evers.
He's the one that showed me how.
N
Totalsurv, post: 367621, member: 8202 wrote: Honestly do you think it could replace the robot?
The answer to this question will depend on the nature of the work you do, and where you do it. I do a lot of work in densely-developed areas; I need to get accurate locations on control monuments, multi-story building corners, utility appurtenances and concrete improvements, much of it under dense tree canopy. There's no way I could do all of it -- or even most of it -- with GPS.
I mostly use RTK to find and establish control, mixing the GPS data with the total station data in a unified adjustment.
Seriously, RTK, in mild canopy, works fine, with the Javad LS. In real bad stuff, it's too slow.
You can run it will LESS verification, but, we are back to the occasional lie. So, what some users do is turn on the "Distance to Last" Here, you step off say 40', and estimate the elev diff between shots. And, so you are now manually checking things. But, having run those settings some, I understand what is happening. And, it's pretty fast.
I don't do much topo. For deep woods topo, I would prefer a robot.
N
I started off with static GPS for elevation control. But now I use it for everything here in NE MA. With MA DOT providing a free RTK network, I LOVE IT. But it has it's limitations in the canopy. If you can get 1/2 the sky open it works fine. Under dense canopy, forget about it! Here in Lowell I can use it on about 90% of the sites. But most sites will almost always have some dense canopy where I have to pull out traditional equipment to locate a point or two.
I do love the fact that I can just start a new job on State plane coords and go. I can often store 200 or so points in an hour, and stakeout is a breeze. I just sold a Promark 200 RTK unit to a retiring surveyor for $2500. So the price point is there. Of course up in N NH Maine technical's RTK network may not cover you so you might need a base/rover setup.
Good luck!
I'm running a Javad LS and learning how to use it. I have collected points under a dense pine canopy and verified them as accurate using my Trimble 5600. If you collect sufficient data (one minute, usually) and post process it, you can get good and reproducible shots. One thing that the LS does for you is to permit you to automatically post process your data set through Javad's DPOS function.
I have not used my 5600 since I bought the LS except to verify some results.
Under a canopy (the pine trees), to set a pin, I had to set two nails, collect them fro a few minutes during which I never got a lock, DPOS them and chain to the location to set the pin. When I collected the newly set pin, I was 0.012 feet off. That's OK with me.
Please note that I am still a neophyte with this equipment. John Evers gets a lot of calls from me.
Who else is doing this?
