@350rocketmike
It could be you're right about me reading this completely wrong or it could be we just see things differently.?ÿ No offense intended. Hell, I've offended myself at times.
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The thing is, the same personality trait (or disorder depending on how you look at it) that makes me get lots done and skip my lunch breaks etc...is the same thing that makes me frustrated every time something slows down my progress.?ÿ
I'm not saying my way is right...but it's easy to become a workaholic and just want to get as much quality work done as possible when the bosses show their appreciation.
All I'm doing on here is trying to benefit from others knowledge and experience to improve the equipment I'm using. It's really not slowing me down anywhere near as much as the Sokkia iX running Fieldgenius was and I dealt with that for over a year before they gave us Magnet Field to use. The boss didn't buy a new robot then and the issues were mentioned several times.?ÿ
Things are getting done much faster now which is why I don't feel comfortable asking for new equipment yet. I did hint at a new Leica in a year or so and he said sure. So that's something to look forward to.?ÿ
@350rocketmike
I notice a theme also. What type of construction layout are you doing at 300m from the gun? I don't like to go much farther than 100m from my robot to maintain accuracy within few mm.. On large job sites with distances that far from away, using instrument will create errors similar to RTK. Why not use GPS?
300m would be a backsight.?ÿ
Typically a foresight would not be more than 100m. And if it was that far I'd want a good long backsight.?ÿ
300m would be a backsight.?ÿ
Typically a foresight would not be more than 100m. And if it was that far I'd want a good long backsight.?ÿ
I guess if everyone sees a theme, I should just stop looking for help with issues and put up with the issues that I have and be happy that they aren't worse??ÿ
Remember that I don't own the company and it's not my money. I'm just trying to make things work the best I can. I was looking for advice on fixing technical issues and not what my demands should be.?ÿ
Assuming youuse a tripod w/ tribrach at the backsight. Why would you need the Bluetooth to reach the backsight 300m away?
I would only be doing that if I was going to be staying set up at the occupy point for a bit Instead of just setting another point to move to....or if my Bluetooth range was not enough to backsight with the pole the way everyone else here does.?ÿ
It's just construction layout and not high precision layout or traversing through the woods.?ÿ
But as I said I was having issues with the connection at less than 60m occasionally, but the second long antenna so far seems to have fixed that. Having to set up a tripod and tribrach for a foresight for the type of work I'm doing would be complete overkill and a waste of time.?ÿ
If we're going to start critiquing my procedures for the construction layout I should mention that I use a bipod (the legal crews don't even do that here), keep my pole checked and adjusted, shoot 2 faces on all control points and am super anal about centering of the instrument and the prism compared to others. Don't forget the old "survey to the degree of accuracy required".?ÿ
What are you staking?
Why not RTK?
I have occasionally used GPS for staking for excavation (precision required is 0.10m) but the boss is not comfortable using it for pinning houses. Our tolerance is 0.010m on pinnings, when I do nails on footings I shoot for 0.005 on each corner.?ÿ
I use the base and rover only when I have no line of sight between any control points or do a site localization. Then I either set up on a known good point or do a localization.?ÿ
Or if I'm on the occasional job out in the country that nobody else has been to yet. With all the subdivision layout these days that is rare, so my GPS gets used once every two or 3 weeks.?ÿ
@350rocketmike
Have your tied a Hyrbrid system RTK/EDM? Your boss is correct, RTK is not good for the building corner layout. I would set a few control points near the house location using RTK. Then layout with Robot.?ÿ
I'm interested in them but haven't had a chance to ask the boss his thoughts on them yet. I have the oldest GPS a Sokkia grx2 base and rover with no network. The other guys have Trimble r10/12 with cannet.?ÿ
Usually our subdivisions we work in have lots of control points or at least some monuments that haven't yet been destroyed. If I'm using GPS I have to either set up on a known point and check into others before setting points or do a site calibration. I've had to do that before but usually I can set something with the TS off of what we already have.?ÿ
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@350rocketmike
I notice you are just across the lake (Ontario) from me.
For large construction sites, I like to set a permanent BASE pole in concrete. For use by the contractor and me. I don't like to use network RTN or Network GPS for control. Also, I avoid using localizations or calibrations for GPS control. I use a known projection. We call the State plane coordinate system in US. I've used UTM projections when working in Canada, this can create a large grid to ground scale factors. But either way, this datum setup is done only once at the beginning of the project, then used throughout the duration of the project, which could be years of work.
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TopNet live spacing of CORS seems a bit too far for me to use for control.
Is all your work in Kingston, or do you work throughout Ontario, CA?
Yes, the large construction site processes is something I've been reading up on a bit lately for if I ever end up on one but basically all my jobs are local to Kingston in a subdivision with preexisting control and lot corners. Most of our jobs are in UTM coordinates.?ÿ
We have a Cannet base that works on the Trimble GPS's but the Sokkia GPS I'm using had to use the Sokkia network for local corrections. They cancelled the subscription so I only have the base/rover. Come to think of it I'm not sure why Cannet can't work on the Sokkia GPS?
Is all your work in Kingston, or do you work throughout Ontario, CA?
Ontario, CA ain't anywhere near Kingston.
@350rocketmike
"I have a reputation for getting a lot of work done in a day despite being by myself so I don't think they are going to understand me asking for new equipment."
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If I were your boss, this statement right here would make me want to get you the best equipment available to keep your productivity, and mindset, high.
My now-former business partner was so focused on "saving money" by using old/kludged/worn out equipment that he'd spend more money maintaining or repairing said equipment over and over again than if we had simply replaced it with something newer and hopefully better.?ÿ
His time was "free" in his mind while I believe he personally could have been much more productive as a boss as opposed to a repairman....?ÿ
@350rocketmike
Why does your boss own so many flavors of equipment? You've mentioned Sokkia, Topcon,?ÿ Leica and Trimble. If you stay on this board long enough someone point you towards Javad.
Are you working for a construction contractor or a registered land surveyor?
I don't want it to sound like he's cheap. He buys us good equipment, he just tries to spread out making payments on them. He didn't expect to have to replace the Sokkia iX so soon when he's still paying for it.
He just recently ordered an sx12 which is the biggest purchase in a while. We have a recently purchased r12.?ÿ
My productivity went up when the ix motor died back in the winter and we got a Topcon GT-503 for a loaner. By the time the Sokkia came back a few months later I got the Leica 1203+ working and switched to it running Fieldgenius. I think it's pretty close to the gt-503 as far as how fast I can get jobs done. Both had pros and cons.
Productivity has to do with the field and office too and when I used the Topcon/Sokkia with magnet field the software was good on my end but not on the office end (they use Microsurvey CAD). So even if I'm a slight bit slower with the current setup making it easier for the office is a benefit. We're all on the same team here and need to do whatever is required to get the jobs done.?ÿ
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Registered land surveyor. Trimble is expensive stuff so he didn't want to be tied down to just them. We purchased another company that had all Trimble GPS and Leica instruments already (using Microsurvey CAD also).?ÿ
The Sokkia SRX was bought about 10 years ago (we used to have 2 of them and never had any issues except software glitches). The company was much smaller back then also.?ÿ
My Sokkia GPS was bought about 8 years ago. He had lots of issues with it at the start but I've had no problems with it recently. It also can run on Fieldgenius now so I can do a GPS and conventional job in the same software which streamlines things.
The next robot will likely be a Leica because then he can stick with Fieldgenius for the TS work. It seems like everyone here likes Trimble for GPS and Fieldgenius for TS work. Microsurvey was never able to get Fieldgenius working properly on the Sokkia iX.?ÿ
Oh and the Topcon was just a loaner we had for about 3 months while Brandt replaced another ultrasonic motor under warranty.?ÿ
Btw the Javad sounds cool but I do do little GPS work that it's not worth it for me. Out in the open with no canopy the old Sokkia grx2 works fine.?ÿ