He's probably a Yankee
Not Florida. I am very familiar with that network. Scott Harris is a good, helpful guy.
What is the name of that company down there, Florida Level and Transit? They're not the guilty party either.
Well, here's the kicker. The unit we were using was one of the brands they sell. It's not like this unit is ancient either. We will have had it 4 years in July.
He's probably a Yankee
> Not Florida. I am very familiar with that network. Scott Harris is a good, helpful guy.
>
> What is the name of that company down there, Florida Level and Transit? They're not the guilty party either.
Once when I was 22yrs old and a party chief , my instrument man set up the gun and did not tighten the screw on the legs well and the topcon took a dive on the pavement. The fall knocked the battery off and bent the knob.
We took it to Florida Level & Transit in Tampa and explained our situation to the technician before telling the boss. He totally hooked us up and made the repairs plus calibration on the spot with us in the back for several hours asking questions and watching what he was doing.
When we told him we were paying so as to not get hosed with the boss....he said "give me $20 and call it good, yall have a good weekend."
He's probably a Yankee
There are a few in Florida that I know of ... eGPS, Lengamen, FL&T ... from what's I've seen (not going to mention names) some of these companies "sell" the free FDOT network with a couple of their own stations added.
A few years ago a colleague took one of my 4000SSi units to the local Trimble dealer because he was unable to download files from it. (He did this without consulting me first.) The dealer charged $250 to tell me that the files were inaccessible and the receiver unrepairable.
When I got the unit back I hooked it up to my computer, launched GPLoad, and downloaded all the files as usual, without so much as a hiccup. It continues to provide reliable service.
Do I look askance at the repair department? You betcha...
Hello,
I tend to agree with the general feel of the later posts. Personally, I think that some sales folks may have limited knowledge of the equipment they sell and service. I would say that some are not too passionate about their equipment & software, when comparing to here. It's a job, it pays the bills. "Your gear is old it, it doesn't work, move on get a new one, or rent this one, I see that it works." They mean well.
So in the case of the initial thread, I would suspect that initially, the informant was being honest to the limit of his knowledge & interest about the subject. Once that person was forced to dig more into it, then found out more. I do not think that he was thinking "let's get some money out this guy"
Same as the gentleman with his story of the 4000. Here's a perfectly good running unit that just needed someone with a bit of knowledge, experience and drive to keep it alive.
There has to be a drive to make it work.
:beer:
Last week in the heavy wind my rover (and the base) fell over. The fall damaged the extension thingy on the tall road, with the thread broken off inside. I took it to our favorite machine shop, and the guy examined it carefully. I expected he would use a gadget to remove the thread, then replace it. Instead he asked if he could just cut off the top, so the thread would be accessible. A minute later it was fixed. He shrugged it off, so I gave him $10 cash and we both went off happy.
Am I likely to return there? You bet.
I tend to disagree with you. My surveyor on site told me that this service man completely changed his opinion of what he could do when he was told that we would be taking our business down the road. After he first told us that it wouldn't work with their network, the receiver wouldn't even pick up any satellites. Now, either that service man is completely incompetant because he doesn't know how to configure one of his better selling products, or he was trying to pull one over on us.
I have to agree with this. I'm starting to believe that there are very few dealers who know their equipment. Weather you think you are getting burned by this or not depends on what you expected from the dealer or what the dealer led you to believe.
You really have two things to worry about. Quality equipment and service. If you find them both in one place consider yourself lucky.
Jim
There is only one way to handle this. Pick a brand and become a nerd. It won't take as much time as you may think before you are more knowledgeable that the people selling the stuff.
Next time they start feeding you a line of crap and you call them on it, they usually know better than to ever try again. It sounds like you have already learned this lesson, though.
> There is only one way to handle this. Pick a brand and become a nerd. It won't take as much time as you may think before you are more knowledgeable that the people selling the stuff.
>
> Next time they start feeding you a line of crap and you call them on it, they usually know better than to ever try again. It sounds like you have already learned this lesson, though.
I agree with this. Unfortunately, we ended up with this one unit that is a different brand than all our others.
I have found the surveying equipment dealers are car salesman . Few support their stuff and fewer know the software . I call out of state to get my stuff because I do not like the screwing I get from the local guys . They think they got me by the short ones. Not
You would look a whole bunch better with a Trimble unit in your hand 😉
SC nailed it.
Go to the Manufacturer.
> I have found the surveying equipment dealers are car salesman. Few support their stuff and fewer know the software . I call out of state to get my stuff because I do not like the screwing I get from the local guys . They think they got me by the short ones. Not
http://www.gpsworld.com/survey/whats-difference-between-a-used-car-salesman-and-a-gps-salesman-9101