Shawn Billings, post: 377476, member: 6521 wrote: Traversing solo with a robot sucks.
If you can drive (or otherwise wheel) the gun to each setup, it's not so bad. Definitely slower than using 2 or 3 people, but if you use the BD-BR-FD-FR method and are content with a single set at each station, it goes reasonably quickly. I've not found the difference in angles between a single set and multiple sets to make a significant difference in boundary and topo work with sights under 1/4 mile or so, and for longer shots I'm likely to rely on GPS anyway, so the 1-set approach has worked well for me.
Has anyone had experience with Duncan-Parnell Lease program?
https://www.duncan-parnell.com/surveying-mapping/flexlease.html
I also recently went on my own and purchased a RTK base/rover pair and a robotic total station. For what I do I definitely need both as they both are great time savers in different situations. I ended up purchasing a pair of CHC X91 GNSS receivers and a Focus 35 from Igage. The CHC receivers are highly recommended and I am amazed at how well they work under canopy, although they will generate a bad fix if you push them to far like any other receiver. They are also priced significantly lower than the other big name manufacturers.
The Focus 35 is also a nice instrument, although I do have some issues with it connecting and working with Carlson software. (the CHC receivers do not work with the Survey Pro software that is normally used with the Focus 35) I am hoping when I make the jump to Carlson 5.0 that the connection bugs are worked out. Overall though I am very pleased with the performance, but if I did a lot of large topo work with the Focus 35 the little bugs would become more of an issue. I had extensive use with a Trimble S3 at my previous employer and I would say that the Focus 35 is comparable to the S3. Maybe not quiet as good, but close, and significantly cheaper.
For office software I ended up purchasing Carlson Survey 2016 with intelliCAD and have also been very pleased with its performance. Coming from a Civil 3D background I was initially worried that I would not like the IntelliCAD platform, but it has been very good to me so far and most of the basic commands are the same as AutoCAD.
I already had a truck, so that was not an issue and I ended up buying a 6' x 10' utility trailer that I share with my old man. In return he lets me use his ATV when I need it. 😉
Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, and if a little more up front investment will save you time and make you more money in the long run, then why not do it. I don't know if they still offer it, but when I purchased my equipment from Igage I was able to get 2 year financing for 0% interest, which was very nice.
