Topcon GPS

A company I worked for this past summer had just bought a pair of these and I set it up for them to run machine control and to do our stake out. It was my first time using the Hiper V as in a previous job I always used GR3 and the GR5.

If you do a lot of alone surveying, and haven't used any of these yet, well... It likes to talk to you. Let's you know if you're fixed or floating. It was sometimes nice to hear a woman's voice randomly on a job.

We never had a problem setting up a base and using a rover for the stake outs. There was times that the machine control would cut in and out on the grader and dozer. Never lost connection on the rover when they were cut. Topcon sales rep said it should be able to run multiple receivers at once.

If you are running base/rover radio setup, the base neither knows nor cares whether there is a rover out there to receive the signal. So ostensibly, you could run as many rovers off one base as you'd like because the base is transmit only and the rover is receive only.

We've got a Hyper V base/rover setup. We tested the GR-5's for 4 weeks before choosing the Hyper V's. After 5 months, we had to send our Hyper rover in for servicing and got a loaner GR-5, so I got another 3-4 weeks with a GR-5.

If I had the choice, I would take the Hyper V over the GR-5.

The Hyper 5 was about 6-8k less per receiver. The Hyper is much lighter. Makes a difference when you're working all day. The Hyper has more indicator lights and it will talk to you letting you know if its fixed, float or autonomous, battery life, Bluetooth connected etc. You can turn it off (or adjust the volume) if you want, but we find it very nice to get that information audibly. The GR-5 has basic lights and beeps.

The Hyper build is magnesium base with a plastic top, surrounded by rubber. Same for the GR-5. I've seen some construction surveyors treat GR-3's very roughly (supposedly like that for the last 3 years) with no problems. I'm sure the GR-5 is the same, and our Hyper 5's feel equally as rugged.

Both have SD and SIM card slots. We use the SD cards and have never tried any of the network functions. The GR-5 seemed to use some proprietary SD card formatting, the Hyper is standard fat32.

GR-5 has two hot swappable batteries. The Hyper has one battery, which lasts about 7hrs as a rover and 5hrs as a base. Depending on the length of the job, we will plug in an external battery into the base. Haven't had to use an external radio yet. We get a range from 2 to 7km from the base here in the mountains.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for the great info there on the comparison. I will be doing the same thing this spring, between the Hiper V and GR-5.

My research is showing they are very similar in specs, but pluses and minus in each.

The GR-5, much longer RTK with the internal radio (told 3 miles) they are more expensive. Occasional use of an external radio. 2 hot swappable batteries - but they are special topcon batteries. A bit more rugged then the V, but not much - more important to a contractor IMO.

Hiper-V Cheaper, a little lighter, but the RTK will supposedly only go out 1 mile or so in my terrain with all the trees. That means an external radio on most everything. Smaller battery, gonna go through 2 a day, 3 when they start getting weaker. Bonus on that is they look to be standard battery, and can get them on eBay.

I think the GR-5 is the last influenced by Javad, it came out very shortly after he left. The V looks to be heavily influenced by the Sokkia design. Not sure which is really better internally, I think they are pretty similar, but even though the GR design is older, I just can't shake the feeling that they will perform a little better. (remember I don't have any hands-on with either of them yet. When I get a hands on I will post up my results.)

There is probably more, but that is just off the top of my head. With either one I really want to configure my 35w radio as a repeater. That way you can use the internal radio of the base to broadcast, and put the 35w some distance away, maybe a better radio location - and don't have to hook up any wires. Dealer says it can be done, but not a real common config. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

They both have a 1w radio, so range should be similar using a unit as the base. The only difference is the orientation of the antenna, with the GR-5 sitting higher due to its design. I personally like the inverted antenna on the Hyper V as it does not catch on things as much when crashing through the bush.

The Hyper V shares the same case as the previous Hyper II design and the Sokkia models. The Hyper V antenna was upgraded from the Hyper II with a fence antenna like the GR-5. I believe the old Hyper II was a patch antenna.

Our dealer made a big deal out of the Vanguard chip that the Hyper V had, which the older GR-5 didn't at the time. I've noticed on Topcon totalcare that there is now 2 models of the GR-5, the newer ones with Vanguard.