I think I may have read on here somewhere that you can put the demo version of Carlson on the instrument and use it for just displaying angles distances etc just not recording data.
Mark Mayer, post: 405545, member: 424 wrote:
I currently use a Topcon PS and I wouldn't recommend it.
Is it the hardware of software that you find is the problem with this instrument? There is a new robot out but the software is probably the same.
Totalsurv, post: 405783, member: 8202 wrote: Is it the hardware of software that you find is the problem with this instrument? (Topcon PS)
It's hard to be sure. My main complaint is that it is slow. It turns slow. It doesn't track well at short distances because if it. But the part that frustrates me the most is the latency period between issuing a command at the dc and the instrument initiating an action. That period is often several seconds.
Distance measuring in "Fine-S" mode is accurate, but takes quite a while. Distance measuring in tracking is fairly fast, but you give up a lot of precision. There are 3 other measurement modes, all of which update too slowly for my wants.
I'm using Survey Pro software with it. I don't know how much that is used in Ireland. It is ubiquitous around here. Spectra Precision (formerly TDS) is headquartered in Oregon. I didn't really like TDS the first time I used it on an HP48 in 1995 but it was the only game in town then. I just find the work flows in it to be clunky. I find myself clicking 6 or 8 times to get to simple things.
In short the Topcon PS would have been a great instrument in 1998, not so much for 2016.
Once you go robot you'll never go back. And you'll wonder how in the world you worked before.
Mark Mayer, post: 405806, member: 424 wrote: It's hard to be sure. My main complaint is that it is slow. It turns slow. It doesn't track well at short distances because if it. But the part that frustrates me the most is the latency period between issuing a command at the dc and the instrument initiating an action. That period is often several seconds.
Distance measuring in "Fine-S" mode is accurate, but takes quite a while. Distance measuring in tracking is fairly fast, but you give up a lot of precision. There are 3 other measurement modes, all of which update too slowly for my wants.
I'm using Survey Pro software with it. I don't know how much that is used in Ireland. It is ubiquitous around here. Spectra Precision (formerly TDS) is headquartered in Oregon. I didn't really like TDS the first time I used it on an HP48 in 1995 but it was the only game in town then. I just find the work flows in it to be clunky. I find myself clicking 6 or 8 times to get to simple things.
In short the Topcon PS would have been a great instrument in 1998, not so much for 2016.
I always wondered about the way the newer Topcon robots have their communications setup. Instead of having the radio in the RC unit they should perhaps put it into the data collector and eliminate the extra bluetooth transfer.
Could it be a Survey Pro issue and would it be worthwhile hiring or demoing a topcon data collector and software to see if it improves the latency issue?
Totalsurv, post: 405840, member: 8202 wrote: Could it be a Survey Pro issue
Perhaps. I haven't heard a lot of love for Magnet on these pages either.
Mark Mayer, post: 405848, member: 424 wrote: Perhaps. I haven't heard a lot of love for Magnet on these pages either.
True.
Mark Mayer, post: 405848, member: 424 wrote: Perhaps. I haven't heard a lot of love for Magnet on these pages either.
I have the Topcon QS and run TDS Survey pro with it. TDS and the QS seem to 'talk' to each other rather easily. I don't have very many issues.
Mark Mayer, post: 405806, member: 424 wrote:
I didn't really like TDS the first time I used it on an HP48 in 1995 but it was the only game in town then. I just find the work flows in it to be clunky. I find myself clicking 6 or 8 times to get to simple things.
I have known way to many that had your same opinion of TDS in the 90s.
Most would have loved SMI had they been able to get their hands on use of it.
Both were the same programming magic of Carlson (and his group of buddies) on two different menu delivery settups from different members of a think tank.
TDS had to hunt and peck to find your routine
SMI used a flowchart style that used update menu style that anticipated your next action.
It is a new playing field out there today and some of it is still rather clunky with thre need to hunt and peck.
A Harris, post: 405894, member: 81 wrote: Both were the same programming magic of Carlson (and his group of buddies) on two different menu delivery settups from different members of a think tank.
I first used a TDS system in 1989, on an MC-V. I thought the company and development team came out of Corvallis, OR.
Did Carlson hire some of the disbanded, leftovers, of the tds team?
Jim Frame, post: 405907, member: 10 wrote: I thought the company and development team came out of Corvallis, OR.
Nate The Surveyor, post: 405910, member: 291 wrote: Did Carlson hire some of the disbanded, leftovers, of the tds team?
AFAIK the TDS team did not disband, they were bought by Trimble and their name was changed to Spectra Precision. And they are still in Corvallis.
Many of the innovators we know of went to college together and/or were associated together back in the 70s to develop some of the original software that is the heart of all of today's major name brand product.
Most of them went on to open their own startup company and others went to work for the major players of the day.
Many of the same people that started out in an office after schooling are still working with some of the same key people for some other named company today.
Carlson let his Surveyor1 COGO go public in the mid 80s for everyone to use and create the next wave of windows based programming.
The heart of every program is still the same basic program it began as with all this new compatibility factor thrown in to operate on different platforms full of an entire library of menus, fill in the blank boxes, popup menus, dropdown menus and addon extensions that make up a complete suite of office product to download an run on your computer system or portable device.
It will take public demand to get a phone we can read in direct sunlight and an app that will do everything we need a computer for.
These fine innovators have made our lives much more easy today and saved many forests to make DMD forms, Pencils and Logarithm and Trig Tables and our having to burn so much midnight oil burdened with all that longhand work.
I find it amazing that how much of the data collection and computation possibilities are packed into an instrument package without the need of a separate data collector.
A Harris, post: 405936, member: 81 wrote: I find it amazing that how much of the data collection and computation possibilities are packed into an instrument package without the need of a separate data collector.
I've never used an instrument package for data collection or layout. What a waste of some of these giant instrument keypads! I haven't experienced any connection problems between my instrument and MAGNET. I use an OtterBox Utility Series Latch II to hold my FC-5000 tablet in my hand, tilting it away from direct sunlight.
A Harris, post: 405894, member: 81 wrote: TDS had to hunt and peck to find your routine.
There certainly were a lot of menus to navigate through!
A Harris, post: 405894, member: 81 wrote: SMI used a flowchart style that used update menu style that anticipated your next action.
I still have my SMI card and my HP 48GX!
A Harris, post: 405894, member: 81 wrote: It is a new playing field out there today and some of it is still rather clunky with thre need to hunt and peck.
The more I use my FC-5000 (with MAGNET), the more I like it. Naturally, any survey program written for a tablet will be constrained by the hardware. The need to hunt and peck annoyed me at first, but I'm beginning to memorize where things are.
Totalsurv, post: 405840, member: 8202 wrote: I always wondered about the way the newer Topcon robots have their communications setup. Instead of having the radio in the RC unit they should perhaps put it into the data collector and eliminate the extra bluetooth transfer.
Could it be a Survey Pro issue and would it be worthwhile hiring or demoing a topcon data collector and software to see if it improves the latency issue?
Just came off a project where we had PS101 and FC250 collectors with Magnet. Very disappointing performance. The field software wasn't bad, the collectors had communication issues and the instrument itself had numerous issues. Poor tracking, poor lock and difficulty staying in calibration, particularly the vertical circle. since we had close to 70 on the project and all experienced the same problems, I would say it wasn't isolated.
just bought a new Trimble S7 and TSC3. Like the speed, reliability and accuracy of the S7, plus the ability to scan onboard, albeit limited.
Shawn Billings, post: 405663, member: 6521 wrote: What type of work do you do? Robots are fantastic for site work with few setups. I wouldn't recommend one for lots of traverse work.
Yea. We mostly traverse boundary surveys. So the robotics wouldn't be used enough to justify the extra cost in my opinion.
Chris Duncan, post: 408528, member: 7540 wrote: Yea. We mostly traverse boundary surveys. So the robotics wouldn't be used enough to justify the extra cost in my opinion.
I used a Nikon Nivo C for a magazine review. On board survey pro. Incredibly tiny. Reflectorless. I'd recommend it.
Shawn Billings, post: 408692, member: 6521 wrote: I used a Nikon Nivo C for a magazine review. On board survey pro. Incredibly tiny. Reflectorless. I'd recommend it.
This is the same gun as Trimble M3 - Just different color and the Trimble comes with Access Software.
N10,000, E7,000, Z100.00
PLS - IL, MO, AR, KS, MN, KY
Shawn Billings, post: 408692, member: 6521 wrote: I used a Nikon Nivo C for a magazine review. On board survey pro. Incredibly tiny. Reflectorless. I'd recommend it.
I've got the Nivo 3M, it's a nice instrument. We run it with both SurvCE and Survey Pro data collectors. I think the thing weighs 8 pounds. I bought it for rough mountain surveying and it has worked well. It's a little finicky with prisms, read the manual. Reflectorless works well on it and Nikon optics are great. It seems to come out of adjustment a bit more frequently than some of the older Topcons I've used.
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