What is everyone's thoughts on the Trimble R10 using the TSC3 and Trimble software? Features? Accessibility? Using it under a light canopy of trees?
Try it, you'll like it.
I believe it's the best out there right now.
We gave a demo unit a pretty good run last summer. It got put on the list for things we'd like to get and recently got bumped to the list of things we are buying as funds are available.
We got some incredible results in the canopy tests that it got run through. Scary good.
I looked at it yesterday at Trimble Dimensions. I have asked for a quote for a package and will probably order before the end of the year.
Some of the cool things it has are a web UI, built in NTRIP, RTX capability, and it comes with both cell modem and 2W radio built, whereas with the R8's I currently use it was either radio or cell, not both.
The last session I attended was a real interesting one by Stuart Riley called "GNSS Signal/Constellation Technology Update". At the end he talked about the R10 having 440 channels available.
> Try it, you'll like it.
>
> I believe it's the best out there right now.
Care to elaborate?
> What is everyone's thoughts on the Trimble R10 using the TSC3 and Trimble software? Features? Accessibility? Using it under a light canopy of trees?
It's sexy to be sure. Being a network rover, it is a bit more finicky than the standard rover, so additional checks are (IMHO) required. Shooting all control points three times and averaging them (over 3 minute periods and moving and changing the location of the initialization) is a must if you want repeatable results.
As far as the canopy, it's still a GPS rover. Some foliage is better than others though.
Recently we did several hundred acres, and divided it, a county away and in a different ecosystem (outside of the pine forests). We found an object, and weren't sure what it was, so we shot it. We were several hundred feet into the woods, and I wanted to be able to look at the relation, and if it was close, traverse back in and retie it properly. It initilized and we shot it three times, and averaged it, over about a 15 minute period. It was still faster than traversing in and I wasn't sure what it was.
Fast forward, in the reduction and analysis, it appeared to be an EXCELLENT position, by residuals and other cross checks. We traveresed in and tied it out and found the position of the "U" post, in a dead oak stump (loose) to be within 0.06' of what we had tied it TWO WEEKS EARLIER. Just so happened that we had the rover with us and we shot it AGAIN in the woods (very light woods similar to an open bottom with deciduous trees and not conifers), and the new GPS position was within 0.02' of our traverse tie in and 0.04' from the original shot.
So, I said all that to say this, I didn't trust the shot in the woods, even though it worked. The R10 is HIGHLY dependent on cell coverage (we had full bars), and distance from the reference station (we were 10 miles). Other projects in open fields 30 miles, or more, from the reference station with marginal cell coverage have yielded poor results.
It's a slick nickle, but is dependent on more variables than we were used to so extra care must be taken if you want it to walk and talk like you're used to. The canopy is still the canopy so check and verify.
Probably the coolest feature I like is no base and if you run out of cell coverage, swap to fast static and process against CORS stations and, voila, you have an instant network for least squares. I find I'm doing this MORE AND MORE even if the RTK is kicking like a chicken, just to tighten it all up a bit.
Our crews hated them. They all asked for their R-8's back. Radio range was limited, tracking wasnt near as good as the R8 either. This was across the board, not just a few crews.
Also as to the below about it being the best. We are a Leica and Trimble company. The GS15 blows Trimble out of the water as far as tracking, canopy, distance, etc. There have been several die hard Trimble guys at our office switch to Leica after working with a Leica crew for a few days.
waiting for alternative: Stonex S10 + Carlson Surveyor2.
Per Stonex web site
Sorry to whoever this guy is. Just a joke.
Seriously though, have the new units improved so much as to provide reliable and accurate results next to a building?
So the S10 is a pure R10 knockoff? Just not a good looking one.
Surprised nobody mentioned the built in eBubble and compensated points measurement.
You do not need to level the rod for most shots using this. The only caveat is that it has a fancy magnetometer to define the magnetic field around the R10 orient itself to your coordinate system in order to give an azimuth to the out of plumb shot. Therefore shots near magnetic interference are iffy at best.
It also has an auto-measure that begins once you go level, or once you simply hold the rod still using compensated points. You could topo dirt all day long without ever pushing a button or even looking at the bubble... scary eh?
We ran into the interference while working under a 128kv transmission line at a sub station. It made us calibrate the compass, which was a new request on it's part. Otherwise, those points worked fine.
Just got one a little over a week ago...
So far I am very impressed. Tested the R10 side by side with a R8-3 in the woods. The R10 was showing less than a tenth horizontal and vertical while the R8 was floating.
I've been using a Leica GS14 for the past couple of years and I have to say I prefer the R10.
I've just started playing around with the tilt sensor and compensated points. Tested it the other day...took a shot with the rod plumbed with a bi-pod then leaned the rod to 13 degrees
(15 deg is the max) and took another shot. Ended up with only 0.02' between the shots.
I also like the fact that you can set a tilt tolerance. If the rod isn't plumbed to within your tolerance it pops up a warning when you take the shot. The E-bubble is great for staking...no more looking back and forth between the screen and the rod bubble, it's all right there on the screen.
I haven't had the chance to use the tilt to measure feature much yet. Just like all the other features you can set the tolerances to what you want. It seems like it would be great when working near traffic. You can keep both eyes on traffic...just stop and tilt the rod close to plumb and it takes the shot...tilt the rod and move on to the next point...tilt close to plumb and it shoots again. Pretty cool stuff.
There's also the RTX app for iphone and android phones. You can configure, measure, and store a shot all with your phone...no need for a data collector.
I would guess that it weighs about half of what a R8 does. The lighter weight is really nice for integrated surveys. A R8 sitting on top of a multitrack prism gets kinda heavy by the end of the day. It feels like a R10 and a multitrack combined weigh about the same as a R8.
I'm really happy the R10 so far and I'm sure I'll like it even more once I spend a little more time with it figuring out how I can make use of all the new features. 😀
"SMART AND OPEN - Stonex S10 is based on CORTEX-A8 platform with on board LINUX smart system."
> I haven't had the chance to use the tilt to measure feature much yet. Just like all the other features you can set the tolerances to what you want. It seems like it would be great when working near traffic. You can keep both eyes on traffic...just stop and tilt the rod close to plumb and it takes the shot...tilt the rod and move on to the next point...tilt close to plumb and it shoots again.
That might be theory, but it doesn't work that well in practice. You will arrive at your next point and find you've tilted back within range while walking and its busy trying to measure - and now its complaining about excess movement and tilt. Then you have to kill the measure and start again. We turn this feature off.
For me the single best thing about the R10 is that it is the same height as Trimble's active prism. Now we can use the same pole for GPS and conventional work and dont have to worry (so much) about target heights
