Most GPS systems are on a tripod during static setups. How many of you allow crews carry the tripod between setups with the GPS antenna attached?
RTK setups are designed to be carried on the pole, but how many would allow the crews to bounce them around in the back of a truck or laying flat in your vehicle?
We usually don't move a base GPS-RTK unit a short distance. So moving it while attached to a tripod has never applied with us. If we move the base, we box it.
I will say that our base unit is more fragile and has been in for repairs a few times, so I would never transport the base antenna attached.
As for the rover RTK unit in the back of a pickup bed: we customarily attach the rover antenna to a stickup on the backpack, and the backpack rides in the rear of the truck bed. The backpack (with antenna attached) has fallen over within the bed a number of times, with no detrimental affects (except for loosing lock). The rover antenna seems to be more durable in design.
We now have NTRIP rovers but when we utilize our base then it gets boxed between moves because moving the base generally is moving a significant distance. Usually two miles or more.
The rover stays together on moves but we have a box made that it lays in where it is supported. On topo jobs it rarely sees the inside of the truck but when we are shooting section corners or other things some distance apart we do put it in the van. I'd never let it sit in the back of a pickup though.
A GPS has delicate parts just like a TS but different types of parts. Instead of precision rotating/sliding parts it has delicate boards,wiring and connections. Vibration is a killer to these parts so we place the unit in the center of the van where the least amount of movement is happening when traveling. In the back of the truck then it's going to take 10 times the movement and shaking as in the front seat of just behind the cab.
Bluetooth has been a huge boon for us, but before that with cables then we used rubber ties that would hold the cables secure and take off any weight on them from pulling on the connectors. We've all had issues with cables and these are not cheap, especially when it means down time for a replacement or down time trying to trouble shoot a problem.
Okay, I will confess.
The base gets treated with care, but...
The rover: Banged into trees when over my shoulder, Blown over in the wind a few times and always rides in the empty tripod bay when driving between Government corners. I thought it was made to do this? It is a Trimble, works great and has never been in for repairs in the past 7 years (knocking on wood). Do not plan on any procedure changes.
Scott
I work out of a suburban.
Works well with the rover.
Open back cargo door, insert rod with rover laying over the back seat.
Nice and cushy ride.
Getting back to the jest of these posts, My equipment will always be taken care of better than myself in the field, if you ever have had to buy one yourself, you know what I mean. Until then, you don't.
Randy
Usually static points are a good drive between them, so I box the whole unit and drive between points.
I have often placed the whole RTK set-up (collector, pole, receiver, antennae) in the back of the truck and drove to a different section of a job. I have placed it through the back of a Yamaha Rhino and held it in place with one and and drove to a different area.
During a static session for a volunteer state line recovery project, an entire set-up was blown over onto a chip and seal country road. It was checked on several known points before being used for new work again. No issues and is still running just fine.
[sarcasm]Maybe some of you guys should start buying the gear that the manufacturer places inside of a outer shell of some kind. I guess I would worry more about it if I was using one of these instruments that is just exposed circuit boards and wires holding everything in place.[/sarcasm]
I committed the cardinal sin of surveying, my stake hop was out of town, so I was doing the pipe asbuilts solo with the GPS and leaned it against the truck! BAD BOY! Since I am also the general superintendent of the project, I'm always getting "emegency" calls. Crap! Drove off and had the unit hit the rocks. Reciever was fine but the DC took a major smack! $1700 later .....:excruciating:
-JD-
Base set-ups are always broken down between stations, but we interchange base and rover receivers periodically, so no difference there. Rover units on the job are transported using an outrigger rover pole system to maintain lock, and to allow navigation while driving thru bluetooth connections. the outrigger has some rubber vibration-dampening features, but the rovers do take some abuse.
> Getting back to the jest of these posts, . . .
It's "gist", not "jest".
