Using both Leica and Geomax with all four constellations you may get RTK to fix at further distances but ppm error still propagates. Also NZ much smaller than USA so I wonder if the weather is more variable over shorter distances affecting that ppm? Not aware of any research on that topic sorry.
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For rtk base/rover I don't find any increase in precision over earlier Leica/Trimble gear but in my previous job we had a pair of Javad LS (pre-linux, GPS/GLO only) and we could never get better than 0.02m hz reliably in the open with those (certainly never got shots under canopy like Nate et al. claim, using the standard 'boundary' observation profile) when checked against total station work. Loved that m-local feature though, fantastic. On board cogo great too and found the form factor fine once you adjusted. The fine thread into receiver was terrible though, should have stuck with a 5/8ths even if it added a couple grams.
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Find it interesting your able to push such long baselines but guess it depends what type of work your doing/precision you are chasing. For control/boundary (0.01m hz 0.02m v) don't like being more than a couple KMs from own base (same as Trimble I've used too) but for topo (0.02 hz 0.05 v) less than 10km from the CORS base streaming all four constellations seems ok.
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Numbers above not CQ but 95% CI repeat shot values.
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For me multi constellation doesn't improve rtk precision but does allow you to get shots in places you couldn't before. If you want <10mm need to start looking at pole runout/bubble calibration carefully or legs and tribrachs and use static (which is a hassle with most gear so hardly done but sounds like the DPOS on Javad makes it easy)
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I always wondered if we were getting the best out of the LS's but didn't have much in the way of dealer support and the forums were helpful but still felt like never got it firing on all cylinders (compared to the videos we saw online)
You make a good point about weather. Back in the summer I was working about 13 miles from the office (21km). Thunderstorms started rolling in over my office and over my work site. I only had a few points left to collect and I tried to work quickly to get them before it started to rain. Ultimately I couldn't collect them during the storm because the troposphere was simply too different between the base and rover. Had the base been on-site, I'm sure I could have worked even during the storm. It blew through quickly and I was able to finish once the skies cleared without issue.
Hey, guys.?ÿ Say someone has run certain units at work and are familiar with what they will and won't do and how they operate.?ÿ How much money would someone stepping out on their own have to spend to acquire the combination of equipment discussed above plus the computer/printer/licenses/etc. before they accept their first paying job as a self-employed land surveyor?
From memory, when we started the geomatics division where I work now, this is what we paid 3 years ago (all prices in Canuck bucks which, with the exchange rate, make this couch change for my American friends):
$2500 Lenovo gaming laptop
$3200 Civil 3d *per year*
$2000 Microsurvey Starnet (we bought Standard w/ a converter--upgraded it to Pro 2 years later, but we'll keep that cost out of the initial cost for this discussion)
$5000 used SP Focus 10 (5 second) w/ Getac data collector running Survce 5 robotic module only (originally came w/ a TSC2 running Trimble SCS900, but we bought a used data collector and ditched that.?ÿ We needed additional prisms, recelled the batteries, bought a car battery, cables, antenna, etc.)
$6000 used Hemisphere S320 base and receiver w/ Surveyor+ running Survce 5 GPS module only and a PDL radio w/ all the legs, cables, antenna, etc.
$8000 used 2008 Ford E350 van bought at auction w/ 70,000km on it owned by the local municipality
Plots were sent to the local Astley-Gilbert and billed to the client.
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Ran that for 2 years and used the revenue generated to switch to the following:
same laptop
got the Black Friday Carlson Survey thrown in for free w/ a hardware purchase
$10000 Carlson BRX7 Network & UHF rover w/ pole
$32000 CRX2
$7000 RT4 w/ SurvPC and all modules except Roads
$2100 Topnet subscription
same van
engineering division bought a plotter (without that option, we'd still send them to the local print shop)
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Still adapting the Carlson Survey to our work flow so we can drop Civil3d.?ÿ Completely satisfied w/ the hardware purchase and Carlson in general.?ÿ Waaaay more capable and I do not miss the days of hauling that bloody car battery.
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To the moderators, if listing these prices violates some rule I have missed, please feel free to delete it.
@jaccen?ÿ
Thank you.?ÿ That helps to provide a rough estimate of what one should be prepared to invest.
Post processing on the receiver has significantly reduced communication range anxiety. It's reliable and works with fairly short data files, even under light to medium canopy. It works under difficult canopy with longer observations too. So even with the limited FHSS range, you still have options that can keep you working when longer vectors are required.
I am back re-reading in my long term upgrade research and this point is key. Out of frustrations with RTK and data connections this is basically how I have been doing it all along, the faith surveying model of collecting data today and post processing it day after tomorrow, compressed to minutes.
