New to LS - Many Questions

[Darren Clemons]

To be perfectly honest, the J-Field software is nowhere near as intuitive or user friendly as Trimble Access. However, in the long run, I think it really will prove to be superior, especially considering the updates and input from users that Javad implements. When is the last time Trimble really improved on their controller software? It's pretty much the same now as it was in the TSC-e days, not much improvement. Interface issues aside, the more I use my LS, the more I love it. Their attention to detail is incredible. I haven't cracked open my TSC-3 in weeks.

With all the "white boxes" on the side and the U1-U4 buttons Aaron, you can make the LS about as user friendly as you can get. That's what's so great about this unit. It is, by far, the most flexible and changeable piece of equipment we've ever owned. Add in the different profiles you can setup for both the collect and staking action screens and it becomes literally like the old Burger King slogan where you can "have it your way"!

You're right on the money about the developers attention to detail as well. I'd bet we didn't get a major update to our Topcon equipment once every two years, but with this LS it's been every 6/8 weeks consistently.
Usual updates include many new features from the development team as well as direct changes/fixes from us, the users. Both Nate and I for sure have suggested many changes that, after approval and feasibility of course, were put right in the box within weeks!

The difference in the LS now compared to two years ago, when we bought our first one, is unreal. I can only imagine where it'll be in two more!

 

[Aaron S]

I didn't mean it can't be made user friendly - that's a big plus for the LS, the white boxes, etc. - but I miss being able to look at the map like on Access and window points to stakeout a line, or inverse between two points that way, or the organization of the settings, files, etc. I miss that workflow that progressed like you do you work. It may be some stuff I just need to learn as I go, but I think the menus and icons could be grouped better and more logical. Just my personal opinion.

In any case, I'm still so impressed by the LS that I'm hyping it up to all my friends in the private sector, as well as in my agency. I'm really looking forward to going all in on Javad gear once I figure out how to pay for a Triumph 2 base to compliment my LS.

 

[John Evers]

Aaron,

The Triumph 2 base will simply pay for itself, many times over.

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

For what the t2 costs, and what you get in return, it's an incredibly good investment.

The short baselines, make "all things faster, and tighter accuracies".

After you run it both ways, you will see...

 

[Aaron S]

Is the T2 capable of "beast mode" or is that a function exclusive to the 1M?

As far as investments... I'm working for a federal agency, so we don't really get to recover the costs in the traditional sense.

 

[Shawn Billings]

The Triumph-1, Triumph-1M and Triumph-2 are all capable of broadcasting at 5Hz (Beast mode). However, the LS is capable of using upsampling now, which effectively removes the need for 5Hz broadcasting. If the LS is set to use upsampling and a rate of 0.2 seconds, you will have the same performance even from RTN corrections that are being received at 1Hz.

The main advantages of the Triumph-1, Triumph-1M, Triumph-2 base (as I see it) are:
Short baseline between base and rover. This could be debatable as RTN's can produce corrections from an artificial nearby base (such as VRS).
Independence from cellular networks for corrections. (With some effort and additional hardware, this can be overcome by using bridge devices that repeat broadcast corrections from cellular over UHF/FHSS)
Independence from network corrections. If the network is down, you can still work.
Network subscription costs. (Irrelevant if corrections are available without charge).
Traceability. Rover coordinates originate from the base. The base coordinates (when using DPOS) are tied directly to CORS. With an RTN, the rover points are tied to a network station or to a virtual reference station. The virtual reference station is tied to the network, which it tied to the CORS. The virtual reference station is determined by the network and does not provide traceability.
Base-Rover processing. This is the most significant advantage. Rover points can be post-processed to the Javad base. This provides redundancy in RTK positions, or in the absence of RTK positions, it provides alternative methods for positioning when communication to the base is lost, and as many of us have observed, can provide an position when RTK is unable to do so.

The best situation is to have access to both RTN and your own base as the RTN does present some advantages as well:
Base security
Speed (removes time for base setup)
Instant access to "true" coordinates

I like the idea of being able to setup a base on site using the RTN then running from the local base. At the end of the day process the local base to the CORS and evaluate agreement between RTN and DPOS solution for the base. Process rover points to local base to verify RTK. It's a win-win.

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

For me, I'd DRUTHER have a T-1m on base, IF the radio would do repeat, properly. (There is apparently some programming and testing to be done, before this is ready).
So, to realize the full benefit of the Javad system, go with a 1-2 on base, with a 35 watt radio.
Later on, the T1M will be a better choice. It's not ready yet.
N

 

[Shawn Billings]

repeater is in testing. It will likely be ready in a few days.

 

[Darren Clemons]

We have 3 combo's of the T-1M base and LS rovers. We honestly never even thought about anything else. We've never even investigated RTN on anything we've ran. I just prefer a lot of the things Shawn mentioned that you get with your own base. With the 1M by itself on most jobs, I can be up and running collecting points in less than 10 minutes after I put my truck in park so the base setup time is very minimal. If we hook up the 35w radio then add maybe a couple more minutes.

The biggest advantage to us was the T-1M having its own internal radio which will get a very high percentage of all jobs. We even did one last week that was 166 acres. Now, it was out in flat wide open crop fields but the 1w radio did fine. Longest distance was probably 2500' from the base located near the center of the project.
We then have the HPT435BT external radios for the bigger projects. We've "stretched" the range on those out to around 2.5 miles max in flat conditions. In hilly, rough terrain, you may lose radio at somewhere around 1500-3000', just depends on the place. We did several 400+ acre jobs last year and I don't remember any of them where we didn't do the entire job from one fairly central base location so while I'm sure a repeater would help, we've not needed one.

Add to that the 1M has 864 channels compared to 216 on the T2. Now, some say 216 is more than is needed anyway, but we've kinda learned to "trust" Javad and figure more has to be better, right?

Then add in the future (near future hopefully) of being able to track Galileo among other possible constellations, it made sense to us.

Even with adding the additional cost of the 1M to the entire package, it's still much cheaper than most, if not all other systems out there.

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

I'm planning to buy the t1m, after the repeater is ready for 35 watt radio. And, then i want to pit the t2 into some sort of cors sta. I'm some 70 mi. To the closest cors. Im in a "void". It'll strengthen the area...

 

[Robert P Stenerson]

I really love the PPK Hybrid RTK, for some chuckles watch Shawn's video lesson on it, its all about the dreaded running out of UHF radio signal, especially if you are also outside cell coverage (so no VRS to the rescue.) I can't imagine Trimble, et al, adding a feature like this to their equipment without you having to buy some kind of upgrade for it. Right there is the worth the price of admission.

P.S. I hope the blutooth to radio/repeater function gets added to the T1 as well.

 

[Aaron S]

I really love the PPK Hybrid RTK, for some chuckles watch Shawn's video lesson on it, its all about the dreaded running out of UHF radio signal, especially if you are also outside cell coverage (so no VRS to the rescue.) I can't imagine Trimble, et al, adding a feature like this to their equipment without you having to buy some kind of upgrade for it. Right there is the worth the price of admission.

P.S. I hope the blutooth to radio/repeater function gets added to the T1 as well.

Trimble has a similar feature called X-Fill, but you have to get back in radio range within a certain timeframe (I think only a few minutes) or it will throw out all the data you connected without radio link. I haven't studied up on it, but I suspect a Javad unit will store that data even if you don't get a base connection back, and correct it.

 

[Aaron S]

A fresh batch of questions:

Is there a way to see what % of battery there currently is (not volts or just a graphic representation), or how much time remaining until full charge? It would be nice to see somewhere where it says "75% remaining" or whatever, plugged in or not, and if it is plugged in, it would say something like "60%, charging, 1:12 until full charge".

Can you change the background color on the default (no) background map?

What types of files can you use as a background map? I have a stack of Geo-referenced PDF topo maps that would be just heaven for me to use as a background.

When I'm staking a point/line, it has an arrow on a map with a number, which seems to be in meters (shows a "m" after the number). IS that actually meters or something else? If it is meters, can I change that?

Who is the guy in the J-Pack/J-Pod demonstration video with the dog? Just wondering if it's someone on here...

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

I have been reading up on the X-Fill option. So far, in my reading, it is a SUBSTITUTE for radio, for a short period of time.

N

 

[Aaron S]

I have been reading up on the X-Fill option. So far, in my reading, it is a SUBSTITUTE for radio, for a short period of time.

N

When I used it, it would allow you to go down into a deep ditch, for example, and get a shot on a culvert invert even though you lost radio when you did so. When you came back up, and got radio signal again, it would go back and correct the shot as if it had radio at the time - sort of buffering the radio corrections. The problem I had with it was that the whole process was pretty vague when you were looking at the controller, and you couldn't really tell which points had used X-Fill and if the positions were even any good or not.

 

[Adam]

A fresh batch of questions:

Is there a way to see what % of battery there currently is (not volts or just a graphic representation), or how much time remaining until full charge? It would be nice to see somewhere where it says "75% remaining" or whatever, plugged in or not, and if it is plugged in, it would say something like "60%, charging, 1:12 until full charge".

Can you change the background color on the default (no) background map?

What types of files can you use as a background map? I have a stack of Geo-referenced PDF topo maps that would be just heaven for me to use as a background.

When I'm staking a point/line, it has an arrow on a map with a number, which seems to be in meters (shows a "m" after the number). IS that actually meters or something else? If it is meters, can I change that?

Who is the guy in the J-Pack/J-Pod demonstration video with the dog? Just wondering if it's someone on here...

1. Tap the battery icon and customizable chart will appear with tons of info on the battery status.

2. You can change the display to sunlight by tapping the screen hardware button.

3. SQLite

4. It is meters. Currently you can't change it.

5. The old dog is Duke. He's been with me for 13 years.

 

[Aaron S]

1. Tap the battery icon and customizable chart will appear with tons of info on the battery status.

2. You can change the display to sunlight by tapping the screen hardware button.

3. SQLite

4. It is meters. Currently you can't change it.

5. The old dog is Duke. He's been with me for 13 years.

That's great - I thought the person in the video was probably someone on here. How fun to have your dog with you at work!

Matthew Sibole also had some good responses to my questions, but for some reason they only show up in my email notifications and not on this thread... weird.

 

[Shawn Billings]

Just below the battery icon is an estimate of remaining battery life in hours and minutes. It's been very reliable and adjusts based on how the device settings. For instance, if the radio is on or SIM card is on, then the life will show less than if only WiFi is on or if it is in standalone mode.

I seldom look at the arrow line with the metric distance. I use the white boxes for left/right and the CTT arrow (course to target arrow).

 

[Phil]

Aaron...I never have used Trimble, and the 45-55 thousand price tag new or 30-40 thousand used was too much for me to want to spend, and the LS cannot be beat for size, as it is all in one. I got the the 35 watt radio and T-2 and the LS and can do go all sorts of places with it, and as happenned today I called Shawn while in the field and he responded in 2 minutes. I am still learning about all it can do. The continued updates will lead to more ease of use. This is a great set up and lots of input from surveyors makes it even better. Phil

 

[Aaron S]

Aaron...I never have used Trimble, and the 45-55 thousand price tag new or 30-40 thousand used was too much for me to want to spend, and the LS cannot be beat for size, as it is all in one. I got the the 35 watt radio and T-2 and the LS and can do go all sorts of places with it, and as happenned today I called Shawn while in the field and he responded in 2 minutes. I am still learning about all it can do. The continued updates will lead to more ease of use. This is a great set up and lots of input from surveyors makes it even better. Phil

When you are on a strictly fixed budget (dictated from Washington DC) money will always be the main factor. For the price of a USED Trimble R10 (I was quoted around $16,000) I can have a NEW Triumph-LS with plenty of money to spare. Also, consider that with the Triumph-LS you get a new controller as well, and a lot less batteries and wireless connections to deal with. Consider that a brand new Trimble R10 and TSC-3 controller would cost - roughly - $32,000 and you'd basically end up with just a network rover. Now consider how much Javad gear you could buy with that $32,000 and have better equipment, free updates (really grinds my gears when Trimble charges me for updates, not cheap!), and it makes the decision pretty easy for me.

I could write pages on what a great value the Triumph-LS is just based on price, let alone the quality of data you get and it's performance. I should be some kind of street preacher for this gear!