The ideas pile

[Nate The Surveyor]

This thread is for ideas.
Things that were once impossible, are not only normal now, but are a part of standard procedure.
So, if you have ideas, post them. It's not possible for me to earn a living, AND have the time to design, build, produce, and use my own gear. (Besides, I would not know how)
So, an idea pile, can be handy. If an idea is not practicle today, it could become practical in a few years. It's a reading list, for the designers, and engineers.
I'll go first.
I wish that the next generation LS were bigger, and lighter. And, that it had 3 to 5 antennas on top. (Maybe even more) Maybe some on the side too, for use while carrying it sideways. This could calibrate the direction screen. I.e., the compass. This could serve a number of purposes. It could keep the tilt function working better. Once upon a time, Javad was working on an umbrella function. It was a good idea, but was too big. Also a larger screen. For those of us who need BIGGER screen. (Glasses)
Also, the light on the bottom, is LED. That's good. But it's too close to the pole, to properly illuminate the pole tip, and the level bubble. Also, we could add color to the light, or add another light, out near the edge. These could tell us information about when observation is finished etc.
If the LS were bigger, it could also have double processors, and bigger memory.
Also, it would not offend me, if we dropped back to 5/8"x11 threads.
If adding multiple antennas is good, then we could add a sight mechanism, with EDM. Or dme (EDM=Electronic Distance Machine DME = Distance Measuring Equipment).
If you take a practical approach, making complex things simple, and make it extremely USEFUL, it will produce. If it produces, (high production) it will be in demand.
That makes it sell.
Also, put a railing around the front, for a grab point. Pushing buttons requires 2 hands, as it is, so we don't push it over. A grab point could allow some fingers to go behind, while a thumb pushes the button. It would add protection to the front. This would allow one-handed button pushing.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
I'll keep surveying, you keep making wonderful equipment!
Nate

 

[Jon Gramm]

Second!
Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I wholeheartedly agree with the 5/8" x 11 threads! As well as an EDM with a sight, or the target displayed on the screen. Nothing against the J-Mate, it has its place, but the ability to do distance-distance intersections to corners and such without the histrionics of using an external laser distance measuring tool along with the LS would be a great thing!
Maybe a downward pointing distance meter as well, from the ARP. There have been more than a few instances where I could get over the point, but not with the pole attached.

An internal UHF antenna around the perimeter of the top of the unit would be nice. I find the internal antenna to be a bit too directional, and the external UHF antenna connection is a bit less robust than I would like.

Yes, a larger display for those of us who are visually impaired or are suffering from progressive deterioration would be very welcome.
The ability to adjust the contrast of the screen would be a big help as well. There have been times where no matter which direction I turn the screen, I cannot see it
very well, even with my glasses on. Some of this may be due to the light reflected off of the snow, but I have had this problem when there was no snow as well.

Magnetic charging port. There are numerous flashlights available which have a magnetic charging port rather than a plug in port. One less thing to worry about.

User replaceable Silicon Port Covers would make me very happy.

A less convoluted way to create/import background imagery. The ability to import a Geo-tiff, Geo-Spatial PDF, or other Geo-referenced image directly would be tremendous.

Nate has mentioned this in the past, and it is something I have wanted since I started surveying with electronic data collection equipment.
It was something that I wanted so badly that I wrote HP-48 data collection software to do it. Back when dinosaurs still walked the Earth.
A single screen for staking, and simply collecting shots. When staking, options are available to set a target, layout a line, etc. You can also simply collect a shot without changing screens. Just take a sideshot, collect the Point ID, code, position, description, and attributes, and move on. The "Target/Accept As" coding, description, and Point ID remains separate from the Collection Point ID/Attribute scheme.


Yep, you make great equipment! Keep up the good work!

 

[Steve Douty]

What great thoughts. It must be the season for gift giving, we are all asking for a sleigh full of wonderful stuff. I intend to spend a part of the holiday commenting on some of the above thoughts and adding my own dreams.

But, most of all, I would like to thank the JAVAD team for developing a wonderful product and still listening to all of us whine about what else we want. You have changed my life and the profession. Thank you and happy holidays!

 

[Aaron S]

I sort of agree with the bigger screen idea. It's not a high on the list (for me anyway) but a minor annoyance to me is when there's plenty of screen, but the fonts are tiny. In some places, the dialogue boxes or coordinate displays could be bumped up in size to fill blank space on the screen around it. Also slightly annoying is sometimes when there's boxes in the lower right or lower left of the screen that I need to click on, it's too small to detect my finger, especially when wearing gloves (my gloves all have tips that will register on these types of screens). I know there's hardware buttons to do this, but some cases there isn't, and I frequently have to take off my gloves to jam my finger into that corner and make it click.

Another thing I've been thinking, is that all the physical rubber buttons on the LS are nice, but I wonder if some of these functions are used enough to justify having their own button. Maybe you all use these more than me, but in my experience, I don't really use the mute, screen, a/v, help, or interference buttons very often, and when I do, I would be OK with navigating to the main menu screens to access these functions. My point is, if we could eliminate some of the lesser-used buttons whose commands are found elsewhere, you could make the screen a little bigger. That way, the screen could fully extend to either the width or height of LS front.

 

[Jon Gramm]

To expand upon what Aaron has suggested.

The following buttons are ones that I have never used while surveying.
Start, Lock, Interference, Battery, Stop
The cursor control button(s), The Check button.
The Action Button
The "-", and the "+" buttons
Setup, Collect, Stake, Mute, and the User defined function buttons.

These buttons seem to be redundant to me.

I don't even see them since I am focused on the display and use a stylus or my finger to execute commands on the screen.

That is a lot of real estate which could be used for a larger screen, not to mention less wiring/fewer internal connections.

I have always believed that a touch screen was designed to be touched, so that is how I think, and operate.


I have seldom used the Print Screen, and Light buttons.

I truly appreciate the Home button! I usually employ it to run away from the mistakes I am about to make. Kind of like a Panic or "Get Me the Heck Out of Here!" button.

Larger screen, larger fonts, larger onscreen buttons, I am all for that!


The ability to connect to an external GNSS antenna wirelessly would be very nice!

 

[Shawn Billings]

To expand upon what Aaron has suggested.

The following buttons are ones that I have never used while surveying.
Start, Lock, Interference, Battery, Stop
The cursor control button(s), The Check button.
The Action Button
The "-", and the "+" buttons
Setup, Collect, Stake, Mute, and the User defined function buttons.

These buttons seem to be redundant to me.

I use the lock often when I put the LS in my backpack or when I lay it across my lap on the ATV or walking a long distance through brush or in the rain (as brush and rain can activate the touch screen). I use the check button along with the arrow keys to select objects in lists because the empty check boxes are often too small to activate by finger press. I use the action on occasion to get back to where I was if I go to points or CoGo. But more importantly, the Action button expands the white boxes to show more detail. The + and - keys are great for selecting the corner buttons on the screen, which can be small and difficult to get to sometimes. Two presses of the setup gets to the advanced settings screen (which will soon be accessible on the action screen). This is handy for changing things like units (I alternate between bearings and azimuth from time to time). Mute is handy if I'm working while on the phone or get close to a neighbors house and would rather not draw attention. I use the light button almost daily this time of year due to short days and being caught out after dark. The user buttons get a lot of use. Inverse, reset engines and reset tracking are each assigned to a button.

I do use the Help button. Print screen is very useful for creating your own documentation or for sending to support to describe an issue.

The A/V button is great for quickly calibrating the touch screen (press and hold until the message appears that the screen is calibrated).

Home is definitely the button I use the most.

 

[Jon Gramm]

I appreciate your point of view Shawn, and the fact that you use more of the LS's capabilities than I do, or ever will.
I also appreciate the knowledge you shared about those buttons, some of that functionality I was not aware of.
My observations are from my use of the LS, and I am pretty sure everyone else who uses one will have a different story to tell
with regards to how they use it.

What I would really like to see is a modular unit, where the antenna is detachable from the display, and the mounting points for both are centered for mounting
on a 5/8 by 11 thread. When the antenna is physically disconnected from the display, it is connected via Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi.
Yeah, I know there are a lot of hurdles involved with something like this, but I know it can be done in a lighter package with a larger display using the internals
of the LS or T3.

I have also never used the proximity sensor, even though I thought it was a cool idea when I first saw it. Just never got around to setting it up.
I also thought a speech to text translator would be great, then I used a couple of them, and they kind of worked, but I still needed to make a lot of edits.


I would truly like no, or minimal protrusions on the exterior, and shielding for those which may exist, preferably on the bottom of the unit.

Do external UHF antennas need to be rigid? I understand the desire to be able to orient them upward or downward or whatever ward, but if I could get a floppy
external antenna, I would be able to move more quickly through the brush with less worrying about damaging the antenna, and mount.

When someone starts a discussion of this nature, my mind kind of goes wild and I end up bouncing thoughts, and ideas off of the walls of my rubber room.

 

[Aaron S]

I use the lock button, check mark button, and arrow keys a lot. The lock button for when I put the LS in my backpack, or if I have it on the pole over my shoulder, the rain and snow won't land on the screen and inadvertently take you 5 layers deep in some menus. The check and arrow keys are also handy when the screen is iced up or wet and the touchscreen is non responsive or being ornery.

This is just my experience talking, but I think the start, stop, arrow keys, checkmark, home, action, and plus minus keys are the main ones that wouldn't make sense existing as a touchscreen only buttons. The other buttons are important as to their functions (and I certainly have used them all at some point), but not important enough - at least to me - to have dedicated hardware keys.

 

[Aaron S]

As for the physical layout of the LS, there are some good ideas in this thread and I think in general the design is excellent. What gives me the most trouble is the UHF antenna, and the fact that it has a right angle right off the unit. It's always getting snagged on brush and branches and it's a constant struggle to keep it screwed in tight. If it's not loosening itself, it's getting jammed way too tight by contact with vegetation, and the antenna port is becoming loose within the unit. I don't have a solution for this, but that's the problem. Usually, I just take the antenna off for long hikes until I'm close to the work area but there's got to be some clever solution to leave it on all the time.

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

@Aaron S you are using the little external antenna? I rarely use mine.
Also, if the base part is getting loose, or stud the antenna screws on to, superglue the base to the chassis. It's a form of locktite, for us!

 

[John Troelstrup]

I like this thread...I already learned some things.
I will post this request every chance I get as I am a solo operator have to leave the base station set up in urban environments.

An audible warning if the base station is moved beyond the tolerances specified so that I may start running towards my base immediately.
I understand that is a hardware issue not currently present, but perhaps for future builds.

Perhaps a strobing screen flash would be a very big help and could be added via software update?

 

[toivo1037]

I like this thread...I already learned some things.
I will post this request every chance I get as I am a solo operator have to leave the base station set up in urban environments.

An audible warning if the base station is moved beyond the tolerances specified so that I may start running towards my base immediately.
I understand that is a hardware issue not currently present, but perhaps for future builds.

Perhaps a strobing screen flash would be a very big help and could be added via software update?

Maybe not an internal hardware item, but could that be an external box, connect via software so the base would not need to be modified (and those who don't need it would not need to pay for it). If the base moved out of tolerance, then it would trip a bluetooth or wifi signal, and your watchdog box would set off lights and sirens and initiate your 911 call!

 

[John Troelstrup]

Maybe not an internal hardware item, but could that be an external box, connect via software so the base would not need to be modified (and those who don't need it would not need to pay for it). If the base moved out of tolerance, then it would trip a bluetooth or wifi signal, and your watchdog box would set off lights and sirens and initiate your 911 call!

I like the idea of it being implemented at the base. That would also be a deterrent.
My idea of notification however is being requested to alert me via the LS.
Currently if the base station is tampered, you need to be looking at the screen to be made aware, so if you are walking around the block or at the truck calculating - you have no idea that your base is being tampered with.

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

I'd like it if all Javad products had a built in bracket, to tie it down, lock it up, etc. Sure it's not perfect, but it could help.
N

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

Base guard is already here. It needs a few tweaks, but it's here.
N

 

[Aaron S]

@Aaron S you are using the little external antenna? I rarely use mine.
Also, if the base part is getting loose, or stud the antenna screws on to, superglue the base to the chassis. It's a form of locktite, for us!

I usually have to use the little external antenna because radio signal is so poor/distant. It usually only gives a marginal increase in range, but up here I'll take whatever I can get. There's generally not a lot of great options to set up a base, considering sky visibility, and I have to stretch those base-rover lines pretty far. I know there's a lot of changes I could and will make to my base radio setup to increase range, but adding an external antenna should still be an option.

Now I'm thinking what does an antenna have to be made of (steel, aluminum, etc.)? I'm picturing a rover pole that also is, in effect, a 5'+ long antenna. Or perhaps a rubber antenna that hangs down in side the rover pole, totally protected and many times longer than the little external one.

 

[Nate The Surveyor]

@Aaron S
I'm thinking. RAISE YER BASE!
Base antenna should normally be at 15' up. In dicey places, make it 20-25'.
You are looking at this wrong. I think.
Gimme a call. I have more.
N

 

[Jim White]

I wonder if a top mounted camera would be possible? If it the skyplot was overlayed, it would be nice to see how many good satellites are not obscured at a location. I assume there would be challenges as the camera would need to be coaxial with the gnss antenna. To take it to its full potential, the LS could process the image for open sky and then weigh the obscurredness (?) of each satellite into the solutions.

 

[Steve Hankins]

On the wish list I would like to see mission planning capability for the office and on the LS. Gotta say I am pretty happy with the LS,Triumph 2 and 35 watt uhf radio I have today, but look forward to the Triumph 3 and additional constellations. I believe we are in good hands!

 

[Steve Douty]

I usually have to use the little external antenna because radio signal is so poor/distant. It usually only gives a marginal increase in range, but up here I'll take whatever I can get. There's generally not a lot of great options to set up a base, considering sky visibility, and I have to stretch those base-rover lines pretty far. I know there's a lot of changes I could and will make to my base radio setup to increase range, but adding an external antenna should still be an option.

Now I'm thinking what does an antenna have to be made of (steel, aluminum, etc.)? I'm picturing a rover pole that also is, in effect, a 5'+ long antenna. Or perhaps a rubber antenna that hangs down in side the rover pole, totally protected and many times longer than the little external one.

Aaron,

We have one of the new JL raidos. Like you we work in areas where sky and cell coverage are not always our best friend. The JL allows us to set up our base (T-2, or LS) with sky and cell coverage and then take the JL to a spot near our project that has cell, but not sky and use it as a repeater. There are several variations of this that are working in the uncivilized part of the world.