I've been away from the Ashtech/Magellan happenings for a couple years now. We used to have 6 Ashtech receivers, but traded the 2 Z-Surveyors for 2 Topcon RTK units. We still have our 3 PM2 units and a Super-CA. They never get used anymore. We've gone RTK exclusive. Moving to Topcon was not an easy decision, but it was the smartest and most productive decision we ever made. We chose it solely for Glonass support and it was well worth the change in GPS vendor. It didn't hurt that it also supported our data collector software of choice: TDS
Flash forward now and it looks like the Promark 500 might be worth a serious look. We're going to be wanting a new RTK system before too long and we won't be buying another system without Glonass. I want to know how it stacks up against other Glonass RTK systems, specifically Topcon, but wouldn't hurt to hear about others.
I want technical comparisons, performance comparisons, feature comparisons, basic value comparisons(I'll get exact pricing from dealers) and data collector comparisons. It would be interesting to know how and if the new Promark 500 will work other data collectors. We have an investment in TDS and it would be nice to be able to use a Recon or Ranger with Survey Pro. But if it's not compatible, then how does the FastSurvey data collector compare to comparable TDS unit? I understand the duality nature of the data collector to be used for GIS in solo mode. However, that's not a feature we currently require. And I'm not even sure it's a feature that could be used on very many jobs that we do. So it's not really a big selling point.
Any details would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Tommy McClain
I'm surprised Magellan isn't making a bigger issue out of the SBAS Blade technology in the ProMark500. Basically it uses the WAAS satellites in the Western hemisphere and EGNOS and MSAT over Europe and Asia as additional observable satellites. Around here, two SBAS satellites are visible. They are geostationary which allows them to be tracked more easily. So basically you get three constellations instead of two using GPS and Glonass and a constant additional two satellites in view 24/7 (less of course local obstructions). The documentation also claims that Galileo will be available once that system is in place. I haven't seen or touched one yet, but hopefully in the coming months I'll get to handle one.
That's one plus I've seen so far for the PM500. I've been receiving some emails from a dealer on what they've seen and heard of the PM500 and it's looking like a fair competitor to the Topcon Hipers.
Here's some of the pro & cons against some of their competitors:
Pros
----
* SBAS Blade Tech
* Upgradable to Galileo
* Lightweight
* 128MB onboard - upgradeable using USB flash drives
* Mobile Mapper CX or ProMark 3 RTK for data collector
* User-upgradeable camcorder style battery
Cons
----
* 7-hours per battery using radio
* How long will companies continue to make this camcorder style battery? We had problems finding other camcorder style batteries once the camcorders that used them were deemed obsolete.
* No support from other data collector vendors.
I still have open questions regarding the base setup. Hopefully I'll be getting those answered next week. Haven't done an apples-to-apples price comparison. However, from a ball park figure I was given it looks about par as other competitors offerings.
One problem I already see with the system is the battery life. 7-hours is just too short. One would think that any new RTK system coming out would have targeted at least 10 hours. Hopefully that's something that can be rectified with a newer battery. Another big problem for us is no support for TDS data collectors. I can understand and appreciate their reasons, but it would have been nice if there was at least a couple of alternatives.
Tommy McClain
Hi Tommy
Carlson SurvCE fully supports the PM500 on many different loggers. Likewise I reckon MicroSurvey will offer full support on their FG2008 surveying software.
MicroSurvey Fg2008 supports almost all data loggers including the TDS loggers.
Louis
Considering FAST Survey is actually Carlson SurvCE I understand why it would work, but I was told that currently only FAST Survey supports the new PM500. They may be wrong though. But it won't matter since TDS still doesn't support the PM500.
Tommy McClain
If any GPS vendor releases a new product it will not be supported in TDS Survey Pro software until they right drivers to support the product. TDS WILL support the PM500.
It may be a while before I know for sure but if you still have the battery power cable you used with the ZSurveyor you can use it with the ProMark500. At least that is the story I heard.
They went on to say that the internal battery will charge when the external power is applied.
Don't have the Z-Surveyor cables anymore. Can't even remember what they look like. :) Charging with external battery applied would be assumed. One would hope they would provide a battery solution to the one we got with 35W PDL (2 long automotive style plugs). That way both the radio and reciever can share the external battery.
Tommy McClain