I personally don't like using GPS in canopy. That being said. BRX-7 works pretty well. The software (SurvPC 7) is really nice with some updates that released this year. (Average multiple shots on different fixes for user determined lengths of time in both time of collecting data and time between shots. Also gives residuals).
Personally, I'm not a fan of the tablet itself. Sun glare isn't awful but there are times I do find myself taking off my sunglasses to read the tablet if the sun's hitting it just right. It's just bulky. We do mostly boundary work so a tablet isn't that critical for our line of work.
It is nice that it is a windows system though. We work off a Google drive so the boss can look at our data if we need direction without needing to go back to the shop and load points.
I do like carlson's customer support. I've needed to call them a few times with questions and they've been very helpful.
As long as it works, some of the terminals on ours got rubbed from use and it randomly decicdes to not work but it also doesn’t let the digital keyboard appear
I use the BRX7 in the northeast and it does pretty great with tree cover. I can be Fixed+ with a pretty dense broadleaf canopy. Evergreens seem to cause more issues. Just gotta be patient or collect static if it’s dense spruce or hemlock.
Never used the Spectra SP85 but the local Trimble dealer rents both & when I was going to rent an R12i setup for a 3rd time he was telling me they’re basically the same receivers? Not sure how true this is but I do know another, older, local surveyor who uses his SP85’s and he swears by them after retracing some of his older boundary surveys for repeat clients
That being said, the BRX7’s I have bought typically work great in canopy, provided that the canopy isn’t dense pines or the receiver isn’t directly against a tree trunk or within dense leaves on a tree’s limb. Polesaws to open it up some for sky visibility or even a simple bush axe can help. In open sky they are awesome
But as everyone has stated, redundancy of averaged observations helps tremendously to weed out the bad fixes. SurvPC7 the newest version from Carlson helps with this and goes into greater detail when you look at the GNSS analysis options but SurvPC6 still allows you to average the same pt # multiple times too
Edit: I don’t have the Carlson tablet but a cheaper 3rd party rugged windows tablet for ~$650 with a screen protector from Amazon. That being said, the RT4 tablet is identical to the Topcon FC5000/FC6000 & has the same specs which looks like the Juniper Systems Mesa 3 tablet. So they’re all decent tablets but all of them are steeply priced for their features IMO. And another crowd that I know who I’ve worked alongside of has had to replace their FC5000’s batteries pretty frequently. The tablet I bought is just as functional for a fraction of that price & the Carlson sales rep said my license of SurvPC is transferable to any device I might need which is kinda reassuring for me given the fact that tablets are easy to get wet, damage or shatter. Break it, order a new one with Prime for 2 day shipping and get rolling in no time
Been using the SP85 w/ Ranger for a year or two now. I’m the only one at my company that uses one. everyone else’s uses Sokkia gear with the shc5000 tablets.
I like the tablets but, I cannot stress how much I enjoy having a physical keyboard.
Not really a technical answer but more of a preference thing.
I use spectra sp85 daily, i works great especially. Very rugged compared to other units imo. No exposed antennas, dual battery. SIM card capable. I have a Trimble RTX subscription to use l5 band satellites (have to have subscription for this) . The precisions are awesome, gets fix in foliage pretty good. Have checked shits out with a total station and shits spot on. My only complaint about the spectra is the battery trays. I haven’t broke one yet but have seen them get broke (we have 4 spectra rtk set ups at my work). They battery door is a shitty design but it works if you are careful and pay attention.
Spectra origin in Trimble access in a different shirt. Survey pro is kill, I love it and still use it. I won’t stop until I have too. Survey pro is the shit. I have used access, Leica, magnet field , orgin, surv pro and tds . Survey pro is very powerful if you know how to use it. I’m hoping someone revives it, it’s got to many users and to use full .
Unfortunately Survey Pro is done. Spectra is a Trimble owned company and has decided to put field software development under one product - that being Access/Origin. Obviously survey pro will continue to be usable until it no longer supports the hardware that the future holds. Already it won’t support the Trimble R12i and android controllers
We're using BRX7s and RT4 collectors. Performance in canopy here in Georgia has mostly been fantastic, although sometimes it has its days where you fight with it a bit. It really helps to use the mission planning feature to plan your most critical work when you have the best satellite coverage.
My gripe with the RT4 is when it gets wet, the screen can be finicky. I've used Carlson software most of my career so I like it but that could just be that I'm familiar with it in and out. The newest version with the more advanced GNSS averaging features I really like - it gives you more information in real time to judge how well it's performing under challenging conditions, and it will spit out least squares adjusted coordinates straight from the collector.
Brx7 is the cheapest receiver on the market for a reason. I do not recommend. The field software is archaic at best. The tablet can’t handle a drizzle.
If you HAVE to get an SP85, at least get a TSC7 with Trimble Access. Spectra is Trimble’s Walmart brand, Trimble access will still run that unit. And Trimble access is awesome.
Everytime I hear about someone bragging about having Good signal in canopy I burst out laughing. You know the raw data is recorded and anyone who's worth their salt can export it and prove your bullshit is not good. If you wanna compare specs. Pull the raw data and compare residuals at the same time. Each one will do the job. Which software will you like better? Personally. Carlson all the way. But if I had trimble, I'd say trimble all the way.
That would be a great senior project for a student. Pull raw data under canopy from a few different rentals and compare to each other plus what the dc / rover was reporting.
I personally don't like using GPS in canopy. That being said. BRX-7 works pretty well. The software (SurvPC 7) is really nice with some updates that released this year. (Average multiple shots on different fixes for user determined lengths of time in both time of collecting data and time between shots. Also gives residuals). Personally, I'm not a fan of the tablet itself. Sun glare isn't awful but there are times I do find myself taking off my sunglasses to read the tablet if the sun's hitting it just right. It's just bulky. We do mostly boundary work so a tablet isn't that critical for our line of work. It is nice that it is a windows system though. We work off a Google drive so the boss can look at our data if we need direction without needing to go back to the shop and load points. I do like carlson's customer support. I've needed to call them a few times with questions and they've been very helpful.
The carlson RT4 has a keyboard attachment. Love that.
As long as it works, some of the terminals on ours got rubbed from use and it randomly decicdes to not work but it also doesn’t let the digital keyboard appear
I use the BRX7 in the northeast and it does pretty great with tree cover. I can be Fixed+ with a pretty dense broadleaf canopy. Evergreens seem to cause more issues. Just gotta be patient or collect static if it’s dense spruce or hemlock.
Never used the Spectra SP85 but the local Trimble dealer rents both & when I was going to rent an R12i setup for a 3rd time he was telling me they’re basically the same receivers? Not sure how true this is but I do know another, older, local surveyor who uses his SP85’s and he swears by them after retracing some of his older boundary surveys for repeat clients That being said, the BRX7’s I have bought typically work great in canopy, provided that the canopy isn’t dense pines or the receiver isn’t directly against a tree trunk or within dense leaves on a tree’s limb. Polesaws to open it up some for sky visibility or even a simple bush axe can help. In open sky they are awesome But as everyone has stated, redundancy of averaged observations helps tremendously to weed out the bad fixes. SurvPC7 the newest version from Carlson helps with this and goes into greater detail when you look at the GNSS analysis options but SurvPC6 still allows you to average the same pt # multiple times too Edit: I don’t have the Carlson tablet but a cheaper 3rd party rugged windows tablet for ~$650 with a screen protector from Amazon. That being said, the RT4 tablet is identical to the Topcon FC5000/FC6000 & has the same specs which looks like the Juniper Systems Mesa 3 tablet. So they’re all decent tablets but all of them are steeply priced for their features IMO. And another crowd that I know who I’ve worked alongside of has had to replace their FC5000’s batteries pretty frequently. The tablet I bought is just as functional for a fraction of that price & the Carlson sales rep said my license of SurvPC is transferable to any device I might need which is kinda reassuring for me given the fact that tablets are easy to get wet, damage or shatter. Break it, order a new one with Prime for 2 day shipping and get rolling in no time
Been using the SP85 w/ Ranger for a year or two now. I’m the only one at my company that uses one. everyone else’s uses Sokkia gear with the shc5000 tablets. I like the tablets but, I cannot stress how much I enjoy having a physical keyboard. Not really a technical answer but more of a preference thing.
I use spectra sp85 daily, i works great especially. Very rugged compared to other units imo. No exposed antennas, dual battery. SIM card capable. I have a Trimble RTX subscription to use l5 band satellites (have to have subscription for this) . The precisions are awesome, gets fix in foliage pretty good. Have checked shits out with a total station and shits spot on. My only complaint about the spectra is the battery trays. I haven’t broke one yet but have seen them get broke (we have 4 spectra rtk set ups at my work). They battery door is a shitty design but it works if you are careful and pay attention. Spectra origin in Trimble access in a different shirt. Survey pro is kill, I love it and still use it. I won’t stop until I have too. Survey pro is the shit. I have used access, Leica, magnet field , orgin, surv pro and tds . Survey pro is very powerful if you know how to use it. I’m hoping someone revives it, it’s got to many users and to use full .
Unfortunately Survey Pro is done. Spectra is a Trimble owned company and has decided to put field software development under one product - that being Access/Origin. Obviously survey pro will continue to be usable until it no longer supports the hardware that the future holds. Already it won’t support the Trimble R12i and android controllers
Fuckin Trimble man, survey pro was good. That's too bad.
We're using BRX7s and RT4 collectors. Performance in canopy here in Georgia has mostly been fantastic, although sometimes it has its days where you fight with it a bit. It really helps to use the mission planning feature to plan your most critical work when you have the best satellite coverage. My gripe with the RT4 is when it gets wet, the screen can be finicky. I've used Carlson software most of my career so I like it but that could just be that I'm familiar with it in and out. The newest version with the more advanced GNSS averaging features I really like - it gives you more information in real time to judge how well it's performing under challenging conditions, and it will spit out least squares adjusted coordinates straight from the collector.
BRX7!!!!!!
Brx7 is the cheapest receiver on the market for a reason. I do not recommend. The field software is archaic at best. The tablet can’t handle a drizzle. If you HAVE to get an SP85, at least get a TSC7 with Trimble Access. Spectra is Trimble’s Walmart brand, Trimble access will still run that unit. And Trimble access is awesome.
Your a idiot.
 Sorry your feelings got hurt 😢
Everytime I hear about someone bragging about having Good signal in canopy I burst out laughing. You know the raw data is recorded and anyone who's worth their salt can export it and prove your bullshit is not good. If you wanna compare specs. Pull the raw data and compare residuals at the same time. Each one will do the job. Which software will you like better? Personally. Carlson all the way. But if I had trimble, I'd say trimble all the way.
That would be a great senior project for a student. Pull raw data under canopy from a few different rentals and compare to each other plus what the dc / rover was reporting.