Hey guys/gals, I work for Trimble, specifically in Lasers and Agriculture. So thought I'd try and give something back to /diy/ with an
>Ask a Trimble field/service/salesman anything.
I know this is a slow board so I'll check back every now and then. No question is too stupid.
Also if you have any questions about your second hand equipment bought/looking at buying, let me know. I see way too many people ripped off.
>>997495
trimble my drimble
>>997495
What are your best selling products on the agricultural market and how do you approach potential customers?
>>997495
neat
>Trimble
hey i got a SVeeSix CM3 like 15 years ago for like $10
>>997495
could you make your gnss products default to something other than 433.1MHz, turn the power down to milliwatts, and stop spamming the ham repeater network with chirp noises?
>>997495
>no question is too stupid
Oh you underestimate us, sir
>>997495
How does your total stations compare with topcon and Leica?
Pricewise , precisionwise, etc.
At my uni and work I've mostly used Leica gear.
Also - are laser scanners getting cheaper?
And what about their precision and accuracy?
>>997826
Why would anyone use radio modem nowdays?
Don't you have GSM support to get offsets from VRS from reference network?
Way more precise and cheaper.
>>997645
Advertising and country shows. Or just rock up at farms to be honest. Hand out brochures with your business card stapled to them. Also, Troll the internet for your product manuals, Firmware , the Service and Repair Manuals, keep them on a usb. Offer your customers/farms you visit to upgrade their their gear with your USB. They will be thankfulthat someone cares.
As for best sellers EZ-Pilots at the moment. EZ-Pilots with CFX-750's.
To be honest, it depends on the season, wether seeding or harvesting. If they need their tractors and harvesters running, they dont care if their trimble quipment is broken.
>>997899
I have worked for Leica before and you wont find alot in the way of product support, well I didnt anyway. Its kind of a "Discover what works and go with it" attitude. Im trying to keep this reply as "Non-Shill" as possible remember.
Walk into a hock shop/Pawnbroker and you will find Topcon and Leica. Never Spectra.
As for how they compare, download the brochures, and compare yourself man.
I tell my customers to rent our product for a week, $50, before buying one. But if they are extra nice, we just give them one for a week to play with.
Total stations I believe are over rated ($30K). Im only saying that because they are double the price of this new bad boy just released. (You cant even buy it untill next month). Model QML800. Then again, depends what your doing. It also depends on how well you take care of your equipment. Spectra/Trimble offer an automatic two year warranty and payable extendable warranty (Always buy the extended warranty with trimble, just incase. We even replace screens with a tiny scratch on the for warranty).
http://www.spectralasers.com/en/qml800.html#.V0QsK8vmjqA
>>997826
We Mainly sell 900MHz where I work. We have our own networks. Theres a way to program it over the air and fuck the base repeater but you can get fucked if you think im going to tell you how.
>Pic related
>>997839
Nothing will ever beat the 240V soldering iron made out of the plastic pen and pencil Leds.
>>997900
Trimble encrypt their rtk (gps corrections) signals to a certain extent.
are your handsets still built around windows CE, ie6 and a 15 year old version of java?
>>998026
Well total station is a must for me - I do use them to take measurements of marine equipment(as in platforms, rigs, ships).
>>998030
Wait... In USA you still send rtk over radio?
Shit... And I was sure that Poland was 3rd world country.
VRS rtk offsets are being calculated for your position and sent to you via GSM Internet connection over here.
>>998187
Poland is tiny compared to the United states/Australia where I work.
There is little to no GSM network coverage on the farms in both places. It wouldn't be worth putting a tower up for one customer who owns 10,000 acres of a broadacre crop.
also >Kurwa
>>998186
Some people love them. I don't have to use them every day so my opinion may be biased. (I sell, repair and service them). I can say they are a good price for their features, extremely easy to operate and cheap to repair & calibrate.
>>998082
Handsets for what?... provide a model number or picture. I have no idea what you are talking about.
>>997495
good goy perform maintenance for isreal :^)
>>998303
Makes sense.
You get rtk corrections from one station or from network?
I'm also curious if your radio communication is two-way or one-way.
Over here you get virtual reference station at your position(down to minute arc), and that virtual station sends you the corrections/offsets.
>>998545
It can be one station, or networked. We rent our network to customers for around $2500 a year. We have a few networks in what we consider "densely populated" farming areas. It's not worth setting up coverage for one farmer on our network.
The communications are one way from the Base-station repeater to the RTK radio internal/external radio of whatever the screen is installed on.
But if your in you're own area in the middle of nowhere, you have to buy your own base station & radio setup. It's not worth us maintaining it.
>>998545
I dont think I explained that very well.
They are networked in the sense that we own our own fleet of RTK base station repeaters.
But not networked in the way of IP/microwave links or anything.
>>998339
Shalom.
>>998965
I was curious - in here we use 2 way communication for extra precision.
Basically every station is connected to computation center(and a backup one).
You get your approximate position via code, not phase, gnss measurement.
You send it to computation center.
The offsets are being calculated to your exact position.
It basically simulates the corrections being sent to you if the reference station was placed at your location.
Supposedly you can go sub 1.5 cm rtk accuracy in perfect conditions.
