Thread: Trimble laserace 1000 with ArcPad 10.0.2

Hello All

I cannot get readings from Trimble LaserAce 1000. The rangefinder is brand new. It works ok when I mark offset by tapping on screen. It doesn’t take readings when I mark offset by GPS. I checked the preferences, all are fine because it is working by taking offset on screen.

Regards

Hello Tim

Thanks much for the reply. I was able to connect the rangefinder with my handheld. I see the data from the rangefinder in the debug tool. My problem is exactly what I mentioned in the prior post.

Case1:

1. I enable edits on a point layer.
2. Click on Offset point.
3. Click on Set Reference Point A
4. Click on Capture Point (GPS icon) to set Reference Point A from GPS. The point/vertex form comes up.
5. I then use the rangefinder to locate a distant point of interest and fire laser to fill in the slope distance, bearing, etc. But these fields receive no values even though ArcPad beeps indicating receipt of data.

Case 2:

1. I enable edits on a point layer.
2. Click on Offset point.
3. Click on Set Reference Point A.
4. Place Reference Point by tapping on the Screen
5. I then I use the rangefinder to locate a distant point of interest and fire the laser. The slope distance, bearing...etc fields are filled accurately.

Please look at this old forum thread http://forums.esri.com/Thread.asp?c=...=196830#592025

In this thread if you look at the fifth entry by Eric Bock, then this is exactly what is happening with my rangefinder.

Thanks
Yashwant

Careful with using the rangefinder....last i knew, those points could not be post processed, this was last march (2010) when i was told this, which makes sense that the laser data doesnt contain the L1/L2 data for the ssf/axf.

I'm glad this question was asked, because the help file is very unclear about how to do this. It takes you through the steps of setting the reference by tapping on the screen, but is very ambiguous about reference point settings with GPS coordinates. I was also under the impression that "Offset Point" and "Set Reference Point A" had to be enabled. It wouldn't hurt for that particular help page to be updated, in my opinion.

And to pose a related question, can the GPS reference point be averaged, or do you only get one shot?

Regarding the TruPulse unit conversion error, Trimble does have a hotfix available for this issue if you run into it (I had this problem myself when testing a trial unit, Trimble was very helpful).

I don't have a link, sorry. It was sent to me directly from Trimble's customer service, although it may be available online somewhere. I've attached the file sent to me, and these were the instructions given:

"In regards to the ongoing issue with the offset points being shifted after check in with GPS Analyst:

Success!!

I received a fix from development today. I have tested this fix and it does resolve the shift issue!

Make sure that you have GPScorrect 3.15 installed. You do not need to re-install if it is already on the unit.

Using ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center, copy the attached cab file over to the my documents directory on the Geo.

On the Geo, use file explorer to find and double tap on the cab file to run it.

The offsets shift issue will now be fixed. When data is checked in with GPS Analyst , the offset points are no longer shifted.


P.S. make sure that if you have your declination set correctly on the Laser. It is advised to have it set and applied on the laser as opposed to setting it in ArcPad. ArcPad will not remember the setting after it is closed, so it must be set over and over. Make sure that it is NOT set on both the laser and in ArcPad ( double applying declination)."


A couple additional notes, I'm not sure why they sent it as a cab file, since you'll probably find that you need to rename it to an exe before you can copy it to the handheld and run it, I did anyway. Also, I haven't had a chance to test it with ArcPad 10.0.02 yet. I'm also not sure of the compatibility with different products. I'm using a 2008 series GeoXH, Trupulse 360B, ArcPad, GPSCorrect, and GPS Analyst. Obviously, I had nothing to do with the development, and so I can't say what else it will work with. Use at your own risk.

About the averaging of the GPS offset point, after firing the rangefinder, ArcPad reads the signal and pops up the offset menu. If you then click on what I'm going to call the survery button (the little tripod looking button), it opens a new menu that allows you to recapture the point (by tapping on the satellite) and does use averaging. But, I'm not absolutely certain what it's averaging. Could this be a method of averaging the offset point? My understanding is that the rangefinder already introduces some error, so I'd hate to add more by only being able to get one shot.

I am having a similar issue with data shift when checking in offset data collected using the LT360B. I looked at the patch thatwas posted by presto and was wondering if there is a patch for GPSCorrected loaded on Windows Vista or 7. Weare using ArcPad on a Toughbook so the CAB file will not work.

Thanks

Originally Posted by presto

About the averaging of the GPS offset point, after firing the rangefinder, ArcPad reads the signal and pops up the offset menu. If you then click on what I'm going to call the survery button (the little tripod looking button), it opens a new menu that allows you to recapture the point (by tapping on the satellite) and does use averaging. But, I'm not absolutely certain what it's averaging. Could this be a method of averaging the offset point? My understanding is that the rangefinder already introduces some error, so I'd hate to add more by only being able to get one shot.

Anytime you want to collect the offset, you want to follow the directions above. The "survey button" allows you to capture a new GPS position, which is required for you to post process the data. It averages a new GPS position (this is now the reference position for the offset) based on your GPS Preferences/capture tab settings. So if you have it set to Points =10, then when you hit the "survey button/tripod icon, and then hit the satellite icon, it will average 10 GPS readings. You then store this new reference position, and then store the offset informtion from the laser (bearing, distance, inclination, etc), and finally fill out your feature attributes and store the feature.

Eric Bock

Upgrading to the lastest version of ArcPad 10 (10.0 R2 (Build 30)) allows the Trimble LaserAce to work now. Once upgraded you will see that the MDL protocol is updated to say MDL/TNL LaserAce. There's still a bug inside of ArcPad that wont allow a second offset to be accepted if the first shot was bad. You have to hit x at the bottom of the screen and then the offset information will come through.

At least the LaserAce is working now. The Leica Disto is still having problems.

Eric B