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Trimble r12i versus Spectra SP80
Posted by johnymal on October 21, 2021 at 6:15 pmI would like a real-life review from a surveyor in how performs in the hard canopy the following gps units.
R12i cost almost double money from the spectra sp80.
Waiting for your opinions.
jaccen replied 2 years, 3 months ago 10 Members · 13 Replies- 13 Replies
I haven’t tried the R12 but the Carlson BRx7 performs way better than the SP80 in canopy. I have had a base/rover pair of both. The SP80’s aren’t even close…
Gregg
I can’t speak on the SP80 as I have never used one. I’ve always used Trimble for the last 25 years.
I bought a R12i and a TSC5 last spring to go along with my R10-2’s and TSC3.
The R12i tilt function is pretty handy to have at times. As far as tree canopy, roof overhangs, up against a 10 story building or the like, I have had great results with it. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to get fixed in heavy tree cover and other obstructions, but I can’t think of a time I had to abort the shot and go conventional. The R12i and TSC5 have already paid for themselves this year.
I thought about the cost and decided to go with what I’m familiar with to flatten the learning curve. We hit the ground running with only a few little hick-ups getting a work flow ironed out. Another thing was to get used to the Android OS of the TSC5.
I have an R12 for about a year now and it has paid for itself twice over already. Very good under canopy, seamless integration with S6.
I have test spectra sp 80 and Trimble r12i its like day with the night what a huge difference.
I have also tested Trimble R12i with CHCNAV i90 and there are no differences at all!
I confirm brx7 is amazing
We picked up the R12i midsummer. It was great in all conditions until it wasn’t. The antenna clip came loose so it was off to the shop. Less than a month later the radio board fried.
A six month old unit and we are stuck resurrecting R-10’s. Those are dying one by one as well. The vendor has offered to rent us an R-10-1 for half off when one is available.
IMO if you don’t contract with someone who requires Trimble, RUN from it. The software gets dumber every day and the hardware isn’t tough enough for actual surveying.
@thebionicman We haven’t had any issues with ours. No complaints at all and it has increased productivity significantly in tough GPS areas.
@wa-id-surveyor When the antenna popped the first time the vendor told us that was happening a lot. If they had fixed it right we would not have lost the board. We also lost two radio boxes in r10 units in the last three months. These are not maintenance or abuse issues, rather poor design and workmanship.
I’ve used Trimble off and on since early DOS days. It’s not the same company and I’ll dump thier crap the minute it’s bo longer specified in any of my contracts.
- Posted by: @thebionicman
We picked up the R12i midsummer. It was great in all conditions until it wasn’t. The antenna clip came loose so it was off to the shop. Less than a month later the radio board fried.
A six month old unit and we are stuck resurrecting R-10’s. Those are dying one by one as well. The vendor has offered to rent us an R-10-1 for half off when one is available.
IMO if you don’t contract with someone who requires Trimble, RUN from it. The software gets dumber every day and the hardware isn’t tough enough for actual surveying.
We’ve had about 20 R12i receivers in the field (WA/ID/OR/CA/CO) since beginning of the year without any problems. About the same number of R10-2s for twice as long, with one Bluetooth issue and one radio issue, both fixed within a day.
Access isn’t perfect – nothing is – but it’s about as good as it’s ever been…hard to beat for flexibility and customizability. The most common complaint I hear from our users is that it’s too complex, but that’s because a good chunk of crews today want to turn their brains off when they go to work.
Posted by: @thebionicmanWhen the antenna popped the first time the vendor told us that was happening a lot. If they had fixed it right we would not have lost the board. We also lost two radio boxes in r10 units in the last three months. These are not maintenance or abuse issues, rather poor design and workmanship.
Sounds like a vendor issue rather than an equipment issue…
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil Postman We have been happy w/ our BRX7.
Attached pic has RTK shot 603 (BRX7) and a conventional 10354 (CR5) check shot on it. Shot from the CR5 was off control Starnet adjusted with multiple cross ties via RTK and conventional.
There is a noticeable difference between when the RTN has just GPS+GLONASS or more constellations.
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