Trimble Positions Thread - Post Here

[DaveChamberlin]

I wanted to start this thread as a place for questions.  I have been working with Trimble quite a bit to get this figured out.  Mostly on being able to switch from Analyst to Positions.  It seems like Trimble hasn't caught up to ESRI and the service pack yet, so they have workarounds for compatibility.  Lets hear some of your stories with the new software.

[MilesThompson]

Good morning everyone...I just got everything setup with Trimble positions Desktop Add-in. I have ArcGIS 10.3 ad use TerraSync in the field on out Trimble Geo7X.

First issue is that I do not see the "GNSS enabling" option in the Desktop Administration dialog. This one has me pretty stumped

Second, I am having trouble Checking-in data collected using the generic TerraSync feature classes. I collected these data last week, prior to having our new workstation and the software. Please see the attached screenshot for the error I get when trying to check-in any SSF using the generic TerraSync features.

I can export those data to SHP files and get those opened in ArcMap, but then I am unable to correct them.....I was able to export some schema from our data model to TerraSync, and collect field data with those attributes, then check those in and successfully correct them (sort of - see #3).

Third, when I corrected the data from the test file, I was only able to select one base station, and it did not give me enough accuracy (based on what the unit was expecting). What is the best way to setup Trimble Positions for differential corrections? And, does this have something to do with not having the GNSS Enabling option?

Thanks,

Miles

[AlisonWalker]

Hi Miles,

The latest version of the Trimble Positions Desktop Add-in does not have that GNSS Enabling button anymore in the admin window. That is really only required when using the ArcGIS for Windows Mobile field software, so it was removed on purpose to try to resolve some of that confusion. If you set up a project for ArcGIS for Windows Mobile, then you will see the GNSS Enabling option in there.

On your check-in, it sounds like maybe you were collecting data in ArcPad and then trying to bring it in with the TerraSync tools? Or maybe that you had collected data in TerraSync that was just created on the handheld and not created from Positions? That won’t work to check in. In order to check in TerraSync data to Positions, it has to be checked out from Positions. If you were using ArcPad, you could use the QuickProject check-in instead.

And yes, Positions does not allow differential correction with multiple base stations the way you could in Pathfinder Office. You will only be able to correct against one base station at a time.

Hope that helps.

Alison

[MilesThompson]

Thanks Alison, that does help....just wish the Positions setup documentation would have filled me in on the changes, and not instructed me to enable GNSS. 

The data that I am not able to check-in was created using TerraSync, before I had any of the desktop software (or even a desktop for that matter). I will try to check-out the schema for these features and re-collect the data....sure glad I wasn't gathering tons of stuff while I waited 4 weeks for the new HP Workstation!!!

As far as differential correction accuracy....I tried using the nearest base station for my test data (a Seiler Institute one), but it continued to give me download failure warnings. Then, I tried with the GLONASS only stations, and that at least got the data corrected, but the accuracy was mostly in the 2-5m category....and the base station distance was 1.03m. Is there a way to correct the data using the base station datum or projection vs. the data's?

Thanks again.

Miles

[AlisonWalker]

Hi Miles,

Sorry for the delay here.  So if the Seiler station was failing to download, you might try again now that it's been a little while.  Maybe it was just too soon?  Those are usually pretty good I thought, and you might call Seiler directly if you can't get them to work.

The accuracy may be a result of the distance to the base station (or your receiver, and I don't see anywhere what that is).  If it's really far away, you just shouldn't expect high accuracy estimates.  The base station distance that you refer to above is only referring to the difference in datums and really shouldn't affect the accuracy estimates.  You can go into the base provider properties when selecting a base station and on the Reference Position tab, you can choose to use the reference position from the base provider, but that's not going to improve your accuracy estimate.

The only way to know for sure that you are getting decent accuracy and that there is no datum shift occurring is to collect data on a good survey monument.

Thanks,

Alison

[MilesThompson]

Thanks for following up Alison. I was never able to get that specific base station to download successfully....it kept giving me the same error message. I was able to use two other CORS stations fine, and when I selected "use reference position from base provider" it no longer gave me a "distance from base provider". I don't think it was an accuracy of the data issue, it was a reference datum issue, and using the base station reference should clear that up. I know I saw a video for about differential correction that explains to look for a "distance from base provider", and that if there is one, that you need to re-correct using the base station reference position.

All the stations I have been trying are less than 75km from me. The Seiler-Fox Valley station is the closest, but this is the one giving me errors when downloading. I will keep trying this station as I gather and correct new data. Will I see better accuracy from a GPS/GLONASS base station compared to GPS only?

I am however, still having issues with Trimble Positions not accepting the TerraSync Generic feature classes....but I'm sure this is because those features were not checked-out of ArcMap, and therefore Positions will not check them back in (perhaps so that it maintains data quality or conformation in some way?).  A work around I have done it to create generic feature classes in my gdb, and check those out with every data dictionary...this way, I can check them in. I'll see how this goes for a while and then see if I need to change my methods.

Tanks again,

Miles

[AngelaGruber]

Hello all...

I hope I am posting this in the correct place.

My organization just started using Trimble Positions with ArcMap 10.2.  I am able to check out data (for use with a Trimble Geo7x), collect GNSS data, and check it back in.  However, I have some projects that I created when I was getting to know Trimble Positions that I cannot remove.  I wanted to clear out the Trimble Positions Desktop Administration window and remove several old projects.  I keep getting this message:

Project [xxx] cannot be removed as it has active sessions.

I have already deleted the project files from my Geo---I hope that was not a mistake.  I assume that those sessions are flagged as "active" somewhere in the TP Jet database, but I have no idea how to change that.

Does anyone know how to remove projects with active sessions?

Thanks a bunch!

Angela

[AlisonWalker]

Hold down the Control key on the keyboard while you click to remove the project and that will override that message. Hope that helps.

Alison

[AngelaGruber]

Hold down the Control key on the keyboard while you click to remove the project and that will override that message.  Hope that helps.

Alison

Thanks Alison!

This worked perfectly.

[AngelaGruber]

Yes, it worked!

Thanks a bunch!

[AngelaGruber]

Hello all...

I have a new question.

I am trying to use Quick Fields, for the first time.  I have exported a project with a point feature class for use with ArcPad.  I have opened the project in ArcPad on my pc in order to create a Quick Field that adds a sequential ID.  I have turned on Quick Fields.  I have gone into Design Mode.  I click on the Quick Fields button and then click on the Add button.

Here is where I have a problem:

When I choose "Layer," I get this error...

I have tried closing every program on my computer except for ArcPad and I still get this error.  Could this be because I am using a personal geodatabase instead of a file geodatabase?

I'm afraid I don't understand what this error means.

Any help would be appreciated.

Angela