SurvCE - Problems

Moderator: Carlson Support

SurvCE - Problems

Postby mj » Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:03 am

Been using Explorer 600+ with SurvCE 1.65 since January, 2007. Previously
used SMI and TDS. Even though SMI was DOS based, it was superior to SurvCE.
TDS Ranger was faster, but screen was almost impossible to see in sunlight.
I switched to Carlson after reading about the Roadway routines, especially
the vertical profiles. Since then, it has been a nightmare running this
software. Problems are too numerous to list, but I'm sure all will agree
that backsight check that pops up at every menu change should be an award
winning "bonehead of the year" prize. No shot elevation on stake points
screen. Unable to store points in road stakeout menu. The greatest of all
was after retuning from lunch break this past Friday, the Explorer would not
turn on. Had to remove battery. After reading comments posted by"LloydL", I
felt like he had been looking over my shoulder with all the similar problems
that he has experienced. Will probably abandon this box and return to TDS.
mj
 

Re: SurvCE - Problems

Postby Carlson Software » Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:20 am

I am sorry to hear about the difficulty you have had with Carlson SurvCE. I
would like to respond the concerns you raised. The backsight prompt has been
addressed in SurvCE 2.0. There will be an option to always display the
prompt which is the current behavior or you can select for it to only prompt
if no backsight record exists. The shot elevation is not displayed in the
stake points routine because there is not enough room with the graphic
display. The elevation is displayed in the next screen when you store the
point. SMI and TDS have text based screens which provides more room to
display data. The purpose of the graphics screen is to help navigate to the
point. When you are ready to store the point and write your stake the
elevation is displayed. If this work flow does not fit with your work
method let us know and we would be happy to consider a change. Regarding
the inability to store the points one possibility is that the option "Store
Points to CRD" is turned off. If this is not the case please contact our
technical support (606-564-5028) and we will be happy to help track down
what is causing the problem. Also note that SurvCE's development is largely
driven by customer feedback. Carlson Software strives to ensure our
customers find our products to be user friendly, feature rich, and highly
productive. If you find yourself frustrated in the future let us know
(support@carlsonsw.com) and we will do our best to correct the situation.

Kind Regards,

Adam Messer

Software Engineer

Carlson Software


"mj" <mj@home.com> wrote in message
news:erqu9s$408$1@update.carlsonsw.com...
Been using Explorer 600+ with SurvCE 1.65 since January, 2007. Previously
used SMI and TDS. Even though SMI was DOS based, it was superior to
SurvCE. TDS Ranger was faster, but screen was almost impossible to see in
sunlight. I switched to Carlson after reading about the Roadway routines,
especially the vertical profiles. Since then, it has been a nightmare
running this software. Problems are too numerous to list, but I'm sure all
will agree that backsight check that pops up at every menu change should
be an award winning "bonehead of the year" prize. No shot elevation on
stake points screen. Unable to store points in road stakeout menu. The
greatest of all was after retuning from lunch break this past Friday, the
Explorer would not turn on. Had to remove battery. After reading comments
posted by"LloydL", I felt like he had been looking over my shoulder with
all the similar problems that he has experienced. Will probably abandon
this box and return to TDS.
Carlson Software
 

Re: SurvCE - Problems

Postby LloydL » Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:14 am

LloydL wrote:

I have had the same problem with the SurvCE just locking up after turning
the Explorer 600 off for lunch break or to move the instrument to the next
setup. I too have to take the battery pack out to get the Explorer 600
running again. This causes me to have to take the time to resetup all my
reference information again to continue surveying. I have had considerable
problems learning SurvCE since I have always used TDS units with very user
friendly menu driven layouts. The SurvCE is just a totally different
animal and takes a lot of time to learn where the various routines are
located within the software. My motive is to not be completely negative
toward the Explorer 600+ and SurvCE but to simply get my questions
answered so I can get the system up and running productively. We are
slowly getting there. The other day we (myself and my instrument man) were
able to make a few shots under 800 shots on a topo and profile job with
the Explorer 600 (we were also able to make 800 shots in an 8 hour day
with the old TDS-48 data collector). That was a vast improvement over the
first day with the Exporer 600+ when we struggled mightly to make about
225 shot. Our hope and expectation was that the Carlson 600+ would be a
much superior unit over the old TDS_48GX. We are not totally convinced
yet. Time will tell. Let me make it clear that I have 32 years of
surveying experience (no rookie here!) & my instrument/data collector
operator is second to none.

I have found the SurvCE user manual is just too vague. It just doen't give
complete information on how to accomplish many routine surveying tasks
using SurvCE. I've come to find that the Explorer 600+ and SurvCe will do
a lot more than is discussed in the user manual.

I was told by my survey equipment dealer that Carlson tech support was
second to none and SurvCE was the best data collection software on the
market. That's why we purchsed the Carlson setup. SurvCE may be the best
data collection software out there but it's going to take a lot of help
from Carlson tech support to get the information to prove it to me. The
Carlson tech suppport people I have talked to by phone seem to have little
patience when dealing with customers like myself who are trying to convert
from another data collection software (TDS in my case) to the considerably
more complex SurvCE.

I hope Carlson will take this as what it is intended to be: CONSTRUCTIVE
CRITICISM.

Regards,

LloydL

Carlson Software wrote:

I am sorry to hear about the difficulty you have had with Carlson
SurvCE. I
would like to respond the concerns you raised. The backsight prompt has
been
addressed in SurvCE 2.0. There will be an option to always display the
prompt which is the current behavior or you can select for it to only
prompt
if no backsight record exists. The shot elevation is not displayed in
the
stake points routine because there is not enough room with the graphic
display. The elevation is displayed in the next screen when you store
the
point. SMI and TDS have text based screens which provides more room to

display data. The purpose of the graphics screen is to help navigate to
the
point. When you are ready to store the point and write your stake the
elevation is displayed. If this work flow does not fit with your work
method let us know and we would be happy to consider a change.
Regarding
the inability to store the points one possibility is that the option
"Store
Points to CRD" is turned off. If this is not the case please
contact our
technical support (606-564-5028) and we will be happy to help track down

what is causing the problem. Also note that SurvCE's development is
largely
driven by customer feedback. Carlson Software strives to ensure our
customers find our products to be user friendly, feature rich, and
highly
productive. If you find yourself frustrated in the future let us know
(support@carlsonsw.com) and we will do our best to correct the
situation.

Kind Regards,

Adam Messer

Software Engineer

Carlson Software


"mj" <mj@home.com> wrote in message
news:erqu9s$408$1@update.carlsonsw.com...
Been using Explorer 600+ with SurvCE 1.65 since January, 2007.
Previously
used SMI and TDS. Even though SMI was DOS based, it was superior to

SurvCE. TDS Ranger was faster, but screen was almost impossible to
see in
sunlight. I switched to Carlson after reading about the Roadway
routines,
especially the vertical profiles. Since then, it has been a
nightmare
running this software. Problems are too numerous to list, but I'm
sure all
will agree that backsight check that pops up at every menu change
should
be an award winning "bonehead of the year" prize. No shot
elevation on
stake points screen. Unable to store points in road stakeout menu.
The
greatest of all was after retuning from lunch break this past
Friday, the
Explorer would not turn on. Had to remove battery. After reading
comments
posted by"LloydL", I felt like he had been looking over
my shoulder with
all the similar problems that he has experienced. Will probably
abandon
this box and return to TDS.









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LloydL
 


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