A look at the Mobile Mapper 100

TRANSLATION NOTES: Please read some comments at the end of this post.

Ashtech recently launched its new equipment model, which was shown at the recent ESRI International Conference, its called Mobile Mapper 100, which is an evolution to the Mobile Mapper 6 characteristics but with above precision to the ProMark3.

In essence, this is the equipment I believe that Magellan will be holding over the coming years, because it finally breaks that closed PM3 scheme which is undoubtedly a donkey to work but it’s limited in what we have all questioned.

ProMark3’s evil is that doesn’t allow run third party applications such as the ArcPad case. Although simple screens game with numbers the size of the grandfather’s eyes are very practical.

Promark also had limitations to charge conventional raster, unless they were binary. Otherwise it is a great equipment, whether its cable is treated carefully, which gave us problems (*) one day.

Also the Promark had limitations to load conventional raster unless were binary. Otherwise a great team, if it is carefully cable, who already gave us a Tin a day.

Then MobileMapper 6 remained limited to be equipment that did not support dual frequency, though it supported post-processing, its capabilities to achieve submetric precision were limited. Nor could be a base and then the size of the numbers that was suffering, it seems it will inherit to the 100.

What is the best of MM100

• Precision. Certainly this is the most valuable attribute, although the equipment is near the U.S. $ 5.000. Almost $2,000 more than a Promark and four times what the MM6 costs. Although some ensure an optimization to data capture in canyons or under the covers holding high precision:

It offers less than 50 cm in SBAS real-time, less than 30 centimeters in DGPS real ltime and less than one centimeter in RTK or post processing.

• Features GNSS. Differential correction options are the greater innovation in comparison with the MM6 and even the PM3:

45 parallel all-in-view channels
-GPS
-GLONASS
-L1 C/A
-SBAS: WAAS/EGNOS/MSAS
BLADE Technology
DGPS, RTK and postprocessing with MobileMapper Office
It can capture raw data as a base, and can also be a Rover.
NMEA 183 messages output
RTCM2.3, RTCM3.1, CMR y CMR+, DBEN,
ATOM (This is an Ashtech wave called Optimized Messaging)
Supports bases RTK from third parties like: VRS, FKP, MAC

• Windows.  In 11 languages including Spanish, with which you can run ArcPad or any application for capture or navigation that runs on Windows Mobile 6.5.
• Extra Software.  It comes with Mobile Mapping which is an Ashtech’s application, GNS Control for GNSS Toolbox, Mobile Mapping Field and Microsoft Office Mobile. Apart from other applications like Internet Explorer, ActiveSync and Transcriber which is used for handwriting recognition.
• In terms of connectivity, the MM6 brings Bluetooth, but this now supports Wireless 802.11. It also supports docking station.
• Like the MM6 brings camera, compass sensor, microphone and speaker storage.
• Comes with a 256 MB card and the lithium battery is already being loaded in three hours. Moreover, since the adapter is not a strange thing but a universal AC charger.

In short, it is real-time submeter equipment. Even a novelty, we should expect the names game, because it is mentioned Promark 100 and Promark 200, which I understand are the same but with antenna and Geodesy software.

It does not look bad, but it must be proven. That matter of Ashtech becoming Magellan, then returning to Magellan is starting to stabilize, although it took one or another representative from one of the two brands. But from the bad experiences of MMPRO times, we have seen better support capability from Ashtech, and we expect the ProMark3 jump to these teams does not mean make them completely obsolete as what happened with the Pro

Well the Pros, but it’s chaotic its error handling.

TRANSLATION NOTES:

(*) dar la lata: A Spanish idiom that means that something will cause problems