EquipmentReview By Shawn Billings, LS

Shawn Billings is a licensed land surveyor in East

Texas and works for Billings Surveying and Mapping
Company, which was established in 1983 by his
father, J. D. Billings. Together they perform surveys for
boundary retracement, sewer and water infrastructure
routes, and land development.

JAVAD GNSS Triumph-1

n the world of precision GPS,
Javad Ashjaee continues to push
the industry ahead with new
technologies and new options.
With roots that date back
to the early days of Trimble
Navigation, Javad was integral to the
creation of the first combined GPS/
GLONASS system. More than a decade
ago he was part owner of Ashtech
Precision. Next came a limited acquisi-
tion of Javad Navigation Systems by
Topcon Positioning Systems, at which
time Javad spurred the development of
the first integrated RTK receiver, the
HiPer system. His track record speaks
for itself: rather than creating products
that fit comfortably within market
trends, he prefers to set new boundaries
for those trends. He has done so with
the help of dozens of talented and bril-
liant engineers who share a long history
in the development of GNSS hardware
and firmware.
With all of this in mind, it was with
great anticipation that I waited for my
opportunity to review Javads next
generation of equipment under his new
label: Javad GNSS.

Eye-catching Features
In terms of appearance, the housings for
JAVADs receivers and antennae look
somewhat unearthlylike something
from the X-files. In some ways, the
units continue the philosophy behind
the HiPer (also branded the JAVAD
Navigation System Maxor). Similar
in size and weight, the Triumph is a com-
pletely self-contained system. Everything
needed to perform RTK, RTN and
static surveying is sealed within the unit. JAVAD GNSS, after a long wait, does not disappoint with the Triumph-1 RTK receiver
UHF radios, memory, and batteries are and Victor data collector shown here. The system proved to be incredibly precise
contained inside the rugged, magnesium and functional.

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Fully enclosed in the magnesium and plastic housing for rigorous field use, even
the UHF and GSM antennas are concealed in the Green Stick below the receiver.
Because the higher center of gravity made the unit unwieldy on a two-meter pole, a
collapsible prism pole was used for the review.
and plastic housing. Ingeniously, even
the UHF antenna and GSM antenna are
housed inside the Green Stick antenna,
which is the green tube between the
receiver and the pole. This configura-
tion alleviates potentially snagging an
exposed rubber duck antenna while
threading through the brush and briars,
and provides a very sturdy antenna
connection.
Six eye-catching tri-color LEDs
indicate just about everything a user
could want to know about the receiver:
1. Power level of internal batteries: lights
range from green (full), to yellow, to
red (low).
2. Bluetooth connection: lights turn from
red to green once a connection has
been established. (Note: I appreci-
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ated the snappy, uncomplicated and
reliable Bluetooth synchronization I
experienced with these units.)
3. Modem link (radio or GSM): green
= solid connection, yellow = Can
you hear me now!?, red = no
connection.
4. Satellite count: green = eight or more,
yellow = five to seven, red = less
than five.
5. Position quality: green = fixed,
yellow = float, red = autonomous.
( I liked this one, as it indicated in
a flash when I went from autono-
mous to float and float to fixed.)
6. Recording: green = recording is
proceeding normally with a blink
at every recorded epoch, yellow
= memory will reach full in 10
minutes, red = memory full, and
off = no recording is being done.
The unit is operated by only two
buttonsthe power button and a function
button, which are known as the MinPad
interface. The unit I tested had five
different ports. One was a power port
for charging the two internal batteries
or for using external power, two serial
data ports, an Ethernet port and a USB
port. Optional ports are available for an
external antenna, an event-in and 1PPS
(pulse per second) timing strobe for
timing applications.
Memory is expandable to up to 2 giga-
bytes of static data storage, which by my
rough calculations would provide almost
six months of dual frequency GPS, plus
GLONASS, raw data storage capacity
at a 10-second interval. (Try sending
that one to OPUS). Optionally, the
user can have up to a 100-hertz update
rate and RTK rate, carrier smoothing
(for submeter applications), advanced
multipath mitigation, in-band interfer-
ence (for work near military installations
and places where L-band signals are
frequently tested), SBAS, and WiFi.
Buyers not intimately familiar with all
of the many options offered by JAVAD
GNSS may be initially overwhelmed by
the wide range of products available to
meet their needs. Ive been involved with
GPS for several years now and in some
cases it is sometimes hard to distinguish
between which options I really need
and which would be an unnecessary
extravagance.
The Triumph-1 has two different
options regarding receiver boards, the
G2T and the G3T. The G2T can receive
GPS L1, L2, L2C and L5 as well as
Galileo E1 and E5A and SBAS (such
as WAAS and EGNOS). The G3T
board adds GLONASS L1 and L2. 216
channels allow for the reception of the
multiple frequencies currently existing
and will also allow for expansion when
other future GNSS systems become
available.
Surprising Test Results
Using the system was almost addictive.
Simple to set up and quick to get started,
I found myself wanting to take the units
out as much as possible. The first time
I tested them at the Stumpwater R&D
facility adjacent to our office, a very
unusual result occurred. In gear-testing
situations I typically store a point in
the yard and then, leave the unit set up
over the collected point, then prompt

The LEDs were very visible in full sunlight (as can be seen here) and made it easy to
see the status of the receiver at a quick glance.
the data collector to stake out the point I
just stored. I like to see the way the unit
zigs and zags a few hundredths here and
there as it directs me to the calculated
coordinates. This unscientific exercise
gives me some idea of how consistent
the output position is and thereby the
units likely precision. Typically, with
most every receiver Ive used, the unit
may move from the initial position three
to five hundredths of a foot horizontally
and will generally report a cut or fill of
up to a tenth in just a matter of minutes.
The Triumph, to my surprise, did not
behave this way. At the most, I observed
only a hundredth or two horizontally
and about the same vertically. This
motivated me to do an extended
accuracy test a week or so later.
For this test, I set up the base over
a known point and set the rover over
another known point in the front yard
of the office. The points were only
separated by about sixty feet, so as to
negate baseline distance. Over a period
of approximately nine hours I recorded
311 epochs of fixed RTK data points.
Bringing these points into a Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet, my initial hunch
was confirmed. The Triumph-1 is
perhaps the most repeatable receiver Ive
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tested yet. Averaging the 311 individual
positions and then determining the
difference between each individual epoch
and the overall average, I was surprised
by the very consistent results. Of the 311
positions, only 23 (7 percent) exceeded
0.033 foot (one centimeter) from the
overall average, with none exceeding
0.067 foot (two centimeters) horizontally.
Vertically, 79 of the 311 positions (25
percent) exceeded the 0.033 foot (one
centimeter) threshold, and only six of
those (2 percent) exceeded 0.067 foot
(two centimeters). Horizontally this
would indicate a one sigma error of
about half of a centimeter, and vertically
of just under one centimeter, which is
phenomenal for RTK positioning and
borders on post-processing static quality.
Perhaps making this feat all the more
impressive is that it was done with both
GPS and GLONASS satellites.
Typically, GLONASS is regarded as
an inferior signal to GPS for precise
positioning due to its frequency modula-
tion, which makes accurate wavelength
determination tricky. In the wing-fold
center insert of the July 2008 issue of
The American Surveyor, Javad explains the
methods used by various manufacturers
to implement the GLONASS signal.
Generally, GLONASS is only used for
improving the time needed for an integer
ambiguity fix and is then discarded.
However, JAVAD GNSS has imple-
mented a continuous GLONASS calibra-
tion tool in each receiver that removes a
substantial amount of the biases in the
GLONASS signal. I could easily see the
fruition of their efforts in the very precise
results of my own testing.
In the field, the units performed
near flawlessly. I was only able to trick
the receiver into displaying a false fix
once while under some moderate pine
canopy. Experience told me not to trust
it as the receiver was working hard to
generate a fix. Typically the receiver
did a great job of not reporting bad
fixed solutions while I pushed it into
difficult canopy. The units were very
functional in moderate canopy and
occasionally functional under dense
canopy, although, if I were working in
timber a lot, I wouldnt sell the total
station just yet.
The units proved to be just as accurate
in the field as they were in testing, typi-
cally yielding results in clear areas with
open skies in the centimeter or better
range and around three centimeters (0.10
foot) in difficult canopy, assuming a fixed
solution. I only experienced a couple of
radio hiccups that required me to restart
the base. These were sporadic and
unexplainable, but a reset on the base
seemed to correct the few occasions this
occurred. Ultimately the units performed
very well.
Physically Speaking
Physically, I liked the tactile texture of
the unit, and the heft felt very solid,
however, at nearly four pounds, I
switched arms quite a bit as I walked
from point to point. With the 182mm
Green Stick antenna on the bottom
of the unit, I found that I preferred an
adjustable length pole over a fixed height
pole for the rover. Using a fixed height,
two-meter pole, together with the 0.182
meter antenna, the bottom of the rover
was at nearly 7.2 feet, which garnered
a lot of top-heavy leverage. If I were to
buy the system, I would likely want a
collapsible pole with a locking pin to
prevent slippage. I could then set the
unit at a more comfortable height with a
lower center of gravity.
As a matter of preference, I like
removable batteries as opposed to fixed
internal batteries. That way if a battery
becomes unusable, it can be disposed
I found myself enjoying the Triumph system so much that I tried to implement it in as many jobs as possible. Here the unit is set
up across from Synergy Park where we frequently work.
of and replaced by the user. Internal
batteries require a trip to the shop when
they wear out. You can do a field swap
if onboard batteries start to run low. I
did like the long run-time I observed
with the JAVAD internal batteries. In
testing, the batteries operated for more
than thirteen hours in a constant RTK
session. This would suffice for a very
long field day or two normal work days.
Optionally, every receiver can
perform as a base or a rover allowing
you to switch them up at your discre-
tion. Optionally, they can both be used
as RTN rovers, doubling the output of
your investment.
My contact at JAVAD GNSS,
Michael Glutting, also sent me the
Victor controller (manufactured for
them by Juniper Systems). This unit
had a demo version of Carlson SurvCE
installed as well as a demo version of
Tracy, JAVADs own data collection
software. While the Victor worked fine
controlling the Triumph-1, the limited
functionality of the 30-point maximum
file size led me to use a fully function-
ing Carlson Software Surveyor+, with
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SurvCE 2.0. I had at my disposal for
the majority of the testing I performed.
These two made for an excellent partner-
ship and the Carlson software was able
to control the Triumph in most any
conceivable way.
Because the Tracy software is still
somewhat in its infancy, I did not use
it for this review, but I did investigate
its features quite a bit in the office. As I
handled the software, there were a few
features that were noticeably absent
in the version I was using, such as a
differentiation between U.S. Survey Feet
and International Feet. The software is on
such a rapid development cycle that the
latest version already addresses this need.
Conceptually, particularly for the
price point, I believe it will be a great
option for many users, particularly
those who will only need GPS control.
Some of the highlights I noticed were
that the receiver status is continuously
displayed, and of particular interest
to me (and perhaps another first from
JAVAD) is in-field post-processing to
determine the quality of recorded raw
data. The fact that the software is still
a work-in-progress, of sorts, might be a
concern for a potential buyer. But with
the very reasonable cost of admission
(a shade over $1800) and the fact that
updates are free, Tracy starts to sound
pretty good.
While I did not have the opportunity
in this review to test the post-processed
capabilities of the Triumph-1 raw data
(outside of a couple of successful OPUS
submissions) or the Justin post-
processing software, with the impressive
precision displayed in the RTK tests, I
would certainly enjoy the opportunity.
Having said that, being a long time
static enthusiast, I almost question
the necessity of static post-processed
methods given the incredibly precise
RTK positions the system produced.
JAVAD and company have
certainly raised the bar yet again with
the Triumph-1 system. Solid, stable,
functional and incredibly precise, I
would encourage anyone who is looking
for a new system to put a JAVAD next to
the others you are evaluating and see if
you dont discover the same impressive
results I did.