Magnet Field V5.2.1

I managed to successfully connect Reach RS2 to Magnet Field 4.2.
However I’ve just upgraded to Magnet Field 5.2.1 and I no longer can get the Reach RS2 to talk to Magnet Field. You see the UTM coordinates updating, but when you try to store the point, it says WAIT on the screen and the UTM coordinates freeze.
Any ideas to get me up and running would be appreciated.

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Do a search on the forum for Magnet Field and you will see that we have had the same trouble with the Reach RS+ receivers. We primarily use all topcon equipment and Magnet and I was really hoping to use it, but ended up having to buy Microsurvey Fieldgenius to do what I needed it to do.

Sounds like you need to downgrade.

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Thanks Michael. I did manage to get it working with my BASE receiver on NTRIP by ticking the Precision button, but when I went back to using LoRa with Base / Rover it no longer worked. So I’ll test it a bit more to see what is going on, before reinstalling the old Magnet version.

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I have done some more testing. I can get both my BASE and ROVER to work correctly with Magnet Field 5.2.1 when they are operating on NTRIP.

However when I work with LoRa, Magnet Field will not work. So it appears to me that the Emlids must change something about the NMEA output to stop Magnet Field from working.

This looks to me like it is an Emlid issue. Could someone from Emlid please comment and have a look at what is going wrong?

Hi Ian,

Providing that Reach works fine with previous Magnet Field versions and other external software, I’m not sure that changing something in NMEA output will help. I’d suggest checking with Topcon’s support on what they changed in NMEA requirements.

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I worked with Topcon for a couple of weeks and they said the opposite. There is something going on with the delivery once the unit goes fixed. It will shoot in a float condition, but as soon as it enters a fix it says waiting. I doubt Topcon has much interest in spending support time getting another manufacturer’s receiver to work. I believe @Brent_W had similar issues on 4.x.x as well.

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Thanks to both for your responses. I agree with Michael. I also seem to have taken a step backwards, because today I can’t get my gear to connect via NTRIP once it goes Fixed as Michael states. Only in Float. I was pretty certain it was working previously, but maybe I’m wrong.
I’ve spoken to my supplier and they reckon I need the latest version of Magnet because of a new datum and geoid about to be adopted by Australia. My Topcon Total station is also locked, so if I’m to use other software, I need to pay to unlock my total station and the money I’ve just spent on upgrading the software is wasted.
Understandably I’m not very happy.

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Hello. Can you explain how you get both your base and rover to work correctly with Magnet Field 5.2.1 when using NTRIP? Are you using Magnet to do your corrections?
I installed 5.2.1 this afternoon and ran into the same problem again. As others have mentioned it has something to do with the “fixed” solution. That’s why I’m interested how you got it working otherwise.
Just now I stored points with “Magnet Field Layout” Version 3.3.1 :slight_smile: using Reach RS2. The key on that one is to prevent Magnet Field Layout from recognizing that there is a fixed solution. I do this by raising the position output to 5hz on the reachview app. Then Magnet says DGPS instead of fixed and saves points just fine. If I lower it to 1hz it goes to wait…
Now on the “Magnet Field” instead of “Magnet Field Layout” I can’t make it do that. If I lower it to 1 hz it doesn’t recognize any position data and anywhere between 3hz and 10z it just shows fix. If I could force it to only show dgps it might work but I have tried many settings. This isn’t a solution but only some observations.

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I was sitting in my office getting NTRIP from my wifi. I ticked the precision button and set really high precisions. I’m pretty certain it was storing while FIXED (at the time I wasn’t aware of the fixed / float store issue), but I haven’t been able to emulate this again, so maybe I was only in FLOAT at the time.

I haven’t been able to get NTRIP to work in the field using my phone as a hotspot. It only shows SINGLE for me continuously. Another annoying issue. Hence my original need to get Magnet Field working using LoRa.

Sorry I’m not of much help. When I get a chance I might revisit this and see if I can get it to store while it is FIXED. If I do, I’ll post immediately.

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Thank you for your suport
I “sorted” out
Reach don’t like Topcon for sure.
My first issue was the corrections from TopNET network could corporate with Reach so I bought Leica smartnet
But the unsolved issue is the fixed position .
So no more waste on time and money
Bought Topcon Hiper SR and straight out of the box fixed and stored position!!!

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Hi @Anastasios_Balian,

As Reach works fine with the previous Magnet Field versions, we may assume that there is something that was changed in the Magnet Field V5.2.1, and we’ll look into that.

However, we need some time to check how Reach works with Magnet Field V5.2.1. Unfortunately, it can’t be done promptly as it requires a thorough investigation.

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Hi @Anastasios_Balian,

We’ve managed to reproduce this behavior on the MagnetField 5.2.1. It seems that something is changed in a way of getting NMEA data in MagnetField 5.2.1. To resolve this, we need to understand what has been changed and which NMEA string MagnetField expects from Reach. It’s also unusual that the issue applies only to the point collection with Fix status, while the point stakeout feature works fine.

Is there any chance you have any contact with Topcon MagnetField representative whom we can pass the information on this? It would be helpful if Topcon could share a sample of the NMEA stream that works with MagnetField, for example.

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My last discussion with Magnet Field rep. resulted in the phone line suddenly going dead. I think he hung up on me. It would be great if someone else with access to Topcon field rep could help us! Also, Topcon Magnet Field Layout (not Topcon Magnet Field) has discontinued GPS support. They told me I was the only one that used it… :slight_smile:

I’ll give it a try, but it is like talking to AT&T. I just got off of a 2 month discussion about how to clear old GPS receiver connections from Pocket3D and ended up just reloading my FC-500. I think the major hurdle is going to be explaining that I am trying to connect a “competitor”.

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Well they bragged it up to me how Magnet Field can work with third-party GPS hardware, (so I think we can push it) They can make a lot of money at selling their app as well. Their technical support guy couldn’t begin to understand how you could send a “fixed” position over generic nmea. So finally he just hung up. ( and I’m still hurting :slight_smile: )
How about this for an opening line?
“Hello It’s M…l L…t and I’m looking at purchasing 1000 copies of Magnet Field. A small glitch needs to be ironed out, however, …”
Sounds more interesting than me with my one free test version…

No doubt. It’s like giving away free printers and charging beaucoups for ink. They don’t know it, but we already have the installs of Magnet, we just need to buy more Emlid receivers. :wink:

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:+1: Yeah lets get more moving!

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Like I’ve said before… If I can get the RS+ or or RS2 to work in our environment I would buy 20 or so kits rapidly.

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Hey there,

According to MAGNET Field representatives, MAGNET software now can only operate with Topcon and Sokkia hardware.

So the only way to use it with Reach receivers is working with previous versions that support NMEA input.

Ha! We should have known that was coming! :worried:
That’s disappointing…