Customer Stories

"Trimble CenterPoint ® RTX has significantly simplified our staking process. On a good day, when everything is clicking, we can easily stake 12 or even 15 miles a day." —- J.P. Metzler, PE, RMA Engineering DESIGN ON THE FLY Preliminary line design is done using the electric cooperative's software. To physically stake a project in the field, the RMA crew uses Trimble Access field software running on a Trimble R2 GNSS receiver and a Trimble TSC3 or TSC7 controller. Once the poles are staked, Trimble Access generates a shapefile that is imported back to the cooperative's software, where the preliminary design can be adjusted to match the actual field-staked project. "Trimble RTX and Access let us design on the fly," says Metzler. "It works really well in the field, it's very accurate and it saves us a lot of time." THE NEED FOR SPEED Before the advent of GNSS, RMA's staking procedures required up to three crew members: one with a total station, one at the end of the line with a range rod and another walking along the line setting the stakes. With the GNSS system, RMA can now do the job with just one person. "Trimble RTX has made things so fast and efficient," says Metzler. "On a good day, when everything is clicking, we can easily stake 12 or even 15 miles a day." Unlike RTK, Trimble RTX doesn't require transporting and setting up a base station – a step that can add significant time and logistical issues to a day's work. Instead, a crew can simply get to the site, turn on their GNSS receiver, initialize – often in just minutes – and go. "When we're working jobs that require the staking of 3,000 miles of line, just imagine the time it would take if we had to lay out RTK base stations," says Metzler. "Instead, with Trimble RTX, when the contractor says they're ready, our crew needs just a few days to put the stakes in the ground." As a bonus, when flying to a job site, RMA only needs to transport a single GNSS rover and controller – a factor that helps minimize costs and logistics. "The bottom line is Trimble RTX helps us keep our prices low and do our job faster and with greater quality control," says Metzler. "Most importantly, it ensures that once the poles are planted, we achieve that all-important straight line." RMA uses Trimble CenterPoint® RTX with an R2 GNSS Receiver and TSC3 and TSC7 Controllers

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