Bridging the gap with Trimble xFill 

“The benefit lies in being able to record those 2 or 3 difficult points if the internet goes down that I’d otherwise need a total station for.” 

Joel Scragg, Casterbridge Land Surveys 

Did you know that Trimble’s R12i, R580 and R780 GNSS all offer a feature that most surveyors never even notice, but every time it’s activated saves them up to 30 minutes in the field? 

Download a PDF of the story here

Operating out of Weybridge in Dorset, Casterbridge Land Surveys Ltd is a thriving practice, experiencing a consistently high demand for its services. The company prides itself on offering cost-effective and reliable surveys backed up by a personal and personable approach. 

Joel Scragg, the Director & Principal of the company, understands the challenges of managing a busy order book and the corresponding demands on both staff and his Trimble survey equipment. Consequently, he meticulously prepares for each survey, ensuring timely execution and optimal allocation of equipment resources.  

With a Trimble R12i GNSS (used with a Trimble VRS license for real-time corrections) and S5 Total Station on the fleet, Joel frequently exploits this combination as an integrated surveying solution where the controller is connected to both a conventional survey instrument and a GNSS receiver at the same time to seamlessly collect points in challenging GNSS environments.  

However, whilst this has proved to be an effective way of working, setting up a total station adds time to a survey …..and it’s also not always needed thanks to an often overlooked standard Trimble GNSS feature.  

Positioning Insurance: Continuous corrections, even when the internet goes down 

Trimble xFill is the little known standard feature that can save up to 30 minutes in the field by ensuring Joel can carry on working without disruption to his survey schedule or need for a total station set up.   

It reliably provides seamless, centimetre-level back-up corrections for up to 5-10 minutes, via satellite, if RTK or VRS signal sources are interrupted due to signal disruptions or loss of radio connectivity. This provides Joel with enough time to measure points in his typical day to day scenarios such is  in a quarry behind a  stockpile or at the bottom of a hole.  

The end result is no interruption to Joel’s survey. The only indication that xFill has been automatically activated is a small icon changing on his logger: 

“The benefit lies in being able to record those 2 or 3 difficult points that I’d otherwise need a total station for. Each time I avoid having to set up the total station, I’m saving up to 30 minutes in the field. Why do most surveyors never even notice it? Because it just reliably kicks in every time it’s needed!” 

What is Trimble xFill? Trimble xFill provides seamless, centimetre-level back-up corrections via satellite if RTK or VRS signal sources are interrupted due to signal disruptions or loss of radio connectivity.  All three receivers supplied by KOREC, the R12i, R780 and R580, offer Trimble xFill Limited as standard. This feature is linked to the GNSS hardware, and it enables cm-levels corrections whenever the internet connection goes down, for up to 5-10 minutes, allowing surveyors to carry on working.  xFill Limited is a standard and permanent functionality on the aforementioned Trimble GNSS products, included at no extra cost.   Another option is to upgrade to xFill Unlimited. This feature enables the GNSS to carry on working with satellite corrections, without internet, for an unlimited amount of time. However, the user needs to be connected first to a VRS network for this to work.   xFill Unlimited works on a yearly subscription. When it runs out, it will revert back to xFill Limited. 

Ask us about our current special offer on xFill unlimited.