Trimble GPS Pathfinder Basic

I just acquired a Trimble Pathfinder Basic. It came with no manual or
antenna. It had no batteries in it when I got it. I put batteries in
and it seems to operate. Without an antenna it is not able to
calculate the time or fix. However it was able to come up with the
correct date (but incorrect hours, minutes & seconds).I looked on the
Trimble support page and all it said was the Pathfinder Basic was not
Y2K complaint and was no longer supported.

I like the idea of owning a Trimble GPS because of the differential
GPS capability. I have seen Trimble GPS instruments used in Antarctica
to measure the movement of glaciers. Since the speed of a glacier is
usually glacial the year to year measurements must be hyper accurate.

I have a piece of land in SW Minnesota that is surrounded by farm
land. I am on good terms with the farmer and don't mind if he
encroaches on my land when farming his land. However I would like to
periodically pinpoint the boundaries so we both understand where the
boundary is. I think the Trimble would be perfect for this purpose.

Since I have no manual and the Trimble menu is cryptic. I have not
been able to figure it out. Can someone point me in the direction of a
manual?

Since this instrument is not Y2K complaint and unsupported by Trimble.
Is it a waste of time to continue tinkering with it?

The antenna connection is a SMA standard connection. I have a SMA
adapter to adapt it to BNC. What type of antenna is recommended for
this instrument?

Jim

Yes.

If you want something to tinker with, you should be able to find
something much more satisfying for a few dollars on eBay etc.

I've never been impressed with any of the lower-end Trimble stuff.

G.

The Pathfinder Basic has a build-in antenna. No need for an external,
but I'm not sure if it would compute a valid position now not only
because it isn't Y2K compliant, but that it probably wasn't designed
to handle GPS weeks greater than 1023 which we passed a while
back.

I got one ~20 years ago. It worked fine and it was pretty cool to be
able to get a position fix and find your spot on a map to usually better
than 50 feet back then (before SA and when there were enough
satellites to get a good fix). Now most any consumer GPS will do
even better. The Pathfinder Basic really has no use now. It was
obsolete by the early 1990s.

I'm sure you have seen ads and, perhaps, actual use of Trimble
equipment for "high-end" positioning/survey work. Well they
have made some good equipment over the years and some not so
good. It's all about marketing with Trimble. Get the brand name
recognized. Their lower-end "professional" equipment has
often been not very good. The Pathfinder Basic fits this
description perfectly. In the late 1980s there wasn't much
choice. By the early 1990s the Basic was a dinosaur. Now,
most any consumer GPS will be better, accuracy-wise, then
the Pathfinder Basic even if you try to differentially correct
the Pathfinder data (assuming it collects the data OK). The
Pathfinder series used position-based differential corrections
(delta X, Y, Z) instead of psuedorange corrections (like
everyone else) so actually correcting the data is a propriety
process and the process is really primitive as they only use
4 satellites.

In short, sorry, but you've got a paper weight.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm glad I only paid $0.00 for it. I
think it will go back into the dumpster I found it in.

Cheers!

Jim

kleppermaster wrote:


:-( Too bad it can't be used!