FAQ

No.  We can refer you to excellent resources depending upon your goals.

No.  We do however have experience with this and can provide guidance, suggestions on what to budget, and refer you to a vendor.

Yes, if certain criteria are met.  We can provide a network assessment on a cost recovery basis.  Based upon the condition of the infrastructure, access, location, hardware and telemetry, we provide an estimate on required upgrades and standardization to ensure high-stability, high-quality data.  This may include the recommendation for new monumentation, cabling, fittings, power system, extensive vegetation removal etc…  Proof of the right of access or active land use agreement (with expiration date, conditions, and current contact information) is required.  With exception, we do not monitor, maintain or install networks that have any building/rooftop/pillar/rohn tower monuments.  Please see monument stability section for supporting documentation.

Usually.  To the trained eye, a casual look can sometimes be enough to yield a high probability for stability and determine the drilling/driving technique.  However, for most locations, a thorough assessment of the topography, soil, slope stability, artificial fill, proximity to water wells and other factors are best done by an experienced geologist.  The minor cost of this step is cheap insurance against an unreliable position timeseries.  Take a look at the geologic stability section for impacts of data from unsuitable geologic conditions.  

Yes, and lease to own is an option.

It is prudent to budget for GNSS receiver and telemetry upgrades every 4-6 years.  These upgrades modernize the system, increase security, often improve capabilities and data performance.  As with research, the benefits of long time series data with modernized equipment can yield significant economic and societal benefits unforeseen at the onset.

Repairs for minor damage are covered under the maintenance contract.  Significant repairs will be covered under an amendment.  For moderate to high risk sites, we factor in vandalism/environmental mitigation in the equipment configuration during network installation.  This may include fencing, barbed wire, equipment enclosure armor with locks, reinforced solar system, rigid or flex conduit for external cabling, internal bracing for the monument, cameras, and site specific upgrades.  After-the-fact-vandalism repair for major incidences can range in cost from $5-20k in time, materials and electronics.  It is best to mitigate up front.

Depending on various factors such as location, data rate, required response time for outages, and others, the quarterly charge can vary significantly per site.  However, there is an economy of scale with larger networks to decrease the average station cost.  For full-service SOH/QC/O&M, the station is visited every 2 years whether or not the data indicates an issue, regardless of access or location.  This is done to conduct preventative maintenance and/or vegetation removal and to maintain contact with the equipment hosts if applicable.

See the Data examples page for some illustrations.  Remote O&M includes firmware and configuration updates with vetted patches and security upgrades.  QC and SOH monitoring includes weekly review of about a dozen performance attributes related to GNSS data, power, and telecommunications.

Yes, they are integrated into quarterly invoices.