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A bit of a newb OPUS question, but is there any benefit to using Leica's MDB format instead of Rinex for static data observation?
If so, what software do you guys use to process the MDB files?
Thanks
I know of no advantage to submitting the MDB file to OPUS vs RINEX. There is one downside, if more than one occupation in the MDB file, OPUS will not take it as it sees "kinematic" data.
Leica's post processing software packages (LGO or Infinity) both read the MDB file as well as some 3rd party packages.
SHG
It doesn't make much difference which format you submit, as long as you have the correct values for the antenna and measure-up to the ARP. MDB format is more compact than RINEX (if I remember correctly), so depending on how much data you are gathering and at what interval (1 sec, 5 sec, etc.) it may be more efficient if your storage space is limited.
I prefer to have RINEX for submission simply because I can easily open and view the files, and the format is the same no matter where it came from. Easy to find the critical values and check against field notes, especially if you are mixing receiver models.
My preferred workflow has always been to log data in the proprietary format and then convert afterward. In the past I had problems with Leica receivers logging to RINEX - they would randomly stop and restart, usually at zero hour UTC, but sometimes whenever they felt like it. But that was a few years ago...
Thanks for the replies.
Any software recommendations?
I've downloaded LGO v8.4 but of course it requires a license to do anything. Do the old versions have the free tools to work with the Mdb files?
Unfortunately I don't think that Leica has a standalone RINEX converter.
I think your best bet is to use UNAVCO's TEQC program. DOS-prompt command-line interface, but once you figure out the commands to convert one MDB, it should work for them all...
There is a Windows GUI for it called WinTEQC, but I think it only converts .m00 files.
@rover83 yeah I forgot to mention TEQC, it will read and convert to RINEX. I thought the original question was more about reading these files into a post processor? And correct, AFAIK, Leica never distributed a standalone RINEX converter.
Speaking or TEQC, it is dead as far as the future.
Teqc software is end-of-life (EOL) following the 2019-02-25 final release. This final release will continue to be available from the UNAVCO website.
UNAVCO will continue to host the teqc email forum, which will live on as a user to user forum. We will also work to ensure that the teqc mail list archives are searchable via the UNAVCO web site search/Google search. UNAVCO will also continue to host existing teqc documentation as well as the teqc “helpful tip of week” archives.
We would like to thank Dr. Lou Estey, the creator of teqc, for developing and supporting this software tool and its user community for the past 22 years and we wish him the best in his retirement.
SHG
There may be some software, BUT not aware of anything other than OPUS that will read and provide results WITHOUT paying. LGO and the newer Infinity are Leica's paid software packages.
SHG
