Let me start by saying I am not a surveyor nor do I have any surveying training. If this Forum is not the appropriate place for this question please advise. I use an old digital theodolite for some mapping tasks on a piece of property I own and I have become interested in being able to do some more tasks but realize the CTS unit is limiting me. This is more of a hobby than anything else. But what the heck, I'm retired and I enjoy it. I would like to upgrade to a total station but now thinking that a robotic one may be the way to go as I am always working alone.
Can a used robotic station with prism and what ever the thing you use to tell it to measure is called be had for under 8K$
I don't need accuracy 5" way more than what i need, don't need to be reflectorless and I would never shoot more than 500 foot.
Is this possible?
Robotic total stations have been a thing for over 25 yrs. I'm sure that you can find something with some life left in it for your price. I'm looking at a Leica TS12 w/CS15 on ebay right now listed at $7495. But there is a good chance that if you called around to local surveyors you will soon find one with an old robot gathering dust in a closet.
I agree that buying one from a local surveyor would be your best bet, though finding one might be difficult because the market is so small. It would be easier to find one on eBay, but the chances of getting burned -- because the instrument has been damaged or is otherwise not operationally sound, or simply encountering a scammer who takes your money and then disappears without delivering the product -- is uncomfortably high.
Note also that you really need to buy a system -- not just the robot, but the data collector and radio(s) needed to operate it remotely. Finding all of that in your price range might be a challenge.
I bet if you found the local guys small solo folks that ended up going back to the bigger firms still have a robot sitting at home. Find that guy who is at retirement age and for whatever reason call it the Great Recession and was forced to go solo but as the economy came back went back to work for a firm has something sitting at home. Thats the deal you want. Get a robot that was taken care of and this person is retiring and doesn’t intend to go back and do solo work. He was the guy who never really wanted to work for himself or herself but because of the Great Recession did what he or she must and didn’t like the business side so once the economy came back he went back. Thats your needle in a hay stack. Now saying that you might have to spend a little money getting it cleaned and calibrated and possibly upgrade the data collector as it might be a thorn in your side from sitting so long and no longer supported but you can get that for a few grand. I will keep my eyes and ears open. But they are the sweetest deals. As those who work for themselves is like buy that old truck with low mileage and was taken care of by an old timer. Been looking for two years now for my daughter a truck before she hits driving age. But sooner or later I will find one of those deals. Good luck.
Right now there is a current thread of someone trying to re-home an old surveyors garage full of not-that-old instruments. I've worked in a lot of offices in my time and nearly every single one had their last generation of instruments - at least - in storage as "back-ups". The exceptions being newly minted surveyors who just hung out their shingle.
You might also want to consider renting the equipment. Most survey equipment vendors have rentals available.