Recommendations for light weight conventional 5″ total station
for long traverse through rough terrain and forest.
We run a couple S6/7 robotic instruments, but when it comes to doing longer traverses through virgin timber over hill and dale, they really suck. just too darn heavy for packing with TriMax legs and everything else that needs to moved up the line. Any recommendations here? Going to try and get this budgeted. Right tool for the job. I’m partial to Topcon but I’m willing to keep an open mind. I have an older TDS recon that I think would be the ticket for running it. That along with a set of tundra legs, we’d be off to the races.
- 18 Replies
Nikon Nivo is pretty small and light. 9 lbs I think.
The new(ish) Trimble C5 seems to be based on the Nivo, and has Access onboard. Believe the S7 is around 16ish lb. with batteries, and the C5 is just under 10.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil Postman
Topcon GT Robot for sure.
I’m working in a cleanroom with my GT1001 and Leica Traverse set. My double angles are less than 2″ horizontal and vertical. Backsight checks are 0.002′ or less. Also I’m using carbon fiber tripod from Omni / SurveyPro.
They want me to be with in 2mm for nano tech plant. I told I need 3mm. Very tight.
Zeis elta R50 is one of the lightest total stations ever made.
I haven’t used them, I use a Topcon GT 1000 Robot and a Sokkia ix500, but the GM 50 or GM 100 look pretty good.
Second on the Nikon Nivo.
If I were looking for a light-weight manual total station, it would be the Nivo. I did a review of one years ago for American Surveyor magazine. On-board data collection makes it even smaller and lighter as a package. I even ran it on a prism pole with a bi-pod for fun and it worked pretty well.
@shawn-billings Nikon Nivo is getting a fair share of mention here. I’m going to do some more homework on this one but sounds like might just be the ticket. Appreciate everyone’s suggestions.
Willy@shawn-billings Roger that. I’m going to compare the two and see how well both measure up to our needs. Being a Trimble shop, that might tip the scale.
WillyAlternative option – get a TS backpack. I made one out of a camera backpack for my Leica 1203.
Access will run the Nikon and sokkia manual total stations from memory too if you want to pair it with a GNSS kit once the job is done.
Be guessing the Nikon and Trimble that look similar have different price stickers though!
Nikon makes the lightest TS I??ve ever used.
@gordon-svedberg ,do you know where i can purchase one of these? i would
really like to buy one. great optics and lightweight. pls.post if you know where? swamps in South Carolina are tough.
@williwaw For what it’s worth, Trimble is the marketing/sales organization through which Nikon total stations are marketed. So there may well be a “Trimble version” of the Nivo, and if not, there are other models that you might consider that would be similar in price and performance. One thing about the Nivo is that it has endless tangents like an autolevel, and no tangent locks on either the vertical or horizontal circles. That is not necessarily bad, but it does take a bit of getting used to.
@samlucy3874 I’ve got one (7 lbs), but the EDM stopped working and the local shop says they can’t fix it. The optics are first rate. I have seen them on ebay. Another light total station is my Topcon CTS-2, (same issue).
Thanks, Brad.
I have a 1 second Nivo and it’s great for a lot of things. I am still partial to the NPL’s with reflectorless capability. The Nivo optics have a tint that is almost useless in dark timber on a stormy day. The on board data collector of the Nivo is great for Topos but I book everything. Data collectors slow me down when I don’t need elevations. I spend too much time staring at the screen and pushing buttons instead of working.
@jed It does have quite a blue tint to it, doesn’t it? I’m pretty sure that’s to block any reflection of the reflectorless laser coming back to the observer. I didn’t consider how it might affect low-light scenarios…
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