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Trimble 5601 DR200 + TSCe + Survey Controller v10.80 compatible?
Good day,
I’m just an electronics hobbyist and I’ve really been enjoying tinkering with old electronic total stations from ebay.
Recently, I got a Geodimeter 140 and a Geodimeter 4400 Robotic, which is kind of fun.
(The 140 is a real blast from the past. The scope is hazy, looks like the glue between the lenses is separating. But the thing seems to work!)
Now I got a Trimble 5601 which I expect is probably toast but would like some confirmation.
I’m trying to get it to work with a Trimble TSCe with Trimble Survey Controller v10.80 at 9600 baud, no parity.
The 5601 came with the 4-pin-to-4-pin cable, a battery adapter with two 4-pin recepticals, and a 4-pin-to-standard-9-pin-RS232 cable so I can plug the TSCe to the RS232 from the 5601, while simultaneously powering the 5601.
Unfortunately, the 5601 came with no keyboard/display, just the cover plate with the single power button.
Pressing the power button on the 5601 causes it to make a few brief faint sounds (EDM) after which turning the knobs causes the servos to run, so that part is working.
However, the TSCe just sits and says “Please wait, connecting to total station.”
I have confirmed that the TSCe has valid RS232 signals on the 9 pin RS232 port, and that it’s sending out a data burst every second or so when it’s attempting to connect to the 5601.
I have also confirmed that the 5601 is also providing valid RS232 voltages on it’s side, and that the RX/TX pins are correct (i.e. the RX of one side goes to the TX of the other side, etc.)
The TSCe/Survey Controller does list “5600 3500…” as an option under “Survey” so I assume these two things should work together.
So what is likely going on? Is TSCe/Survey Controller v10.80 with the style “5600 3500…” not compatible with a Trimble 5601?
Or is the 5601 most likely brain dead due to having the internal battery run flat?
In the latter case, is there any chance of getting the firmware file and Trimble Data Transfer Utility and loading in the firmware?
My suspicion is that I have a fancy and very bright yellow robotic paperweight, which is what I suspected when I got it off of ebay. (But, I can still do other cool stuff with it if all else fails. The optics are good and sharp and I can control the motors from my own microprocessors to at least turn it into a remote pan/tilt camera lens with good magnification!)
Any insight would be most gratefully absorbed!
All the best & thank you very much,
Jesse
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