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Trimble R10/R12 issues
A few months ago we had to send an R10 back to Trimble to have them fix the antenna connector, it basically came apart when unscrewing the antenna at the end of the day. I was out last week using an R12 (that is less than a year old) and when attaching the antenna I noticed it was loose, and we have the same problem. The connector has broken away from the housing, is anyone else having these problems or is our field crew too rough with them?
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21 Replies
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That happened to one of our R10’s but it was used by the one guy known to be really rough on stuff.
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Are your crews taking the antenna off prior to putting the receiver in the truck? I see a ton of broken antenna connectors where crews throw the receiver, with antenna and still attached to the rod, in the back of the truck. That will not only break the connector, but it will break the housing as well. It’s fixable, but not cheap.
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@fairleywell I once saw the crew driving down the road with the R10 still attached to the rod hanging out the window….nothing would surprise me at this point, I was kind of hoping this was a common problem and I wouldn’t be able to fault the crews.
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It’s likely the abuse.
I saw the coworker’s gear and was absolutely shocked to find out it’s not even a year old.
My Surveyor’s gear? Immaculate. He’s not 100% field but still. These things are preventable, and the list goes on…..
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It’s a fairly common issue, but mostly due to not taking the antenna off when putting the rover away or it falling over or throwing it in the truck still attached.
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We have a good group of guys that take care of stuff. Our r12i lost the internal clip off the antenna and the tech remarked it was a ‘common problem’. The following month the radio board fried.
I have used trimble since the all night dos processing days. I am not at all impressed with the design or workmanship of their new stuff. Great features, but only when they work. I also believe the vendor structure has resulted in poor service in some areas. They better get on it or a drop in market share is coming.
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@thebionicman I work for a dealer and that is one of my worries.
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@thebionicman I 2nd this.
The TSC3 was the pinnacle, tough, nearly trouble free. TSC7 was too heavy and ate batteries. TSC5 is much better on the battery but Android is not that great and the device is kind of annoying some times. The stylus takes a very heavy touch and it keeps dropping Bluetooth connections to the receivers, especially older ones.
I??ve been wondering about Leica which is a weird feeling.
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@dave-karoly I have been impressed with Leica processing software. Looked at some hardware last night and it looked slick. Interested to see how tough it is in the field…
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The biggest issue that I hear about with Leica is the support. I know that the company that I work for has 10 tech support people dedicated to handling the day to day tech support and several others that can handle advanced support cases. Most issues are taken care of immediately while the advanced cases are mostly handled in a day or two.
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At least as tough as Trimble in my experience, both robots and GNSS.
Lecia field software is quicker once you set it up with hot keys but Trimble access simpler to use on day one, neither is better just different approaches
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That’s just a dealer problem not a hardware/software one. A good dealer is far more important that choosing team green or yellow.
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Our guys can tend to be pretty tough on their gear and we’ve experienced a very high failure rate on the R10 antenna mount. As great a design as the R10 / R12 is, why did they put that crap antenna in there? Good old TNC worked great for decades.
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I think the antenna thing is a well known issue generally caused by over tightening the antenna. I warned our crew when bought new.
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The correlation between crews who treat their gear like crap and damaged gear is somewhere between 0.8 and 1.0. I’ve had maybe 3-4 actual, real equipment failures in my career. I’ve known folks who had three “failures” every month.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil Postman -
We have a good group of guys that take care of stuff. Our r12i lost the internal clip off the antenna and the tech remarked it was a ‘common problem’. The following month the radio board fried.
I have used trimble since the all night dos processing days. I am not at all impressed with the design or workmanship of their new stuff. Great features, but only when they work. I also believe the vendor structure has resulted in poor service in some areas. They better get on it or a drop in market share is coming.
I don’t believe we get very good service from our local Trimble dealer (Cansel in Toronto Ontario Canada) but I don’t use any Trimble gear yet. I will be eventually as they’re shifting all the equipment to Trimble and most of our stuff is now Trimble.
I personally found the local Leica guy to be helpful but the extent of my experience was just that he helped me update the firmware on the old 1200 series robot I use and a few emails getting pricing when my boss was still considering purchasing a TS16.
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folks who had three “failures” every month.
How long do they stay employees at that place!!?!?!?!?
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@k-huerth that might have been a way to not take it apart, and have it track satellites for trying to get to a certain place. Just like the door mount for a rod which costs $100s
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I am sure that your crew does not behave very well to your equipment.
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I have an older version of the R10. It’s been reconditioned once. However, it’s been put through everything from static sitting on tripods to crashing through brush, up and down very steep canyons and ravines, busy construction sites. I will not complain about how rugged it is. Many receivers would fail from what it’s been put through. It did need a radio replacement and it got a new cover so it looks like a new R10. No trouble with the base.
Take care of the equipment, it’s not rocket science,,,,,,,,,,,,well, I guess it is, but still be as gentle with the rover as possible. It’s not a hammer or a brush hook.
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