I'm looking to purchase a used total station with 1" accuracy, such as the Trimble 5601 or Leica TCRA 1101. I need it to be motorized, but don't need one that is fully robotic (i.e., I don't need a radio connection). The system will be used to make measurements of glacier motion for a University research project - it will need to measure a network of ~24 permanently mounted prisms on a glacier surface every day for a couple of months.
Any leads are greatly appreciated! I'm located in Ottawa, Canada, but am happy to ship from anywhere.
Your contact information is.....?
Cheers
Derek
Sorry! Email: luke.copland@uottawa.ca
Icopland,
I will email you the information for what Leica has to offer. There are 1" instruments in the new TS15 instruments - the TS15A R30 is motorized with ATR (automatic target recognition). The best instrument for you if this is a true monitoring project would be the Leica TS30 or TM30 instruments. These are 0.5" instruments when used manually but are only 1" instruments when using ATR. The TM30 is a model built for true monitoring projects.
I am not sure if the purchase is just for this particular project or if it will be used else where on non-monitoring projects after the job is done.
Pay special attention to the temperature spec's on any of the instruments you look at for this prpoject. I am going to ask around to see if anyone knows of a dealer that might have a 1" instrument to use.
I vouch for the TM30, they are great guns.
Good to hear people are still surveying glaciers. I got my start surveying back in the 80's because as a budding young geomorphologist while on the Juneau Icefield Project I was chosen to be on the survey team since I was big enough to carry the T-2 along with all of my belonging for the summer.
The first question I have is why are you requesting a 1" gun. What kind of precision are you looking for? We use our 1" gun (TCRP1201 and TM30) for picking up mm movement. Using multiple measurements to each prisms.
That being said, the TM30 is a great gun for monitoring. It has a refined ATR camera that allows for targeting out past 400m.
Good luck
I need the high accuracy as the glacier I'm measuring is only moving a few cm per day, and I want to understand how these rates vary from day to day in response to varying surface melt rates, etc. My reflecting prisms will be mounted on poles drilled into the ice, anywhere from about 100 to 1000 m from the base station. Hence it would seem that only 1" or better Total Stations would be able to do this. However, I'm interested to know whether anyone thinks that a 2" station might work for my needs?
The other issue is my budget, which is quite limited (~$5000). Hence the need for a used station.
Regards,
Luke
P.S. I also worked on the Juneau Icefield Research Project in the 1990s, although I was on the seismic crew, rather than the surveying crew. A gorgeous location!
Luke,
If you are trying to track daily movement in the cm magnitude then a 2" or 3" gun would be more than enough. 2" second instruments are hard to come by, most people go for 1" if they are going to get a precision instrument. By taking the mean of multiple measurements (read direct/reverse sets) you can improve the precision. I'm not sure what you will be able to pick up for 5k.
On the icefield I also spent time working on the seismic crew when not digging snow pits or surveying flow. Had a great time when MMM had a couple of us close down camp 10, I think, instructing us to dispose of the old charges. We strung them over the side of the gorge and fired them off.
