I have 4 Ashtech Z-XII's with the old "whopper" antennas and peripherals. Trouble is, three of them have dead internal lithium ion batteries (they are 20 years old), so they won't save any data. I took one apart and found the two internal batteries, but they would need to be "de-soldered" to remove them and of course the replacements would need to be soldered back in. As many of you know, these are great GPS (no GLN) receivers and would be great for OPUS work. Are they worth anything or should I figure on decorative door-stops? Thanks for any thoughts....
Howdy Bill,
I dunno buddy, I'm a lover of OLD fixable stuff, but when you can get something like the iGage ig3 (OPUS) units for about $2200 a piece, it kinda makes one wonder. Ya got a soldering iron?
BTW, I bought one of the new ig3 units to play with, but have only been out to play once this year.
Loyal
Loyal, post: 437034, member: 228 wrote: Howdy Bill,
I dunno buddy, I'm a lover of OLD fixable stuff, but when you can get something like the iGage ig3 (OPUS) units for about $2200 a piece, it kinda makes one wonder. Ya got a soldering iron?
BTW, I bought one of the new ig3 units to play with, but have only been out to play once this year.
Loyal
Hi Loyal- Glad you're still kickin around! If I could replace the batteries (must buy a good soldering gun), I would sell each one for around $500, including 2 batteries, antenna and charger. Think it's worth while?
bolt, post: 437004, member: 6525 wrote: I have 4 Ashtech Z-XII's with the old "whopper" antennas and peripherals. Trouble is, three of them have dead internal lithium ion batteries (they are 20 years old), so they won't save any data. I took one apart and found the two internal batteries, but they would need to be "de-soldered" to remove them and of course the replacements would need to be soldered back in. As many of you know, these are great GPS (no GLN) receivers and would be great for OPUS work. Are they worth anything or should I figure on decorative door-stops? Thanks for any thoughts....
I replaced the internal battery on an SCA-12 a couple of years ago. The new battery only lasted about 6 months.
Hi Bill good to see you here. If you wanted them for your personal use it would probably be worth changing the batteries, but I have trouble picturing anyone wanting to buy them And with all of the leap second / week rollover / Y2K stuff that's happened over the last 20 years, it's possible that they wouldn't work all that well. But ya never know I guess...
Just my $0.02.
Encase them in Lucite and raffle them off as really big paperweights at the fall MSS conference.;)
Their clocks have probably drifted pretty badly by now, though that won't impact static function. But they're hell on batteries (they make great space heaters) and both power and comm cables are expensive to replace.
I sold mine -- Z1-12, Whopper, cables, batteries that needed recelling, and Pelican case -- for about $500 at least 5 years ago, and I figured I was lucky to get that much then.
imaudigger, post: 437036, member: 7286 wrote: interesting note
There is an interesting story here.
Someone may have accidentally sold more than one instrument to a scammer who immediately sent said instruments through a series of three freight forwarders and the last destination ended up perhaps (or not) being one of these mentioned places.
Someone else recognized the importance of this situation and ended up in a bad (let us characterize it as unfamiliar) place self declaring the specifics of this event to interested parties. Which led to a 'unfortunate series of events' which has led to a new level of awareness of declaration before, during and after sales. This declaration is not specific to the iG3s receivers and is directed at all receivers of a specific type. (So basically every L1/L2 receiver that is sold is probably covered.) We have always included a similar declaration on our quotations and invoices. The advice is now included in our User Manuals and on our websites.
The take away for the general public is that let's say you are asked to travel to an archaeology dig in some exciting, far away place. You should not just pack your receivers and fly over. (Assuming you are planning on returning to the USA.) You need to think about what you are doing.
Never mind that you could purchase the same receiver from another source outside of the USA and take that receiver to your final destination without regard to this issue. It is the act of moving the device from here (USA) to there (the other place) that makes this an issue.
I would love to raise additional questions about the source/origin of said technology, but I don't dare do so. One would have to corner me, feed me lots of beers and catch me off guard.
Which reminds me: I just bought air and hotel tickets for InterGEO 2017 in Berlin which I suspect is a likely place for this to happen. My estimate is that it will cost me $800 less than attending the Carlson User Conference in KY a few months ago. Is anyone else considering going?
Mark,
If I were to go...I would buy you lots of drinks, and make sure we sit near some pretty scenery.
I doubt that I can pull it off though.
I can testify that you are a good guy to share a drink with!
bolt, post: 437004, member: 6525 wrote: I have 4 Ashtech Z-XII's with the old "whopper" antennas and peripherals. Trouble is, three of them have dead internal lithium ion batteries (they are 20 years old), so they won't save any data. I took one apart and found the two internal batteries, but they would need to be "de-soldered" to remove them and of course the replacements would need to be soldered back in. As many of you know, these are great GPS (no GLN) receivers and would be great for OPUS work. Are they worth anything or should I figure on decorative door-stops? Thanks for any thoughts....
They will save data as long as you do not turn them off. The internal batteries are only to power the memory when the unit is switched off. Use a good reliable and long lasting battery, my preference was a jump start battery. Turn the unit on, clear ram and memory, input the unit name and set to a useful record data epoch setting, since the 20 second default is a PITA if you are doing OPUS. If you are doing an OPUS run it for 20 minutes plus the two hour minimum. When you have the data you want, start a new file then disconnect the antenna, leave the power switch on and bring it back to the office before the battery dies. I did that with one of my dead ones whenever I needed to run several Z-12s at the same time.
It is a good idea to do a planning before your session and know what satellites are not going to be visible. Then you can exclude them from the search process and make those twelve out of thirty two slow channel searches go faster.
These last two years my Z-12s are busy holding down the floor of my office, since it is too expensive to buy a boat.
Paul in PA
Lee D, post: 437050, member: 7971 wrote: Hi Bill good to see you here. If you wanted them for your personal use it would probably be worth changing the batteries, but I have trouble picturing anyone wanting to buy them And with all of the leap second / week rollover / Y2K stuff that's happened over the last 20 years, it's possible that they wouldn't work all that well. But ya never know I guess...
Just my $0.02.
Z-12 are solid receivers. Fix them.
The only issue is downloading. Weight. Battery draw. But, they are not out of commission because of leap second. Leap second had nothing to do with gps. Y2k is not a gps thing.
Opus will take the B file as is, don't even need to convert to RINEX. When converted to rinex for other software, rinex is rinex. 12 channels are optimized for best pdop, and with 12 it's not the slightest issue.
It's just a stick shift truck with no air conditioning.
Larry Scott, post: 438191, member: 8766 wrote: Z-12 are solid receivers. Fix them.
The only issue may be downloading. Weight. Battery draw. But, they are not out of commission because of leap second. Leap second had nothing to do with phase differential gps. Y2k is not a gps thing.
Opus will still take the B file as-is, don't even need to convert to RINEX. When converted to rinex for other software, rinex is rinex.
12 channels are optimized for best pdop, and with 12 it's not the slightest issue.
Gps may be modernized, but the ICD (interface control document) is still law. 1998 firmware isn't too old.
It's just a stick shift truck with no air conditioning.