That's Carlson Surveyor 2 w/SurvCE and Leica TS06 total station.
I am most comfortable now running TDS Survey Pro, but am trying to get into creating surface files to stake from. Also want to be able to stake linework.
Two years ago I bought two Sokkia Mesa Data Collectors which are the same as Topcon Tesla. They are tablet type data collectors. The hardware has several issues.
1. the processor isn't powerful enough to handle big jobs lots of linework or surface data.
2. the battery life sucks. It has two battery ports, although it only came with one battery. They came out with an update which we installed but it didn't seem to help much. We put the extra battery in and we get maybe 8hrs out of it. When you're off in BFE and need one more shot at the end of the day this can be very frustrating.
3. The mesa's work pretty good with the GPS, but a two man conventional crew it's just not simple enough. The stakeout data screen gives you so much data when all I want to know is come/go, left/right, cut/fill, design pt and rod height. This thing tells you the vertical angle, all sorts of unnecessary clutter.
4. Selecting linework on the screen is difficult.
5. Trade in Value is almost nothing. I'm begging these guys to give me $500 bucks for something I paid $2700 for 2 years ago.
So with that said, if you are currently using the Leica/Carlson setup above or any part of it, could you please review it for me. Please be as specific as possible as this is a big decision for my company.
I feel like I was a sucker on the Mesas and I don't want to feel that way again.
Try a demo of Carlson SurvPC on your laptop. If you like the speed and functions, then consider the Panasonic ToughPad FZ-M1 with SurvPC.
I use a TS06 with SurvCE on a Carlson mini.
No connection issues - everything works seamlessly with Bluetooth or cable.
I agree that in some routines SurvCE can get pretty cluttered but:
a) in configure/general you can check that "show continuous total station...." is turned off - this gets rid of the angle readings from the gun.
b) In stakeout you can turn off "stake station interval" if that suits the way you work and that gets rid of a couple more lines you may not need.
For picking lines, I would've thought the larger screen of the mesa would be better than the smaller screen of the Surveyor2? Unless the Surveyor2 allows pinch and zoom with the fingers due to a more smart phone type of screen - it may..
Also, how big are the surface files you are dealing with? I learnt that I could dramatically reduce the size of a DTM/triangulation file by following certain procedures - from say 15MB to less than 1MB.
The possibilities to stake out from DTM's is pretty impressive in Carlson I have found.
You can zoom in and see the linework no problem on the Mesa, but to actually pick them is cumbersome. I spoke to a few Topcon sales reps at the NC Convention and they agreed, that was a clunky part of the software.
My Buddy has FC100 w/Topsurv maybe, that comes with a pickbox you can select and then click on the line or I think you can even cross it. For something so much simpler, it works much better than Magnet. Of course I have no experience with it on the total station.
I'd like to know more about how you are pairing down your files.
We bought a Sokkia CX-103 and also have some issues with it not wanting to shoot through brush. The old Topcons would shoot through just about anything, but in their hurry to add speed, they forgot that sometimes you need the gun to stay engaged trying to get part of the prism.
How does the TS06 do shooting through brush?
We run Carlson SurvCE exclusively, and it is a great product. We use.the Surveyor+ (predecessor to Surveyor 2) and are happy with them.
You can download a demo version for your desktop for free, BTW.
Am interested to hear about the TS06.
I am at the point that I don't see the value in a non-robot, however. We just purchased a used 1201+ and it works perfectly with the Surveyor+. They should have this worked out. The Carlson branded Total Stations look like they are Geomax, which their sales people claim are Leica...
> I'd like to know more about how you are pairing down your files.
https://surveyorconnect.com/index.php?mode=thread&id=236678#p236820
The Carlson "How to" in this thread helped me - saving to a new drawing, doing "drawing cleanup", and using "write block" to get rid of excess layers and other stuff that is invisible but is still "there".
> How does the TS06 do shooting through brush?
Don't know about that - I do know in a construction environment if half a mini prism is obscured it will still get a distance
I tried the following data collectors with my Leica TS06:
1. Handheld Nautiz X7
2. Handheld Nautiz X3
3. Handheld Algiz 7
Of course, Algiz 7 has the power of a PC in the field. Speed is at your fingertips. My only problem is the size.
The Nautiz X7 requires the Seco 360deg tripod adapter. See the video below.
My favorite actually is the Nautiz X3. It is very handy in the field. Yes, it is small but the power is like the Mesa. You can hold the the data collector in one hand and operate the total station normally.
