Anyone use the type of adpater pictured in this post? Any suggestions on which brands are well made? I need something with 5/8" treads. I prefer crosshairs to dot plummets. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help
Dane,
A friend of mine uses that type of adapter, and he likes them. He has the brand that Hayes Instruments sells, which is probably SETL.
He gets good closures with them. He is pretty good about taking care of his stuff, and keeps them adjusted, and carries them in a padded case.
I have two of these type of adapters that Topcon makes, and I like them as well, but they are expensive. One came with my Hiper Base/Rover set, and the other was an ebay purchase.
Hope this helps.
Jimmy
The Top Accepts The 5/8" Adaptor
I bought a Topcon model like you posted on ebay that does not have the optical plummet (my mistake). The top accepts the short cylindrical base most often seen on tilting prisms. These have 5/8" male threads on top and female threads internally. I have purchased about a half dozen and use them to more easily get a 5.00' rod height on my rods. On one rod I actually removed the adaptor from a standard tilting prism to get the 5.00'. On another rod I added a second adaptor so I don't have to fiddle as much with the extender threads. I have added up to 2 or 3 to mini tilting prisms for the same purpose. Each one adds 7/8" to the height.
Back in earlier days I used some tribrachs without optical plummets and 2 of my tripods had plumb bob hooks. I thought it would allow me to continue to use them, but I did not pay attention to what I was buying.
I do have a similar one with an optical plummet from SECO.
Paul in PA
I like the Leica ones.
I have the Sokkia's (over 15 years). They work great. I tried some others before I bought them and they weren't very good. Many times the money you save is wasted long term. I'd expect the Lecia brand to be good but I've never used one.
The thread is provided by an adapter that fits in the top.
These are great - much better than tribrachs with an OP.
No matter what brand or quality, you will be able to check instantly whether they're out of adjustment and/or level - unlike the tribrachs with an OP, which takes a little bit of time and practice to check.
Topcon makes the best. Sokkia and Nikon have good ones too. But the no-name ones work fine as well. It's how you treat your equipment that matters most.
Personally I would not touch unbranded ones.
My experience with unbranded OP tribrachs is very poor.
They lose adjustment for no apparent reason, plastic is the cheapest stuff about, foot screws break.
I'm not hard on gear, so can't put it down to miss use.
Haven't had those adapters, but wish I'd started down that path.
The tribrachs I've had most trouble free run is Leica/ Wild seconded by Topcon.
I would suggest try for those.
Money spent now will be rewarded with the pleasure of long lasting gear and accuracy maintained.
My two bobs worth.
> These are great - much better than tribrachs with an OP.
>
> No matter what brand or quality, you will be able to check instantly whether they're out of adjustment and/or level - unlike the tribrachs with an OP, which takes a little bit of time and practice to check.
>
> Topcon makes the best. Sokkia and Nikon have good ones too. But the no-name ones work fine as well. It's how you treat your equipment that matters most.
Am I missing something here? I own one of those and I know for a fact it that has an optical plummet. (versus a laser plummet or no optical plummet and a hook to hang a plumb bob)
The difference is that one tribrach has a fixed optical plummet and the other has a rotating optical plummet, where you can rotate it 180[tex],^{circ}[/tex] and check yourself and your equipment.