What's the life cycle of an instrument?
Is eternal too long?
06-jun-2017
Nice T3, but you need a matching (bigger) tripod.
🙂
Loyal
Loyal, post: 431792, member: 228 wrote: Nice T3, but you need a matching (bigger) tripod.
🙂
Loyal
Sometimes you have go with what you have.
As for life cycle, it's 62 yrs old and I'm pretty sure it works as well as the day it was delivered. I don't know of too many electronic instruments that can really do what a 1955 T3 can. (Except of course a T3000.)
I usually figure anything that takes batteries, such as radios, data collectors, computers, GPS, Total Station etc will last about 10 years.
There's always going to be obsolescence, whether or not it's planned who knows. But anything computer based is going to become obsolete at some point because of advances in hardware, operating systems, etc. Microsoft doesn't care if your twenty year old data collector and software won't work in Windows 10.
zammo, post: 430454, member: 9087 wrote: You need to also consider the availability of spare parts as well. We've been caught out with scenario's where the manufacturer has stopped making parts after a certain date, making it impossible to repair if you can't source a secondhand instrument to salvage parts from. I think Leica have set in place 7 years of support after an instrument model is discontinued or superseded.
This.
I emailed my Leica rep to let him know my new contact info and got the push to trade in our old robot on a new imaging gun because parts are no longer available for it. My guys rarely used the imaging when I was working in DC, out here in the sticks today my crew is running a boundary here:
@39.4963765,-77.1218638,3a,60y,113.34h,78.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sj-SeZn33ky5POl1Vq-Z8yg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en"> https://www.google.com/maps/ @39.4963765,-77.1218638,3a,60y,113.34h,78.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sj-SeZn33ky5POl1Vq-Z8yg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
The only use for imaging is for landscape photography 🙂
James Fleming, post: 431845, member: 136 wrote: This.
I emailed my Leica rep to let him know my new contact info and got the push to trade in our old robot on a new imaging gun because parts are no longer available for it. My guys rarely used the imaging when I was working in DC, out here in the sticks today my crew is running a boundary here:
@39.4963765,-77.1218638,3a,60y,113.34h,78.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sj-SeZn33ky5POl1Vq-Z8yg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en"> https://www.google.com/maps/ @39.4963765,-77.1218638,3a,60y,113.34h,78.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sj-SeZn33ky5POl1Vq-Z8yg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
The only use for imaging is for landscape photography 🙂
Out in the sticks?
WOW, you Eastern guys have a different conception of "out in the sticks."
Round these parts that would be "just out of town in the suburbs."
;)Loyal
Loyal, post: 431848, member: 228 wrote: Out in the sticks?
WOW, you Eastern guys have a different conception of "out in the sticks."
Round these parts that would be "just out of town in the suburbs.";)Loyal
Does Evanston even have "suburbs". I though once you were out of town you were in "the rocks"
In 1987 I filled up at a gas station between Evanston and Little America where the stations tank was almost empty...think I got 2/3 gas & 1/3 sediment. Replaced fuel filters on a Volkswagen Scirocco in Rock Springs, Laramie, and North Platte before all the crap was flushed out of the system. And Volkswagen fuel filters were't parts commonly stocked in town at that time.
James Fleming, post: 431850, member: 136 wrote: Does Evanston even have "suburbs". I though once you were out of town you were in "the rocks"
In 1987 I filled up at a gas station between Evanston and Little America where the stations tank was almost empty...think I got 2/3 gas & 1/3 sediment. Replaced fuel filters on a Volkswagen Scirocco in Rock Springs, Laramie, and North Platte before all the crap was flushed out of the system. And Volkswagen fuel filters were't parts commonly stocked in town at that time.
That must have been the one up on Bigelow Bench, I think that it's been closed for decades now.
Out here in the west, any local with another dwelling within a mile could be considered the "burbs."
The REAL "sticks" doesn't have a dwelling within 30 miles, and I have spent many years where it's more like 70+ miles. Of course times ARE changing, and I get lost in all of the new McMansions going up is what used to be semi-virgin Forests around Park City (the Billionaires are running out the Millionaires).
🙁
Loyal
James Fleming, post: 431845, member: 136 wrote: This., out here in the sticks today my crew is running a boundary here:
🙂
Many of my projects begin well beyond the dead end of a dirt road.
James Fleming, post: 431850, member: 136 wrote: Volkswagen fuel filters were't parts commonly stocked in town at that time.
Early on in my [nearly] 50 years of Field Work in "the sticks," I learned that having a COMPLETE set of Belts, Hoses, and MULTIPLE Filters were mandatory (unless you liked hiking for a day or two and hoping to run into someone). TOOLS, Duck Tape, Bailing Wire, points, plugs, cap, rotor, various "rebuild kits," misc. wire, extra Grease, Oil (including Hypoid), lots of water (and beer), go without saying.
😉
Loyal
Larry Scott, post: 431812, member: 8766 wrote: Sometimes you have go with what you have.
As for life cycle, it's 62 yrs old and I'm pretty sure it works as well as the day it was delivered. I don't know of too many electronic instruments that can really do what a 1955 T3 can. (Except of course a T3000.)
And I'm pretty sure a '55 T3 will outlive a T3000. A T3 may be obsolete, but as had been said, there's physical life cycle and economic life cycle.
Bumping this thread since it contained some info I was looking for.?ÿ Is about 10 years a good number to shoot for before quality of life improvements, part scarcity, and other things make upgrading a wise decision?
A manual total station could easily go 10 years, perhaps longer. Robotics perhaps a little less than 10. RTK I would think around 5-6 years.?ÿ
?ÿ
Some of it relates to maintenance, but a lot of it relates to efficiency gains. New features and capabilities can have a big impact, depending on your type of work. I would not want to be trying to work with the same GPS equipment I had 10 years ago. It was good at the time, but I can do so much more with the current generation. But RTK is a centerpiece of my business and I work in difficult environments where the new technology makes a big difference to me.
Not to mention software updates, TBC is a great example: Processing engines have changed numerous times, not upgrading can not only slow you down but limit your capabilities too.
Absolutely. For lack of a better word, GNSS is much more organic than the "simple" mechanical devices we used prior. There are so many different elements to the system and changes happen that can make old systems less effective than when they were new.
I think 10 years is a good number to budget for.?ÿ 5 years to pay itself off and 5 years to pay you.?ÿ Anything beyond that is double bonus.?ÿ I've got a 1203 with a delivery date of 2005 listed that still makes me money and a handful of GS15's dated 2010 that still perform just fine.?ÿ Dealer keeps telling me I'll see 20-30% efficiency gains if I trade them in on GS18T's but I'm not there yet.?ÿ It's kinda like my '03 DMax, it still runs good AND it's paid for.?ÿ When it dies or becomes to expensive to fix I'll replace it.?ÿ?ÿ
Going off of my experience, if it were up to me I would upgrade the majority of my equipment about every 3-5 years, at least GNSS gear and data collectors. Robotic total stations could probably go longer, but if you have the opportunity to trade in every few years, it's a good idea.
I used to work for a dealer. I did tech support & training, but worked closely with the sales rep. Firms that built regular upgrades and exchanges into their business model had generally more capable and knowledgeable staff, and enjoyed a competitive advantage in efficiency. It was always a lot easier (on both our customers and myself) to keep up with new developments and train in regular, incremental doses.
And as @jitterboogie and @shawn-billings say, the software is just as critical as the hardware - perhaps even more so. Data management is more complex than it ever has been, and to really reap the rewards of the latest and greatest you need folks who know how to make it dance.
We are currently undergoing an upgrade after a decade, and it is really rough on those who have never really worked with the newer stuff. It's especially difficult for the folks who refused to get with the program during the last update a decade ago...
Just as important as knowing when to buy new stuff is knowing when to get rid of...uh, I mean sell, your old stuff so you don't have shelves full of HP3005's, T-2's, and the like, unless you're operating a surveyor's museum.
10-12 yrs for us