Equipment

What type of work you plan on doing?

If you're a boundary guy, get a good robot first. Don't buy new, good used shape. Then look at a network rover.

Quality gear is with the premium but new is too pricey for my wallet.

Yes, mostly boundary and some staking. I have thought about a robot. It would work great for a one man operation.

I would go for a new Geomax robot, i have had mine for about 5 months and love it. For the most part I only do boundary work and it does great. Contact Allen precison and they can work up a package deal with everything you need at a good price. I live in western NC in the mountains so we don't use GPS very much other than set a pair of control points to start off of, I will eventually get it but not right now. I just started my business with this setup and I have no regrets.

Would you attempt to buy from eBay? I have seen some deals on rovers and base and rovers. Providing they accept returns and are calibrated upon sale?? I like the idea of buying from a dealer for support but it seems I could get the equipment cheaper from an eBay'er.

I've bought a lot of gear on eBay, it all depends on the seller. You find a reputable seller and it can be a good deal. But yeh, never buy anything that gives you the slightest indication there might be something off. A lot of shady folks, buy from professionals or businesses only.

And yes, slightly used it so much cheaper.. You can get a good robot used for $5k.. New, that would be at least $15k.

I'll strongly endorse the GEOMAX Zoom 80 which is really a Leica 1200 in a different
color. I have had mine for 3 years now and it is great - Loooong range reflectorless, no problems communicating with the DC. Although I must disclose that
I am running the Allegro MX with a Leica Radio module. I have been extremely pleased
with the GEOMAX, Allegro, Carlson SurvCE package from Allen Precision.

I wouldn't buy any equipment off of eBay if I wasn't very familiar with it. You can't evaluate the deal without knowledge. In the end a small operation will want a great relationship with a local dealer / repair shop. That will not happen if you spend their time investigating and buy elsewhere..

Yes, good reply on time spent with a dealer without buying from them. That would leave a bad impression. For you robot users, do you manually take a sun shot to derive North, or do most of you robot users have GPS as well?

Ya'll say "hello" to my son, Garrett !
We work together on the weekends, and I am being the best mentor I can.
I encouraged him to join this forum. You guys are a great source of information.
I read this forum almost every day, and pick up a new idea, technique, or method each time.
As others have said, we all have learned so much from each other.
Thank you, Wendell and Company for the forum style and maintaining quality memberships!

Proud dad, Harold Dendy, PE, PS
Dendy Engineering and Surveying, Inc.
houlka, Chickasaw County, Mississippi

Haywood, post: 321937, member: 9957 wrote: Would you attempt to buy from eBay? I have seen some deals on rovers and base and rovers. Providing they accept returns and are calibrated upon sale?? I like the idea of buying from a dealer for support but it seems I could get the equipment cheaper from an eBay'er.

Buying used surveying equipment on eBay is not such a bad idea. Having said that, it is not bad idea to check with a seller whether they accept returns or not. Also, it is very good idea to buy a total station, which has been calibrated recently. I have bough all my Leica total stations off eBay and really do not regret it. Last one (Leica Viva TS15) was very good deal, amazing deal to be precise ( I have saved more than 30%). Just be careful and make your research properly before you buy any equipment. Most of the sellers are willing to provide S/N and Equipment numbers, so that you can check the instrument before you pay for it.

About half of my equipment has come off eBay. You have to be patient, particular and use good judgement, just like you do with salesmen.

Haywood, post: 321937, member: 9957 wrote: Would you attempt to buy from eBay? I have seen some deals on rovers and base and rovers. Providing they accept returns and are calibrated upon sale?? I like the idea of buying from a dealer for support but it seems I could get the equipment cheaper from an eBay'er.

Hello Haywood,
This is a good question without an easy answer. Being a dealer of used surveying equipment myself, who frequently uses eBay as a buying, selling, and advertising resource (300+ 100% positive feedback), I can say that yes it's a great tool if caution is used in all transactions. There are a group of very reputable sellers like myself who stand by their products and care about their long term reputation. There are also a few bad seeds that are only out to scam and try to sell things they only have copied photos of. There's also everything in between these two sides of the spectrum. You will notice that the reputable sellers may not have the lowest prices, but this is for a reason. "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is"!
I must also add a few words about robots and total stations which are a much more difficult commodity to find in proper working order on eBay than GPS systems. Most of my experience is with Leica because I used to work for them, but I believe this applies to other brands as well. Just because an instrument has been "calibrated" doesn't mean it's in proper working order. I've had "calibrated" instruments turn out to be a complete waste of time and sometimes money. To really know the condition of an instrument it needs to be thoroughly inspected (internally) and tested using the manufacturer's service software. When I purchase Leica 1200 robots on eBay I send them off to be checked out. They almost always end up having worn gears or drive motors from lack of annual service. Instruments, like cars, need to be cleaned and re-lubed regularly to prevent excessive mechanical wear. If the damage is too extensive I will send it back or ask for concessions from the seller. If it only needs a few parts replaced and a full service (meaning complete disassembly, cleaning, re-lube, reassemble, test, and calibrate) I will have that done and then put it on the market as refurbished. As you can see this is a lot different than an instrument that has just been calibrated, and adds to both the cost and value. I recommend that any used robot you purchase from someone that you don't absolutely trust be immediately sent off to a factory authorized service center for inspection during the return period.

Here is a list of reputable, domestically located eBay sellers that I have personally worked with and know are legitimate:

precision-geosystems-inc (me)
munsoned
soccermags8
jlshls
4kequipment360
rodlore
transitman38

Final word on used equipment: avoid anything from South East Asian websites that look legit, but are nothing but scams.

Hope this is helpful to some folks out there!

Hey, Will.
I have been watching some of your sales recently. Trying to find your listings, what is your seller user id?

Also, for Haywood, I would think you could use a network rover to collect data for submission to OPUS. You just need to log a sufficient amount of data at a point and no real-time network corrections required. When I was using the LEICA Viva, the main thing was to turn off the Bluetooth and hard wire your controller to the receiver because a hiccup in the Bluetooth would srew up your dataset.

AN

I can vouch for soccermags and 4kequipment. We have spent over $100k between the two of them and only had one issue and it was handled very very well. We had the option to return or repair and get credited for the repair. It was possibly shipping damage. Had good luck w those two.

Andy Nold, post: 322314, member: 7 wrote: Hey, Will.
I have been watching some of your sales recently. Trying to find your listings, what is your seller user id?

Also, for Haywood, I would think you could use a network rover to collect data for submission to OPUS. You just need to log a sufficient amount of data at a point and no real-time network corrections required. When I was using the LEICA Viva, the main thing was to turn off the Bluetooth and hard wire your controller to the receiver because a hiccup in the Bluetooth would srew up your dataset.

AN

Hi Andy,

Here's a link to my eBay store: http://stores.ebay.com/precisiongeosystems/
Sorry I only have a few things listed on there right now, but I have much more available.
What are you in the market for?

Precision-geo-inc, post: 322382, member: 9801 wrote:
What are you in the market for?

I'm looking for an older GPS unit that I can leave collecting data for OPUS solutions on traverse points while I am doing stuff elsewhere. We can take this to private messaging tho so as not to hijack the thread.

Haywood, post: 321937, member: 9957 wrote: Would you attempt to buy from eBay? I have seen some deals on rovers and base and rovers. Providing they accept returns and are calibrated upon sale?? I like the idea of buying from a dealer for support but it seems I could get the equipment cheaper from an eBay'er.

Some people can afford to buy off Ebay...but can you afford to have it show up and not work correctly? Then spend the initial money to get it checked out at your local shop? An established business buying an extra total station might have a different model than you. The key here is to think economics. Opportunity costs are a real part of your life now.

Haywood, post: 321935, member: 9957 wrote: Yes, mostly boundary and some staking. I have thought about a robot. It would work great for a one man operation.

I do not believe that there is any reason not to buy a robot at this point. Every single one of ours pays for itself, even if we us it with a crew that runs two people. A robot is a MUST. For a small operation, I cannot imagine not having one. If you run a single crew, say, and one guy is sick, what do you do? Screw your client. With a robot you can still make it happen.

E-bay is a great source for equipment. If you are lucky, you might be able to pick up both of our stolen S6 robots and a couple of Hiper V receivers. They were all in great shape when we had them. 😀

Haywood, post: 321925, member: 9957 wrote: I have been juggling equipment ideas around and researching equipment for some time now. As of last May, I recently became a PLS. Within the next two months I hope to be up and running. I am considering buying a gun and field controller first. Once that is paid for, I thought about getting a network rover. Then I thought about just getting an OPUS base that was network capable or buy the base and rover. There are several options out there. I do have a DOT network in my state/area. If you were starting from scratch and you were purchasing used equipment to stay within a buget, how would you be set up for efficient boundary work?

I've got a Spectra Focus 30 if you're interested, VERY lightly used.