Can anyone advise on a new robotic total station. I'm based in Australia and am looking at either the Geomax Zoom 80 or the new Zoom 90 just released.
My understanding is the Zoom 80 is based on the TS12 and the Zoom 90 is based on the TS15. I don't believe there is an on board camera option with the Zoom 90.
Can anyone offer their opinion on productivity differences between the two, the Zoom 90/TS15 appears to have a faster drive and perhaps better locking technology, but is there a substantial difference in productivity as a result?
JH Surveying, post: 358003, member: 11044 wrote: My understanding is the Zoom 80 is based on the TS12
I thought it was based on the 1200, but maybe there's no difference between the 1200 and the TS12.
I bought one in December, and am very happy with the price/performance ratio. It may not be the latest and greatest, but it's a workhorse nonetheless.
Thanks Jim - I have to admit I'm not sure either if there is any difference between the 1200 and the TS12 - thought it was just a rename of the 1200.
The Zoom 80 looks to be a great machine for the price/performance ratio and I'm in the same boat as I don't need the latest and greatest. Just trying to understand if there are any major advances between that and the Zoom 90.
Thanks again for the Bluetooth advice for the TPS1100 - for the time being I have breathed new life into the old robot!
The TS12 is just a rebranded TPS1200+ with a few less keys on the keyboard.
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JH Surveying, post: 358003, member: 11044 wrote: Can anyone advise on a new robotic total station. I'm based in Australia and am looking at either the Geomax Zoom 80 or the new Zoom 90 just released.
My understanding is the Zoom 80 is based on the TS12 and the Zoom 90 is based on the TS15. I don't believe there is an on board camera option with the Zoom 90.
Can anyone offer their opinion on productivity differences between the two, the Zoom 90/TS15 appears to have a faster drive and perhaps better locking technology, but is there a substantial difference in productivity as a result?
If u can find someone to properly service the instrument then go for it. Ask CR Kennedy for a straight yes/no answer on whether they will service the geomax instrument.
The geomax 80/Leica TPS1200 gear is really precise stuff. The edm and angle reading system is hard to fault. The brain in the Leica 1200 is a little slow compared to the TS15. The TS15 got a faster brain, USB/SD storage options, and better (finer) motors but not faster motors according to my testing (if geomax decided to juice up the motor rpm then I wouldn't know). Aside from these I gather the hardware is pretty much identical. It looks like the geomax 90 is based on the TS15. Any performance difference between the TPS1200 and TS15 is in the speed that the software runs at for recording points, changing codes, going through the points database, looking around the map, etc. if this difference exists between the zoom 80 and zoom 90 software then the zoom 90 will be more pleasing to use. If u can demo them both then do so and see the difference.
I have tested Zoom80 twice and I have mixed feelings.
First time it performed as quite robust instrument, I had good impressions on tracking in quite demanding conditions - moving between a lot of trees and light poles (not sure with the term, I'm not native English speaker) at normal walking speed. I was satisfied then.
Second time I tested it in bad weather conditions and was totally disappointed. For a while it tracked prism steadily, but after a drizzle (light rain) started, Zoom80 was not able to detect prism at 6-10 m distance, though it was manually directed to the prism several times. I never experienced such a failure with any other TS as far as I remeber. Subsequently support told me there are some rain settings in instrument itself, but I didn't like the idea of it.
Using Long Range Bluetooth wasn't inspiring also - once DC lost connection about 150 m away, I had to walk back to 20 m to regain connection or had to come back and restart TS to regain BT connection (I was using Carlson Surveyor2 and Dell Venue Pro 8 for my tests, so I'm not sure, maybe original Geomax controllers can perform better).
Hope my experience will help you a bit in making your decision.
In my case our company eventually chose Topcon DS-105AC for robotic solution, though it was about 30% more expensive.
I have to admit though, I hate Topcon Magnet software and we rely mostly on working remotely with Carlson SurvCE.
Andrius, post: 358140, member: 11270 wrote: Using Long Range Bluetooth wasn't inspiring also - once DC lost connection about 150 m away, I had to walk back to 20 m to regain connection or had to come back and restart TS to regain BT connection (I was using Carlson Surveyor2
I've never had to return to the gun to reestablish a connection -- I've always been able to do this from the rod, regardless of distance.
I believe there are 2 versions of the BT handle, and that I have the later model. It's possible that the earlier model didn't reach as far.
Note also that the BT built into the Surveyor+ performs too poorly to be worth bothering with. I attached a Parani SD1000 to mine, and an pleased with the results. I don't know if the Surveyor2 does a better job with BT.
I tested the 80. Was not a huge fan of the data capture speed. Seemed like it took a second or two from when I clicked shoot for the little status bar to zoop across the screen before the measurement was taken.
Compared to my focus where it stores almost the second I click measure. Rough driveways I locate I don't even stop walking while I store my shots.
I have experienced the rain thing too with my focus. Must be a passive tracking thing. The water on the lense makes it hard to lock onto the prism.
The 35 has been better than the 30 but I have no experiences with the rain with the leica/geomax so I can't say how they compare problem wise
As of Surveyor2 BT, I would say that using in pair with Topcon DS it works very stable up to 200 meters, max range I achieved was 391 m and connection was stable for return trip to the TS.
So generally I'm very satisfied with Surveyor2 performance.