How to protect Trimble MT1000

I hadn't even considered this until I saw the post. My now paranoid ass is heading to Home Depot to see if I can find a thin, felxible rubber strip with adhesive that I can put around the top.

Although, I think if it falls, the data collector and bracket will absorb most if the impact.

They're pretty tough.?ÿ I was removing mine to get a shot on a pin under a bush and fumbled it.?ÿ Murphy's law came into play........it first hit the top of the retaining wall then bounced to the concrete 6-8 feet below.?ÿ It snapped off a short section of a plastic lip just under the removable cap and put a couple of scratches on the housing and that was it.?ÿ Probably best to just concentrate on not dropping it.

We teach the new guys to never let the pole left alone standing, always flat on the ground.

stay close when using bi- or tripod

chr.

How about some strips of rubber tubing cut into appropriate lengths and placed strategically on the prism with some Gorilla Glue and held in place with some duct tape till it dries.

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You *could* adapt the Javad J-Pod bumpers to your pole.?ÿ I think they'd do a fine job of protecting the prism, but for the kind of work I do it's way too bulky a solution.

We just had the prism fall to the dirt the other day when the 1/4" stud broke.?ÿ Why was there a 1/4" stud (like for a camera) on the 5/8" x 11 stud from the prism?????ÿ I am going to print some rings out of poly carbonate to go underneath the prism. I also have a stock of stainless 5/8"x11 to cut a new stud from, thankfully our prism was fine.?ÿ What I am proposing is below and yes a hole in a Frisbee would do the same thing.?ÿ 5/8"x11 collar that is 8 inches in diameter should be enough, they are are in the field, so I can't measure them.?ÿ?ÿ Pictured in birch and red oak for your viewing

We have had an MT1000 quit working after a drop. One of the newer guys walked away from the prism pole setup with a bipod on a really windy day, the wind blew it over and landed on some hard pack dirt.?ÿ It would no longer work in active track mode after that. I now encourage my green guys to keep the MT1000 in the box and use the cheap chinese knockoff prisms unless we really need the active tracking. Out of curiosity I bought a $100,?ÿ 360 prism off of ebay a while back and did some testing with it. I rotated it and took several shots on each prism. Comparing the results to the MT1000, the Trimble prism was more consistence by a few thousandths, so I don't mind using the cheaper prisms, if we are working in the woods or somewhere active tracking isnt needed.

I was able to get these on the printer last night, both the 8" pictured above and a 6" designed to soften the blow.?ÿ They are polycarbonate and I will need to increase the span from 45?ø to 60?ø to get more flex on the 6" or thin it, as it isn't as squishy as I would like.?ÿ Regardless, they are in the field for some testing

Looks fine but how does that look like mounted on the prism & the pole?

What is your distant offset now to building corners?

chr.

ps. thouhg it is risky to say, we did not have 1 broken in 8 yrs with our 4 MT1000 prisms.

I think that the 6" (15.24cm) is the more appropriate one, although I have no feedback yet, but, it would be exactly half of that number to rod center.?ÿ When I get the sizing, shape and functionality feedback and make those changes I will shoot another pic.?ÿ My idea is that it is screwed on just below the prism, but, honestly I have never used one.?ÿ Last time I was in the field we still had chains in the truck.?ÿ

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As far as never having to need this item, I am with you except that one of ours broke on the Trimble provided stud.?ÿ They literally gave us a stud with a reducer built in for a camera 1/4" stud and guess where it broke.?ÿ Since the targets are relatively expensive, I am trying to make sure that I am doing my part for the crews by giving them some security that is as innocuous as possible

The 8" is too big.?ÿ This is a pic of the 6" and I think that it needs to be a 5"

you could screw the top cap off and print one with 5/8" threads to go up there, too

you could screw the top cap off and print one with 5/8" threads to go up there, too

Thanks for that, I haven't really looked at the prism, so, a small hat may be in order.

Mr. Frame,

First, cudos on the Avatar. Very clever that one sees a frame instead of your mug, Mr. Frame.

Do you know if the bumpers are available separately from Javad? When I first saw them, I inquired and was told that they only came as part of that three legged thingy.

Dang bumpers would have saved me some grief on a couple of occasions.?ÿ

JA, PLS SoCal

With your input, I made them a little smaller on top and bottom

I think that they are a little close to the body, so, we placed the old one on top

I can see that getting in the way, so, the proper size is in the middle.?ÿ I did thin the crush area and I think it has the proper amount of give now to take some of the fall energy

I would think the hat approach would be better. It would take the force of impact away from the attachment point and reduce the chances of the prism snapping off.?ÿ

Posted by: christ lambrecht

Looks fine but how does that look like mounted on the prism & the pole?

What is your distant offset now to building corners?

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The RC-5 "dog whistle" gadget used by some Topcon and Sokkia total stations comes with a plastic guard much like Norm's invention.?ÿ ?ÿIt has saved my bacon several times. It only an inch or so larger radius than the prism.

I don't shoot building corners any more. I shoot building walls, and intersect the lines to reproduce the corners. But Norms invention would serve a dual purpose of measuring the offset to a corner.

Posted by: StLSurveyor

I would think the hat approach would be better. It would take the force of impact away from the attachment point and reduce the chances of the prism snapping off.?ÿ

I agree, the bottom one will see limited action in this setup.?ÿ The little one is 4" diameter, the target is roughly 3" in diameter and the large one is 6" in diameter.?ÿ I am thinking to increase the diameter to 4.5" just for the hat and calling it good.?ÿ I printed both at once last night and it was around 2.25 hours, but, I have the speed down a bit.?ÿ The layer height was rough for prototyping at 0.45mm, but, all walls are vertical except for the fillet.

This is the new 4.5" version modeled in rust

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What am I thinking??ÿ Inches??ÿ Increase it a little more and it will be 0.4 ft in diameter and much easier for offsets