Greetings everyone.
There doesn't seem to be a simple way to set the horizontal circle reading to zero on a Leica 1200. It seems you can only do it by creating a job on the instrument first. Is this the case?
I am used to Sokkia's where there is a "0 set" button with no further requirement than to press it. Now I am using a clients Leica and find I can't do what I usually do. It's not a catastrophe, but would be nice...Do I have to create a dummy job with a single point, say 1000,1000,100 just to trick it?
Sometimes I want to just turn an angle and book it "old school" in my fieldbook, and often I use targets on walls for backsights and when I go back to the gun to check its still plumb I leave the rod and datacollector where I'm working, re-aim at the BS and "set zero" - no need to go back thru the backsight procedure in the datacollector). Both these scenarios seem harder with the Leica, though I notice there are a gazillion pages of settings - so am I missing something? I dont want/need to create a job in the gun as the job is all in the datacollector.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
I have a Leica.
Now, what I am about to tell you is top secret, and must never be divulged to anyone else on the planet. OK?
Here it is: WAY back under the Swiss Alps, there are 750 gnomes. They all sit at computer DESKS. They all have an abacus, and a slide rule. And, they use a Curta calculator, and they design, test, and engineer EVERYTHING that Leica sells.
They are not allowed to use anything related to Bill Gates. They also ride stationary bikes, to provide electric lights, and charge the batteries. They also drink Swiss Miss hot cocoa, and are NOT allowed energy drinks, or coffee.
They wear little green hats, with company logo.
They have a communication protocol, that requires that they memorize 5000 lines of code, that they have to say to each other, every day, just to start their day.
They have an outhouse, hanging by a rope, from the top of one the mountains. Where they swing, sing, and do their morning business.
It is an amazing operation. I never dreamed it up like this!
🙂
Merry Christmas!
Nate
It has been many years since I used a Leica 1200. It is a great gun, but way to cumbersome with the Leica software. That is the biggest reason I went with a different brand instrument when I went solo.
I wish I could remember how to set "0" on the keypad. I went and looked at the manuals that I have on the pc, and can't find any instructions.
Wish I could be of more help.
I think maybe if you pull out the CF card it turns into a manual total station like you want?
Set Azimuth
Maybe Page 18-19 will help.
http://www.canarysystems.com/nsupport/tps1200_usersguide.pdf
When it comes to Leica instruments,
you are not in charge, HAL is in charge.
"Please set to zero, HAL."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave. This Survey is too important to be jeopardized by humans!"
"BRUHAHAHAHAHA" -A Leica engineer.
What has worked for me is use the DC to zero set the instrument. That is the only way I have ever been able to zero set the 1200 series instrument I used to use.
Nate, that there is some classic stuff!
And I don't doubt that it is true.
That will just kick it into internal memory which will then become the default setting for a while before mysteriously going back to CF card after a unknown amount of jobs have been created on the card.
Set azimuth should work if you just want to book everything.
If you pull out the CF card then you can't run the calibration routines in the software. But then after a certain period of time you have to send it to Leica to run those routines anyway. It's sort of like turning off the check engine light on your car.
I have tried set azimuth and it won't do it. Says it needs a target or something.
I have never been able to get the 1200 to zero set but maybe I'm not that bright.
The 1100 series instruments will zero set but only in Face 1. If for some reason (maybe I should be confined to an institution for mentioning this) you want to zero set in Face 2 forget, can't be done.
Topcon, on the other hand, knows who the boss is. I can zero set it anytime and in any face I want.
Thanks for the answers. Seems like Christmas and a "few too many" has unleashed everybody's sense of humour! I gather then, that Leica have a habit of being different and difficult and I will just have to live with it...!
Leica doesn't generally make anything simple.
The TDS data collector will zero set it, not problem. There must be a software code available to external devices which is not available to internal devices.
Dave
I did not mean that prose above, in any disrespectful manner. Anybody that can make easy sense of the controls of a leica gun, well, they deserve my respect.
Generally, the early LEICA reflectorless guns were ahead of their time. Superior optics, and EDMS etc. Just the software needed some sort of "go between" for a human to do a SIMPLE task.
The items that should happen with ONE (1) UNO you know ONE button push (And not limited to these) are:
Set Zero.
Shoot Distance to PRISM
Shoot Distance to REFLECTORLESS
Ft/Meters
Ang right, Ang Left
Turn on and off the laser plummet.
And, SHOOT HI, should be there too, where it laser shoots the HI.
OK, carry on. Gotta get some more Swiss Miss, and keep doing PDH's
Nate
Colin
I ain't had any um... inebriation substances.... but, I am doing all my PDH's for 2 yrs today, and absolutely loving JAN VAN SICKLE'S course on GPS.
So, I am happy.
And, ANYBODY who has been frustrated with Leica software design, well, they just understand.
Yours Truly, and welcome to the forum!
Nate
Sounds like I may be an outlier here, but I love the software on the Leica 1200! I use the onboard software without a data collector, or the RX1220T controller if operating it robotically, so I think more than anything I am confirming your impression that you need to create a dummy job for what you want to do.
This is the general procedure I follow when working with this instrument, and I have just set up the instrument on a new job site (from the main menu):
1. Manage->Jobs->F2(NEW) and enter job name
2. F6(PAGE) to set my codelist
3. F1{STORE)
4. F1(CONT)
5. Convert->Import Data to Job (ASCII or GSI import)
- or -
5. Manage->Data->F2(NEW) and create a assumed point for my first setup, F1(CONT) when complete
6. Survey->Set the appropriate job and prism
7. F3(SETUP) and set your setup method, station point, instrument height, and the appropriate fixpoint job
8. F1(CONT) and enter your backsight ID and target height, if using "Set Azimuth" setup method you will see option F4{Az=0) (I always backsight a prism over a point so I also use the F2(DIST) option to shoot a distance)
9. F1(SET)
The software is quite diverse and powerful, which as a result does add a layer of complexity to the system. As far as I know there is no way of just turning the instrument on, set 0, and start measuring like the older Leica instruments allowed. Weigh the pros and cons I suppose. From what I have seen, many if not all surveyors' work flow is a direct result of the equipment they use, and most prefer the way they are used to doing it. I won't call one way better over another, there are advantages one system offers that another one cannot possibly do, while a simple thing is not possible on the other.
Jacob
What he said.
Also, you can't have a one night stand with a Leica. You have to develop a relationship with one.
Of course, then you may find it hard to use other instruments as they all seem inefficient and simplistic.
Well said Jacob.
The 1200 system is a powerful tool.
Also, I've gotten to really like that the angle set in the gun is the actual azimuth.
I have no reason to not use the programs. Either on board or in a separate DC.
If for some rare reason I needed to manually write measurements into a book, then I suppose writing down both the BS and FS angles would be the option I would take. No big deal. But then again, I don't really see any reason to ever record angles manually.
Be kind of like a hospital hiring a neurosurgeon to clean bedpans. Wasted time.
Use the "Traverse" program on board if you really feel the need to leave the DC at home. Works good. Plus, no transpositions.
I agree that the software is deep - suited to serious "Geodetic" work. While stumbling through the pages I see you can work in grid coordinates, set your own scale factors etc - things you can't do with other guns - those gnomes in Switzerland obviously have their reasons.
I can set zero through the datacollector so it's not the end of the world - and it is twice as fast and half the weight of an SRX too!
I use the 1200 with survce and set zero through dc and usually to a bs tripod with a prism, so to check bs all I have to do is tell the 1200 to turn to bs and set zero. To set zero at the instrument to a target other than tripod with a prism, (tower, water tank top, wall target, ect.) then I have to manually sight the target.
I do book angle only to the top of lighting rods on towers when the wind is blowing and the reflectorless can’t return an angle and distance, so this is one reason I have to book angles while using a dc. The angles are read off the dc screen and not the instrument.
