Leica TCRA 1101 reflective tape issue

Forgive my attempt at lighthearted humor, but my 1100 (1998 vintage) only locks onto my 360 prism OR the tail-lights of moving traffic OR the reflective tape on my safety vest.

Turn off ATR perhaps?

@cf-67

I've tried that. Same result.

@brad-ott

Hahaha. It seems that your TS is overzealous. You should try less charged batteries. ???œ?ÿ

Normally this would probably be a great problem to have.?ÿ Ha

Is it possible to shoot the tape reflectorless or is that a recipe for disaster?

@alphabootis

Ok, but the station shouldn't go into a search with ATR "Off". Are you sure it's off?

Whatever seems logical is usually the opposite of what you do with a Leica! If it says ATR- that means it's on. If it says ATR+ that means it's off

@bstrand

If I shoot the tape reflectorless, the prism constant will be set automatically to 0. It could be a problem because the reflective tape has a constant of +34.4 and they were determined in this way. I fear that reflectorless, the laser beam does not "shot" the center of the tape due to its cone shape. It is the first time when I face this problem. I have worked before with a leica icon robotic total station and I did not had this problem. From the controller prism menu, I was switching the prism type and I made the measurements accordingly without any issue.

?ÿ

I will try to find a solution by performing some tests.

Thank you for your answers and for your intention to help.?ÿ

I would test if it happens when working direct from the gun.

I would also exit all other programs and work from station set up only.

Or change the setting in "survey" which I think is the top of the stack program.

Every once and a while you can find some old bug that occurs only in certain menu conditions.

_The last time I turned on an 1100 George Bush was president._

?ÿ

@party-chef

hahaha! H.W. or just W. ?

@party-chef

?ÿ

Hahaha. You're right. It is not a newborn but it works very well (I'm sure the problem we talked about above is not a fault of the software) and it was kept in optimal conditions. It is also true that the RCS controller is obsolete (it works very well though) but why replace something that still works? The TS (apart from the problem with refl tape, wich I am sure I will solve) does the same things as a newer TS. I only need to buy a rugged tablet (wich I intend to do) with Carlson or FieldGenius software and a Parani bluetooth adapter to be more current. I am not a stingy person nor an old-fashioned one, but as long as the TS is still working very well, what sense would it make to buy another one?

@alphabootis

I'm using the Parani on a tps1200 and it works fine except I'm having issues with range, in certain situations. The tablet has long range Bluetooth and I have an 8" antenna pointed towards the backsight and it still loses connection at less than 100m sometimes. I have gotten as far as 185m under better conditions and it was still going, I was just testing max range and turned around because I was running out of time.?ÿ

I ordered a usb Bluetooth adapter with large antenna also, for the tablet. Hopefully it will connect to the Parani and increase my range when needed.?ÿ

What kind of range does the RCS have?

@alphabootis

I would drive it till it drops and do an upgrade all at once, throwing another piece of hardware at it might restrict your choices when you need to do a TS replacement.

Old Leica soft is the best, most of the new stuff in general is no upgrade.?ÿ

Solid guns they were. I remember once the battery died and my party chief was all excited to go to the electronics store and buy a video camera battery because he was under the impression that they were the same but the guy at counter was like "those batteries are old fashioned and we do not carry them anymore".

@alphabootis

Leica's prism offset is not the true offset but rather standardized around the original circular prism which Leica calls 0 mm.?ÿ The true offset for the prism is 34.4 mm.?ÿ When you are shooting the reflective tape the 34.4 mm offset that Leica reports is actually 0.?ÿ This is the same offset used by the reflectorless laser so you should not have a problem there.?ÿ As for the size of the 'cone', Leica's reflectorless beam is quite tight.?ÿ Unless you are shooting at a sharp angle to the surface over a long distance, I don't think you will fine much in the way of error.?ÿ I should be noted that the laser pointing does need to be periodically checked and adjusted to fit match the cross hairs.

@party-chef

They do seem to last forever.?ÿ

I never used the reflective tape. Can the are even be activated with that prism setting?

ATR

Problem solved. It was as stupid as I expected. I turned off the ATR (as

@alphabootis oh happy day!

If you feel some value here you might consider dropping some dollars in the tip jar for our kind hosts. ?ÿSee link in my signature line below.