There are several on ebay, around the 3k mark. I am tempted..
I have looked through all the applicable posts on the forum and it seems:
1) People initially loved the small size and light weight.
2) There was some concerns over slipping tangents and jumping angles.
3) Some of the same people from 1) were selling them a few years later.
So just wondering if anyone had one and kept it and is still happy?
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My son, also a surveyor, bought one of those to get his business started. He mainly needed it to set up control for scanning. Within a few months he had enough jobs booked to plunge for a new Leica Robot.?ÿ Stories like that could explain why these things come up for sale.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
I've had 3 nivos. I believe the Nivo, Spectra Focus 8 and Trimble M3 are the same guns.
The first nivo was a lemon. Trimble basically left me stranded with a paperweight.
The other two were fine for the few years I used them. I sold them to fellow surveyors and so far as I know, they are still in action.
They are touchy, creep off zero easily and need calibration often. I found they must be handled more gingerly than most but once you learn how?ÿ
to handle them properly, the touchiness and creep problem is minimal. They are sweet little guns for large conventional boundary work.
I switched to the Leica ts07. They have been solid workhorses so far.
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"need calibration often."
By this you mean a calibration by the dealer, or the onboard calibration?
Thanks for the reply
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@cf-67?ÿ
DIY, onboard and OP adjust. BTW, you might find a new NPL in the same price range.
I've owned a few of those and they are ok too.
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Spectra focus 8 2" owner here.
So far so good over the past 8 years. A lot of stake out and boundary topo.?ÿ
Using TS16 only for network and big stake outs jobs.
I'm interested, how do the friction drives compare on the Nivo?
Obviously that is something Leica introduced and have clearly mastered.
I have heard some people complain about Nikon's implementation of it though.
They appear to have gone back to traditional locking tangents on the latest iteration.
Never had a problem with either of the them. Obviously T16 is more accurate, especially in long distances, but spectra keeps close enough. In both guns there is calibration routine, witch helps keeping the tolerance you need.?ÿ (you have to check the vertical angles every 2-3 months just to be safe)
Leica runs captivate, which is a bit of confusing in the beginning, but it gets a lot of extras (you have to pay every of them though)
Spectra runs survey pro, not the best for road staking or complicated cad functions.
For the price range of spectra/nikon this little stations, are great.
i wish i had a leica with piezo drives
Can't you just run with any DC you like, don't have to use the proprietary software?
I'm a big fan of Carlson with Leica.
I don't know Captivate, but assumed it's the successor to the SmartWorx, which was a little awkward to use with a TS.
We had one years ago that seemed to float a bit, closures were horrible.?ÿ We thought it was the crew doing some bad work, but was happy to have the chief demonstrate for me, and he was right.
Made the decision that day, traded it in for a Leica.
I'd stay away, myself.?ÿ There are so many other options out there, and prices are a lot less than they were years ago.?ÿ If you want used, I'd rather have an older Nikon or Topcon than the Nivo.
@jph?ÿ
Yes you can. I tried survce with a getac controller but it is uncomfortable to carry an extra hardware for small topo. Next gun for me probably a cheap robot (geomax zoom7595 or spectra focus 50).
A friend of mine bought a Leica TS07 in the summer and he is super happy