Most of our gear is the latest equipment, latest software firmware upgrades and we've spent a lot of money for that, but we still utilise some older gear.
We recently acquired a used Sokkia from 2005, fully serviced and calibrated by the dealer, who has new old stock parts, in mechanical engineering we use Brunson transits, collimating telescopes, aligning bores etc (from the 1960's and 70's and they still make them new), typically a theodolite for structural set out, precision levels, micrometre's and more recently laser trackers have become popular. We use the latest total robotic scanning stations now but completely missed using anything from previous generations of total stations. Now you might think laser trackers have replaced all the old kit, but that's not the case, a collimating telescope and mirror target is still the best piece of kit to determine the axis of a rotating shaft for example.
With the latest equipment, it does some fancy stuff, like scanning, auto tracking or performing multiple rounds, but it can be finnicky when it doesn't want to connect, or you made a mistake that you want to correct in the software, don't get me wrong, it's good kit.
But the old Sokkia, when I turn it on, there is no delay, it is instantly on, the menu's are just text, no maps or anything fancy, the newer equipment is more likely to drift out of calibration and need to be sent away. When we had this old Sokkia calibrated, it didn't require adjustment, it had held calibration since the last time it was calibrated 8 years ago. Admittedly, someone really looked after it well. There are no license fee's to pay. It has me wondering that we might have lost something along the way.
I'm just surprised how little the Sokkia has cost and how much bang for buck we get, the only reason we're using something so old is it sits under a gyro we'll be using to determine our azimuth underground, and we either can't find anything newer, or the only new gyro model available costs $500K.
I noticed there's a guy on ebay, who's selling refurbished SDR33 data collectors, using genuine parts, so it seems some of the old kit still has good support and I'm pondering purchasing one, I don't really need it. We're still using Leica GPS300's for long static GPS observations processed through AUSPOS, these are practically antiques serviced and kept alive by Chris in Poland, they're reliable and the data they produce is quality, there's no insurance, if a crackhead steals one, we replace it with another for less than the cost of insurance. Don't get me wrong, you can't use this as an RTK rover, but for static GPS it's fine.
Just wondering what other's experiences are, what old pieces of kit are you still using?
Until relatively recently we had a 2006 model Leica TCRA1203 (I think that is right) in service. We had upgraded the data collector used with it to a more modern CS20 running Calibrate. So doing required that we buy the appropriate radio handle, but that was no problem. I replaced the gun with a used 9 yr old TS16 because I wanted each of our instruments to be the same model.
@norman-oklahoma A mate of mine runs an MS60, but still swears by their old TS15 that they're still using.
I love the simplicity of the old stuff. Too many of the new tech items I own are slower and more complicated than their 'grandad' versions. I would love to see the KISS principle make it back to the forefront, from automobiles and appliances to total stations. I still occasionally use a 30 year old Topcon 330 series that runs a tight traverse.
I have a fleet of mid-90s Trimble 4000SSi receivers that I still use on occasion. I typically set them up and leave them unattended for the day, locked to a fence or other solid object. If someone were to steal one of the setups, I'd be most upset to lose the fixed-height tripod, which is the most valuable piece of equipment involved.
My RTK system (Javad Triumph-LS and Triumph-2) is now 11 years old, and my robotic total station (GeoMax Zoom 80) is 10 years old. Both are still performing well in daily operations.
I'm older than all of them by decades, and still chugging along as well.
I have a Trimble high precision S6 bought in 2006 that still works great. The only reason I don't use it anymore on our deformation surveys is that the SX10 is significantly faster, and will lock on targets that are close together in the field of view, whereas the S6 would sometimes just oscillate back and forth to targets that appear close together. We do 4 rounds on hundreds of points at a project, so the quicker SX10 time makes a difference.
I pulled out a Wild T16 to sight line and measure offsets at one point. Not a piece of electricity in anything we used, and it took about the same amount of effort and time if we had done it with our SX10. That being said, the SX10 is a damn good machine too. No truer words, "right tool for the job."
I still run a 15 years old Sokkia SRX5 robotic when i'm doing a wooded area, also setting control in busy streets or more "unsafe" areas is done with this one.
It is also the backup when the newer ix1201 is in the shop.
I have a 12 years old Trimble TX5 scanner that is still used for smaller houses or for manhole scanning.
Old equipment may be slower but they still serve a certain need.
@jim-frame Hi Jim, there's a bundle of them for sale on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/374758237905
I pulled out a Wild T16 to sight line and measure offsets at one point. Not a piece of electricity in anything we used, and it took about the same amount of effort and time if we had done it with our SX10. That being said, the SX10 is a damn good machine too. No truer words, "right tool for the job."
There are underground coal mines that are gassy, where explosions have been caused by an inrush from a collapsing goaf being ignited by a faulty lamp. Underground coal mines may require intrinsically safe equipment, I do wonder how surveyors go underground in these conditions with equipment limitations. Apparently, Leica made a TS400 model of total station that could be certified intrinsically safe.
That's a good price, even if a couple of them don't work, since it includes free shipping and a bunch of cables.. But I have too many of them already, so I'll leave them for someone else.
