Local dealer dropped of a QS for me to test drive over the next few days...
He also dropped off a fc-2500...
I can't wait to try it out...
Just got one Friday including Carlson DC. Technology is a wonderful thing! I've only had one loss of lock issue so far that required a reset (Of course I was 1000' away!)
I pushed the limit the other day to see how far I could reach...1500', then a leaf got in the way and I hade to walk half way back to reacquire. It's been a great gun so far.
lol..not to many shotas around here over 800' let alone 1500'
My big concern is not with the QS...its with the FC-2500.
I've been a TDS guy since 1994...might Topcon's control might take some getting use to.
We've been enjoying ours. It's been in the field almost every day since we got it, closing in on one year now as a matter of fact. It is amazing how fast and easy the setup is without the cables/external radios etc. Some days I take it for granted it's so seamless. Fast tracking, great radio range and holds lock pretty darn well. If I get the same mileage out of this one that we did our 8003 then I'll be a happy man.
The RC-4 unit is alot of $ sitting on top of a prism pole but it is a huge improvement over the RC-2 system we were used to. All in all I can't complain about the price though as it was much cheaper than our 8003 package was when it was purchased.
ETA: Saw your comments about the FC-2500, can't give any feedback on that. I decided to go to the Carlson Surveyor+ to better integrate field-to-finish with the Carlson Survey we've been using in the office. It was and still is an adjustment from TDS but we're getting more comfortable and faster with it every day. I love how it handles the instrument profiles and the ease of which connecting to a RTN is. We decided to trade in all of our Recons and Rangers, bite the bullet and have one standard unit that we could all learn at the same time and teach each other tips/tricks along the way. Seems to be a good unit.
How does the QS talk to the Carlson Surveyor+? Don't you need a radio?
I can't speak on the fc-2500. I went with the nomad version and the topsurv software. It has been a learning curve since I have been using tds for some time now, but I like some of the features topsuv has.
About the QS, I did a reflectorless shot at 1000'± to a building corner and then shot the same corner at around 100' and the difference was only 0.01'.