I recently purchased a Topcon 8005 robotic with a fantam radio, and a FC-2500 data collector with Xtrac-7. I really like the setup especially with no wires on the rod. My range seems to be close to 1000’ from the instrument before the communication starts to drop. I am curious what others robot users are getting in regards to distance from gun and what your setup is.
I have the same instrument with the RC-II setup........lucky to get 500'. Consider yourself lucky to get 1000'.
my circa 1995 Geodimeter robot gets that kind of range all day long. i guess Topcon is finally catching up..
I previously had a Geodimeter 608 and could get around 1200'-1500' out of it, but the amount of cords dangling made me nervous if I had my machete out.
I don't have any cords.. I use the CU on the cradle and the 360 powered prism through the stick.. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the instrument. Is the unit on the rod easy to balance? it looks like it would be awkward.
I was pushing the envelope a couple of weeks ago with my Leica TCRP 1203 with an old style external radio... 1800 feet on cloudy day with no heat waves. With my Leica the radio will extend out further than the instrument is able to "lock on a traget/prism". At that distance your elevs are +/- 0.12' due to refraction and the limitations of the robot's compensators. I usually work in the 500 to 700 foot range for elevation integrity and to keep an eye on the robot.
The "powe stick" eliminated 1 cord, but don't you still have a cord from the radio to the CU?
Trimble VX is about 1300' wide open. 1000' if the terrain is marginal. However, it will hold lock on the pole with the data collector at the robot for SEVERAL thousand feet. 🙂
nope, radio connects to the cradle...battery slides onto the bottom, and the radio itself slides onto the top. one little stub connector to the bottom port on the radio body. CU clips to the front of the cradle. no wires.
I have taken 100's of shots in the 1/2 mile range with my Leica 1103 robot.
Whats up with this new fangled stuff.
Randy
Randy
Mine will shoot that far and then some, but the radio has problems after a quarter mile. It's not biggie though, like Mike Davis, I need to be close to keep an eye on that sucker.
Randy
Terrain and vegetation makes a BIG difference. I can get almost ½ mile out of the radio all day across open fields, but in dense vegetation I'm happy with 700 feet.
That's pretty slick. I still have the very old style Geodimeter 600 with two cords.
Kris
I guess I did not understand the original question.
Mt Leica 1103 is 9 years old.
Do the newer robots have a range of around a 1/4 mile or what?
I have taken robotic shots in the 1/2 mile range with no radio problems at all.
I agree with Mike that the elevation would suffer somewhat at that distance, but I keep that in mind when I need to, for horizontal, my robot seems to be spot on at that range.
I read the original question to be lack of distance, not the worry of being a large distance from the gun and not having it in view for whatever reason, thieves, vehicles, or whatnot. In my work area, that is not an issue.
I would like to know in case I should need to replace my Leica 1103 one day.
Randy
Randy
Yes, the old stuff does work better... the external radio is the reason and I'm sure the FCC is going to screw us out of that ASAP. I can get longer range shots to a standard "round" prism instead of the 360^ prism but the conditions need to be perfect (no heat waves). I only took that real long shot to verify a rapid static observation on the point.
Two factors that affect distance measured. ( excluding obstructions)
First, radio connection signal some times distance can be increased by extending antenna heights above TS and or Robot.
The second is auto target recognition that is affected by heat haze and background reflection eg water or other reflective surfaces.
If doing general data for X,Y,Z then 300m probably tops.
RADU
I use long range bluetooth with my Leica 1105 and have had it out to 1200' or so, which is supposed to be about it for the range on those type of radios. If I recall we had the Topocon AP-L1A with Satels radios out well over 2000ft., just to see what it would do. I'm happy with a 1000ft.-1200ft. range, I wouldn't want to shoot elevations that far anyways and if the job requires traverse legs longer that 1000ft I usually incorporate GPS.
The balance doesn't seem to be an issue to me. With the Geodimeter I had a radio on one side and a recon on the other, with cords all over, so a single extra weight on one side seems rather easy to deal with.
