Topcon GTS-2 infö and parts needed

Good luck finding anything for a GTS 2.  That was the first "total station" that I ever ran back in 1983.  I may remember wrong but the plug in key pad came out with the GTS 2B.

After running optical transits, the Topcon Guppy and the GTS 2 and 2B models were state of the art back in their day.

@chris-bouffard I found a GTS-2B manual which indicates the data collector is optional, and distance measurements are automatic once the reflection is detected. So maybe I can get this working. Thanks for the help.

I have a GTS-2B that I had a lot of fun with and learned a lot. Unfortunately the distance measuring function now gives me bad battery indication and no longer measures. I can still do Polaris shots with it.

The display on the 2B is slope distance. The accessory unit required you to input the vertical angle manually, since that is optically read and not electronic. Then it would calculate horizontal and vertical distances. I didn't have the accessory, so simply carried a scientific calculator that also allowed me to do other calculations that the accessory wouldn't handle.

This is why my shoulder hurts so bad today: doing topo all day long, spinning the verniers to read the horizontal and vertical angles. Back when you needed a 3-man crew, because you needed a note keeper!

What do these items in the display mean:

• green dot on the left: battery state?
• 00: Signal strength?
• 12: PPM
• 17: an error code?
• red dot on the right: AUTO HOLD engaged

Anyone have a list of the GTS-2 error codes? Doesn't look like they're the same as the GTS-2B (I have that manual).

I don't have the unit yet, it's shipping. But when I get it I'm going to apply power and see what happens. 

@jamsden 

00 is the return-signal level

-12 is the atmospheric-correction factor in ppm

-17 is the offset-compensation factor in mm

Plus (+) is not shown for the later two items

Low battery voltage is indicated by all eight decimal points appearing at same time.  Nominal voltage is 8.4 volts.

The manual has 86 pages.  I may be persuaded to scan it to PDF in exchange for a reasonable contribution to this forum.  Post back after you receive the instrument and find that it actually works.

Incidentally, the GTS-2 was preferred over the GTS-2B for cold-climate operation; the LED display still worked when the GTS-2B's LCD display quit on cold days.

GB

@glenn-borkenhagen Thank you! And I’d be happy to contribute to the forum.

What does AUTO HOLD do?

Posted by: @scrim

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This is why my shoulder hurts so bad today: doing topo all day long, spinning the verniers to read the horizontal and vertical angles. Back when you needed a 3-man crew, because you needed a note keeper!

Back when I was younger (50 years ago) I was on a 3 man survey crew using transit and steel tape. Now I see surveyors out in the field by themselves carrying a rod with a GPS receiver. What I remember fondly is the interactions we had as a crew and the physical connection to the instruments. I spent a lot of time with those guys and remember it fondly. Technology and AI may be taking some of the humanity and fun out of our lives.

@jamsden it's not a data collector, the key pad doesn't store anything.

Posted by: @jamsden

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I am the proud owner of a Topcon GTS-2 which is missing its power adapter and keypad. Does anyone have these parts they'd be willing to sell? 

Also, does anyone have a manual or could summarize instructions on how to use the GTS-2? I'm not finding much on line. 

I would really like to get this thing working and experiment with it. It's just for fun, one of my hobbies. 

I just unearthed my own Topcon GTS-2 after being away from the hobby for almost 20 years. Needless to say, the batteries are toast, but I got it powered up by attaching a 9v 'power bank' via the battery charger connector. I suspect there must be a better way - need to sit down with the manual, which is fragile....  I've scanned that original manual, and happy to share that here if appropriate - it's about 5.3 MB. 

Attached are the manual and an enhanced illustration page that I made up. Mine had a smeared optical scale that was a show-stopper. 

Thank you very much, it is much appreciated. I got the batteries replaced in my GTS-2 and did some adjustments and verified the distance measurements are correct. Hard to believe something electronic this old still work perfectly. I've had a lot of fun with it. I have it displayed prominently in my recording studio.

I'm still missing the charger. I may have to change the jack in the battery handle to something that will connect to a modern charger.

Downloading the attachments to my prior post showed "Site wasn't available." Here they are again. 

A happy update: the Topcon GTS-2 is working beautifully. I put in new batteries in the handle, did some adjustments and now it works great. It's a nice instrument for a a hobbist like myself. I have download and studied the manuals from above - Thanks!   

hola amigos

podrian compartir nuevamente el manual de Topcon Guppy GTS-2, ya que no se puede descargar

o prodrian enviarme a mi correo: [email protected] en formato PDF, les agradecerè bastante

hola amigos, alguien me podria ayudar con el TOPCON GUPPY GTS-2, no aparece los numeros del angulo Horizonatal ni el angulo vertical en el lente