Trimble 5600 series Robotic Total Station equipment experience?

A couple of answers.

Red dot = 600MHz, blue dot = 2.4GHz. I understand that using red dot frequency is now illegal in USA.

Best to forget about the Trimble radios, and use Parani long range bluetooth radios.

Carslon SurvCE runs 5600's up to V5. V5 has the added ability for electronic bubble.

I found Survey Controller to be a PITA. SurvCE is better but there is a simple (but complicated) procedure to get it to fire up a 5600 in robotic mode.

Robotic-tracking 5600's have two "scopes". The top one is optical, the bottom one tracks the LED of the RMT. Hence the tracker is not coaxial with the optical (there is a collimation routine to adjust for this). The later S series trackers are coaxial - hence there is only one "scope" - but they still need tracker collimation.

Biggest issue is servicing - Trimble shops wont touch them - but there are some privateers in the USA who still do them.

Posted by: @richard-imrie

SurvCE is better but there is a simple (but complicated) procedure to get it to fire up a 5600 in robotic mode.

Thank you so much for the help.?ÿ Much appreciated!

I'll search here if the solution is here, but if not, could you point me in the right direction please??ÿ Thank you.

Edit:?ÿ I may have found your posts.?ÿ Sounds like I need a CU also.

https://surveyorconnect.com/community/surveying-geomatics/bluetooth-adapter-for-total-station-cable/paged/8/#post-370985

?ÿ

Besides being able to find someone servicing these units, what's the biggest problem they may have??ÿ I.e. motors, encoders, etc?

Thank you.

I penned a couple of guides here:

https://surveyorconnect.com/community/software-cad-mapping/opines-on-geod-600-trimble-5600-sp-focus-10-wanted/paged/2/#post-498996

The main trick is to fire up the instrument using the CU (keyboard), doing all the levelling, compensator, (collimation if necessary) etc with the CU, then use the CU to put it in to remote (robotic) mode, which effectively shuts the instrument down. Then, if SurvCE, cable connect the DC to the instrument and get SurvCE to send the "robotic instructions" to the instrument - it will beep a few times and whiz a bit - only then will it run with the radios.

Note that Trimble bought Geodimeter in around year 2000 and turned the Geodimeter 600 series into the Trimble 5600 series, so while they look different, they are the same - two scopes, active tracking, etc.

I forgot to mention that on the RMT, the vertical distance between the LED's and the prisms, is the same as the distance between the optical scope and the tracker scope on the instrument. Which is part of the cunning way that these things work.

The main issue is internal battery failure on both the CU and the instrument, which results in loss of memory parameters. There are lots of posts on this.

My go to Geodimeter 650 (equivalent to a 5601) looks like the instrument batteries have gone, and while the instrument does power up and turn on the wheels, she's "lifeless". Grrrrrrr. I also have a 5601, but the tracker is not well aligned with the scope. I also have another 650, which seems to work other than the optical scope being dim. I haven't had a chance to check it.

for the OP - I originally looked at buying one a couple years ago to get started. but the scarcity of a complete kit and the difficulty in sourcing all the parts needed at a reasonable cost is what made me give up on the 5600. don't get me wrong the 5600 can do some great surveying still but it requires a lot of pieces and most sellers aren't selling complete kits. I ended up scoring an S3 at a great price on eBay which is the cheaper, baby brother to the S6 - both the S3 & S6 are more recent robots and easier to find parts for if need be plus they can still be serviced at most Trimble dealers (requires Trimble software i believe). I learned on an S6 years ago when they first came out and it was just a natural fit for me - if I could find a well cared for S6 here locally I'd gladly pick it up too

@ncsudirtman

I hear ya!!!?ÿ Yes, that is the purpose of my post.... to see what I am getting into.?ÿ Sounds like the internal batteries and firmware are the biggest problem, next to not being able to get repaired if need be...?ÿ if ever.?ÿ And yes, obviously getting everything you need pieced together.

I typically don't mind with these type of things...?ÿ but it seems finding the firmware and getting it back on one of these units is a real PIA if the batteries are dead on arrival which good chances they are.

I am also looking at some newer models as you mentioned also just in case.

Thanks!

Survey pro 5.2 will run the 5600. I used one exclusively for years until I took it in to get the internal battery changed. When I got ot back, the collected points were all over the place. No pattern, rhyme or reason like a bad backsight or something. Ended up getting roped into getting an S7 for an ungodly payment in order to keep up with business. Still trying to bill me 800 bucks for the battery change. It's a great gun if you can get all of the 907 accessories along with your purchase and they're all in good shape.?ÿ

@richard-imrie?ÿ

Thank you Richard.?ÿ I have a lot of reading to do, thank you for your extra effort to help people interested, much appreciated.

A big pitfall I see so far is the batteries dieing and I guess losing the unit's and CU's firmware if not caught ahead of time or time lapsed anyways?

If I happen to purchase one that ends up like this...?ÿ do you think it's going to be very difficult to find and install new firmware to get everything running again... or if there is possibly a repository to download these files easily and go from there??ÿ Or maybe what @robots is working on here as a better alternative?

https://surveyorconnect.com/community/surveying-geomatics/geodimeter-4005004000600-and-trimble-5500-5600-toolkit/

I can handle installing / soldering new batteries and possibly using new coin style battery holders as mentioned somewhere here (have to find again).?ÿ But the firmware problems sounds like a PITA no matter even if all the required components etc are found and working.

Yes, this definitely is going to be a project requiring lots of time and effort.?ÿ Again, just for hobby and learning reasons etc.?ÿ ; )

Thank you.

@timd1971?ÿ

I think from what robots and others in that thread are saying, is that the instrument parameters are set in its memory when the instrument is manufactured and if the instrument batteries go flat, those parameters are lost and cannot be reprogrammed - unless they have been copied beforehand. Presumably the Trimble shops did this "saving" but now these shops are gone, presumably the independent shops that do offer 5600 servicing cannot reprogram the instrument to its factory settings. I understand that they can reload a CU, because the software is not unique to an instrument.

@richard-imrie yes, trimble offered web-service to service partners to download this data from their website, and program it into the station. The shop that serviced your station last time is likely to still have copy of this data. Otherwise the station is pretty much useless.

And trust me .. its not saving. They did this on purpose.

Here are my 2cents. I was in need of total station for one project (asset localization in warehouse). This is the day i started to care about total stations.

There is no difference between old data collector and super new data collector with windows 10 that costs $1000000. They all use the same math. The math has not changed in so many years.

Personally i have used 3600 Trimble with zeiss elta CU. This thing is years ahead of any geodimeter CU. You did not need any manual to work with the thing. Geodimeter CU is shit, I mean ... from users standpoint, you have exact procedure you need to follow, and without manual many times you get only number/abbreviation.

For DC i have bought some random Windows mobile 7 PDA that has RS232 connector (M3 orange to be specific). I installed Old SurvCE on this pda, and its datacollector - it supports all GPS' i have (ashtech zmax, trimble 4400, 4700, etc, and it should also support 3600 station and 5600 station)

Zeiss elta stations have battery inside that holds time - thats it. Battery dies, station looses time, but not calibration (german tech)

Geodimeter stations have battery that hold data (400/500/4000 stations) and firmware (600/5500/5600 stations). This battery dies, you have BIG fat paperweight. There is thread for saving the data - i made sure, that this can be done, to preserve these stations. Because Trimble doesn't care.

S6 stations - are plastic. i have seen some pretty badly damaged ones just from one drop. The whole case cracks and its just bad.

All older stations are metal - yes its heavy, but robust - and survey tech should be robust. Not be blown over by wind.

Hear you loud and clear.?ÿ Thank you for the help and all your work that seems would never be without you.

Thank you.

@robots?ÿ

I looked through some old computer folders that I have and I found that when I bought the Geodimeter 650 in 2015, off EBay, the original advert had the CU and Instrument parameters:

Would it be possible to load this back onto the instrument and save the instrument?

I'm new to surveyor connect and also land surveying as I'm a building surveyor by profession so please bear with me;

I recently purchased a 5603 DR200+ robotic total station with external 12v battery, TSC2 controller, 2.4ghz Trimble Georadio (Blue dot), RMT606 Autolock prism powered via the georadio.

I am having trouble getting the total station to connect to the TSC2, message states check radio settings/ battery etc. The georadio blue light is flashing and the prism LED's are also flashing.

There is no CU with the total station so i cannot check what the radio channel and subsequent station address is, leaving me with nearly 1200 possible radio variations to try. The previous owner states that usually once he has everything setup and turned on it ordinarily connects as the total station was set to robotic mode.

My options as i see it is to either purchase a CU Keyboard to set the total station radio to a known channel and then set to robotic or to purchase a Trimble 20059B Y cable which will allow me to power the instrument externally but also connect TSC2 controller to configure radio settings.

I am fully aware of the issues of the 5603 being phased out and also the lack of parts etc, this is for a hobby/ learning basis. I would be grateful for any advice or help with this.

Thank you.

FWIW, I use my Trimble 5603 and Spectra Focus 10 with a Getac running Survce 5.09 and I don't need to level with the CU like Richard. I only use the CU to set the radio and then put on the robotic plate. Trimble is red dot, SP is blue dot. It's a fussy setup, but it works.

?ÿ

Without a CU, figuring out radio problems would take a while for me. Using the setup was much better after purchasing a power pole.

@jaccen?ÿ

Does SurvCE 5.X do the collimation routines?

@nathanasl?ÿ

With this old equipment there are a few tricks,?ÿ everything has to be done in the right order. When the radio is blinking try turning it off and back on. do you have the serial cable,?ÿ connect the TSC2 directly to the battery instead of the radio using the serial cable.?ÿ once you figure it out repeat the steps exactly the same every time.?ÿ good luck

Posted by: @richard-imrie

@jaccen?ÿ

Does SurvCE 5.X do the collimation routines?

Hi Richard,

My typical resection routine for residential stakeout:

-level up (tribrach and then place gun on it--LOCK IT!); turn it to the general direction of the furthest point in the resection to hold that for azimuth

-hook everything up (radio channel set once with CU then robotic plate on all the time)

-power up robotic total station (RTS) "beep, beep"

-power up data collector (DC) (think it's a Getac 336--it's the gray one) running Survce 5.09....think it's 5.09

-Equip->Total Station->Legacy with Georadio

-click Comms and then green checkmark (do this for every setup as it lights up the radio)

-green check

-"Do you want to initialize the radio?" ->Yes

-it may have an error; repeat above steps starting at Equip

-if it fails, reboot DC

-if that doesn't work after 3 tries, check cable continuity with voltage detector (learning these last two steps was "fun"--to be fair, it usually finds the RTS on the first try and only need a second attempt about every 20th setup after replacing the DC cable)

-Equip->Level

-adjust to level;check still on point through eyepiece

-note values in RW5 and exit

-brings up message "Initialize Compensator -> Yes, No

-choose yes....from memory RTS spins 180, beeps, spins 180, beeps beeps

-resect and calc point

- redo setup on resect point using single setup

-do independent check shots

-stake

?ÿ

Second single setup is because RTS can "forget" where it set zero in a resection. One MUST do their stake first as mine "forgets" how to store stake shots if you switch between topo and stakeout. Also "forgets" if you change Sets configuration. Again, very fussy but it works. Have used Survce 4 with these two RTS units. Strongly prefer 5 due to not needing the CU plate to "engage the spin."

Posted by: @jaccen

not needing the CU plate to "engage the spin."

You can do that with a long press of the black button on the front of the instrument, no CU needed.

Posted by: @james-vianna

Posted by: @jaccen

not needing the CU plate to "engage the spin."

You can do that with a long press of the black button on the front of the instrument, no CU needed.

I must have mine set up different then. The only way to engage the collimation routine is through SurvCE. Front and back buttons will turn the RTS on and nothing more. Have tried long push, short push, double push.....nada. Button won't shut down unit either. I simply detach the car battery cable. Not ideal, but cannot figure out another way to power down. I'd rather not swap off the robotic plate.