I may have a chance to pick up a Trimble 5601 Total Station at what I consider a fair price, with all the accessories. I am wondering how reliable this instrument should be. I had a very bad experience with a Geodimeter 620 that appears to be the previous version of this instrument. Are batteries still avaliable for this instrumeny? We will be using this instrument at a remote, and it will probably only be used a few times a month. It is unknown if the instrument is in working order, but it looks to have only been taken out of the case in the office. WMD will send it in for service. The internal battery will probably have to be replaced.. It has the inboard data collector, not a TDS.:-) :beer: :beer:
Steve,
The Trimble 5600 Series are some of the most reliable Robotic Total Stations on the market. However, the 600 series that you say you had problems with is right behind it. You will see a couple of upgrades, mostly boards and possibly direct reflect option. These Robots hardly ever had tracking issues and normally hold calibration well.
You biggest disadvantage will be the weight and the cables. The batteries are still available but they have gone up in price quite a bit. I would settle for a small gel-cell motorcycle batter, croc cables and some type of bag (around $200). All parts for this equipment are still available.
Not sure where you are at but we'd be happy to check out the equipment for you at our shop. Email me if you'd like. I would probably say you'd need to be around 8K-11K to really be getting a good deal. 12k-13k is fair.
I think we are getting a good a good deal, even if we just get Prisms and Tribrachs out of the deal. It has 2 active prisms with it and the accessory case.
When my batteries died, I checked with Trimble and the batteries (of which I needed three) were $150 each. Now I use a riding lawn mower battery for about $30. Lasts 1.5 - 2 days per charge. I carry it and the cable in a hard-sided 6-pack cooler with a shoulder strap. Works great.