My 5601 has recently refused to connect radios and go robotic when it's 40° or less. I put the external radio in the freezer for a few hours, and the system went robotic when setup. Put instrument out in the cold garage for a few hours, and doesn't connect. Seems to point to the onboard radio. My service guy is checking it out. Qestion is, has anyone else had any similar problems?
Thnx
I have a Topcon GPT8005A that does not like to track the prism when the temperature is below 20 degrees.
I spoke with Troy Deaton about it, and he said that there was a small batch of those robots that for some reason, due to some component used in that batch, was a little more temperature sensitive than other units.
If it gets that cold, I just try to either use my small total station, or better yet, work in the office, but having problems at 40 degrees, that could definitely be a problem.
Good luck. I used a 5600 series instrument back in 2002-2004, and it was a really good instrument. Please let us know what you find out.
If you are asking if I've ever had the onboard radio on a Trimble 5600 go out, yes, I have.
I learned to make sure that the antenna was kept in good shape and replaced at the earliest sign of wear. The transmitter overheats if the antenna is in any way broken. And it doesn't have to look broken to be broken.
Is the internal battery fading out? Cold weather wreaks havoc on batteries.
I just had something called the "grey wedge" replaced on my 5603. It connected and tracked fine, just would not measure distance. This problem only occurred in cold weather. The grey wedge regulates the amount of light coming in.
Hope you get it resolved. I know how frustrating it can be when your workhorse is down.
After moving my 5603 from AZ to MI, the typical battery life went from 6 plus hrs to about 2. This is for staking & fast trak topo work. I blame the cold, especially since the whole thing is about 6 yrs old.
It also seems to lose lock more, and is fussy at finding me within a couple hundred feet. Maybe he wants to retire too.
Thanks for all the input. Hoping to hear from the local Trimble service shop tomorrow. I'll post his findings.
Finally heard back today. Says he thinks it's the main control board in the instrument. They don't make them anymore, trying to find a used one. Think I'm done. Have to find another robot I guess.:-(
> Says he thinks it's the main control board in the instrument.
He "thinks" it's the main control board?
Your repair guy may be the most competent and honorable in the world, but not all are. I think I'd look askance at that diagnosis, with so much money on the line.
I'm reminded of a situation that happened in 2008, when I was in the midst of a large height modernization project. We had 9 or 10 Trimble receivers out for 5 sessions every day, moving according to a predetermined schedule. One of my colleagues was unable to download his receiver one evening, and asked if he should have the local Trimble dealer take a look at it. I said "Sure," because I didn't have time to mess with it. He took it in, and I got a replacement receiver to him the next morning so we could continue with the observations.
A few days later I got a note from the dealer's tech saying the receiver was unrepairable, and he wasn't able to get the data out of it. The "repair" charge was $250. Once we'd completed the scheduled observations, I picked up the "bad" receiver and paid the bill. I took the unit to the office, hooked it up to GPLoad, and downloaded all the files without incident. I still use that receiver.
I don't know if the tech was incompetent or just wanted to sell more Trimble product, but I'm not as trusting as I once was.
I'm solo & have a lightly used 5603 backup sitting on the self that I would be willing to part with.