I'm considering the purchase of a used S6 from a local firm that is going out of business due to a lack of work and have one serious question about the instrument. I currently use a Trimble 5601 DR 300 and can readily get radio range out to 1500' in most conditions. My concern is that I've read that the S6 range is not comparable to the 5601 "brick" radio and this would greatly increase the time needed to survey a boundary or set control on a large construction site.
Any thoughts on this? Any users of S6's get comms in the 12-1500 foot range?
I use the S6 and usually have no problems unitl about 2200-2640. I usually can get my 1/2 mile shots. However, In the past I have had problems with hilly shots in the woods (clear line of sight) at 2100 feet. When that happens, I typically drive the truck up to where I can get a good signal (about 1900 feet from the gun in this case).
I started a thread last week about the range I get from my S6. My conditions vary greatly so range is somewhere between 600 and 1200 to 1400 feet. From what I've seen this is the typical range for the S6. I did purchase a wifi antenna extention cable to get the antenna on the dc end to the top of the prism so my body wasn't blocking it. This greatly improved the range, the gun stopped tracking the MT1000 well before I lost radio. The cable is about $20 shipped. The trimble version is around $80. Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about the gun. If you have any other questions I'll be glad to answer what I can.
We got a couple of shots over 1300' with no problem. Both times we were close to heavy-trafficked roadways. I stayed with the gun to be sure it didn't "chase cars". The only problem I had was I couldn't really see the prism at that distance (especially with the heat waves) so I could only rely on Chris saying he had a good lock and I could only confirm it was looking in his direction and not at the traffic.
My radio range ends at about 1200 feet with a TSC2 and sooner with blockages. I can get shots at least out to 2300 feet but getting a solid lock at that range with a Multitrack target or standard prism is sketchy. Great optics though and easy to get a shot. I haven't used the 5600 series but know people that have made that switch and they love it. The S-6 is a very nice instrument.
We made the same switch 3 or 4 years ago I think, BIG improvement!
We did not notice any real difference in radio limits, I tend to say the S6 radio-prism combination is better than the 5600-prism combination.
For hilly terrain we also use the Trimble radio extension kit with dc antenna mounted on the prism.
Christof.