I just got a call from the field. They have been using a Trimble S6 all day. All of a sudden it gives a "Tilt error" message when they try to shoot the backsight (rounds routine). But, both the circular level bubble on the tribrach and the electronic level bubble on the S6 show the instrument to be level.
Any thoughts? Bad compensator?
Does the electronic Bubble indicator on the data collector read level?
Yes, they both show level. He said the instrument was vibrating when he set it up, which I had seen in the past with certain tripods. But, he is using a Crain, which have not had that problem.
here is a picture of where he is setup, on the roof of a concrete tower (roof is concrete) but I have setup there a number of times in the past:
After restarting a number of times, it is working OK now. But, for how long???
The on board electronic level for the S6 has multiple sensitivity levels. When you bring up the level routine it defaults to the lowest sensitivity setting(1:250). At this setting, the tribrach levels is more accurate (personal opinion). Hit the down arrow to get to a progressively more sensitive bubble. You really need to be at the next to last level setting (1:10)to get the instrument leveled properly. If you are a glutton for punishment go to the most sensitive level setting (1:1) and level your instrument 🙂
I would imagine it could detect a lot of vibration that you don't feel when they open and close the floodgates.
Paul in PA
Oops, my bad I Assumed you were talking about a optical instrument.
John,
is this the vibrating as described in the manual when your tripod legs are to close to each other? Has to do with the magnetic drive motors.
Had no issues so far, but just started with the S6 in July.
By the way, great pictures ... looks as a fantastic job!
good luck with the S6,
chr.
Yes, we always do the 1:250->1:100->then 1:10, sometimes 1:1, but that can be difficult chasing the bubble around. The slightest touch will move it.
There is no detectable vibration up there from the water, but it could exist at a low level. Tomorrow we run levels and alignment in the air gallery, which is a tunnel about 30 feet below the spillway between the two towers.
Anyway, I spoke to a tech, sounds like the compensator may be going bad, which was replaced last year. It went bad last year with different symptoms, wacked out vertical angles. The shop is backed up a few weeks, though, so no quick fix. Hopefully it will be OK because I have a few more days of alignment surveys at three other dams to complete before the end of the government year (September 30).
> Anyway, I spoke to a tech, sounds like the compensator may be going bad, which was replaced last year. It went bad last year ...
Is this a common problem with S6's?
I don't know if it is common. I have had my S6 since early 2006, so nearly 5 years. That was the only thing that went wrong. It is a high accuracy model, and we use it about 50% of the year on monitoring projects, another 15% of the year doing "topo" type work, and the other 35% we use GPS only. So, it has been used pretty much, but not every day. It does get carried around a lot in the backpack rather than the hard case. Probably not real good for it (the backpack), but that is due to necessity.
I always finish up in 1:1 mode. 1:10 needs to be dead center.
At 1:1 I quit when I get the bubble mostly inside the target. But like you say you can fight with for a looonnnngg time. Then turn the gun 90 and keep on going at it.
I have issues with vibrations when setting up on L&Ds. Vibration from the flood gates and especially from the unobstructed wind (of course we were using an old T-3 for horizontal and digital levels for the vertical).
We have 5 in my district and haven't had this problem, but then, we're from MT so we don't have to "compensate" for much! 😉
Glad to hear it went away with the re-start- but it would be nice to know the "Cause"- so you're not out there and it goes down again on it's own whim.
To convert this to my experiences from geodimeter 650
who make the s6 and also the latest leica robots I suspect that the
robots are made by the same group of electronic hardware gurus
our old geo 650 would behave depending on the Hz of the vibration two
outcomes would result
1) at low frequency oscillation the instrument would time out and
report a "time out etc etc " say 1-5 Hz
2) at a say 5-10 Hz++ the system could not deal with the oscillation and fail
to detect and thus set the vertical plate by 10 seconds in error a one second
instrument
The lessoned learned here is that survey robots require solid WOOD legs
on calm wind days to do what they are spec'd to achieve
Look through the scope if you see motion high or low Hz come back on a wind
free day or put the instrument on the ground
The above is indicated by the ability to turn the compensator of for I would suspect
for good reasons
We had the same problem. The compensators had to be replaced in both of our S6's. The dealer provided a loaner and repairs were under warranty. We bought our S6's in 2005 and 2006. The compensators were replaced 1 to 2 years later. No problems since.
Mark