I ordered an SX10 this week, not sure how long it will take to be delivered, they were apparently backed up quite a bit but I think that has settled down.
Ours took literally months but I think they're getting better. A lot of the work I did was with a loaner from the dealer, ours finally came in.
For those that have the experience, I would appreciate a comparison of general robotic total station function between the SX-10 and say a TCRP 1200 series. ?ÿ The tracking, the finding of a lost prism, the overall robotic to rod functionality, compared to the 1200 with Carlson ?ÿ Not to get into the Ford/Chevy thing and not considering the other features of this pretty amazing technology. ?ÿhow does it work as a robot in the bush? ?ÿThanks much!
I have a Leica P50 in my assigned stable of equipment. It is an incredible machine, but it can't use prisms (faster) and Cyclone produced by Leica GEOsystems is not geodetic software, it is SF 1.000 flat earth software.
The advantage I can see of the SX10 (which we have only demo'd) is it is a TS so can turn sets to prisms and it can scan and it can take regular sideshots so the efficiency would be in combining operations.
a former coworker has used one at Caltrans regularly and loves it.
it can do a medium density full dome scan and photos in about the same amount of time as the P50, scanning being a lot slower but the photos are much faster.
Trimble is moving to feeding everything into TBC which is real geodetic software. Everything is just Survey data. I like that.
TBC has improved quite a bit. I was able to process 7 miles of closed traverse with 1.5 miles of cross ties in TBC in about a day, I thought it would take me a week. And it worked. It blew the doors off of StarNet, finally. Easier to edit data and identify sets to turn off (I do 4 minimum at every traverse point, sometimes 5 if the residuals look loose).
I have a TCU I can attach to the S7 but I prefer a separate DC especially in the woods. Some of the steep setups it's too difficult to constantly chase the DC around the tripod.
The tracking on the SX10 is pretty amazing for a passive prism, but I believe its uses the excellent video capabilities for tracking in addition to the EDM.
I would not make it primarily a bush gun, but it is a 1" total station after all and can hang with the rest of the S-series. It is rather heavy by comparison, so take that into consideration.
It really shines in civil survey applications, though. Busy urban or suburban areas. Great for scanning unsafe areas, complex areas, or maybe just a building facade for the architects.
I miss it a lot. I loved running integrated survey with it - tell it to scan something while I go take some RTK observations or buzz up some monuments, or just take notes. If I had good conditions and a decent setup I would simply scan hardscape, extract the ground in TBC (the automated classification is pretty damned good) and then sample at five or ten foot intervals. Super easy and I didn't have to walk back and forth for a couple of hours. Sometimes I would just scan the whole site and then place my survey points in the office. The camera is fantastic for project documentation. I would set mine up to automatically snap an image of the backsight and of the setup point (using the plummet camera).
The resection routine in an integrated survey is awesome. Orient the SX10 with some (well-placed) RTK shots, make some scans, and they will come into TBC oriented to the project datum. Skip the traverse, and no cloud registration necessary.
The biggest problem with the SX10...is that most folks don't take advantage of it. Some of our offices use Trimble, others Leica, and 99% of the crews just cannot wrap their heads around the workflow or its capabilities. It's not entirely their fault, as they don't really know the office side of things and thus can't always discern when to scan or not, or to what detail, etc.
And the office people tend to be afraid of the learning curve associated with scanning, or just don't know TBC well enough to use it. Or they just tell the crews not to bother with it to "save time".
Also it fits in a standard instrument backup which is a big advantage for remote scanning jobs.
You're comparing a ten year old plus instrument to something brand new. I'd say the newer gun is going to track/search better. But....this shouldn't be the comparison. Maybe the Robot ability of the TS16 (still cheaper) and the Robot only ability of the SX10.
Personally I think most are buying the SX10 for the cool factor. I say that because I feel the S7 is much better for robotic only surveying. If a company that wants to truly make scanning a profit center for there business wouldn't be looking at a hybrid instrument. They would be getting a full blown scanner.
It blew the doors off of StarNet, finally.
Can you elaborate??ÿ My install of TBC is old -- v3.something -- and the only time I use it for adjustment is when I have a large GNSS-only project.?ÿ Anything with terrestrial measurements goes to Star*Net (another oldie, v6.x).?ÿ What am I missing out on that newer TBC versions offer?
Hi colleagues,
Is it true that SX10 doesn't have a laser pointer?
?ÿ
@zemljomer I'm fairly certain that's correct because they boast that the new SX12 does have one.
My boss bought the sx12 so we could do scanning and also have an extra robot. It kind of makes sense in my mind. Also they run the tsc7 so not really a tablet...but saying that is a real generalization. After almost 2 years with it I don't think I could give up my Panasonic fz-m1 7" tablet. 2 day battery, I can stick it in my front vest pocket and I don't have to have the office give me an upload picking and choosing only the points I need so that the Carlson surveyor 2 doesn't choke on it. It's also pretty well bulletproof. Just not so good in heavy rain.?ÿ
