Soooooo... I am new to SurveyorConnect and am just hoping for a little advice and a place to go to for some input from other experienced surveyors whlie I am stuck in Afghanistan on a Temporary Detail.
I got here recently and am being asked to "go out and survey" and yet I do not have a full set of equipment here. I seem to have most of the parts to a Leica Viva TPS 1200 setup for use as a "SmartStation" for static GPS surveys and concurrent robotic collection.
I have:
-TCRP 1203+ total staion
-GS09 GPS receiver
-GKL211 Battery Charger
-Allegro Mx data collector with SurvCE (it has the Robotic Surveying package)
-Leica 360 degree prism
I am missing:
-functional batteries
-radio modem
My problem:
I tried to charge the battery and the power light on the left of the charger came on, but the middle light (the one that appears to indicate that the battery is charging) blinked green a couple times and then turned solid red. I am assuming this means the battery is toast. Imagine my dismay when I got the same result from each battery I have (2 GEB221 and 2 GEB212). I found a user manual on the Leica website, but it is not in color so I can only hope that my assumptions are correct on the battery status.
It is VERY hard to order supplies over here so I was wondering if anyone could tell me how I might test the charger and batteries for functionality. I am afraid that I might go thru the process of getting replacement batteries only to discover that there is something wrong with the instrument. I also had the thought that i might get new batteries only to discover that the charger is blowing them. I am pretty sure I could wrangle up an electrician with test equipment, but I wouldn't know what to ask him/her. On a side note, the batteries look brand new and the instrument itself is about a year old but must not have been used very much since there is no sand/dust on it and the lenses look perfectly clean. Things get dirty/dusty here really fast so that is why I am assuming this stuff is hardly used.
I saw some Afghan locals staking out something the other day with a very similiar Leica total station and was half-tempted to ask them if I could "bring my gun out and borrow one of their batteries" but then I thought maybe that was a bad idea to mention a gun...
Any input would be greatly appreciated by me.
Hi,
from the manual ...
Looks as only the GEB221 is supported,
and do you have the country specific AC/DC adapter?
Hope you may enjoy your Paradise,
keep it safe!
Chr.
Set up the gps and robot real close to one another, once you done that crank up your truck, put it in drive... Gun it!!! Then run over all your equipment at full speed and come on home. 🙂
Hey PC, believe me when I say I am about to that point!!
Hey Chris, I have a 120 Volt input charger and we are on United States Standards for power on this base, or so I have been told. Maybe there is enough of a difference that the batteries have been fried. I am going to check with one of the electricians around here on that. I just found a car adaptor that appears to match up with the charger so I am going to see if that results in any difference of battery lights too.
If that doesn't work I am going to jam a paper clip in an outlet and throw the batteries at it in hopes that they will absorb some of the output energy.
~JJ
You Should Be Able To Hook Up A 12 Volt Battery
From my short experience with Leica, a 12 volt brick battery should be an option on any 1200 equipment, total station or GPS.
If someone could get Linear the pin type and pinout details, it should be a doable setup.
Be cautious, I think the military vehicles kick out more than 12V at the lighter plug.
Paul in PA
You Should Be Able To Hook Up A 12 Volt Battery
Maybe the charger is the problem.
Have you tried to insert each battery in the instrument? You could enough juice left to do the survey you need to do.
hello linearaggression,
just re-read the manual to refresh my memory on the charger lights. the middle light red would seem to indicate battery problems, light on right indicates battery temperature problem, and both lights on means charger problems.
make sure all charger and battery contacts are clean. i have seen dirty contacts mess-up battery charging before as the charger is unable to properly sense battery temperature or charge level. the charger itself should be able to take 100v-240v as an input voltage.
non-genuine replacement batteries are readily available on ebay and other online stores. probably not as good as genuine but better than nothing.
here is a link to a tps1200 technical reference manual: Tech Ref Manual. Appendix D, page 1320 shows the pin assignments for port 1 which is used for data transfer and battery power. this is where you attach a 12v (11v-16v) battery by way of cable.
hope this helps.
On the modem issue, could you have the radio handle for the TS? Some of the Alegro models also have a built in radio. It might be that you don't need a stand alone radio modem??
SHG
Paul in PA, luckily I have a civilian type vehicle with a standard battery so this might be an option for me. (Also, I am out here from Pittsburgh, PA.)
Georges, I tried each battery in its corresponding instrument, the total station or GPS receiver. Nothing. I can't even get a light to flash.
Conrad, the manual helped a lot. Got the pinouts Paul mentioned and am optimistic that I can get some help to rig up a cable in the near future. Often times I will drop my own cash on small stuff but by now I am really sick of doing that. Let's just say I am darn close to caving and ordering one of the larger batteries off of eBay. And I took a better look at the battery terminals, only to realize that they mostly appear to have never been used. There are zero scratches on the terminals, which would not be expected if they'd been slid in and out of an instrument and charger at the end of the day. Only the one had a faint mark on each terminal. I also got some canned air, opened the charger, and sprayed the heck out of it since it was really dusty/dirty. Still nothing other than that middle red light :-/
Also, Shelby, I have found the radio handle with the little antenna that rotates up. I have that handle and the one that allows the GS09 receiver/antenna to snap on top of the TS. Along with that note, I popped the back cover off the Allegro and can see that it does indeed have the built-in radio. So if everything else is functional then I should be covered for comms. (In case no one noticed I am really new when it comes to having to piecemeal different equipment together.)
I appreciate everyone's input so far! I guess now my situation hinges on whether or not I can get batteries ordered thru the official process or if I have to drop some dough and order them myself. Oh, and the "temporary detail" is scheduled to be 12 months so yeah I am going to need some working equipment here soon... as I am already clinking away dollar signs in someone's head for each day I don't accomplish anything.
On a positive note I have discovered that there is a network of reference stations in country that I can use for static processing, as all I have is the one GS09 GPS receiver, so that is a good thing. Time for bed here.
~JJ
Have you tried leaving the battery hooked up to the charger over night or for whatever hours the manual says it takes to charge a battery? Your comment about the light blinking green and then turning red made me wonder if your charger works similar to the chargers I use for Topcon and other equipment which have a red light while the battery is charging which then turns green when the battery is charged.
Phil