The groundwork firm I work for recently replaced our aging topcon kit with a full ts06+ leica survey kit. While my promised half day training never materialised ive taught myself to use everything on the ts, however I can't get the prism to focus. It gives an inverted image through the eye piece, and its impossible to focus the crosshair and the actual nail together. Is this right? There's only a single focus on the plumit compared to my old topcon prism having two. I've just been using a detail pole and mini prism as I can't set up the full size one.
Also, after about 30mins in moderate rain (nothing I wouldn't work through ) the ts06+ began showing signs of waterlogging the next day (condensation inside the screen), is this normal? Its only two months old and I wiped it down, took it home to dry etc. It's not ever been boxed while damp.
I haven't been a curmudgeon in a while, so ...
If you worked for me and used a new instrument in a "moderate" rain without protecting it, you'd be fired! Next time either put it away in the rain or use an umbrella.
I am assuming you are using a Leica GDF122 or 322 tribrach with Optical plummet, both of which have two focusing knobs one for the image and one for the cross hairs. Getting an inverted image and not being able to focus on your image and your cross hairs would couldn't be possible simultaneously. Those things remind me or the older Horizon and Omni tribraches.
As for moisture...No. I'd take it in and have the seals looked at.
I haven't been a curmudgeon in a while, so ...
> If you worked for me and used a new instrument in a "moderate" rain without protecting it, you'd be fired! Next time either put it away in the rain or use an umbrella
Considering after next week we may not see the sun again until May. Around here if the instrument will not hold up to moderate rain then it would be fired.
I lost a data collector due to the rain earlier this year. I will not subject my equipment to working in the rain again, especially a new instrument. There is just too many other things that can be done on a rain day.
If your client is that demanding, I would have to rethink working for them. My insurance covered the loss, but they did tell me that I needed to protect the equipment.
I have to agree with Mr. Lawley on the tribrach issue.
This is the companies instrument, not mine. Unfortunately in England working in all weathers is mandatory, everything I do is site based.
Our topcon machine took a decade for water to get inside, and that was only after a botched repair so I assumed these were all watertight to a reasonable extent.
As for the tribrach I can't inspect it right now but there is definitely only a single adjustment knob on the plumit.
Leica gear should be fine in the rain.
As others have said, the Leica tribrachs that I use have two adjustments on the OP.
Is your optical plummet the type that the reticle is adjusted by turning the eye piece adjustment clockwise/counter clockwise while the object is focused by an in/out adjustment on the eye piece?
Just a thought.
The inverted image makes me think that this isn't a Leica item, and may be a cheap or knock-off item, that either has some defect, or is the type that Kevin is talking about, where the focus is push in/out.
hijack...working in the rain
Wow, you guys don't work in the rain? I have a trimble S6 (high accuracy version) and i have no problem working in the rain. 8 years old and going strong. Ditto for the data collector. Of course if it gets too strong we take a break, but we do deformation surveys and leveling in drizzle all the time. GPS is totally waterproof, we use that all the time in heavy rain and snow.
The data collector did take on some water after it fell 50 feet into the river, bouncing off the concrete wall on the way down, and floating for 45 minutes before I could retrieve it. Apparently it had hairline cracks in the case, it was 7 years old at the time. But the data was OK and the unit was repairable.
When we are doing a real time monitoring for a lock dewatering, we have to be out there continuously taking readings rain or shine, day or night, for 24 hours plus while they are pumping. They don't stop and neither do we, although we may have to take a break if visibility gets too low.
Many years ago I was doing processing for a client, and one setup the GPS data was crappy, all broken up. I looked on google earth to see if it was in the woods, but it was wide open on a highway overpass. Called the client and he investigated. Seems they sent a new guy from the office out to run that receiver, and he held the umbrella over the GPS unit so that it wouldn't get wet.
I haven't been a curmudgeon in a while, so ...
I work in the rain all the time, so do all the other surveyors in this part of the country. Very rarely does it cause a serious problem with the equipment. I had a total station get fogged up about 7 years ago. They fixed it for free because it was fairly new. This plummet shouldn't fog up, but the OP already knows that.
DCPO,
First, if the TS06 is getting moisture in that easily you need to take it back and have it inspected. No Leica Instrument should get moisture in it if it was wiped down and left outside of the case to dry. This is not acceptable, obviously.
On the tribrach... You must have received a non-Leica tribrach with the instrument. The way Leica orders are placed nothing comes with the instrument except the case. Everything is a line item in the order so that you can pick and choose your options to match the needs of the instrument. There are packages in Leica's ordering system that would include batteries, tribrach, etc. with one part number. Please look at the tribrach on the bottom and see if it has a Leica label. You must have received a knock-off with the instrument.
I haven't been a curmudgeon in a while, so ...
:good: That just made me laugh. We call it liquid sunshine and if the gun can't hack it, it's time for a replacement.
hijack...working in the rain
In my area, we generally don't get drizzle or light rain. It is generally more of a downpour, or thunderstorms.
hijack...working in the rain
> ....sent a new guy from the office out to run that receiver, and he held the umbrella over the GPS unit so that it wouldn't get wet.
Have to admit, it took me a while to get it. That's hilarious!
Last time I baby-sat a 3-hour static setup I was up on mountain ridge in Jan. and it started snowing on me big time. All alone, no one to talk to. We were told not to use radios so I couldn't talk to my other buddies running two other setups on the same mountain but probably a mile away. I got bored so I made a little bed with pine boughs and went to sleep. A 4th person was with us and she came to check on me only to find me sound asleep snoring and covered in snow.
After that I started bringing a book in case I got sent out on another job like that. Oh.. and bring something to eat and drink as well!!
I think it's what Kevin hinds said. I have 2 kinds of Leica carriers with optical plumbs. They both pull/push to focus the cross hairs, THEN turn to focus on the point. If you didn't know that, you might not ever figure it out in the rain.
hijack...working in the rain
> In my area, we generally don't get drizzle or light rain. It is generally more of a downpour, or thunderstorms.
Before removing to Oklahoma in the fall of 2011 my whole career had been in the PacificNW where we all work in the rain routinely. I brought my rain gear with me - a necessary part of every NW surveyor's kit - and never used it.
As you say, the rain in the Great Plains falls mainly in buckets and is usually accompanied by gusting high winds and lightning. So I understand that.
There were a couple of times when my crew didn't get things boxed up in time and stuff got wet. I never could convince them to properly dry off the stuff. That's the key - it can get wet, no problem - but if your leave it stored wet, even overnight, that's when your problems start. Towel it off and circulate room temperature air around it at the end of the day, overnight, and all will be fine. OH.. and make sure that the seals get replaced with new ones every time the case is opened for service.
It has been raining here in Portland pretty much everyday for the last month. We work in the rain.
Oh push and pull focus? I'll test that asap in the morning. Only been doing this a few years so my experince is just with 25 year old topcon stuff. Cheers for advice
> Oh push and pull focus?
My experience is more like Kevin Hines'. Two focus rings, the outer one to focus the reticle (crosshairs), the inner one to focus the objective. Turn to adjust. It's the same for most tribrachs other than Topcon's. You have to hold the inner ring steady from turning with one hand while focusing the outer with the other.
I haven't been a curmudgeon in a while, so ...
I've had a Leica TS for a long time, and I work in the rain too. Never a problem, unless you box it up wet.
The only problem is when it's raining hard, the EDM won't shoot.
The crosshair focus is on the eye piece itself. Do that first, then the image.
