I spent the afternoon surveying at a tract near a lake. This was in connection with a lawsuit, so everything was done and documented with a surplus of care. I thought everything was done with a surplus of care, that is, until I got back to the office and realized that the fact that the data collector wasn't in the truck meant it probably had been sitting on the ground at that site as I drove off in twilight.
So, naturally, I drove back to the site and thirty minutes later when I arrived with a weak flashlight to find and retrieve the data collector, there was absolutely no sign of the missing gear. The most probable scenario had seemed to me that I'd left the data collector beside where the instrument had been set up and, after carrying the instrument and tripod to the truck, had forgotten the essential other piece. It's never happened before, but there's always a first time.
Apparently, the most probable scenario hadn't taken place; something out of the ordinary had. I never leave equipment on any surface of the truck, so it seemed very unlikely that I'd set the DC on the truck and it had fallen off either driving up a hill or at one of the first curves in the road after leaving the site. However, that was the only plausible alternate scenario that came to mind.
So, with weak flashlight and truck headlights I scanned all of the edges of the road leading away from the site for a few hundred feet. Nothing. It was starting to seem quite likely that the data collector was just gone somewhere that I'd never find it. That's the point at which I start to rethink things.
The data collector has about $600 worth of data collected in its memory. In the worst case, I can remeasure all the ties that the data collector had recorded. The hardware itself is not extremely valuable. It's an old SDR33 with Expert software that probably wouldn't cost much more than about three or four hundred to replace. That's not the end of the world, even if the time lag will be a drag on the current project. The biggest potential loss, oddly enough, was the plug adapter that allowed a data collector with the Sokkia connector on it to connect to a Zeiss total station.
While these dark thoughts were running through my mind as I made one final pass at the site to see whether I had overlooked anything at all, a woman's voice floated down from the porch of a house well off the ground. "Kent?" she asked. She came down and there in her hands was not only the missing data collector, but the clipboard with maps and papers that I had yet to miss.
Evidently, while I was searching in a frenzy, she had left a message at my office to the effect that she'd found the stuff while walking her dog. It was a comedy of errors, but I immediately bought another data collector just to have it in the future. Now all I need to do is find a source for the Zeiss plug adapter.
I am thinking that you are adding the wrong stuff.
You need to add a woman to your crew.
Maybe even a dog!
Glad it all worked out.
Kent,
Reminds me of the day I drove off from a jobsite 2 hours away in the dark and discovering the next morning that the DC was not in the case.
After wasting a whole day searching and fretting, the next afternoon it as found all nice and comfy in the back seat of the work truck.
Things you do when your tired.
Randy
This company could have the connector/adapter you're looking for:
http://www.idpi.biz/Data-Cables.htm
Don't know anything about them. Result from a Google search.
Kara Co. in Chicago might have been Sokkia's supplier for them.
did you try to use pinfinder (metal detector), I was able to locate my 5800 batteries this way in the grass in willows. The search area was not big but I would newer spot them with my eyes.
I like the Luke theory. My live sure changed, when a fine woman came to be my wife.
🙂
N
Where's the Cable?
I have at least three, I believe.
When I Purchased my instrument from APE I also bought an SMI HP 48, environmental case and cable. Low and behold there was also a cable in the instrument case. That original is rather clunky looking and is under the seat of the survey vehicle as a spare. I used the orange cable with the coils. When my instrument went in for repairs I ended up buying a Topcon, Nikon and Pentax (never used) cable as I borrowed and rented. When I got a loose wire in the first orange one it was just before the PJ PLS convention. I asked the Trimble factory rep there for a replacement seller, he searched in his box and handed me one.
The one that needs repair still sits around here somewhere and is free for the asking. A local Trimble dealer can set you up with new for about $50.
Paul in PA
> Kara Co. in Chicago might have been Sokkia's supplier for them.
>
> http://www.karaco.com/
That Kara Co. is a pretty good lead. I think they used to be a Zeiss dealer. The part I'm looking for is just a plug about an inch long, one end of which fits the DIN plug on the Zeiss and the other end of which fits the LEMO connector of the SDR33 cable.
> did you try to use pinfinder (metal detector), I was able to locate my 5800 batteries this way in the grass in willows.
That's a good trick to remember. In this case, I wasn't finding the data collector because the woman had already picked it up and called to let me know she had it. I just hadn't checked messages and didn't know that last part until she showed up with it in hand.
also get yourself a good tactical flashlight from santa like a fenix or another brand.
as far as flashlight quality it is like day and night compared to conventional flashlights ,imo.
My field books Cary a note on the inside cover that I pay a $20.00 reward for there safe return. I payed it only once in 25 years but well worth it for my error.
You got me thinking about adding a laminated card to all my equipment. $20.00 for the return of the rod is worth it. I can then bend it over the rodmans head.
Thanks
ken Pudeler
I thought you were still missing the adapter (cable) and was thinking whether the detector would pick it up in the grass or not..
I heard a story, here in ukraine, that an old woman had actually stolen a backsite setup, and she was caught while carrying the tripod on her back.. may be she thought it was a good source of wood to start a fire in the stove.. still funny to recall that 🙂
you are lucky you met more kind one 🙂
I was working on the New River in the mid-70s. We were working 4 can to can't days and 1/2 day Fridays and then driving 125 miles home. I had to cross a low water bridge to turn the van around. As we came back across the bridge one of the guys said "Hey that looked like your field book". I said no can't be. We went to searching and could not find the book. Made a fast u-turn. The book was on the edge but we got it just in time. A few years ago I left the data collector on the tool box. When we got out the dc was hanging by the tripod hook. One more bump and it would have been gone. I am much more carful now but "Stuff Happens".
You're describing the Zeiss adapter sold by Sokkia Corporation. Probably long discontinued by Sokkia but maybe a dealer has one just waiting to find a home.
If it helps Sokkia Corporation Stock No. 530630. List price was $165 in 1997.
Sokkia never had separate cables for different brands of instruments supported by the SDR 2x and 33 collectors. Always an adapter of some sort connecting to the SDR cable except Topcon which seemed to have the same type of Hirose connector with an appropriate pin out to connect without an adapter. Very early Topcon electronic instruments did require a special interface which include a box with some circuitry. Those instruments did not have a Hirose brand connector.
> You're describing the Zeiss adapter sold by Sokkia Corporation. Probably long discontinued by Sokkia but maybe a dealer has one just waiting to find a home.
>
> If it helps Sokkia Corporation Stock No. 530630. List price was $165 in 1997.
Thanks for that information. If it was a specialty item made for Sokkia, then probably just changing the cable on the data collector is the better solution, I suppose, unless I get luckier than I ordinarily am and find a dealer with one of the adapters sitting on a shelf.
It's called a notebook
Only once have I ever left it behind. It had about an inch of snow on top of it when I went looking for it around midnight. Had tossed it down in the grass at roadedge to go set the final bar. Tossed everything (but that) into the vehicle and called it a day. While tossing and turning and not getting any sleep, I thought of a question about the job so got up to refer to my notes. UH OH!!!!!! Fortunately, it was only about ten miles from home instead of a hundred.
Precisely why I like my onboard DC.
> Precisely why I like my onboard DC.
Oh, I wouldn't want to leave a total station behind. A data collector is bad enough. :>
The worst thing I can imagine is leaving my Whiskey bottle behind at the job. A slug really helps with those belligerent neighbor encounters.
> The worst thing I can imagine is leaving my Whiskey bottle behind at the job.
So, what do surveyors in PLSSia leave as memorials at corners they make, then? It is all Perrier bottles these days?
