In the discussion below about the Leica data collectors it was clear to me that some prefer one thing and some another. Almost all the instruments I've used over the years have had positives and negatives. I can only remember one instrument that was, as far as I was concerned, all bad. That was a K&E Microranger. That *&&%&#$# destroyed a perfectly good T1. It was a top mounted EDM. Instead of mounting to the standards like the Guppies etc. it mounted to the top of the barrel. The additional weight of the unit ruined the bearings of the vertical circle and we ended up scrapping the gun. Plus the battery and controls (heavy) were on a strap that hung off the operators shoulder and were a REAL pain to carry (with tripod, instrument, box for EDM, and bush axe). Luckily that thing didn't last long, evidently it wasn't field tested before hitting the market.
Andy
I once purchased a Nikon level online that looked like it was a Snap-Tite plastic model when it arrived and held together with a bit of model cement. I didn't even try to use it and was able to resell it.
I bought a South Total Station when they first hit the market. They looked like a Topcon so I figured it would perform like one just not have the Topcon name. WRONG! Those things are junk. Maybe they are better now, but I doubt it.
Close runner up would be a Nikon 420. I know they have loyal fans but the one I had was a dog.
Never shall I stray from Topcon again.
Jena with a McHenry Beetle. Plate locking clamps would move the gun when used, did a lot of traversing for the guy who owned over a couple of years. He thought or told me often how much better than a T2 it was. Finally the bearings became so worn from the Beetle weight and no parts available it was retired. Could not flip the scope with the EDM, Used both plates to accumulate horizontal angles. But the boss said I was getting much better closures with it than I could with any 1" instrument. The Jena was a 20" gun and it still on the shelf it was placed, on 25 +/- years ago.
jud
The worst instrument is any instrument (including GPS) in the hands of someone who doesn't have a clue what they're doing. Or worst yet, someone who knows just enough to be really dangerous.
> Jena with a McHenry Beetle.>
I don't know but you might of had two pieces of junk 🙂 No way on earth was a Jena even in the same league as a Wild T-2!
K&E Autorangers would sometimes give a bad distance, BUT for late 1970's it was a lot better than chaining!
Wild DI-1000 Distomats were pretty lame too, built be Sercel in France, you probably don't need to know more than that to know why they were lame (I think that France must be too close to the home of Lucas!). Prone to bad distances and real short range too boot.
Wild DI-5S Distomats were just the opposite, long range (27,0000 feet once), a couple of miles to a single prism was normal! For the size (scope mounted), those were real hot shooters! Especially compared to some of the K&E Laser Rangers, etc. that took three people and a car battery to get a distance. A T-2000 with a scope mounted DI-5S is still a fine setup for tight control if you can find a working one.
The EDM on my 1998 issue TCA1100 is pretty hot too and will return repeat measurements all day long to the mm, DI's have come a long way in my 30 year career.
SHG
:good:
Yep, they made a balanced set, many times I considered having an accident, but I don't intentionally destroy others property. Liked the T16 and DI3 combo also liked the T2 and DKM2 with HP 3800, Cubic tape or the AGA 76 for EDMs, the 76 was my favorite EDM.
Finally, someone who used a South Instrument!
The ads were so hokey, (obvious Photoshop mock ups) I had to question the product.
SOKKIA SRX-X
The crew I worked in got a K&E Eagle 60 transit back in about 1980-81. I'm pretty sure that was the neame of it, though I can't find any reference to it on the net. Used it a couple of weeks and noticed things weren't checking. Turned out the optical plumb in it had come partly unglued and was just flopping around inside it.
Leitz made some theodolites in the late '70s that were a little on the cheap side. They worked okay, but didn't seem very robust. I also used a Lietz SET2C that had great optics, but would toss in a bad distance just often enough to make it untrustworthy. It was probably a comms problem between the gun and TDS, but we eventually relegated that gun to unreliable status.
Wild T1 and T2
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just kidding....
I was waiting for someone to mention the Lietz/Sokkisha set guns.
Of all the instruments that I ever groaned about it was a sokkia set 3 something or something like that.
It was a big heavy grey beast and the edm was so slow. It would click and tick forever it seemed.
The battery life was lousy but maybe it needed new batteries.
It did give bad distances at times.
Took forever for topo shots. Click click click click ticiktick tick click click………tick click
I did not trust it at all.
Eagle 60 Theodolite from 1979 K&E Catalog 10a
One minute scale reading theodolite like T16 in specification.
Telescope mounted add on EDM units added a lot of weight causing premature wear of the horizontal/telescope axis. Especially true on transits with small diameter bearing surfaces and some older optical theodolites.
An employer bought a used Set3. That instrument came from a mine, 'nough said.
I have a SET-3 in my personal collection and love it. The weight is the main thing for stability. I only use it for boundary work, so I agree that doing topo would be tough if you need speed.
Anyone ever heard of a PATH level? An former employer had one back in the 1980's. It was light blue and we had to peg test it every time before using it.
Path Instruments distributed first by an independent importer. David White started distributing late 1960's or early 1970's. Instruments sold by DW are an olive green hammer finish. Earlier ones were a smooth light colored finish.
Path S-201 30x Automatic Level from 1976 DW Brochure. $515 List.
Compensator suspended on miniature ball bearing axis. Fairly rugged design but over time it seemed the compensators would start to stick possibly due to flat spots forming in the bearing race because the bearings won't rotating as they would in a typical mechanical device or the lubricant becoming gummy.
I see that the Hilti POS 15 Total Station not on the list, ey... Don't let the name fool you!
Seriously, TDS Recon (although not really an instrument) under the sun is the worst I have used.
A Topcon 303. Not because of the instrument itself, but the lack of maintenance on it.
I had used the same model at one company for 5 years and know it is avery good instrument.
I was at a different company with the same instrument, but the tangent screws would just fall off of the instrument and it was not reliably staying locked. I don't know how long it was like that before I got there, but after complaining about it enough and a couple of close calls on bad data, the company finally got a new instrument.