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Good job

@jed

I don't know how you do what you do without a robot. It would be a worthwhile investment, even an old one like I'm using.?ÿ

I've found out that all the modern robots (including my Leica and the Sokkia iX I was using and Trimble robots using active prism ) all sight slightly off the center and calculate the offsets to the center. It's supposed to be easier on the motor I guess. It's scary the first time you look through, when you don't realize that it's normal behavior.?ÿ

Posted by: @350rocketmike

I don't see how it would be related to the motor. More likely it is easier for the manufacturer to calibrate out the difference than to physically adjust the sensor position.

@bill93

You could be right. I read somewhere the thing about the motors but haven't verified that. Whatever it is, they all seem to do it that way.?ÿ

@350rocketmike

So I would set a back site on a corner, set up the robot at my furthest line of site, take the rover to my next furthest line of site and hit search, do the same for sideshots, get a lock on the prism take the shot. I would then have to go back and manually flop and sight a backsight nail. And many times I'm sighting through a ton of brush just spotting a small section of rod or nail. Plus robots are heavy. I'm still trying to think of an advantage over a total station in timber surveying.?ÿ

@bill93

I always thought it was from the legs heating up and cooling down but it could just be how they work, anyways Ive always had a hard time trusting technology.?ÿ

@jed

Robots are slightly heavier (my Leica 1203 doesn't feel that heavy to me, and the newer garbage Sokkia iX was really light) but unless you have a second guy with you the only reason not to have a robot is cost.?ÿ

You're going to be doing the exact same thing as now basically except that you don't have to go back to the instrument just to take the foresight if you have other things to shoot in the meantime (I guess if you're just traversing nail to nail it's not such a big deal because you have to go back to the instrument as soon as you foresight anyway). For me besides that I'm doing construction layout and most setups have like 6-104 points to be staked out, I don't have enough tribrachs and prisms to traverse by myself with a conventional instrument. The bipod and prism pole isn't steady enough in the wind to trust it while walking back to the instrument.?ÿ

All our crews have either 2 people and 2 tripods (often only using one with the instrument and one with the GPS) or 1 person with a robot (usually just me).?ÿ

@350rocketmike

We need the Surveyors Games with timed events!???

@jed

Lol that would be fun. My one old party chief said something to that effect once, but he meant party chief and instrument man vs party chief and instrument man.?ÿ

?ÿ

@350rocketmike GPS has come such a long way over the last decade, I use the robot less and less but there are times when there's just no substitute for breaking out the gun. Can save a lot of time standing around waiting for a good GPS fix. I recently upgraded our Trimble R83/R10 base rover receivers to pick up Galileo satellites in addition to Glonass and GPS. At one point yesterday I was picking up 33 satellites and getting decent precision in places I never imagined possible.

@350rocketmike

Would have to have one, two and 3 man events.?ÿ

Closed loop traverses, bull pricking in an 8"hub into compacted rock, lath throwing????

When I did construction the rookie ran the gun and the guy who knew what he was doing drove the hubs, way faster, then we got a robot and and could do it about the same speed but with one guy

@jed

Yeah i always ran the gun (Leica TCR 803) as a rookie instrument man on legal jobs.?ÿ

Now as a party chief I run a robot. I feel like I'm less reliant on a rookie not making a mistake when I'm running a robot.?ÿ

@williwaw

Yeah, i realize GPS is getting better but the thick bush we have around here, and rocky hills means that usually when I have to break out the GPS because I have no line of sight for the robot, I also have lack of line of sight for satellites.?ÿ

I carry around an old Sokkia grx2 base/rover, for the odd time I need GPS. It works great when I'm in a subdivision open to the sky, but in the woods it's always a battle. The last couple times I knew I was going to be fighting for a lock I borrowed the r10 and r12i. It was still a stressful fight for a lock.?ÿ

So my experience with GPS is always standing there praying for a decent lock. I much prefer having line of sight and using the robot.?ÿ

@williwaw

I dream of the day GPS is faster and as accurate as a total station in the bottom of a hell hole???

@jed

I like mechanical things, so the robotic total station is more my style. Especially once I got rid of the one that was always failing me (Sokkia iX).?ÿ

@jed You might be surprised. If you have access to a GPS unit, even an older static only, I'd set it up on a point and let it cook overnight. Even in the hell hole, a 12 hour observation will yield some decent positions probably within tolerances for marking timber lines.

My average job is 1/4 mile pin to pin setting posts/sideshots every 120-150ft on line, most times it's a sliver of sky or thick reprod and no sky. Would be interesting to give it a try???

@jed

How do you do all that by yourself? Seems like a lot of running back and forth to the instrument.?ÿ

?ÿ

@350rocketmike

Young and dumb???

@bill93

I was looking through my manual looking for some info on power search and saw this statement. This is leica's explanation.