Time for a New Gun (TS) - Best Tracking?
The sokkia is similar to Topcon I understand which itself is no Leica/ Trimble setup!
I've used Lecia/Trimble in past and found Lecia better (no way I want the cost/pole weight of active prism thanks). I have a Zoom90 and it sounds exactly the same a the Leica TS15 I use at another firm for some contact work (and works just as well). The current model is the Zoom95 which as far as I can tell just got a faster onboard processor and screen but otherwise same hardware as Zoom90.
It comes down to what software you want to use/what other gear you have to integrate with as having all hardware off one software/controller is awesome. I run my robot and zenith40's with xpad and find it good, would not want to use survCE but many love it, and if someone else is writing the checks I'd always buy Lecia but for my solo operation Lecia was nearly 2x price and Trimble 2.5x of the Geomax package I got.
You can't beat the Trimble with the active tracking ...
Just back from a demo of the MS-60. The Powersearch is very impressive.
Addn'l - the tracking of the active tracking Trimble is still slightly better than the MS-60, I think, but the MS-60 tracks very well, and the power search feature amply compensates.
If you lose lock because of an obstruction with the Trimble, and are still in the field of view when the obstruction clears, the instrument will snap right back to locked on without any prompting. With the Leica you are going to need to initiate the powersearch, but luckily this is very easy and quick. If you are out of the field of view with Trimble you will need to joystick it, which is not automatic, with the Leica you would initiate the power search and be back on in a few seconds. So there are plusses and minuses with both which probably add up to a sawoff on that feature in isolation .
More Addn'l - I'm just back from collecting a couple hundred points of actual topo work with the MS-60 today. I'm a little less enthusiastic about the tracking than I was. Work was in a busy urban intersection. Tracking was not automatically reacquired after interruptions and the instrument continued to record points even when it wasn't locked on. Which, of course, led to dozens of useless "points" being recorded. Probably there is a setting I need to find to fix this behavior. Also - this instrument weighs a metric f-ton, as the kids say. Schlepping it across the street is about as far as I'd want to go with it.
Yeah it blew my mind how well it could regain lock sometimes. In thick leaves the Trimble can get a shot through a tighter spot but overall I lose lock more often with the Trimble than the Leica when working in the subdivisions.
I also had more times where the Trimble locked on any random reflective surface but that was because of a glitch that kept switching to passive mode. The Leica locked on a window or sign maybe twice in the couple of years I used it. And if it did it at least it wouldn't get a shot on it. I'd just wonder why it wouldn't shoot and I'd find out it was looking at the brightest sun reflection ever off the roof of a random car.
It also shot amazingly fast even in IR FINE mode. And the reflectorless was so good even though I only had the r400 model.
I just wish I could go back to it and pass the s5 onto someone else. I like the integrated surveying mode with the Trimble and the r10 but most of my work is total station only.
The sokkia ix can't hold a lock to save it's life. But the search at least is good with the RC unit, like Leica powersearch except you can't tell it which direction to go and it always went the wrong way. Lol.
Leica 1203+ tracking was very good and Trimble tracking is good but prediction not so good and search is a complete fail so hopefully you like using a joystick.
From what I've seen xpad is better than field genius and I value stable software for my sanity
Geomax = Leica tracking which I prefer overall to Trimble's approach. No robot is as good as a person pointing to a prism in heavy bush in my experience. All robots need a clear line of sight in a way that a manual total station shooting to half a prism down the side of a trunk always beats. Robots also don't track as well in the rain (great excuse to sit out showers in the truck like the T2 days)
From what I've read on this site Leica tracking is a little more precise than the Trimble active prism but can't back that up with side by side results so defer to others on that point.
