Topcon Total Stations: Demystifying model names/numbers
I prefer the laser plummet on the Leica but yes the optical plummet on the s series is terrible. That large outer ring sometimes blocks the view of the nail. I end up putting a Sharpie dot in the center to make sure I perfectly center. The topcon plummet was fine.
The ix-503 had terrible tracking for me but the search was better than Trimble. The gt-503 we got as a loaner was actually really good though. Both sounded like they were broken because of the noisy ultrasonic motors. When they do fail, you'll know it though. It becomes an obvious grinding noise and the vertical starts acting up. I was told these failures were fixed with a firmware update.
@350rocketmike I recall the Trimble tsc3 data collectors did not handle DXF’s very well. They would sometimes be slow to load the map or parts of the map wouldn’t load at all so I’d have to do the old, pop out the battery for a few seconds, put back in, then reboot everything.
@350rocketmike the first laser plummet I used was on a Topcon and I thought it was very nice to use. Also, I must agree that the search function on the Topcon robot does seem to find the prism a little faster than Trimble s-series. The Trimble 360 prism that comes with the s-series you have to be careful with turning one of the prisms directly at the instrument when setting control or setting the BS. The Topcon triangle 360 prism is ok other than it reads .03’ below the prism measurement. Also, I have to add, the design for the trimble s-series carry case was interesting.
@350rocketmike I recall the Trimble tsc3 data collectors did not handle DXF’s very well. They would sometimes be slow to load the map or parts of the map wouldn’t load at all so I’d have to do the old, pop out the battery for a few seconds, put back in, then reboot everything.
Version was (and is) still key when working with a lot of external formats. The TSC3 worked best with DXF v2007 and v2010, which makes sense since it dropped around ~2011. I didn't see many problems until v2013. Once I switched to blocking out everything in v2007, I never had any problems.
I now use DXF v2010 as the default format since it seems to be stable on all the newer DCs.
We never used DXF's on the tsc3. Only on the tsc7 and tsc5 which we exchanged. Sometimes they won't work at all in access but I can still load it in fieldgenius just for a visual reference. Key in polyline can quickly add enough lines for at least the lot I'm working on.
Sounds like it just needed an update then is all. I also remember the tsc3 had another glitch in stakeout mode, where after you took a shot, it wouldn’t always automatically advance to the next stakeout point. But all I’d have to do was click back one, then forward again to the point I’m staking out to and all was good again.
I think the pointing of the 360 prism goes for all 360 prisms. The Leica even has little yellow arrows to tell you which way to point it.
For me, if I'm using the s5 by itself, search means turning on the guidelights, opening the joystick, then pointing it directly at myself, which I don't really consider a "search". GPS search sometimes works but it's dependent on your surrounding environment, and you have to be a ways away from the robot for it to work.
One thing I wish was different on Topcon magnet, is the ability to export point number ranges. Maybe there is a way though and I just haven’t found it yet.
Sometimes they won't work at all in access
If a DXF isn't working in Access, it's more than likely either not actually v2010 or earlier, or something got jacked up during export. I see a lot of attempts to export out entities from CAD that are simply not DXF-compatible, like alignments, feature lines, MTEXT, COGO points, surfaces, etc.
@350rocketmike I’ve tried a tracker 360 prism with the s-6 and s-7 but never had any luck getting it to work. Also, the tracker prism constant was horrible (+12.0mm if I recall) and was hard to get any precision from it. The only thing good about it was the LED lights were nice for working in the dark, which was rare if I could help it.
