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Appendix H. Trimble Robotics 5600 Total Station Procedures
Prepared by Steve Belz, Black Creek Hydrology, LLC
OBJECTIVE
The permanent cross section is the location for measuring erosion and deposition rates for road
reaches, some cut slopes on rock surfaces, drainage ditches, conveyance channels, sediment
ponds, and stream reaches along the Pikes Peak Highway. As a surrogate for estimating actual
erosion rates, surface elevation for selected sites is being monitored over time to document
erosion rates. Benchmarks and cross sections have been located and permanently referenced and
are periodically surveyed to determine the degree of erosion or deposition occurring in the cross
sections. The benchmarks are used to orient the Trimble Robotics Total Station as to the
elevation and the geospatial location of the feature being surveyed. Field experience in the use
of the Total Station indicates that the measurement error in defining the reference elevation for
the feature of interest, based on the use of three benchmarks is 0.10 feet or less. For this study, a
Trimble Robotics 5600 Total Station with a TSC2 Controller is used to measure elevations,
horizontal distances, and vertical distances.
PROCEDURES Covered in this Document
-
Basics of Tripod Setup and Total Station Location
o Safe handling of equipment
o Site selection
o Setting up the tripod
-
Powering Up The System and Leveling the Instrument
o Connecting cables and power
o Starting Survey Controller in the TSC2
o Leveling the 5600
o Setting air pressure and temperature
o The remote target prism, topo shoe and point shoe
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Station Setup Methods
o Station Setup Option
 Establishing the instrument location (northing, easting and elevation) on a
local coordinate grid
 Instrument height
 Shooting the backsight point
 Standard mode vs. Tracking mode
 Trimble Functions screen
• Tracklight
• Autolock
• Turn to
• Search
• Joystick
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o Resection Option
 Control points
 Face1 vs. Face2
 Resection accuracy, errors, and tolerance
 The Turn feature
-
Shooting Benchmark points or Ground Topography Points
o Measure Topo mode
o The point Name and Feature Code
o Changing the rod height
o Saving a shot point
-
Completing a Survey
o Checking for straight lines on cross sections
o Map navigation
-
Stakeout Mode
o Selecting points to stake out
o Re-establishing a control point
-
Creating a Job File
o Creating the file
o Copying points to the current job file from the master control point file
-
Collimation (Instrument Calibration)
o HA VA collimation
o Trunnion axis tilt
o Autolock collimation
-
Other Trimble Features
-
Miscellaneous Notes
o Deleting job files
o Radio settings
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Basics of Tripod Setup and Total Station Location
Before going to the job site, make sure all batteries are charged and all necessary cables,
antennas and adaptors are in the storage cases. If you will be using survey data points previously
collected, load that file into the TSC2 from the computer using Trimble Geomatics Office
(TGO).
At the job site, pick a location where you can see most if not all of the survey area with a
minimum number of instrument setups. Or, if you are performing a resection, pick a location
where you can see all of the required benchmark (BM) or control points. The instrument should
be set up at least 10’ from the nearest BM otherwise target may not lock.
The benchmarks or control points are monumented by 2.5 foot lengths of 0.5 inch rebar pounded
into the ground and topped with plastic yellow caps. Aluminum nursery tags wired to the rebar
identify the individual benchmarks or control points (e.g., CP01). Every feature surveyed has at
least three points with which to register the survey, although some features in close proximity
may share control points.
It is best if the Total Station is centrally located among the control points as shown below. Try
to never have a station setup where the Total Station is in a line with multiple control points.
TBM01
TBM01
TBM02
TBM02
10 Feet
Min.
Total Station
TBM03
TBM03
Total Station
Best
Good
TBM01
TBM02
TBM02
TBM03
TBM03
Total Station
Fair
Total Station
Poor
Station Setup Configurations
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The site for the instrument setup should be on solid ground, preferably not boggy or frozen and
especially not on a frozen bog. If the tripod is set on frozen ground, the pressure from the weight
will melt the ground and throw the instrument out of level; you will get a tilt error requiring you
to perform a resection.
It is best for the ground surface to be reasonably level to make setting up the instrument easier,
but that is not always possible. Sometimes a setup on steep terrain is necessary.
Once a setup location has been selected, fully extend the tripod legs and securely lock them in
position. Spread the tripod legs so they are about 4 feet apart. Before stomping the legs into the
ground, adjust the legs so that the mounting plate is reasonably level and so that the instrument
won’t be too high or too low once it is mounted on the tripod relative to the height of the person
using the instrument. Step on the leg points with your full weight to firmly set each point into
the ground. If necessary, adjust the leg height again to roughly level the mounting plate.
Carry the Total Station case to a location next to the established tripod. With BOTH HANDS
remove the instrument from the case with one hand on the handle and one hand under the
tribrach to support the Total Station. Place the instrument on the tripod while continuing to hold
on to the handle until the instrument is secured to the tripod. Thread the mounting screw into the
bottom of the instrument and tighten snuggly. Only now should you let go of the instrument.
Powering Up the System and Leveling the Instrument
Attach the antenna to the Total Station. Plug the gel cell battery cable into the Total Station.
Press the Power button to turn on the Total Station. The Total Station will sound a “beep” and
then “beep-beep” if operating correctly.
Attach an antenna and a battery to the radio and connect the TSC2 to the “A” Hirose port (the
lower of the two ports) on the radio with the coiled cable. Attach the TSC2 to the rod using the
TSC2 clamp. The radio’s belt clip can be used to hang the radio on the TSC2 rod clamp.
Press the Power button on the radio. The LED light next to the Power button should be on and
red. Press the green Power button on the TSC2. The following screen should appear.
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Tap the Survey Controller text to start the Survey Controller program. The Total Station and the
TSC2 will attempt to establish a radio communication link. The light on the radio will flash
intermittently during this process.
While the TSC2 and the Total Station are establishing communication, use the three leveling
thumb screws to level the Total Station relative to the bubble level on the tribrach adapter. As
with all bubble levels the bubble floats to the high side of the vial. To level the instrument,
either lower the side that the bubble floats to, or lower the opposite site.
Once the Total Station and TSC2 have established a link, the electronic level as shown on the
following TSC2 screen should appear and you can finish leveling the instrument.
Try to get the Total Station level to less than 10 seconds. With the instrument level, press Accept
on the TSC2 screen. The following window will display and the Total Station will spin 180°,
pause, and then spin back 180°. The Corrections screen will appear.
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In the Corrections screen shown above, enter the ambient air temperature (°F) and atmospheric
pressure. Do not use the barometric pressure provided by local weather stations—those contain
an adjustment for elevation. Either obtain actual atmospheric pressure from a GPS device or
enter an approximation based on your elevation where sea level = 30 inches; 10,000 feet
elevation = 20 inches; 10,500 feet elevation = 19.5 inches; 9,500 feet elevation = 20.5 inches;
11,000 feet elevation = 19 inches; etc.
Press Enter after making changes and then press Accept to accept the entries and tap Esc to
return to the main Survey Controller screen shown below.
If your job file exists in the data collector, go into Files/Open Job and select that job. If not, go
into Files/New Job and type in a file name (screens not shown in this document). Press Enter
after entering the file name then Accept. Units should be set to US survey feet. If necessary,
copy control points from the master control point file into the new job file by following the
procedures listed later in this document under Creating a Job File.
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Attach the remote target prism (RMT) to the top of the carbon fiber survey rod and a survey shoe
to the bottom. Power on the RMT when ready but always power it off when not in use to save
battery power. Use the point shoe when taking shots on control points so that the target is
precisely located over the center of the control point. The flat-bottomed topo shoe is used when
taking ground surface shots; it will be less prone to sinking into the ground.
Attach the bi-pod to the rod. Always use the bi-pod to steady the rod when shooting control
points.
Note: After the station setup is complete and BM points have been shot, replace the point shoe
with the topo shoe for taking ground topo shots. Make sure to place the orange plastic survey
rod cap in the storage case and do not lose it. The survey rod should always be capped when the
RMT is not attached since the gold plated prongs are vulnerable to damage and very expensive to
repair.
Station Setup Methods
You will use one of two methods for setting up the Total Station; Station Setup or Resection. If
you have a file already loaded in the TSC2 that contains two or more established control points
(e.g., rebar pins or other permanent survey monuments) on a previously established coordinate
grid and you have found them on the ground, use the Resection option. Otherwise, you will need
to use the Station Setup option to establish an arbitrary local coordinate grid. When re-surveying
a feature, always set up the instrument in a location that allows you to perform a Resection on the
control points established for that feature. Do not Resection on control points that were installed
for a different feature.
Station Setup Option
Tap on Survey to open the drop-down menu and select Station Setup as shown below.
The program will first take you to the Corrections screen, where you can re-enter air temperature
and pressure, if needed. Tap Accept to continue.
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The Station Setup screen is shown below. Note that the Key in instrument point area of the
screen is typically not visible when the Station Setup screen first appears. However, it will pop
up once you enter something in the Instrument point name field.
In the Station Setup screen you will enter the following:
-
-
Instrument point name: This is a point number identifying the point created for the
instrument position. Our standard nomenclature uses point numbers in the “500XX”
range to identify instrument location points. If the instrument is moved at the particular
job you are working on, the next Instrument Point Name will be 50002.
Code: This is the point description text. Our nomenclature uses “InstXX.” Always
make sure Inst01 is associated with 50001, Inst02 with 50002, etc.
Instrument height: This is the distance from the ground to the lens on the instrument, as
identified by a“+” on the side of the Total Station. If the Total Station is set up over a
known point, then this will be the distance from the top of the pin to the “+” as measured
using a measuring tape. If the instrument is not set up over a known point and you are
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not concerned with the precise elevation of the ground below the instrument, simply enter
“5” feet.
Northing and Easting: For station Northing and Easting use 5000, 5000. For Elevation,
use an approximate elevation from a known nearby benchmark, obtain it from a
topographic map, or obtain it from a GPS unit. Do not check the Control Point box
unless the instrument is set up over a known point; you are entering the specific known
northing, easting and elevation values of that known point; and the instrument height
value is measured with a tape.
Tap Enter and then Accept to go to the next screen to enter the Backsight point information.
Choose a point for a backsight. This can be an existing benchmark, a stake you pound in the
ground, a nail in pavement, or an arbitrary (but permanent) point marked on a rock. You will
need to know the azimuth (the compass heading) of the selected backsight point relative to the
Total Station. If it is due north, then the azimuth is 0°. If is it due south then it is 180°. If east,
then 90°, if west, then 270°.
-
-
Backsight point name: A point number that is assigned to the backsight point. Our
nomenclature typically assigns the number 1 to the backsight point.
Code: A description of the backsight point.
Backsight height: The height of the RMT mirror above the backsight point (the rod
height). It is a good habit to always enter the rod height before physically adjusting the
rod height, as there is a tendency to forget to update the screen setting before moving on.
Azimuth: the compass heading of the backsight point relative to the instrument.
Method: ALWAYS make sure this says “Angle and distance” or you will be very
unhappy later when you find that the points you shot have no elevation values!
Press Enter after making changes to the values and then press Accept.
With the rod placed on the backsight location, the RMT turned on, the rod height set on the rod,
and the rod held plumb, point the instrument toward the target, and allow it to lock on. Hold the
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rod steady and tap Measure. The instrument will require a few seconds to take the shot. Once
the shot has been successfully taken, the following screen will appear.
If the instrument successfully completes the shot and all the information is correct, tap Store and
you will be taken back to the main Survey Controller menu.
Note the information on the right side of the screen. The upper battery indicator is for the TSC2.
The lower battery indicator is for the Total Station battery. The yellow Total Station icon shows
a line with a “*” at the end. This indicates that the Total Station is locked onto the RMT and
mirror. Compare that to previous screen captures above, which show that the Total Station is not
locked onto the RMT.
The “S” indicates Standard mode as opposed to a “T” for Tracking mode. Standard mode allows
the instrument to take very precise shots and requires a few seconds for each shot. Always use
this mode when shooting control points, perimeter points, and cross section endpoints. Tracking
mode is much faster (nearly instant shots) and is used when shooting topography and survey line
transects such as road or stream cross sections. To switch back and forth between Standard and
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Tracking mode, go into the Trimble Functions screen by pressing the Trimble key near the upper
left of the TSC2 keyboard. The Trimble key has what looks like a flower on it (it’s actually a
globe).
The “5.000” is the height of the instrument (5 feet) over the ground or a known point entered
previously. The +0 to the right of the target icon is the mirror offset (should always be +0 for the
RMT). The 5.100 is the rod height (5.10 feet) that was entered previously. The “1” next to
target icon indicates that target number one is selected. You will likely never need to change this
unless your survey efforts become more advanced and you use multiple targets.
The Trimble Functions screen is shown below. Here you will toggle between Standard mode
(STD) and Tracking mode (TRK). Other useful functions are Tracklight, Joystick, Turn to and
Search. Note that if a button indicates On, then that feature is actually turned off and you need
to tap the icon’s On to turn it on. Autolock is nearly always on by default. So make sure it says
Off. Yes, it can be confusing.
Tap OK at the upper right of the screen to go back to the main Survey Controller menu.
Resection Setup Option
If you are using a job file already loaded in the TSC2 that contains two or more BM points that
you have located at your work site, then you will perform a resection. You must have at least
two known points for the resection. However, our standard protocol for the Pikes Peak Highway
study is to always use three points in a resection. Three points improves survey accuracy and
reduces the chance for procedural mistakes.
In this resection example, the job file (“test3) contains an instrument point 50001 (INST01) and
three BM points; point numbers 2 (TBM01), 3 (TBM02), and 4 (TBM03). Point number 1 was
an arbitrary backsight point in this example and is not used for the instrument resection.
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First locate all BM points. Set up the Total Station in a location from which all BM points can
be seen. Activate and level the Total Station, establish radio communication between it and the
TSC2 and set the temperature and air pressure. Press Accept and then Esc to return to the main
Survey Controller menu.
In the main Survey Controller menu, tap on Survey to bring up the following menu.
Make sure there is an “S” and not a “T” on the right side of the screen to indicate your are in
Standard mode. If that is not the case, press the Trimble key and select Standard mode.
Tap on Resection to bring up the Resection screen shown below.
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Point 50001 and INST01 identify an instrument location previously used. Therefore, this
resection setup will be identified as INST02 with point number 50002. The instrument is
typically not set up over a known point during a resection; the instrument height can be any
approximate value of around 5 feet. Just enter the value of “5” and tap Enter and Accept to bring
up the next screen (Resection-Face 1).
You will very likely always use Face 1 for the resection. If you see a Face 2 indicator, the Total
Station is probably inverted and needs to be flipped over.
Identify the first BM you wish to shoot and enter its point name and code as shown above. In the
example above, TBM02 (point number 3) is being shot first. If you enter the Point name and the
point exists in the job file, the Code will automatically be entered for you. Instead of typing in
the Point name, you can tap on the box and a menu will pop up that will list all points in the job
file. Scroll down to the appropriate point and select the desired point. Enter the rod height in the
Target height box.
Place the rod on the BM and take the shot (be sure to be in Standard mode). When the
instrument completes taking the shot, the screen will change with a “?” in the Point name box.
Move to the second BM (TBM03 in this example), enter the corresponding Point name in the
box (2 in this example) and take the shot. The following Start screen will display.
The screen below indicates two points have been used so far in the resection and displays the
Resection angle error and slope distance error. You could finish the resection at this point but it
is best to add one or more additional points by tapping + Point on the lower left on the screen to
again bring up the Resection – Face 1 screen.
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In the Resection – Face 1 screen (shown above) enter the point number of the next point (point
number 4 in this example) and move the RMT to the next BM (TBM03) in this example). A
convenient feature found when shooting three or more control points is that you can tap Turn at
the bottom of the screen and the Total Station will turn and point at the next control point. To
make the most of this feature, always shoot the two closest or most convenient control points
first and then use the Turn option to avoid making the instrument track your movements behind
trees or other obstacles.
After shooting the third resection point, the Out of tolerance screen (shown below) will appear.
The error tolerance in the Survey Controller program is generally set to zero and, therefore, a
resection will always be out of tolerance. If the ΔH, ΔV, and ΔS distances are small (less than a
few hundredths for ΔH and ΔS and less than a few thousandths for ΔV), then positional accuracy
of the third resection point is quite close to the first two resection points. Tap Enter to continue.
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The Start screen (shown below) will appear and display the relative errors of the three resection
points. Note that this example was performed in an office setting using only the topo shoe
placed on tape spots on the floor and without precise control points. The slope distance errors
shown below are much larger than are acceptable in the field.
The horizontal and vertical errors shown above are angles. The ΔHA VA SD ▼ box provides an
option to display errors as ΔHD ΔVD and ΔSD in feet to get a better idea of the resection errors.
Distance errors among resection points shown in the Start screen should typically be only a few
hundredths horizontal and a few thousandths vertical. If you get an error greater than 0.10 feet
in the horizontal, either the points or your method could be suspect. If there is an error greater
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than 0.10 feet in the vertical, then there is a problem. Either delete and re-shoot the erroneous
point, delete and find a different point to use, or perform a new resection. You should not simply
delete a bad point and use a two point resection. Rather, you need to determine why the error
exists and correct and/or document the problem.
You can choose not to accept a resection control point last shot if the margin of error is greater
than expected by pressing ESC.
If the points shot are acceptable, then tap on Results in the lower right corner. The final screen
(not shown) will display the standard error of the residuals. Tap Save to complete the resection
to return to the main Survey Controller screen.
Shooting Benchmark points or Ground Topography Points
With the station setup completed, you are now ready to shoot points. The following assumes that
you next need to shoot BM points and that you have previously installed three of them. Ideally,
you will have pounded stakes into the ground and capped them to create BM points or have
located and marked other permanent points to use as benchmarks. If you are instead ready to
shoot ground topography points, the procedure is the same, except you should be in Tracking
mode rather than Standard mode to speed data collection.
In the Survey Controller Main menu screen, tap the Survey icon to bring up the menu shown
below. Tap on Measure topo. (Note that this menu also takes you to the Stakeout function for
locating points listed in the job file. Stakeout instructions are later in this document.
The Measure topo screen is shown below.
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In the Measure topo screen enter:
-
Point name: A number to be assigned to the point you are about to shoot
Code: The text description of the point you are about to shoot
Target height: The RMT rod height (feet)
Method: ALWAYS set to Angles and distance
Press Enter and Accept after making changes to values.
Extend or shorten the rod to the correct height. Place the rod and RMT on the BM, hold it steady
and plumb and tap Measure. If you are in Standard mode, the Total Station will require a few
seconds to take the shot. The word Measure in the lower right of the screen will change to Store
as shown below. Tap Store to store the point.
Note: If in Tracking mode, the screen will say Store in the lower right hand corner prior to taking
the shot. When Store is tapped, the shot will be instantly taken and stored in one step. If
shooting a BM, you should use Standard mode.
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After storing the point just shot, move to the next BM. Note in the screen below that the Point
name (the point number) automatically increments to the next point value. You do need to
change the Code to the appropriate description as shown below. If it is necessary to adjust the
rod height to get a shot, it is a good habit to always enter the rod height in the TSC2 before
physically adjusting the rod height, as there is a tendency to forget to update the screen setting
before moving on.
Repeat the above process for all new points. Close the survey by shooting all benchmarks. You
can check your data by going into Favorites and Review Current Job. Here you can also edit
point descriptions.
Completing a Survey
After all points have been shot and before turning off the instrument or TSC2, check the survey
by tapping on Map at the right side of the screen to bring up the display shown below. This is
useful for examining stream and road cross sections to ensure that transect lines are straight and
to make sure nothing strange has crept into the survey process. It is also useful to check weir
surveys ensure complete survey coverage of the area.
The left “+” and “-” buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you to zoom in and out of the
display. The hand allows you to pan and the “+” on the right zooms to the extent of the points in
the file. With the hand button highlighted, tapping anywhere on the screen centers the display
over the location tapped.
The large up arrow toward the right of the screen brings up additional options including the
ability to display the point name (number) or code.
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Stakeout Mode
Stakeout is a very useful feature that allows you to locate a point stored in the data file or a point
created by entering coordinates. It is frequently used to re-establish an obliterated or otherwise
damaged control point or to simply locate some other point on the ground. The Stakeout menu is
found under Survey in the main Survey Controller menu and is executed after the instrument
location is established by either a Setup or Resection.
Begin by tapping Survey in the Survey Controller menu to bring up the screen below and then
tap on Stakeout to start the stakeout function.
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As shown below, you can stake out several types of entities, but you will likely stake out points
most of the time. Tap on Points.
Below you will see that no points are yet selected to stake out. Tap on Add at the bottom of the
screen.
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Typically, you will select Select from list as shown below. This will bring up the list of points
contained in the active job file. Scroll down through that list and select the point you want to
locate.
In this example, TBM03 was selected for staking out. Tap Stakeout.
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The following screen will display. In this example, the instrument was initially locked onto the
RMT, which was about 1 foot away from the point to be located. When the RMT was abruptly
moved in order to take a photograph of the TSC2 screen, the instrument lost its lock on the RMT
(as shown by the lack of a “*” next to the Tracking mode “T”), but the last known Go In and Go
Left position directions are still displayed. Note that the display automatically changes from
Standard mode to Tracking mode during the stakeout process. It will also automatically switch
back to Standard mode once the stakeout it completed.
Follow the Go In and Go Left directions to the point you are locating. If the stake or marker still
exists, you will likely find it; perhaps after a bit of digging.
If you need to re-establish a BM, locate the rebar or nail as precisely as possible relative to the
old location. If using rebar, pound it down close to the original position using the Stakeout mode
to guide you. Install a plastic cap on the rebar before pounding it to its final position. In the
example shown in the screen below, the stakeout found the point to be very close to the data file
coordinates.
Once the point is located, you can either hit Accept to store the point or escape out to add and
locate another point or go back to the Survey Controller menu. DO NOT press Accept and use
these coordinates as a new BM—the instrument was in Tracking mode. DO go back to Measure
topo, shoot the new pin or control point in Standard mode and give it a new name and number.
Make a note in the field book that this new pin and its coordinates replace an old, obliterated, or
damaged control point.
The screen below shows the display after a stakeout point was accepted. A point number 6 with
a Code of “4” was created in the file.
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Tapping Store at the lower right of the screen takes you to the screen below for adding another
stakeout point or for exiting back to the main Survey Controller menu.
Creating a Job File
Before going to the field, you will need to know if you are creating a survey from scratch or if
you will be using control points previously surveyed and contained in a file in the TSC2. If
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using an existing job, then go into Files/Open Job in the main Survey Controller menu, and
select that job.
If not, go into Files then New Job and type in a file name. Units should be set to US survey feet.
The file name should use the standard job name nomenclature that contains the site name and the
survey date such as “200RW_09222008” for a survey of rock weir 200 on September 22, 2008.
Select Accept.
The TSC2 contains a file name “PPHControlPoints20XX” that contains all of the control points
for all of the sites gathered from prior field seasons. Those control points are used for
establishing a Total Station setup at any previously surveyed site. Points contained in the control
point file can be selected and copied into a blank file (or any other file for that matter) and used
for a Total Station resection setup. The following are procedures for copying points between
files.
Assuming you have created a new job file (TEST05 in this example) tap on Files in the main
Survey Controller menu and select Copy between jobs. Use the drop down lists to select
PPHControlPoints2009 as the job to copy from and “TEST05” as the job to copy to. In the Copy
menu, select Points. Leave the Copy duplicate points box blank. Then tap on Accept and select
No at Copy calibration?
Select Select from list and PPHControlPoints2009 will open and all points in that file will be
displayed in a list. Scroll down the list to locate the points you want to copy and select each
point by tapping to the left of the point name, which will mark each point with a check mark.
You can tap a second time to remove a check mark. Tap Enter. All of the selected points will
have been copied over to the Copy to file you identified as shown in the screen below.
Collimation
Perform the collimation monthly when it is cool and there are no heat waves. Do no perform it
on a hot day or over asphalt or in a situation where the beam could be broken such as when
shooting across a road.
Setup the Total Station and the long range RMT at least 300’ apart on level ground. Use a
tribrach to attach the target on a tripod or use the target and rod attached to a bi-pod. It is
important that the Total Station and target be in a nearly horizontal alignment with a zenith of no
more than 3° between them.
On the main Survey Controller screen, shown below, tap Instrument and then select Adjust from
the dropdown menu. There will be three options: 1) HA VA collimation, 2) Trunnion axis tilt,
and 3) Autolock collimation.
The HA VA collimation is the first adjustment to be performed and requires the most steps. The
Trunnion axis tilt adjustment will most likely not need to be performed and will need to be
performed only if the HA VA collimation returns values greater than 5°. Autolock collimation is
very simple and is mostly automatic.
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Step 1 - HA VA collimation
The HA VA collimation process starts with the Total Station automatically flipping to Face 2.
While on Face 2, the process will require you to view through the eye piece and aim the cross
hairs on the target, take a shot, turn the instrument way from the target, aim the cross hairs on the
target again, take another shot, and repeat that process for a total of three shots. It is important to
have Autolock turned off or you will not be able to turn the instrument away from the target.
Make sure the instrument is using Face 1. Select the HA VA collimation radio button as shown
above and then tap Next in the lower right corner of the screen. The screen will display Current
values as shown below. Tap Next again.
The screen below will display and the lower right hand corner will say Measure.
The screen below shows “0” observations at the beginning of the process. These values will
change as you go through the process. You will initially make three observations using Face 2.
You can make more than three, but that is not necessary. Once three observations have been
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made using Face 2, you will tap Chg face and the instrument will automatically flip to Face 1.
The Process will then require you to make the same number of observations using Face 1 as you
did with Face 2.
Begin by looking through the Total Station and setting the cross hairs on the target. Tap
Measure to take a shot. The Face 2 observations counter will change from “0” to “1”. Turn the
instrument away from the target (e.g. 10° to 15°) and then aim the cross hairs on the target again
and take a shot. The Face 2 observations counter will change from “1” to “2”. Turn the
instrument away from the target again and then aim the cross hairs on the target for a third time
and take a third shot. The Face 2 observations counter will change from “2” to “3”.
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At this point, tap Chg face. The instrument will automatically flip to Face 1.
Aim the cross hairs on the target, tap Measure, turn the instrument away from the target, aim the
instrument on the target and tap Measure. Repeat this for a total of three shots using Face 1.
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Once the third shot has been taken, the following screen will display the results. If the difference
between the original old values and the new values is greater than 6°, then perform step 2
Trunnion axis tilt below. Otherwise go to step 3, Autolock collimation.
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Step 2 – Trunnion axis tilt
Pick a point on the ground where you can obtain a zenith angle of greater than +14° degrees and
aim the cross hairs on that point. Or, pick a point in the distance, on a hill side where you can
point up greater than -14°. Repeat the steps found in step 1 above.
Step 3 – Autolock collimation
Make sure the long range RMT is not in Long Range mode and that autolock is turned ON in the
TSC2 Trimble Functions screen which activated by pressing the Trimble key. Also remember
that the Autolock is actually “ON” when it says “OFF” on the screen. Select the Autolock
collimation radio button and tap Next. The process will require about 30 seconds to perform.
You need to do nothing else.
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Tap Accept in the lower right corner to complete the process.
Other Features
Useful features can be found in the Trimble Function screen.
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Search: If you are standing at a point some distance from the Total Station and the
instrument loses its lock on the RMT, use the Search function to scan the local area and
allow the Total Station to re-acquire a lock. Search parameters are adjustable.
Tracklight: With this turned ON; the Total Station will emit an LED light that you can
see while standing in front of the instrument. A visible white light indicates you are in
line with the Total Station. A visible green or red light indicates that you are slightly off
to the side.
Joystick: Shown in the screen below. This semi-useful feature allows you to turn the
instrument to point it in a desired direction. This can be useful if the RMT falls outside
of the Search range.
Turn to: If you are standing on a known point contained in your active job file, use the
Turn to feature to enter the point name. Then tap Turn and the instrument will turn to the
point you entered.
DR: Direct Reflect is a way to shoot a point on a surface within about 100 meters without
using the RMT. While in DR mode, the rod height is set to zero. While in Tracking
mode, just point the Total Station at a surface and tap Store. This feature has its
limitations due to surface texture and surface color.
Electronic Level: Use this to check the level of the Total Station before it gets so far out
of level that the compensator cannot correct and you get a tilt error. Sometimes useful in
soft ground conditions.
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Miscellaneous Notes
Deleting Job Files
To delete a job file, from the Survey Controller main screen, go into Files and Open job and
open a file other than the one you want to delete. Then go into Files again, but select Windows
Explorer which will display all files in the Trimble Data folder. Scroll down to the file you want
to delete, and press and hold on that file name. A menu will pop up with Delete being one of the
options. It will prompt you with a Yes/No option to make sure you have selected the correct file.
The Windows Mobile program on the TSC2 interprets a tap on the screen as a left mouse button
click; a press and hold is similar to a right mouse button click.
Radio Settings
If for some reason the radio is not communicating with the 5600 but all connections appear
correct and everything has battery power, then the problem may be that the communication
settings on the radio and the 5600 may not be correctly synchronized. Complete the following to
ensure that those settings are synchronized.
You will need either the 3-battery holder (with at least one fully charged battery installed) or the
battery adapter used for the Long-Range RMT; with a fully charged battery attached.
1) Connect the TSC2 to the 3-battery holder (as shown in the photo below) or to the adapter
(shown in the photo next to the TSCS but not connected to anything) and then connect
that to the 5600 with a Hirose cable. Note that the radio is not connected for this
synchronization process. If using the 3-battery holder, connect both cables to adjacent
Hirose ports on the same end of the holder.
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2) Power on the 5600. Power on the TSC2. Let the menu go through its leveling and
initialization routine.
3) In the Survey Controller screen
a. Tap Survey
b. Tap Start Robotic
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c. Tap OK
4) Disconnect the TSC2 from the battery holder, FIRST
5) Finally, tap OK to finish the process and be taken back to the Survey Controller main
menu screen. Turn off everything, disconnect the cables, attach the radio to the TSC2,
attach the gel cell to the 5600 and start up as usual to see if radio communication has
been established.
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