Leica TCA 1103 Robot

I am considering a Leica TCRA 1103 robotic total station... who uses one, pros, cons, thoughts???? This will be my personal gun, and my first robot.

Any and all feedback appreciated.

Haven't those been discontinued?  I'm looking for a robot too, but thought I'd have to go to the 1200 series...

I still own the one I bought in 2003. Never been serviced, but probably soon on the service. I would not buy without the Power Search and a large battery and the Reflectorless option, other than that it runs.

Don Poole:
I'm looking for a robot too, but thought I'd have to go to the 1200 series...

Good for you money bags... I don't have that kind of coin. 25K for a instrument/collector/radio set up is waaaaaaaaaay out of my leauge. I would rather keep my helper, probably will anyway,  he cuts a lot of line and digs a lot of holes, and jumps a lot of fences, and I don't plan on hitting the road alone. I am not trying to replace my helper, just increase our productivity for a very small investment... but I am just a business minded surveyor that is not going in the hole or own a payment plan to get more efficient piece of equipment in a tough market.  I am not a big gear guy, I am a smart gear guy... I can adapte to something proven and effective... our current convetional total station is not even refectorless., we touch it all with the glass.

"Solo suveying" is a two man operation ;) or it is for me... and my dude. 

Thanks for he heads up BerK

Had a TCRA 1103+ now have a TCRP 1105+ , love both guns when they work, my experience with Leica is that excellent equipment when it works, when something goes wrong leica dosn't even know you. Dosn't play with other equipment nicely either. Next equipment purchases will not be Leica!
Robots are the way to go with hard topo, faster than two person crew with instrument person.

Find you a used Topcon Robot with reflectorless. I bought mine used, 4 years ago for 14k, and it had proven itself day in and day out .

I have used Trimble, Lieca, and this Topcon, and this one is my favorite. They all have their pros and cons, but in this market, you can get a good used robot for a good price, and increase your productivity.

JIMMY, which one did you buy?

Do not purchase a used TCA 1103. Leica does not support them any more. We bought 2 demos in 2001, they worked great and were real happy with them until one started acting up about 2 years ago. Sent it in and Leica said the board was bad. I said fix it and they said they couldn't. They do not make the boards anymore. So basically I have a huge paper weight holding the floor down. Leica's reply was we have new ones and you can trade that one in. We also bought two 1200's in 2004 one works great the other has been in and out of the shop every year since we purchased it. Getting really leary of Leica and starting to look at other brands.

good to know, thanks.

Now I will have to take a course in electronics so I can remove the board in my TCRA1103 fix it and pray it works. When it goes... it's working so far.  You know they have to have some of the boards around somewhere.

Hello,

My comment on the Leica 1105.  I could not keep adequate help and this is a SMALL shop. Come monday I'd have a survey promised and someone would be sick. Or someone would make a mistake.   For 3 years I used my Leica by myself to pay for it and did.  if I made a mistake I didnt pay myself.

BUT, I still have my T-16 and it still works. The Leica is old technology and when it goes, so am I.  Repairs have been minor (they are proud of the glass) and then this year the EDM died. For $28k I expected an instrument that would last like my Nikon 420...keeps on tickin'. My repair company warned me that my EDM was probably one of the last ones available.   The radio interface is marked for extinct.  Lieca's response on these instruments has been unethical, unresponsive to the community and greed initiated. Poor marketing and administrative policy. Never again a Leica.

this is my 42nd year. My thought is that the robot idea is great and once learned response, a 2 ma crew can quickly equal a 3 ma crew.  thus what we all expected from years past (an instrument that would last a lifetime) is no longer available.

These are my own ideas. your experience may differ. Also, right now if my phone was ringing, I wouldnt be writing this.

JMH
Cullman Al

@ Gris and Coldwater
I work for a Leica dealer in Europe and we still have a lot of customers with the 1100 series operational. We have them serviced by Leica and never heard this talk of "no more boards".
Fair enough, production has stopped and the local repair shops cannot do anything on them, but they're being send to Switzerland where they do manage to repair them and have stock for exchange.

@ Pin Cushion
As an alternative you might look at a used TCA1800.
Older, a bit slower, but close to indestructible and very cheap these days.
Around here some are still in daily use for monitoring, running 24/7.

We have a TCRA 1105 and a TCRP 1205 both with Allegro controllers. When we purchased the 1205 in 2006 we looked at Trimble and found that it was too fast! It would lock on to a tail light and go zooming down the road. Plus batteries were huge and numerous at that time. The Lieca power search works good but since I don't have experience with other brands of robotic instruments, I can't say Lieca is better. We have found that using the robot in the brush is a problem. With the 1205 it's a problem if you can't eyeball from the prism to the instrument (IE with a high rod). Some robots have what I would call an active prism to aid tracking. The 1205 came with 2 on-board batteries that gets us through a full day. The battery life of the 1205 is a huge benefit. We haven't needed any repairs and my experience with Wild/Lieca equipment has always been positive. 

I'm speaking from 38 years of experience (K&E Paragon to GPS, WOW!). I think it's mandatory to have a robotic instrument, even if you can't afford it.

Buy a Topcon APL1A they are cheap now and very reliable . Used one for 11 years no issues . Best tracking in the industry even now compared to the new guns.

David Sgroi:
Buy a Topcon APL1A

I used one of those years ago before I was out on my own... It was the cats meow  back in the day, but An APL-1A would be a dinosaur these days. Probably went out of production in the late 90's.

good setup, but only if used with TDS or other data collector; Leica 1100 field software is horrible... 

Pin,

I currently have the Topcon GPT 800A Reflectorless Robot, with the Satel Radios.

JImmy

Ended up purchasing the old AP-L1A from my former employer... too good of a deal to pass up, that and I know where it's been. Still runs really good.

that was the first robot i learned on..very nice.

Bought a TCA 1103+ new approx 11 years ago, have had two problems in that time, both fixed quickly by Hixon, Leica dealer in Denver. EDM board was available overnight.
Excellent piece of equipment.
I plan to upgrade to 1203+ series.
Thanks
JKeilers