Thursday, September 2, 2010

Set Up A Topcon Total Station

Setting up a Topcon Total Station involves fine adjusting.


A Topcon Total Station is a piece of precision measuring equipment used for the completion of topographic, legal or quantity surveys. Topcon is one of the leading manufacturers of total stations. Over the years, total stations have progressed in terms of control software; however, the basics of their setup have not changed. Before you prepare the total station, you will need to know the exact location of your setup point. Setting up the Topcon station mainly involves positioning the device directly over this point.


Instructions


1. Place the total station on top of the tripod and secure it by turning the locking screw clockwise. Move the tripod/total station assembly to the desired setup location.


2. Position one leg of the tripod on the ground approximately 2 to 3 feet from the setup point. Looking through the optical plumb lens, align the crosshairs directly over the center of the setup point by moving the two free legs of the tripod.








3. Step on the foot brackets near the base of each tripod leg to stabilize the legs. Using the circular leveling bubble near the bottom of the total station, adjust the height of the legs of the tripod until the leveling bubble is exactly in the center.


4. Check the optical plumb. If the crosshairs have moved from the setup point during the leg adjustment, bring them back over the point using the three leveling screws near the base of the total station. Readjust the height of the legs of the tripod until the leveling bubble is exactly in the center and the optical plummet crosshairs are directly over the setup point. You may need to repeat this entire step until the leveling bubble and the optical plumb are centred.


5. Centre the fine-level located above the display. Adjust the leveling screws until the bubble is exactly at the center of the fine-level. Turn the total station 90 degrees and center the fine-level on the opposite axis. Turn the total station back and forth to opposite axes until it is exactly level.








6. Check the optical plumb to see if your fine-leveling adjustments have moved the crosshairs slightly off the setup point. To bring the total station back, loosen the screw that secures the total station to the tripod. Slide the total station on the tripod while looking through the optical plumb until the crosshairs are directly over the setup point.


7. Check the fine level again to ensure that the previous step's movement did not take the total station off-level. If necessary, repeat steps 4 and 5 until the fine-level is centered and the vertical optical plummet is directly over the setup point.

Tags: setup point, total station, directly over, optical plumb, leveling bubble