Instrument configuration

The fields shown in the Instrument page of the survey style depend on the instrument manufacturer and model selected at the top of the screen. If you are using an instrument from a third-party manufacturer, see To select a third-party total station.

When you change the instrument type, the baud rate and parity settings automatically change to the default settings for the selected instrument.

Use the Baud rate field to configure the software baud rate to match that of the conventional instrument.

Use the Parity field to configure the software parity to match that of the conventional instrument.

Use the HA VA status rate field to set how often the software updates the horizontal and vertical angle display in the status line with information from the conventional instrument.

Some instruments beep when communicating with the software. You can turn off the beep in the instrument or set the HA VA status rate to Never.

The Measurement mode field appears if the selected instrument type has more than one measurement mode that can be set by Trimble Access. Use this mode to specify how the EDM measures distances. Options vary according to the instrument type. To change the measurement mode during the survey, tap the instrument icon in the status bar and then tap the first tile in the Instrument functions screen.

If you select:

  • STD, the instrument is in EDM Standard mode, where it averages the angles while a standard distance measurement is taken.
  • FSTD, the instrument is in EDM Fast Standard mode, where it averages the angles while a fast standard measurement is taken.
  • TRK, the instrument is in EDM Tracking mode, where it constantly measures distances and updates them in the status line.

To always use the same setting as set on the instrument, select the Instr. default.

Use the Averaged observations method to:

  • increase the measurement precision with a predefined number of observations
  • view the associated measurement standard deviations

While the instrument is carrying out the measurements, standard deviations are displayed for the horizontal (HA) and vertical (VA) angles, and the slope distance (SD).

When using a servo or robotic instrument, select the Auto face 1 / face 2 check box to automatically measure a point or stakeout a position on face 2 after the face 1 observation.

When Auto face 1 / face 2 is selected, once the face 1 measurement is completed, the instrument automatically turns to face 2. The point name does not increment, which allows a face 2 observation to be measured with the same point name as the face 1 observation. Once the face 2 measurement is completed, the instrument returns to face 1.

Auto face 1 / face 2 does not work when starting on face 2, or when the measurement method is set to:

  • Angle offset
  • H. Angle offset
  • V. Angle offset
  • Single dist. offset
  • Dual‑prism offset
  • Circular object
  • Remote object

The Measure distance on face 2 option is used in:

  • Measure topo, when Auto face 1 / face 2 is selected
  • Measure rounds, Station setup plus, and Resection, when a distance observation is not required on face 2

When the Measure distance on face 2 check box is selected, if the face 1 measurement method included a distance measurement, then the measurement method for face 2 is automatically set to Angles only after the face 1 measurement. After the face 2 measurement, the instrument returns to the method used on face 1.

When the Autolock off for offsets check box is selected, Autolock technology is automatically disabled for the offset measurement and then re‑enabled after the measurement.

The Set backsight field appears if you can set the horizontal circle reading on the instrument when the backsight is observed. The options are No, Zero, and Azimuth . If you select the Azimuth option, when you observe the backsight the horizontal circle reading is set to the computed azimuth between the instrument point and the backsight point.

When using a servo instrument, the Servo auto turn field in the survey style can be set to HA & VA, HA only, or Off. If you select HA & VA, or HA only, the instrument automatically turns to the point during stakeout, and when a known point is entered into a point name field.

If you are working robotically, or when the Servo auto turn field in the survey style is set to Off, the instrument does not turn automatically. To turn the instrument to the angle indicated on the screen, tap Turn.

Instrument precisions are used to compute the observation weights as part of the Standard resection and Station Setup Plus computations.

When you use a Trimble total station, the instrument precisions are read from the instrument. You can either use the precisions from the instrument, or provide your own values based on your observing techniques by selecting the Edit instrument precisions check box. For other types of instrument do one of the following:

  • Enter the values provided by the instrument manufacturer
  • Leave the instrument precision value fields as null

If you leave the instrument precision value fields as null, the following default values are used:

Observation Default value
Horizontal angle precision 1"
Vertical angle precision 1"
EDM 3 mm
EDM (ppm) 2 ppm

A centering error can be specified for the instrument and backsight.

The centering error is used to compute the observation weights as part of the Standard resection and Station Setup Plus computations. Set a value appropriate to the estimated accuracy of your instrument/backsight setup.

Select the left and right directions when using a distance offset measurement. See Offset and stakeout direction options.