This post provides updated documentation on communication between a Leica TCR 1105 total station and a laptop computer. Previously, I suggested that formatting the PCMCIA card on a laptop computer would provide a solution for transferring files from the total station to a laptop. This solution worked for a while, but yesterday I experienced a problem in the field that indicates formatting the PCMCIA card with windows is a very bad solution. While shooting points with the total station, I got an error message saying "Memory Failure" and I was asked if I wanted to format the card. I replied no, and attempted to proceed with the job. While the error occurred, I was attempting to position the gun using the orientation and height tranfer function. The error on the memory card would not allow the gun to orient. I eventually had to reformat the card on the total station. This means that all data on the card is lost. Fortunately, I had backed up all data on the card so reformatting was not an issue. However, it easily could have been a major loss, right?

After reformatting the card on the gun, there was no problem with gun orientation and no error warnings arose for the rest of the day. At the end of the workday, I attempted to transfer the files from the PCMCIA card to the laptop computer. While attempting to do this, I got the "Incorrect Function" error and the card would not read. Yes, back to square one and I did not want to reformat the card and lose all of the days work.

Today, I returned to Huacho (Peru) where I had a serial to USB cable stored for possible situations just like this. Previously, I had not been successful in getting this conversion cable to work properly. Today, it thankfully worked. Here is the make of the cable and what I did.

Cable make: Gigaware 6-tf USB-A to Serial Cable. It came with Driver CD 26-949. The cable has a box attached to it, and it is not a "simple" USB to Serial. It is a "fancy" one that has drivers and accepts some of the communication issues that Serial cables require. I strongly suggest having one of these or a similar cable up one's sleeve. Here is the URL:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3120513


Procedures for Windows XP:
1) I installed the drivers for the cable using the provided CD.
2) Then I attached the cable (w/o the gun or anything attached to the cable).
3) I waited for Windows to recognize the cable and to tell me that my new hardware was ready to use. It seems that Windows did an internet search for the driver. Strange considering that I believe the driver was just installed from the CD, but I fear that one may need an internet connection to do this. The lack of an internet connection may have been the reason this cable did not work successfully in Pukara (Peru).
4) I attached the Lemo cable (the one with the five pins, two notches, and the red line) on the Leica to its communication port (the one with the five holes and the two notches).
5) I attached the Serial to USB cable (still plugged in) to the Serial end of the Lemo cable that was just plugged into the Leica.
6) On windows, I opened up the System control panel and went to the Device Manager. There I looked for the RadioShack USB to Serial Cable and made note of which COM port it was using. In this case, the cable used COM5.
7) Then I put the total station into Geocom mode and started up Leica Geo Office.
8) I made sure that the settings on the COM5 port were correctly set in LGO data exchange manager.
9) Browse to the card and retrieve the necessary file.

In the end, I think this is a much better solution than formatting the PCMCIA in Windows. Note: from reading the reviews of the cable, I fear that this solution may not work with either Vista or Win 7--just be aware...

Notes on integrating data from a Leica Total Station into ArcGIS.

The following post details some things to consider when heading out to do fieldwork with a total station.

Equipment

Items required for use of Total Station in the Field

1. Total Station with charged batteries
   
2. Data collector with charged batteries
   
3. Reflector and rod
   
4. Stadia Rod
   
5. Tripod
   
6. 5m Tape Measure
   
7. Hand held radios
   

Items required for establishing new mapping stations

1. Rebar
   
2. Hammer
   
3. Spray Paint (if there is no place to drive in a piece of rebar)
   

Establish horizontal angle in remote research sites using GPS

1. Collect a GPS point at the primary datum
   
2. Select a secondary mapping station to use as a backsite. Ideally, this second station should be distant from the primary datum. As the distance between the datums increases, the potential error in horizontal angle from GPS error decreases.
   
3. Collect a GPS point at the secondary datum
   
4. Return to the laboratory and differentially correct the two GPS points taken on the primary and secondary datums.
   
5. Integrate datums into the master GIS
   
6. Export the datums to LGO and load them onto the gun as a controlled point file
   
7. Use the datums contained in the controlled point file as the occupy point and backstake during the next visit to the site.
   

Total Station setup

1. Place the tripod over the datum point.
   
2. Level the tripod base plate as much as possible.
   
3. Place the total station on top of the tripod base plate, and attach the instrument with the screw.
   
4. Turn on the instrument and wait for it to start up.
   
5. Upon startup the user will be prompted to level the instrument. Do so using the three knobs at the base of the machine. Use the laser level to ensure the total station is both leveled and properly oriented atop the datum.
   
6. Start a new job.
   

Having a digital balance attached to a computer can really speed up the process of weighing samples. However, getting the scale attached can be a frustrating and time consuming process. In an effort to help others through the frustrating, this post describes how I in stalled an Ohaus Scale on a laptop computer running Windows XP SP2.



Plug the Balance into one of the computers USB ports.

Go to http://ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm

On this page there should be a link that reads "" and directs to the following URL
http://ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/Win2000/CDM_Setup.exe

Click this link to download the file. Run the file, the DLLs should be installed.
One can use USB view to verify that the USB Serial Converter is properly installed. USB view can be found at http://www.ftdichip.com/Resources/Utilities/usbview.zip

Install WinWedge and run it.
Identify the communication parameters of the device. The settings for the Ohaus Scout Pro 4000g are as follows: 2400bps,7-none,No Handshake

Click on Send Keystrokes to. Clear the fields for "Application Title Bar Text:" and "Command Line:"

In WinWedge click on Port->Settings->and enter the correct parameters into the dialogue box. Begin with COM Port 1, and click ok.
Click on Port->Analyze. Click on the "Print" button on the scale to send data from the scale to the computer. Look in the Analyze window to evaluate if it is getting data from the scale. If the computer is not getting a signal from the scale, then return to Port->Settings and change the port number to the next COM port. Once this has been changed, return to Port->Analyze and hit the print button to see if the computer is getting data from the scale. If it is not, continue increasing the COM port number incramentally until the computer gets a signal from the scale.

Once the balance is getting data in the analyze scree, then clear any existing input, click on the "Print" button on the scale to send new output to the computer. Once there are characters in the window, click "analyze". WinWedge will then set up the wedge to be configured according to how it reads the input.

Check the configurations in Test Mode. If they appear to work, then select Normal Mode. User will be prompted to save. Save the file according to the COM port number. It may be useful to save multiple WinWedge configuration files if multiple USB ports need to be used.

This link contains information on how to configure the Mitutoyo digital calipers to input directly to a Windows Computer. This configuration involves using a PS2connection.