Using the Leica TS06

Updated 7/7/11, A. Wilcox

1. Set up the tripod in a stable location and secure the total station on top with the bolt on the
underside of the tripod. Be sure to anchor the legs of the tripod firmly into the ground; dont
be afraid to stomp them on the pegs located on each leg just above the ground level.
2. Turn on the machine by pressing the red button on the right side of the total station.
3. Begin by placing the total station over the point from which you wish to begin measuring
points. This point is referred to as your station. The machine has a laser plummet that
should point at the station. This can be accessed from the level/plummet screen. The bar on
the right of this screen is the laser intensity that you can use to change the light intensity to
make it easier to see. Dont worry about exact location at this time because you might have to
move the station once it is balanced. Keep this screen until you have finished balancing.
4. Begin balancing the total station by visually looking and seeing that the base of the tripod is
somewhat level. This can be changed by moving the legs of the tripod up or down as needed.
There is a circular bubble-level located above the screen on the total station for use in
leveling. After the tripod has been more or less leveled by adjustment of the tripod leg
lengths, use the three black knobs between the red base and the green total station for more
precise leveling.
5. Now you can use the screen and the electronic level to get the machine precisely balanced.
Using both the vertical and horizontal bar on the screen, center the black bar in the bars.
6. Once the machine is leveled you can shift it slightly within the horizontal plane by loosening
the silver bolt you used to attach it to the tripod and adjusting the position of the gun. Be sure
to retighten the silver knob if you do make these adjustments. Recheck your level after
centering the gun and tightening the knob.
7. Now that the machine is balanced and centered you can set up the job.
8. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that there is an open job to record you data
into. This can be done by selecting Prog from the main menu.
9. From the Surveying application, select Set Job.You need to choose the data manager. By
scrolling down using the green arrowhead buttons and pressing the enter button.
10. The next screen will have the choices Edit/View/Delete , Initialize memory, Data
Download, and Statistics. Choose Edit/View/Delete.
11. Next highlight Job.
12. Either select an existing job, or create a new one. Press OK to confirm the job.
13. From there check and see if there are any open jobs. Each machine can hold four X jobs.
So if it says (1,2,3,4)/4 jobs, it is full and you will need to either add data to an existing job or
delete one of the jobs to make room for yours. Only delete a job if you know for certain that
the data have been downloaded already. If not, and the machine cannot hold more jobs, you
can add data to an existing job.

14. Delete a job by using the green arrowhead buttons that point left and right to scroll
through the jobs and find display the one you want to delete. Please make sure that the data
you are going to delete can be deleted, and that it is not someones work that has not been
 downloaded onto the computer. Once you have found a job you can delete, highlight the
<DEL> at the bottom of the screen and hit enter. It takes the gun a bit of time (15-30
seconds) to delete a job, so be patient.
15. Now just <Exit> out of everything until you cant <Exit> anymore.
16. The total station has various programs in it to make the rest of the set up and the actual
shooting a little easier for you.
17. Being by pressing the button that says prog.
18. Then highlight <Surveying> and hit enter.
19. Now go through all three set-ups (job, station, orientation).
20. Set Job. Once in this screen you will need to go down to the bottom and select <New>.
Then you can type in the name of the job by using the green arrowhead keys. The left and
right green arrows will pop up a vertical bar that is full of either numbers or letters. You can
switch between the letters and numbers by pressing the shift button. Once the letter/number
you want is in the horizontal highlighted bar you can go over to the left or right and place
your next letter or number. Once you have the name you want press the enter button. Now
the operator is highlighted and you can put in the name of the operator the same way. Press
enter and the time and date are automatically recorded so press enter when the <Set> is
highlighted.
21. Now you need to set the station.
22. Set Station. The first step is to name the station the same way that you named the job.
Next you need to find out the height of the instrument (HI). This is done by using a tape and
measuring the distance from the ground to the little indented dot on the side of the total
station. This dot is in the center of machine at the same level as the eyepiece. Now enter that
number (in meters) in the HI spot. The next part is up to you and how you would like to set
up your grid. These are the North, East and Height coordinates of the station, the y, x, and z
respectively. You can either set them at 0, 0 , 0 , and let the computer program take care of
the negative numbers that you will generate or you can set them as a large positive number
and avoid using any negative numbers. Either way set the coordinates using the green
arrowhead buttons and pressing enter when you have the number you want for that
coordinate. Now highlight <Set> and hit enter.
23. Now you need to set your orientation
24. Set Orientation. This is a very critical step to make sure you do properly. When you are
first starting to make measurements you need to tell the machine what you want the 0 degrees
point to be. I have found the best way to do this is to place a permanent marker some distance
away from your first station that is directly TRUE NORTH of the machine. Then place the
rod and prism at that point. Now, orient the eyepiece like you were going to shoot that point
and edit the base bearing (Bsbearing) to zero degrees. You will also need to name the base
station location (e.g., B1). Highlight <Set> and press enter
25. Now highlight Start and press enter.
26. Its almost time to make measurements.
27. The first point ID you need to set. You can have letters and numbers to help you
determine what the point actually is. For example, Trans100001, for transect 1 point 1.
Whenever you make a measurement, the point ID will automatically go up one to the next
number.
28. The last step is to measure the height of the rod with the prism on top. This measurement
is one that has a large source of error. The point will penetrate the soil somewhat (unless you
are using the rod with the flat base) so you will need to determine where to start measuring
from at the bottom of the rod. The other end of the measurement should be at the center of
the prism. The point of the yellow arrow on the side of the prism is a good place to measure
from. Enter that number into the total station (HR) height of reflector.
29. Before the rod-person goes running off, note the graduations on the rod so that if the rod
needs to be raised or lower you can determine how much it has been raised or lowered
without having to re-measure it. If you raise it 80 cm, the person at the machine can type in
the new height by adding 80 cm to the old height.
30. Now you can go and make measurements.
31. To make a measurement and record the point, have one person take the stadium rod with
the prism on top of it and hold it at the point that needs to be measured. Note: There is a
bubble level on the rod to make sure it is vertical.
32. Once the person is in place look through the scope and find the person with the rod. Then
focus the cross hairs of the scope into the center of the prism. There is a handy crude site
above the eyepiece that can be used before zeroing in on the target with the eyepiece itself.
33. Focusing is done with two black rings on the front of the eyepiece. The outer ring is
actually the focus while the little one in the middle will change the magnification of the
scope.
34. Now that you are all sighted in, press the banana shaped button on the right side of the
total station. Alternatively, you can depress the all button and a shot will be taken. It will
take a little time (1-5 sec.)but once it has taken the measurement, the ptID number will
increase by one. If it doesnt change then the machine is not recording the point.
35. Now move the person to the next point and repeat steps 30-33. Its that simple!
36. If you plan on having moving the gun to a different station location and continue
shooting the same job from that new location, the first thing you should do is measure those
points where the machine will be placed. Be sure to take notes as to what point ID they are
so that you can access them later. Its also a good idea to write down their northing, easting,
and height. This will help keep you in the same grid.
37. When you need to move the station, you will need to redo many (but not all) of the steps
that you did you set it up. Some steps are done differently so read carefully.
38. The first step will be to highlight the <Exit> at the bottom and press enter. This will take
you out of the survey program so that you can reset-up.
39. Repeat steps 1 through 6.
40. You dont need to repeat steps 7 through 15 because you already have a job set up!
41. Repeat steps 16 and 17 to get back to the survey program and reset-up.
42. Check the Set Job to make sure you are still in the same job.
43. When you go into the Set Station you will need to look in your notes and find the point
ID for the new station location. Where it asks for the station name (Stn: ) type in the point ID
of that station and it will automaticlly set the North, East, and Height (you can check these
numbers against your notes, if you wish). You will have to remeasure the height of the
instrument as before but the rest will be all set up for you. If it can not find the point you will
have to enter it manually. Now that you have the station set you need to set the orientation.
44. This is part is a little tricky so pay attention and make sure you do it in this order. The
gun will automatically calculate the correct orientation by back-sighting up to 5 known (i.e.,
previously shot and identified) points.
45. Once you have the Set Orientation screen up, place the prism/rod at a point that you have
already shot and aim (but do not yet shoot) the gun back to that point. (Note: I recommend
identifying and staking a few backsight locations before starting your job. Be sure to write
down the point ID numbers for each backsight as they are shot.)
46. Once the gun has been aimed at the backsite, highlight <Coord> and press enter.
47. You will see a new screen that has a little arrowhead in the upper right-hand corner. This
tells you that there is more information below. To get to that you press the shift key and then
the down little green arrowhead.
48. Where is asked for BsPt: you will put in the ptID of the point you are shooting back
towards. Make sure you are properly aimed at the reflector located at the backsite, then
highlight the <Meas> at the bottom and press enter.
49. Next, move the prism to a new backsite (or previously shot) point and repeat step 48. You
can do this for up to 5 points.
50. When you are done, highlight <Set> and press enter. The machine will display a screen
that gives you some information. You should write this down, especially the StDev as it will
help in your error analysis. After you are satisfied just highlight <Ok> and press enter and it
will set the new orientation.
51. Just repeat steps 26 to 35.
52. To download data to the computer, first plug the little cable that came with the total
station into the port located towards the base of the gun. Plug the square end of the cable into
the upper of the two ports located on the back of the IBM computer.
53. Launch the Leica survey software.
54. Open data exchange manager. The computer screen will indicate that communication
between the gun and the computer is being established.
55. Locate the surveying job on the gun side of the dialog box by opening up the
appropriate folders. Locate and highlight the folder on the HD where you would like the
downloaded data to end up.
56. Right click on the file to be downloaded and copy it to the HD. (Note: I recommend
against Moving the file, because an error in the downloading process could damage the
moved file permanently.
57. You will be asked which type of file format you want. Ive found the report format and
the nehc format to be best. Once you have selected your file format, go ahead and initiate
the download by clicking OK.
58. Thats it; once you have your file on the computer HD, you can manipulate your data
using excel, surfer, or some other graphing software package. Good luck!