Harold Dendy
Member
Well, boys and girls, and fellow Javad equipment users, I did it. I pulled a bone-headed stunt by laying my two-meter tripod on top of my metal ATV rack before I moved about 50 feet to my base station setup point. "It ain't going nowhere" was the ill-fated through that ran through my mind at that time. I cranked up my ATV, put it in reverse, moved about four feet, and my slick metal against metal contact on a slight incline caused my tripod with base station already mounted to slide off head first and hit the ground. Before I could get stopped, the tripod jammed against my ATV and pushed the T3 unit into the hard dirt and bent the mounting stem, causing the bottom of the T3 unit to crack in two places. Along with that stunt, the UHF antenna also broke off. I had several spare antennas in anticipation of breaking one on my LS+ unit, which happens frequently. And it was a Friday afternoon, about 3 pm.
I called Javad, and got things started on obtaining a rental unit and an RMA on getting my T3 shipped for repairs.
I "should" have laid one end of the tripod in the back rack, "but I was not going far." I "should" have held on to the tripod, but "I was not going that far." I usually wait to mount the base station on the tripod after I set it up, but I have loaded the pointed end feet first in my back rack to move with no problems. If I go far, I bungee cord the tripod and leave the base station unmounted until I get to my setup point. This is the first time in over 14 years of GPS base and rover use that something like this happened.
I bent the stem back a little bit, but it was still crooked. The T3 unit still worked, and I finished my job for the day.
Hindsight is 20/20, we all know. Y'all be careful out there. Being down because of broken equipment is not good. And it is especially aggravating if it is my fault! I am charging the batteries on my old GPS system now. It has been two years since I changed over to Javad. I have been very happy with the change, so I will probably throw rocks at that old dinosaur if I have to use it for very long. Javad has spoiled me on its abilities to get locations on points that were not possible using my old system.
I called Javad, and got things started on obtaining a rental unit and an RMA on getting my T3 shipped for repairs.
I "should" have laid one end of the tripod in the back rack, "but I was not going far." I "should" have held on to the tripod, but "I was not going that far." I usually wait to mount the base station on the tripod after I set it up, but I have loaded the pointed end feet first in my back rack to move with no problems. If I go far, I bungee cord the tripod and leave the base station unmounted until I get to my setup point. This is the first time in over 14 years of GPS base and rover use that something like this happened.
I bent the stem back a little bit, but it was still crooked. The T3 unit still worked, and I finished my job for the day.
Hindsight is 20/20, we all know. Y'all be careful out there. Being down because of broken equipment is not good. And it is especially aggravating if it is my fault! I am charging the batteries on my old GPS system now. It has been two years since I changed over to Javad. I have been very happy with the change, so I will probably throw rocks at that old dinosaur if I have to use it for very long. Javad has spoiled me on its abilities to get locations on points that were not possible using my old system.
