The Old "Which Scanner Should I Get"... With a Twist...

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JoshK
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Re: The Old "Which Scanner Should I Get"... With a Twist...

Post by JoshK »

Thanks for all the input gents. And the warm welcomes. Mike, I am based in Brisbane, but I am about to get on a plane so will try and get back on here between flights and answer some of the questions asked (AAnd ask a couple more that I have come up with over the weekend. ) Thanks again. Appreciate it a great deal.
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Re: The Old "Which Scanner Should I Get"... With a Twist...

Post by juliang »

Josh we have a Faro scanner and also a fair bit of other leica equipment and probably deal with the suppliers you have been talking with. I cant talk directly about the leica after sales service for scanners but for other equipment it has been generally quite good. One of the problems with the Faro after sales service is that they have to send the equipment to Singapore if it breaks or for its annual maintenance so it can be away for up to six weeks.
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JoshK
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Re: The Old "Which Scanner Should I Get"... With a Twist...

Post by JoshK »

Thanks again for all the input gents. it really is appreciated. i have been made fully aware of just how serious Leica take their brand reputation in the last few days after expressing my distaste in their sales service. i must say i am very impressed with the service offered to me. and for the record, this was never meant to be a bag the dealer thing. just looking for some help from a community that may have been able to supply some answers to some questions that were actually causing me to loose sleep. and you have certainly done that, so thank you all.

i am currently on a mine site working for my main client with the Faro Focus 3D 120, Scene and ClearEdge 3D's EdgeWise. it has been a massive learning curve, but i am pretty happy with the fact i have managed to get 12 scans over 2 levels to line up first go, with pretty good scan tension, and get something out of it into AutoCAD, Inventor and SolidWorks. it will take some time to refine the process, but i am pleased to say i have done all of this with only two phone calls to "tech support". and they were great with the help there too. however my "technical mine field" is looking significantly potholed...

as far as what i want to do with the scanner, well i work in projects, mainly mechanical and structural installs in brown field plants, with my main skill set in this field being a mechanical design drafter. while i know that i will not get millimeter perfect precision out of these machines, i can see massive time savings on 95% of the work that i do. for the most part we just need to know roughly were all the existing stuff is so we can design and construct around it to make the new stuff fit with correct clearances. + or - 5-10mm is usually good enough. and from my limited understanding of these scanners that seems to be reasonably easy to achieve even in the harshest of environments. these things certainly do a better and faster job then going out with the tape and sketch pad! for anything more tight fitting then we have to go about it the old fashioned way. (until i can afford some other cool toys to help me out.) i have also been playing with photogrametry for this purpose, but still have a lot of practice and learning to go before i can offer this as part of my services.

the reasons behind me "limiting" my choice the Focus 3D vs Scanstation has quite a few influencing factors probably the biggest of which is time. these 2 seem to be the leaders in the field so to speak (or they certainly have the most about them online that i can find and any rate) and i just wanted to get something to start with that was popular , reliable and easy enough to find help and support with outside the dealers. as stated by most of you, dealers knowledge can only take you so far, and they are only available during certain hours. it was no good finding the best scanner for exactly what i do if no one else on the planet can help me when i run into troubles or, if i have to send it away for extended periods for servicing and maintenance in some far flung corner of the globe. i did ask the sales guy about the Riegl and he said it was no good for what i want to do with it, but i don't recall him explaining why, which i have a feeling is just my bad memory at play. he never mentioned the Z&F scanners.

at any rate, i am out of time and need one of my own ASAP as i am already clocking up jobs for a scanner and the more people that see it, and the results, here on site the more people are interested in it. i have also had interest from some of my older colleagues in contracting me to do work for them, so a decision has to be made next week. this is still a really tough call even at this late stage, but some interest from some of the other departments this week might make my mind up for me. so i will just have to see how things pan out.

Thank you again to everyone for your comments.
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Re: The Old "Which Scanner Should I Get"... With a Twist...

Post by Mike Annear »

Hi Josh,
All scanners (apart from I-Site scanners that are also re-badged as Leica) have to be sent overseas for servicing/calibration. This is generally a 2 month turn-around from Australia.
Contact us if you need a service provider / hire instrument. (Leica /Riegl /Faro/Trimble)
If we don't have the gear you need, we can pass your details onto the dealers who do.
Cheers,
Mike.
Last edited by Mike Annear on Sat Apr 25, 2015 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mike Annear
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