Topcon Total station download to AutoCAD?

[Sue Ackerly]

We have a Topcon Total Station that can download data through a parallel port. We have an old version of CivilCAD that is not working - is there a way of downloading directly to AutoCAD?

At present we do it with pen & paper.

Thanking you in advance,
Sue Ackerly
www.bauhinia.qld.gov.au

[IainCrawford3011]

~Hi Sue, obviously you could download the data through hyprterminal from your total station. you then need to create a .csv file. You could then import the data directly into autocad from the csv file you created.

you should try migrating from civilcad. it is a badly supported piece of software. They have only recently updated from the DOS version in the last few years. There are plenty of highly productive survey/civil design software 's on the market that work directly with AutoCad. Try a search on the internet it's well worth the investment.

[IainCrawford3011]

to make things clearer,

the hyperterminal is accessed from your computer start menu then -> all programs -> accessories -> communications.
You will need the serial port connector to do this.
you will need to set the baud rate/stop bits etc. to the same as your total station. (flick through the total station menus for this....you will see it probably under 'settings') Otherwise they will not communicate if the parameters do not match each other. i.e the pc baud rates/ stop bits and parity etc. = the total stations.

try and get your company to invest in either Leica or Trimble hardware. They are much better.

[IainCrawford3011]

I should probably explain further: one you are able to download the file from hyperterminal. You can open Excel and edit the file there. open the file in excel, it should prompt you to select commas and space delimiters etc. as it imports the file to excel. this will save you a lot of time and bring it into the format you want. from this you create a .csv file in excel. then hey presto it is easily imported into autocad. If not in your earlier version, there are plenty of free vb scripts out there that will do it for autocad from a .csv file.