Your laser tracker connects to the Dusty FieldPrinter through a radio, and you'll have one of two: Radio 1 or Radio 2. Both let you print layout, record measurement (control) points, and run Floor Elevation. The differences are in one stationing feature, how the radio is powered, and how it cables up — not in the accuracy of your printed layout. This article covers what each radio supports, which tracker uses which radio, and how to tell them apart.
The one capability that depends on your radio is 2D stationing: it works only with Radio 2.
Which radio do I have?
You don't choose a radio on its own — it comes paired with your laser tracker. Dusty FieldPrinter 2 works with three Leica trackers, and each is fixed to one radio:
| Laser tracker | Radio |
|---|---|
| AT500 | Radio 2 |
| AT930 | Radio 1 |
| AT930-NRT | Radio 2 |
So if you're running an AT500 or an AT930-NRT, you have Radio 2. If you're running a standard AT930, you have Radio 1.
Capabilities at a glance
| Capability | Radio 1 | Radio 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Layout printing with FieldPrinter 2 | Yes | Yes |
| Measurement point recording (control points) | Yes | Yes |
| Floor Elevation measurement | Yes | Yes |
| 2D stationing | No | Yes |
| Power source | Dedicated power cable | Milwaukee M18 battery (no power cable) |
| Trackers that use it | AT930 | AT500, AT930-NRT |
Both radios meet Dusty's 1/16" (≈1.6 mm) layout accuracy standard. Choosing a tracker or radio does not change the accuracy of the layout you print on the floor.
The one feature difference: 2D stationing
2D stationing is the only Dusty feature gated to a specific radio. It is available only with Radio 2, on firmware 2.9 or later. That means it works on the AT500 and AT930-NRT, but not on the AT930.
What it does. Dusty supports both 3D and 2D stationing and picks the best method for your setup automatically:
- 3D stationing uses the full X, Y, and vertical (Z) coordinates of your scanned control points. If those points sit at different heights, or the digital data has incorrect Z offsets, the layout can come out slightly tilted before it's projected onto the floor.
- 2D stationing uses only X and Y and ignores vertical differences, so the layout projects straight down onto the ground even when control points are at different heights. In field conditions this is generally more accurate and reliable.
If you're on Radio 1 and want to know why 2D stationing isn't available to you, this is the reason — it's a Radio 2 capability. For the full stationing toolset, see What Is Flexible Control? in Related Articles.
Control point elevations (Z) in your CSV
Because Radio 2 can fall back on 2D stationing, its handling of vertical data is more forgiving. This affects what your surveyor's control CSV needs to contain:
- Radio 2 — Z coordinates in the control CSV are not considered for the best-fit calculations.
- Radio 1 — Precise Z coordinates are required in the CSV when your control points sit at different elevations from one another. (If they're all at the same elevation, Z isn't required.)
Power and cabling
The radios are powered differently, which also changes what you cable up:
- Radio 2 is powered by a Milwaukee M18 battery — a 2Ah M18 lasts roughly 16 hours of radio runtime — so there's no separate radio power cable. On the AT500, Radio 2 is the only thing that connects to the tracker (via a Double Shielded Cat6 Ethernet cable), because the tracker runs on its own batteries.
- Radio 1 uses a dedicated power cable. On the AT930, Radio 1 is part of a larger setup that also includes the AT Controller, a tracker-to-controller (sensor) cable, a Double Shielded Cat6 Ethernet cable from the tracker to Radio 1, and the AC Power Adapter cable.
For the full cabling diagram per tracker, see the Laser Tracker Comparison article in Related Articles.
How to tell which radio you have
- Radio 2 — powered by a Milwaukee M18 battery clipped to the radio, with no power cable running to it. Paired with the AT500 (a single integrated tracker with no separate controller) or the AT930-NRT (separate controller).
- Radio 1 — has a dedicated power cable running to it. Paired with the standard AT930, which also uses a separate AT Controller.
If you're unsure which tracker model you have, see Laser Tracker Comparison below — it includes a "How to tell which tracker you have" section.