What theodolite?

[jjb299]

For starters, most modern "total stations" (the term used for a combined angle and distance measurement machines, not "theodolites" which are only angles) use serial communications (among other means like Bluetooth). The data collector will send out a ASCII command like "**get-angle$horiz$" and the total station will reply something "#ha#123.3124" for 123 degrees, 31 minutes, 24 seconds. It is up to the data collector to know how to "speak" the language of the total station and parse data out. Usually, all brands are different, but the models within the brand don't typically change language. So, most Nikon models should be able to talk "Nikon" serial commands (to an extent).
That said, you have TDS & SMI cards for HP 48, a geodimeter brand specific unit, and a HP 41 CO-OP unit. The TDS/SMI cards come with many brands "languages" and will work for many units. The Geodimeter unit will only speak Geodimeter language. And I am very unfamiliar with the CO-OP unit, so I don't know it's capabilities. However, the CO-OP unit may just be a serial communication port and it might have come with brand-specific code modules (Nikon, Geo, Topcon, Wild). If that's the case, look for a geodimeter module for the unit.
So, to answer your question, a Geodimeter 440-series manually operated total station might be your best bet to work with all three. It's old enough to apply to the HP41 unit and the Geodimeter unit, but new enough to have serial communication. Stay away from the 600-series which is a robotically-operated unit that requires more equipment to run and might not work with the TDS cards or older Geo/HP41 controllers.
-Justin