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Nate Tells some of his secrets
Posted by nate-the-surveyor on November 24, 2016 at 5:06 pmBuy a reflectorless Total Station.
Buy this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOKKIA-SOKKISHA-OPTICAL-TRIBRACH-KIT-BACKSIGHT-TOTAL-STATION-THEODOLITE-TOPCON-/201456287272?hash=item2ee7bafe28:g:dfIAAOSwwbdWLvHE
Put DOT tape on the face of those.
You now have a fast, and light set of targets, that shoot distance.
I have a set just like the ones above, but mine are in rougher shape.
For somebody doing construction staking, curb and gutter, and trig leveling, these are the bomb.N
nate-the-surveyor replied 7 years, 8 months ago 16 Members · 31 Replies -
31 Replies
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Wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I thought this was going to be the secrets to finding a woman willing to put up with a surveyor.
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Finding a woman, willing to put up with a surveyor.
I’m at a loss for words.
Give em an inch, and they want a mile. -
paden cash, post: 400953, member: 20 wrote: How did you know if it was a 60d or a 40d?
Nate The Surveyor, post: 400968, member: 291 wrote: Give em an inch, and they want a mile.
Holy Cow, post: 400985, member: 50 wrote: Not gonna take the bait this time, Nate.
Aw heck; I will….
Give em an inch and they want the whole thing! :liar: :kissing_heart: :heart_eyes: :kissing: :hotdog: :p
I hope everyone has a great day; I know I will! -
Nate The Surveyor, post: 400959, member: 291 wrote: Buy a reflectorless Total Station.
Buy this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SOKKIA-SOKKISHA-OPTICAL-TRIBRACH-KIT-BACKSIGHT-TOTAL-STATION-THEODOLITE-TOPCON-/201456287272?hash=item2ee7bafe28:g:dfIAAOSwwbdWLvHE
Put DOT tape on the face of those.
You now have a fast, and light set of targets, that shoot distance.
I have a set just like the ones above, but mine are in rougher shape.
For somebody doing construction staking, curb and gutter, and trig leveling, these are the bomb.N
Mind explaining? Dont really get what is DOT tape.
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Nate may have something more specific in mind, but in general it is the reflective tape you’d put on the back of a truck to meet Department of Transportation guidelines for visibility. There are several kinds of reflective tape out there. The one that has an obvious pattern to it (Hillman brand red 6″ strips and white strips in a package) works better than the uniformly reflective material for me.
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Most reflectorless units have a range of hundreds of meters these days, so the reflective tape isn’t really needed so much. You do need a clear shot for reflectorless, and where you can get a long clear shot you can frequently get GPS sky also. So I’m not so sure about this.
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If I’m going to the trouble of setting up a tripod and tribrach, I’d rather have a real prism on it than a piece of reflective tape. The weight of a mini prism isn’t much more than that of a hard target (if it’s more at all), and with a prism I have a known offset and precise location that my robot can point to.
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Reflective Prismatic Tape, aka DOT Tape, can be shot in all modes, “prism”, “target” and “reflectorless” with a zero offset by a TS and for very long range in each.
Dunno about robot behavior…………………………..
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Jim Frame, post: 400998, member: 10 wrote: If I’m going to the trouble of setting up a tripod and tribrach, I’d rather have a real prism on it than a piece of reflective tape. The weight of a mini prism isn’t much more than that of a hard target (if it’s more at all), and with a prism I have a known offset and precise location that my robot can point to.
I’m with Jim here. I don’t see the advantage of not having a prism set up, if your going to set up a target like that. Really doesn’t make sense to me.
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“Doesn’t make sense to me”.
When you HAVE 6 different prisms, with varying offsets, (go set them up, you’ll see) it’s rather hard, to get a fully matched prism set. They often vary by 0.02′, or 0.025′, or 0.03′ or more.
But, I get more consistency, from the dot tape.
And, for trig leveling, I feel I get less pointing error, from the targets, I referenced above.
AND, to get signal return, from a prism, requires that you can see at least 60% of the glass circle.
With dot tape, you just need to see a tiny piece of the prism. You don’t take nearly as long in the woods, doing topo. I made some prism targets, that are excellent. -
If your prism sets are varying by .02′ I think you need adjustments. I usually vary no more than 0.01′ in the woods of Washington with soft sets.
But, if you feel that is the best way for I not here to stop you!
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The tape is a thing of the future.
At a cost of $1 to $3 per foot roll or per target with cross hairs or bulls eye, the economics tell the tale.
The tape can be applied to most any smooth surface and does not fog inside or break when dropped.
The uses are infinite and storage space can be redefined.:gammon:
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Eventually you’ll run and have to buy more. And with good care in storage and in the field prisms last a long time, as still use some I have from the mid nineties
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Prisms. The glass kind, vary. They vary alot.
They are heavy. They are cumbersome. they are easily broken. I have several old canister types, with aluminum housings. I finally glued them into the canister, with builders silicone. This seals them up well, and they never shift around. Works well. Still heavy. Still have to see more than 50% of the glass. Not so, with “prismatic tape” Or, DOT tape.
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At the end of the day, it is all personal preference. As long as it meets the specs that we are trying to achieve, who really cares about how we do it.
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Wal1170, it’s all good.
I like the DOT tape method.
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With prisms, as with so many other things, you get what you pay for. The Leica mini with the aluminum housing (GMP101?) is compact, lightweight, well-built and repeatable with respect to others of the same model. I have 3 of them in daily use.
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Could be that my problem is I have a prism made in the 1970’s and the rest from the 1980’s. Frugality, resulted in all of them being from various brands, and labels, and batches.
The DOT tape has been great. I never went back to prisms. -
It comes down to using the method that achieves the reliability, precision and accuracy to do the job properly while still maintaining the efficiency to make money.
I still lay a rag tape on the ground and use my hand level when it makes sense. For deformation monitoring I up my game. The tape is just another tool that has its place…
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