Media photo of an fatal aircraft crash. They did get the 'gun' above the corn.
Doh!
They forgot to bring one of these: http://certainty3d.com/products/topolift/
Should be fine. The big guy is holding the tailgate down so the bed don't bounce.
That looks like a big "girl" to me.
JA. PLS SoCal
And I thought I was joking when I suggested putting the gun in a utility bucket and lifting it above the reeds on a pond once.... (yes, frustration was abundant!)
All they really needed was three more stepladders............one for each leg of the tripod to set on. That at least has a chance of working. Being in the bed of a pickup absolutely will not work.
Actually, the setup is fine, and it IS about expectations. To document aircraft debris, +/- a foot or so would probably be more than enough accuracy. Add to that the fact that rocking the truck on its suspension would have a much greater effect on the verticals, and very little on the horizontals, which is what they're mainly interested in.
Many moons ago (1969 ish) we once improvised a really really high setup to see over a highway noise barrier by setting three tripods without tribrachs and then the top tripod on top of them. It was for control and we measured many sets of angles . . got the job done.
Try to level that rascal. It's impossible.
Picture it, need to scan a Dozer sitting on a lowboy trailer (seized engine so can't move off the trailer). The mechanic brought the forklift over and secured a pallet to it. Then we tied down the Trimax to the pallet and put the scanner on it. Ran it up to height. They had a moving staircase which I used to walked up to level the scanner. Operation was done with our iPad. It was a little shaky but it worked.
The twist is the mechanic has an LSIT. He was very interested, of course. The State pays the lowest paid Surveyor more than the best paid mechanic so he is working on getting a job at Caltrans.
Used to have three U-channel steel fence posts to extend my legs. It worked as well as anything I have ever used, much better than that pick up bed.
Steve
I've once setup on a shingled a frame garage to get above the corn, but never the bed of a truck. The reason was because the farmer didn't take it to well that on the previous day we cut a 3' wide 2000' line through the middle of the corn field.
We did ask the office before cutting the line they said do what you gotta do. Story changed after farmer ripped them a new one.
If you ever ran seismic lines through the swamp then you probably know what a "treebrach" is... sometimes you disable the compensators and do what you have to do to get the job done. And RFC is right; for the accuracy they need that setup is fine, you don't always need mm accuracy, especially for mapping.
Actually it's a good idea. In the future, they will always have a control point wherever that truck is!
Doug Crawford, post: 391512, member: 9 wrote: Media photo of an fatal aircraft crash. They did get the 'gun' above the corn.
You laugh but I did see an Instrument Man set up a level in the bed of a pickup one time. Needless to say the Crew Chief nearly lost it when he saw what was happening.
Andy
http://www.moogs3.com/literature/MoogS3/Specsheets/SpS/Branch_of_Tripods_Samson_Hercules_Gibraltar_SpS.pdf page 2 of 8
Check model #4-53031-7BQ Maximum height 175"
Mike Falk, post: 391710, member: 442 wrote: http://www.moogs3.com/literature/MoogS3/Specsheets/SpS/Branch_of_Tripods_Samson_Hercules_Gibraltar_SpS.pdf page 2 of 8
Check model #4-53031-7BQ Maximum height 175"
Something like that would be helpful, but from what I've seen, police accident surveyors work on such tight budgets that they couldn't swing it. The last one I spoke with had a total station, tripod, and prism pole in the trunk of his cruiser because the department wouldn't put him in a truck. He asked to take pictures of my box because he was going to use them to help convince his superiors that he needed a truck or suv.
Kent may object, but it seems to me that this is a job for RTK.
Saw a pickup on the road today that reminded me of the photo above. In the back was a mail box mounted on a 4 x 4 post stuck in an old milk can, which is a fairly common sight in front of rural houses. The flag was up, indicating there was mail inside so the mail carrier needed to stop to get it. That would be a good trick at 55 mph going down the highway.
