Activity Feed › Discussion Forums › Strictly Surveying › You might be an old surveyor if…
-
You might be an old surveyor if…
nate-the-surveyor replied 4 years, 7 months ago 32 Members · 67 Replies
-
You where a belt with pouch, bob, hammer hook, hand level.
-
Posted by: @mike-marks
Fun memories; I’ll add to it:
- The NGS big boys showed up with their Kern Mekometer and produced mm accuracy where we could only get +-5mm or so. Only saw it in use once, on an NGS baseline.
I had the pleasure of operating one of these bad boys for a summer (2008 or 2009) while performing trilateration surveys of COE lake dams and river lock and dams in the STL district. We sat in these towers that had a concrete pier that it mounted on. It had no optics. You pointed at the prism, adjusted the tangent screws and watched the needle on the meter get to the desired range. The reflection off the glass would about blind you. It was hooked to a car battery and ran off an archaic COE software on a laptop. It had to be perfect conditions or it wouldn’t get the shot. If it was a little foggy, forget it. But you could see that beam across the fog! I swear you’d think it’d cut a goose in two if it crossed that laser. That Mekometer was the property of the COE. They had us use it for our contract with them. They also purchased the first Trimble S8 in the area. That particular summer I had to run the Mekometer through and then put the S8 on and run through all the measurements again to get a comparison. Timewise, it wasn’t even close. One tower takes measurements 19,xxx’ across Rend Lake. The S-8 would spit you something out in seconds. The Mekometer would crank till it timed out after 30 minutes if conditions weren’t just right. I’m glad I got to use it though. Made me appreciate the new technology we have these days.
-
…you’ve wiggled in a point or two or three, or perhaps even a double wiggle.
The only superior evidence is that which you haven’t yet found. -
I helped stake safari world subdivision, just south of Coarsegold, CA, in around 1975.
Chain (tape) down C/L, make mark (keel) in pavement. Set up, and wiggle in, on line, turn 90 degrees, measure 40′, and set 3/4″ pipe. Fill with dirt. Put conc. In top, with sheetrock nail, and brass tag, RCE 513. That would be Joe McKee.
Log in to reply.