GPS Collection with a Disto

Please provide more information about what you are trying to do. My coworker is asking. He has used his disto for a lot of jobs. Are you locating trees?

@field-dog 

This setup is intended for general 2D topographic mapping. My understanding is that the DISTO mounts to the GPS rod, and the offset—defined by azimuth/bearing and distance—is applied directly to the GPS observation and stored in the DC. I think there must be practical accuracy limits. In typical field conditions, I want to know what the combined offset accuracy is - ±0.2 ft???? So it’s not suitable for boundary evidence or any feature requiring high positional precision.

For my workflow, I would complete the boundary survey and then use this system to collect general topographic features such as house corners, trees, utility poles, fence corners that are not near property lines, and other miscellaneous improvements.

Try distance-distance offset.

@john-putnam 

That would work, but we are wanting something more like a "mobile total station" setup.

I've done a number of topo's and as-builts with GPS/GNSS plus Disto. But I did not integrate the Disto readings into my controller. Distance Distance works well. Typically, a Disto doesn't do magnetic north, but you probably have the latest and greatest model, so might need to adjust for magnetic declination (map time).

I think my coworker and I have your Disto confused with a handheld distance measuring device. Sorry about that.

We are starting to use NAVIS… total game changer for the correct applications. But some times a whammy and a pocket tape are all you need.

@rankin_file 

What’s a whammy?

Maybe it is standing between 2 points with your arms outstretched in opposite directions then bringing them together straight in front of you and now you have a "perfect" 90.

@lurker 

Perfect, hah! My clap-a-90 is only good to about 0.17 degrees...but I am out of practice.

@hoosier_surveyor You're probably more precise than the Disto's compass.

Back in the day we used to call them a 'wing ding'.

Can you clap vertically to obtain level?

@field-dog 

A whammy, Clap-90, Wing-ding are all similar, with varying degrees of gusto in the wind-up, and the leg straddle width of the operator. Back in the day we got “reminded” that “they” had paid good money for rt angle prisms and we should dang well use ‘em.

Posted by: @rankin_file

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@field-dog 

A whammy, Clap-90, Wing-ding are all similar, with varying degrees of gusto in the wind-up, and the leg straddle width of the operator. Back in the day we got “reminded” that “they” had paid good money for rt angle prisms and we should dang well use ‘em.

only they got lost so easily 😉 

I tried using a TruPulse 360 with Survce and the compass readings to use a rover as a portable "total station." The metal rod always messed with the Trupulse directional reading. I went back to doing distance-distance or point-point-distance offset for work with the rover.

I have used pole mounts similar to this for just straight distance readings. The Bosch ones are nice in that they can take the slope into account when giving you a distance cheaper than the equivalent Leica one.

https://hitechniques.ie/pole-adapter-for-disto-5

I purchased the pole-adapter shown here and a disto. I only use it when shots are not precise. For instant, I use the point to point straight line offset Survpc to shoot a top of bank of creek on the opposite side I am working, when the creek is too deep and wide to cross so I can show that bank line on a boundary survey. I hand enter the H distance manually. It worked well on that. Neither top of banks or centerline was not my Boundary line.

I got a Trupulse 360i demo unit and thoroughly tested it. Calibration was the manual calibration for the unit (various shots in specific orientations) and a declination setup in the DC from two known points. 

I collected multiple observations on the same point from different positions and distances to evaluate consistency. The DC reported the azimuth and offset distance reliably, with test distances ranging from 10 to 30 feet. The resulting horizontal accuracy fell between 1.0 and 1.5 feet, which is disappointing. The errors varied between setups with no consistent pattern, so I couldn’t isolate a single limiting factor.

The only way I can get accuracy down to 0.2' was the distance-distance offset method. The Bluetooth is nice, but for $2,000 I would rather use my existing disto and hand enter the offset.