hey folks,
New here, but been impressed browsing the forum with the helpful vibe. I've been playing with a new topcon GT robot and magnet field, a huge step up from old sokkia sdr gear. Works great so far! Just a basic question to kick off, does anyone know how to run a job completely without elevations in magnet? I do a lot of basic boundary surveys with no need for z's, yet magnet gets a bit weird when I bring in txt coord files without height values. Gives me messages like " plane coordinates could not be computed" when I just want to do a simple backsight or 2D resection with x,y coords(no z). Sure I can add 0 heights to all points, but seems an added pain.
Cheers
KalmanFilter, post: 427779, member: 12716 wrote: hey folks,
New here, but been impressed browsing the forum with the helpful vibe. I've been playing with a new topcon GT robot and magnet field, a huge step up from old sokkia sdr gear. Works great so far! Just a basic question to kick off, does anyone know how to run a job completely without elevations in magnet? I do a lot of basic boundary surveys with no need for z's, yet magnet gets a bit weird when I bring in txt coord files without height values. Gives me messages like " plane coordinates could not be computed" when I just want to do a simple backsight or 2D resection with x,y coords(no z). Sure I can add 0 heights to all points, but seems an added pain.
Cheers
Welcome to the site, KF. (sorry I can't input to your issue but I am positive you will get some good feedback in short order).
Magnet Field is always carrying elevations. No way to turn it off, as far as I know. I just leave the hi at zero and ignore elevations.
Welcome aboard KF.
Your question is essentially Software dependent, and I don't know squat about MAGNET.
That said;
Out here in the Mountain West, ALL surveys are influenced by "elevation" (height) variances unique to the project. SOME times, the effect of vertical relief are a TRIVIAL consideration, and can be ignored. MOST of the time however, it is a NON-Trivial consideration, and "adjustments" must be considered. As always...IT DEPENDS.
Loyal
Like Loyal, I don't use Magnet. With my other collectors (TDS, DC50, Carlson) I used to run without elevations. After a while I found that there was no reason not to use elevations. It takes a couple of seconds to keep up with them and I could use the elevations for retracement. I can return to any boundary corner I've tied in the last 12 years or so, stake to it and tell you how deep it is when I get there. Or I can save the effort when the stake out shows Fill 4.2 feet (indicating that the site was cleared over). It also helps make sure that I don't have the occupy and backsight points backwards. The distance will check in such a case, but it is unlikely that the vertical will check. It's good for the robot too because you can tell it to turn to you in 3D and it won't nose up or nose down. And finally, as Loyal says, the geodetics work better with heights.
I know we as surveyors have been assuming a flat plane for our work for millennia, but it's getting time to change our thinking. We work on a rugged, undulating surface that roughly equates to an ellipsoid, hurtling through space. "Down" doesn't necessarily point to the center of it either because even the force of gravity is wild.
95% of my work is 3d.
Thanks folks for the replys, i figured as much regarding magnet carrying elevs. It's really not a problem, more a minor annoyance for jobs I do several of a day, where heights are definitely not required (think 10 points, flat land, pegging a rectangle house lot). I'll just set them up with 0 elevs. I like shawns method of keeping the elevs stored to help find marks IN 3D and stopping the jigger (Australian term for TS!) turning vertically to the moon or china when looking for points,
Cheers KF
Never heard the term Jigger for a TS. I have some contractors that always call it a Gizmo.
leegreen, post: 427962, member: 2332 wrote: Never heard the term Jigger for a TS. I have some contractors that always call it a Gizmo.
It's pretty much universal in oz. Think it arose from the term thingamajig (urban dictionary: "thingamajig, doohickey, hickey, thingamabob, doodad, thingummy, whatchamacallit, whatnot, whatsit ") to describe anything you don't know the name of. We're a bit different down here
leegreen, post: 427962, member: 2332 wrote: Never heard the term Jigger for a TS.
That would probably be preferable to "gun" actually. Confusion over whether you are referring to an instrument or a whiskey measure would not be a Federal crime as is using the term "gun" on an airplane.
