We are working on setting up a more remote workplace.?ÿ Part of that is having our two crews to go straight to the job and not come into the office everyday. Our current way of giving them job info is to print out various plats, worksheets, etc and put them together into a field folder.?ÿ I am trying to come up with what would be the best set-up for them to accomplish this from their homes.?ÿ Laptop and printers at home? Laptops only that they take in the field and look up their reference docs on them? Ipads instead of laptops??ÿ In addition to reference docs for the job they will need to upload and download their data files (TSC3 and TSC7) and scan their field notes.
What are you more modern, streamlined surveyors doing for you crews (or yourselves)?
Thanks!
Laptops only that they take in the field and look up their reference docs on them?
I can??t supply the information you are seeking but the above statement is a recipe for slow productivity. I have found having the crews information compiled completely prior to any field work is the most efficient method for production in the field. ?????ÿ
I agree with @flga-2-2
Personally I am old school. Paper works best for me.
The survey firms I work with these days furnish the crew chief a computer and printer/scanner to use at home.
I believe they are all desktop computers, laptops are limited and more expensive.
daily workflow: Data is compiled in the office, the crew chief logs into the company server, prints it and goes into the field.
when they finish for the day the crew chief downloads the data, Scans the field notes, and uploads to the company server.
I am told the field crews hardly ever go to the office.
Hi, Liz. Been a long time...2005 I think it was when I did some training there.?ÿ
I think it is essential for each crew to have a laptop and a way to connect, that could be using their phone as a hotspot or a standalone cell modem like a mifi. Also maybe a decent portable printer and scanner.?ÿ
I don't do the same type of work that you do, but I make sure that all of our jobs have coordinate files and global mapper files, and often also gpx files, and then I put those on an ftp server for download. The field files and pics, etc are then uploaded to the ftp.?ÿ
Also, note that office depot, kinko's, etc can print large format sheets sent to them.?ÿ
Like Peter, I favor having paper. But that is a real problem to supply to remote workers. I've never had an ipad for the field but most of the other departments of my city have them for the other field workers. They have a large enough screen to be a reasonable alternative to paper.
I'm gung-ho on laptops for surveyors, but that is for field staff that also does there own research, calcs, CAD, etc. So the next question is what software are you going to put on them? Are your field people CAD capable? Do they do their own stakeout calculations or do you feed them that from the office? If you are feeding them - it sounds like you are- there are plenty of data collectors available that are really field computers, and can send and receive emailed files. I'd look there.
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Ask your crews. ?ÿWhat do they say they want?
Are there procedures they would like to be done differently?
What procedures do they like, and not want to change?
EDIT
By the way, I am a solo guy. ?ÿI spend a couple days first wading through the research to build a LOOK file for initial recon. ?ÿIt has deeds and plats all plotted out on top of a geotiff image.
So, for me, the only things I take in the field with me are a PNEZD LOOK TXT file and an 8x11 or 11x17 overall point plot with and/or without the air photo. ?ÿI think I could eliminate the paper plot entirely if I wanted to buy one of those big screen data collectors, but it would have to have the physical keyboard for me.
?ÿ"I'm gung-ho on laptops for surveyors, but that is for field staff that also does there own research, calcs, CAD, etc."
Me too, however all of the above should be prepared prior to field activity. I look at it as who has the highest billing rate, usually a crew bills higher than a survey tech who can supply the information necessary to perform whatever is required in the field. ?????ÿ
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I'm also solo now, but for most of 50 years I was on one side or the other. I know lots has changed, but at least for the 1,2,or 3 day jobs I mostly worked on,?ÿ I think the field crew should see the office crew every day, maybe twice. Teamwork takes communication.?ÿ?ÿ
I'm solo also, and hate paper in the field. I spend time in the office making deed plots in cad. Try to best fit them the best I can. Note all monument calls in cad. Then bring in aerials to rough align the cad files. I have scans of all filed maps. I also georeference the scanned record maps so that I have those available in the controller on a separate layers. I'm not sure how many dc apps allow Image backgrounds.?ÿ I know Topcon Magnet and Trimble siteworks both work imagery.?ÿ
While in the field I'm fitting the project together as best I can. I re-align and rotate the backgrounds to fit found monuments, while working in State Plane Coordinates.?ÿ
Never set monuments during this first step on site, no matter how confident you are, licensed or not. Always take the data back to the office to analyze it. Prepare plst, then return to set pins.
For boundaries I structure folders in a very specific way. Mapping is ordered from oldest to newest with the site and primary controlling lines highlighted. Deeds are ordered the same way with a cover sheet having grantor/grantee and thumbnail sketch. Corner records are sorted by index number with multiple records oldest to newest.
If you dont know the order of events, you don't know what they mean. Hard to relay that in a pdf...
Provide them with a laptop and printer at home.?ÿ Send them a pdf package for each project, containing all of the plans and worksheets you think they should have going into the field.?ÿ Also send any control txt/csv files to upload to the DC.
That's no different than what you'd give them if you briefed them in the office in person.?ÿ Be available to go over instructions and questions if needed.
Drill it into them that they must download and email and put on the server each and every night.?ÿ I worked with too many guys who waited till monday morning to send friday's data, when on some occasions I'd planned to work on it on saturday.
You know your crew better than we do.?ÿ If they're experienced, or just competent, then you should be all set.?ÿ You can make this work
Yeah, be prepared for two-plus hour long telephone conversations from time to time...
Drill it into them that they must download and email and put on the server each and every night.?ÿ I worked with too many guys who waited till monday morning to send friday's data, when on some occasions I'd planned to work on it on saturday.
This.
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AND MAKE A NIGHTLY RECAP EMAIL MANDATORY.
Communication gets hard when you never see them.
make sure the crews and the office have the same flavor, either android or apple...you want to be able to easily switch to video calls?ÿ
BTW, my crews don't seem to care about paper anymore.
