Beginner Equipment

Any particular type of mapping?

What's on your mind? 2d, or 3d? Precise, or general topography? Boundary work??ÿ

Thx

N

Posted by: @neodem

I want to learn how it was done using the older technology.

I'd recommend an?ÿoptical (non-electronic) theodolite or transit and a stadia rod.

FWIW,

Without a better sense of your intended accuracy, the size of the area you plan to map, experience doing such work, I provide only general advice. While you speak of a level, (and there are some that include a horizontal circle) it is intended for use in determining height differences.

First of all, Iƒ??d refer to a introductory surveying textbook. There are some available free on-line. Learning to setup and operate a surveying instrument is a skill. Try to get a manual with the instrument.?ÿ

In order to position something, or create a map, you need a starting point, orientation, angle to the new object and a distance to it. So with a starting point and orientation, you will need something to measure angles and distances.?ÿ

There are a number of options as far as the choice of instruments to measure angles. Depending on how ƒ??oldƒ? the technology you wish to emulate, angular measurement tools could be as old as a surveyorƒ??s compass (which would also provide orientation), to a transit (e.g. a Gurley,or K&E), to a theodolite (e.g. a Wild). ?ÿBoth transits and theodolites measure both horizontal and vertical angles.

Yes a tripod is always required to transits and theodolites. The type tripod depends on the instrument.

As for measuring distances, while using a stadia board is an option, a surveying tape is feasible, both require an assistant/helper. If you project area is small and the distances you need to measure relatively short and you donƒ??t have a helper, Iƒ??d look into something like a Leica Disto?ÿsee: https://shop.leica-geosystems.com/disto-job-site-measuring-us#x3 ?ÿThere are various models with difference ranges.

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Howdy neodem

What are you wanting to map?

Your yard, your block or your town......

Will they be for sale?

There are so many basic tools that can be used to draw a map for a small area that you would not use for a large area.

Ever heard of a plane table? They are not so easy to find and were used for the most basic forms of mapping.

Tell us more.........

You might want to consider shadowing a surveyor for a day . There is a lot to learn before setting out on your map making.?ÿ You can ask questions as you go too. Questions tailored to your unique situation.?ÿ

I concur that you should start with an elementary surveying textbook. If you want to use older equipment an older book may be a better start than a new one.

My favorite older text is by Davis, Foote, and Kelly. My favorite newer one is a less than most recent Wolf and Ghilani.

Keep in mind that much of surveying needs at least two people to avoid a LOT of walking between instrument and target, unless you are equipped with expensive recent gear like a robotic total station and wireless link to a data collector, or RTK GNSS setup.

I agree you will get better advice if you specify the scale of your project and accuracy goal.

Another cost effective route would be to find a local Tech or Comm. College that offers a basic intro to Surveying. They generally have a fairly wide selection of gear that's involved in surveying and it will give you an idea of what you need in terms of equipment and training.

?ÿ

Heck, if your project is interesting enough, you might find a local surveyor to help you out.?ÿ?ÿ Tell us more.?ÿ

Simple older total station is $500, (no data collector usually).?ÿA couple of mirrors and tribrachs, $100 ea, 3 tripods $100 ea. Traverse around a park. A textbook. Get the hang of running 5-6 sided closed traverses. Local grid to start, tip of the iceberg.

Mapping is big chore.?ÿ

Search for old text books from the 1970's. I had one in college that was pretty good in describing how and what to do for field practices.?ÿ

@one-cup-o-joe

my favorite is UK Royal Engineers 1925. 

@freefallin1309

internship! 

Don't overdose this guy... He might be gonna topo a 50x150 lot, so his brick layer can buy the right number of bricks.

I'm not OCD. I'm not OCD. I'm not OCD.

🙂

@nate-the-surveyor I think I'm going to go mostly 2d and try to map things like sections of a river for example. I would like the ability however to move to simple topographic stuff as I get more into this.

@norman-oklahoma Thank you. That's kind of what I was thinking too!

@geeoddmike

This is a great response, thank you. A bit more info: I was hoping to start by making a map of maybe a 200m square along a river. I have 0 experience but I've been reading a cool book on maps called "Down to Earth" by David Greenhood. It's inspired me to just try and make a map from scratch (which is why I chose this river section near my house).

I asked about a level since I don't know much of the terminology (I was thinking about the thing surveyors put on a tripod.. I've heard "level" and "transit").

I've actually got something very much like the leica you reccomended. I use it to measure things in my house.. Not sure if it has a large range (eg. over 100m)

@a-harris

I'm not selling anything.. this is just a hobby. I simply woke up one day and wondered how people back in the 15th century made maps with the tech they had back then and I decided I'd like to try to figure it out by doing it. Though I'm ok with using at least basic 20th century tech 🙂

@larry-scott I don't know if I would be able to pull off an internship since I'm currently very employed.. This is just a hobby for me. Though I could take a day off and learn. I'm in the Philadelphia area.. how do you guys think I could find someone willing?

@bill93

Hi. I answered this in a previous reply, but I'm simply trying to learn. I have no need for hyper accurate results and I have 0 experience. I chose a spot at random that has interesting edges along a river that I was hoping to figure out how to represent in a map. Maybe 200m square?