Beginner, need help

You need to put the equipment down and slowly back away. Then take some training classes. You've jumped into the deep end before you know how to swim.

I don't mean the above comments to be belittling. I'm simply trying to impress upon you the amount of learning you need to do. At least contact a knowledgeable local surveyor to work with you on your first couple projects.

You have asked a 10 gallon question. We would need to know a few things to help you. Like what brand of GPS and Data collector you are using. BUT, furthermore, there is alot you should learn. And, if you don't learn it, you are plumb dangerous!

You need to learn about datums. And projections. And how your GPS applies it.

Jan Van Sickle has a good book, but I have not read it yet.

Really, you need to know what you are doing, not just which button to press.

N

When I got my PM3s for static GPS, the first thing I did was hire a recent college kid that said he learned something about GPS and was very worded and spoke fluent GPS. In reality he did not know any more than I did about operating it.

I then read, set it all up in the back yard, turned it all on and got it all synced on settings frequently for about 9mos and one morning I woke up and the light went on in my head and I've been using the PM3s with success ever since.

Honestly, I do not know how to turn another brand on nor know what to do if it were on.

Don't know what type you have, really don't matter. There is a learning process to understand how to collect the data and process it with CORS stations in static and a whole nother technique to RTK.

Some areas far away from where I am, there are classes and factory instructors to meet up with and be taught the process.

Learn the search function of this site and you will find a boat load of information of how others use theirs.

good luck

Try this:

Change your project to a state plane zone for your area. Post what city or county you are in and someone can maybe find it for you.

Make sure you have a geoid file selected.

Export a CSV point file and give him that.

> So I am brand new to GPS surveying and I received about an hour crash course on "how to".
>
> I went to a job....made a single point localization with fake n,e,e readings and continued to map out my whole site. My estimator is now calling me and saying he cant link everything together with google earth because the elevations are too far off. What do I do??

Pat yourself on the back. You know more than the estimator. (:
Relax. If you collected the raw observations, all hope is not lost.
Anyone linking vertical to GE is a putz in my book.

You are going to need more than an hour crash course to grasp what you are doing.

> Anyone linking vertical to GE is a putz in my book.

What?

It's in the computer, it can't be wrong!

Did you export ellipsoid heights? I have a similar issue when I forget to change an export setting.

Don't let the usual suspects here bother you. You have to learn somewhere and if you are not looking for perfect locations you might be AOK. You can always read, train and learn more about any topic.

There are many ways to get your coordinates on "real world".

-The easiest is, if you are using a base/rover, set the base to record static data, do your assumed coordinates survey while the base collects data, then download and run the base file through OPUS, which will give you the real world coordinates of the base, and then you can translate your RTK survey to match your new base coordinates.

-Use a network rover, if you have a real time network in your area.

-Research NGS control points in your area and localize to those.

-Shot 1 or more NGS control points as part of the survey, then adjust to that later.

Are you on ellipsoid heights? The one thing you shouldn't need for brand new control is a localization/calibration

I read thru the comments below and trust me I know I am in over my head, and have already expressed that and I am looking for help locally.

However I'm the type of person who really does try to do a good job and I would like to find a way to fix this one problem......because you know it's hurry hurry and I have to have it done first thing Monday morning or my ass is grass. Again already expressed to my management that they are throwing me under the bus here

So to answer some of the questions.......Topcon Hyper V with FC250, pocket 3D.

I sincerely hope you're trying to punk everyone here and this isn't an actual scenario.

I have to second the 'don't do it' comment. Applying GPS to survey problems isn't rocket science, but even simple tasks require a broad knowledge base. You can certainly learn the data gathering checklist in short order. Understanding how to evaluate and properly communicate it requires an investment of time and effort.
My .02, Tom

Be careful with that...

> -The easiest is, if you are using a base/rover, set the base to record static data, do your assumed coordinates survey while the base collects data, then download and run the base file through OPUS, which will give you the real world coordinates of the base, and then you can translate your RTK survey to match your new base coordinates.

You have to be careful with that way. It works fairly cleanly if you plug in an approximate grid coordinate and the data collector thinks you are working in the grid projection that you are going to adjust to. The problem comes in if you do a single point "hear" localization. My data collection software will create a custom grid projection with the convergence equaling zero at that point. If you want to adjust it to another grid system you have to account for convergence (critical) and scale (possibly critical). I doubt they got into that in her one hour crash course.

Running the Leica GPS base and rover I use could not be simpler, once you know how to use it that is. If you have not been trained in how to upload, download, calibrate, take shots, repeat shots on critical points, the clues when things are going wrong, etc., then it is a nightmare. The training doesn't take long, but it is not optional - you have to have it. Trust me.

Jen,

You are actually becoming the norm here. Contractors are current the largest buyers of survey grade GPS in the US. Many contractors are purchasing Topcon Hiper GPS with Pocket3d, but without proper training. Many dealers simple deliver the system, and help you turn it on. Then walk away.

The local Topcon dealer in New York points a lot of these contractors to me. I provide consulting and training for Topcon GPS equipment you are using.

With that gear you need to collect static data on the internal SD card, while you are performing your RTK.

In Pocket3d you need to setup the correct state plane projection and geoid for your area. Then you can collect your data.

Once you get back to office. You copy the TPS file from SD card that was in the Hiper V base. Send this to OPUS or OPUS-RS depending on the length of time you collected data.

You will then get an accurate state plane position for the base.

Now you need transform all your RTK from the Autonomous position, to the OPUS derived position of the base.

I realize this all sounds greek to you, but it is the procedure you need to understand and learn to get proper results.

Feel free to go to my website www.LeeGreen.com and call me for assistance.

LeeGreen.com

A minor Suggestion: send the whole file, base and rover, and data collector, to somebody familiar with that kind of equipment. IF you cannot email it, TAKE it to the dealer, or to another surveyor, hand hire them to help you.

This is your only way to redeem your job, in my opinion.

N

>....made a single point localization with fake n,e,e readings...
I don't have experience with your specific make and model of receiver and dc/software- but I'm quite sure that it is these "fake" coordinates that are the cause of your trouble. What you want to do it do a localization without the fake coordinates but rather with a projection in the State Plane Zone appropriate to your location on the planet. That would get you to +/- 20 feet of matching Google Earth.

To further refine your positions you would want to set your base receiver to collect data for submission to OPUS, and then update your localized base position to the more precise position for it that OPUS would give you.

In a nutshell, that's it. I know that is probably so much Greek to you at this stage. Don't feel too bad about that. The fact is that it is also Greek to a great many Licensed Surveyors.

Thank you for the positive feedback. That's exactly what is happening. I did not ask for this, nor claim to be any type of surveyor! Just trying to accomplish something they can work with. It's simply for bid, and I feel like the expert in the office should be able to tweak my data to his needs. I am handing my unit to him and I have nothing to do with any of the computer work.

Be careful with that...

To me getting on "real world" implies SPCS... I can have any kind of insane localized coordinate system in my data collector with a base coordinate that is off at the maximum allowable distance. As soon as I correct the base position - from OPUS or whatever - and tell the software to use SPCS and a geoid model, I'm good to go. I wouldn't own a data collector in which such a simple process had potential pitfalls.