I read more and more of ?ÿsurveyors not using field books anymore.
I??d be lost without one.
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I prefer the binders with the loose leaf paper.
My last office I had 2 walls (8??12) with books floor to ceiling with field books going back to 1947.?ÿ I'm sure they are in a landfill by now.?ÿ
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I use binders with loose leaf paper and keep them in the manila file folder with everything for each project
When I have connected many boundary surveys into a network the files are moved into a plastic file folder named PROJECT?ÿ XTB.
HAve about a dozen of those networks.
I have one (1) field book, the same one I had when I started my business in 2000. Some of the pages have notes, all from level runs.?ÿ
Old field notes are very useful. Most of ours are loose leaf in the old project files. We have some field books.
We are surveying the boundaries of one of our lookout properties. Surveyed in 1961 and filed Record of Survey. Every found monument fits very well then found one off 3 feet. Found the old field notes where they set the monument. Knute wrote N80-mm-ss E in the book. I calculated the bearing from the coordinates written on the page, should be N70-mm-ss E. Also checked over the old calculations (we have those too, traverse sheets calculated and written in pencil), everything looks good. Next monument is 7 feet off, find no reason for it. We think it was moved at some point in the past (bearing tree missing, signs of logging and yellow machines).
Still use field books I am now up to # 71 but not as many entries as the past mostly level notes and construction grades.
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I'm now on Book 20 of a series started in early 2016. I keep sketches of control and boundary tie networks and detailed descriptions of found monuments -rather than keying in long form descriptions. I've been doing quite a bit of construction staking during his time so there are sketches and cutsheet notes of that.?ÿ
This is in addition to backups of every days raw data files. There isn't a angle/distance record in any of the books.?ÿ I've scanned them all, so even if they go in the dumpster there will still be a record.
Before 2016 my notes were mostly on looseleaf. Those were scanned as well.?ÿ ?ÿ
I worked on a boundary survey (still doing work for the client, a bit at a time now) where I ended up with 27 field books, probably averaged 250 pages. They are all gone now, scanned and dumped. There was no more space in our filing room, garage, shed for all the paper.?ÿ
Getting GPS greatly reduced field books, we still have them for the job, but it's either a couple of pages of a loose leaf book that we scan and dump or a little "hard bound" elan book we put in the file.?ÿ
Me, too - except I started solo in 2002 and I also have elev. cert. notes in mine. Never could understand why people used data collectors and kept paper notes, too.
I am working out of Write in the Rain brand book 344 at the moment. I usually have three books with available space to work from the rest are generally full but that is my indexing system.?ÿ
Ironically, I have my Gandpa's Dietzgen book on my desk with the first entry at 9-12-1922.?ÿ
I used my field book today on a level run. I'm about a 1/3 through my book that I started in March. I'm not old enough to be considered old school either. 😉
