When did the use of prisms became common in non-government surveying? I realize that not everyone moved away from chaining at the same time, but they were in common in private practice in 1984 when I began surveying. Red-Mini on a T-2 is what I first used to shoot at a prism. Then I believe the next instrument was a Lietz SET-10 with an LED display.
When did survey equipment supply catalogs begin offering prisms? I am trying to pinpoint an approximate date for prism use in private practice for an article I am working on.
The outfit I worked for purchase an HP3800B in early 1975. We used the "forty pound" triple prism setup. In mid-1976 they purchased the 3810A (total station).
http://www.hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/pdfs/IssuePDFs/1976-04.pdf
I'm not sure when retailers began offering prisms in their catalogues. I'm sure it wasn't long after someone dropped their HP prism and needed a replacement. 😉
My first experience with a retro prism was with a Wild DI-10 Distomat. It had a control box and a send/receive head that mounted atop our T-2 telescope. The prisms were very heavy and were rectangular. You could actually clip them together to get a very large array three high and three across. With that much glass, it was common to shoot between one and two thousand meters but rarely got to a mile. That was in 1970-1972
Now after mulling it over, I remember being on a crew in Boulder, Colorado for Drexel and Burrel that occasionally used a Geodimeter (model 6, I think) instrument that sent out visible light to a reflector. That was in 1968.
You will probably end up finding out the Geodimeter instruments used some kind of prism back into the fifties.
Weyerhaeuser SW Arkansas used a Wild DI-10 in 1969.
http://amhistory.si.edu/surveying/object.cfm?recordnumber=748493
I was still helping my daddy on weekends with a transit and steel tape (no reel) from 1982-1985.
I wish I could remember the exact year, but I will never forget the day that Jack Fitch (my hero) brought out an edm and big old prism assembly for me and dad to use.
I am thinking 1982?
Which brings something to mind. Driving along we saw a tripod set up with a Leica mini prism. My work partner commented about using such a tiny prism. I noted that you can probably get a 3000 foot shot on such a prism nowadays, who needs the big 62mm prism anymore?
The most accurate prism of mine, as checked on a calibrated baseline, is one of my mini prisms.
J. Penry, post: 439961, member: 321 wrote: When did the use of prisms became common in non-government surveying? I realize that not everyone moved away from chaining at the same time, but they were in common in private practice in 1984 when I began surveying. Red-Mini on a T-2 is what I first used to shoot at a prism. Then I believe the next instrument was a Lietz SET-10 with an LED display.
When did survey equipment supply catalogs begin offering prisms? I am trying to pinpoint an approximate date for prism use in private practice for an article I am working on.
We shot from a Control Point on the road to the back sight on the top of Lone Mountian at Big Sky, My. in 1973 with a HP 3800 to at least a triple prism maybe more.
I first saw a prism in 1973.
First used one on a job in 1979.
Now I have 18 or so, seco, retro and mini.
A surveyor in California that I knew was using prism with his Model 4 Geodimeter in 1959, the year he bought it. As we talked about it he said it saved him
a lot of time over taping and in his measurement of base lines. I now own that unit.
JOHN NOLTON
Dave Lindell, post: 439991, member: 55 wrote: The most accurate prism of mine, as checked on a calibrated baseline, is one of my mini prisms.
That's not really surprising. I'm thinking (that can be dangerous) since light travels slower through glass than air (look it up)...it could conceivably have an effect on the amount of time the light (infra red) takes to get back to the instrument. Since the instrument depends partially on the timing, a smaller mass of glass might actually be more accurate.
The Wild distomat was a marvel. Had one installed on T16.
Backpacked the setup cross country thru Arkansas from Ashdown to Mena.
paden cash, post: 440037, member: 20 wrote: since light travels slower through glass than air
That's taken into account in the offset number (30 mm or whatever).
When did the use of prisms became common in non-government surveying? I think mid to late 70's.
In 1969 in New York Stake, my boss bought an old Geodimeter 4 (I think) that I played with. We never really used it. It needed a gasoline generator to power it. In the mid 70's I was proud to be using a HP 3800? which was not common, but not rare either. The last I used only a steel tape for distances was mid 80's and I quit that job for that reason.
Larry Best, post: 440110, member: 763 wrote: ..The last I used only a steel tape for distances was mid 80's and I quit that job for that reason.
I did the reverse. I quit the outfit that had the EDMs to go to work for at a firm that was stuck in the past. While not my finest moment (or the best decision I ever made....) It was the first job I was hired on as a PC. Returning to the dark ages after a couple of years enjoying traverses closing 1:60k with raw data was not an easy feat.
But being the master planner and social butterfly that I was I managed to bribe (lunch at the steak house) some of my previous co-workers from time to time to drop by my jobsites with their equipment and shoot a couple of quick points for me. I'm sure the owners of both outfits would have pooped their pants if they had known what I was doing.
I left there in '80 and we still had no electronic equipment. I did wind up at a firm that had some wonderful Nikons with various top-mounted EDMs. It was a breath of fresh air.
Larry Best, post: 440110, member: 763 wrote: The last I used only a steel tape for distances was mid 80's and I quit that job for that reason.
IN '91/'92 I worked for an outfit that had a couple of very old, very tired, very unreliable top mount EDMS of 1970's vintage. So unreliable that we generally left them behind and taped our distances. They also had a brand sparkling new Leica 1010, a cutting edge total station at the time, which sat on the boss's desk for months at a time.
My old boss told me, two days before his son was born in September of 1971, they demoed the HP EDM. He figured they had four days of chaining to do, and they got it done that afternoon using that. They bought it on the spot.
Per my 1970 "Breed and Hosmer" the Geodimeter Model 1 was 1950, with Model 6 being in 1965. The Model 4 was marketed to private surveyors in 1958. From Model 4 on they could be mounted on a Wild or Kern tripod.
Also see "Electronic Surveying and Mapping" by Simo Laurila, 1966.
Paul in PA
Interestingly, Edmund Scientific, in the mid or late 70's listed surplus prisms in their catalog. As I remember, some were chipped or scratched but, the price was well below that of survey supply stores. I never bought any from them and wonder if others ever noticed that Edmund sold them?