New rods always need adjustment. Fortunately it is simple to do.
One of the reasons I have quit using tribrachs. I know, I was raised on them as prima facie and the most accurate way to go, have since found a good bipod and prism rod to be the better option. Lighter for a solo operator, and all you have to do is sight the bottom of the rod and raise the scope to see if it is plumb. I have identified rods that were good in the morning and got bumped (or in one case, knocked over on a concrete slab to the point it cracked the prism housing) in the afternoon.
That, and it is nice to be able to elevate them when doing the uphill downhill thing.
> I know, I was raised on them as prima facie and the most accurate way to go, have since found a good bipod and prism rod to be the better option.
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> That, and it is nice to be able to elevate them when doing the uphill downhill thing.
Prism pole tripods don't cost that much more than bipods do, but the extra leg is a bargain considering how it increases the stability of the set up and makes it possible to both check and adjust the pole level at the station.
For rural work, the ability to vary the prism/target height is a huge improvement over tripod/tribrach combinations.
The only complaint I have about prism pole tripods is that the quality of those available has declined over the years. I'd rather use the model that SECO was selling twenty years ago any day instead of what is available now. The weak link on the old design was that the tripod was sized for a specific pole diameter, but if all your poles are the same, that isn't much of a problem.
I agree, I prefer the push button tripods too.
Hello, dual bubbles would be helpful if you are using rods much for important work.
