Any of you guys allow your crews to carry the instrument on the end of the tripod? I'm about to crack down on it, and want to hear what some of you guys think about it.
Thanks,
Never. Box it every time.
No way should this be allowed. For some reason this is a "carry-over" from the days of transits I think. The instrument should always be boxed when moving unless it is for a short distance and the tripod is carried so the instrument is vertical. Users do not know how much pressure is put on the tribrach and how adversley affects measuremnts over time.
No. I might leave it on the tripod if wiggling in on a line, if doing that I loosen the leg I am stepping on so, if it gets jarred while setting it, the shock will be limited to the leg.
jud
Don't think it is a hold over at all, I think it is caused by lack of caring along with poor training.
jud
If I am moving a short distance I might leave the instrument on the tripod.
BUT I then carry it with the tripod head on by shoulder, legs split and the instrument vertical. DID I MENTION MOVING ONLY A SHORT DISTANCE. Under almost all conditions the instrument goes into the box or backpack.
MANY MANY years ago...
We always carried the K&E "Paragon" over our shoulder.....
One day the rodman called the IM and when the IM turned to speak to the RM....
yup you guessed it... transit to the tree.
Since my first (semi)Total Station... Topcon GTS-2B.... they go in the case....and the case gets shoulder straps. I'm not fond of those soft frabic cases either....
The only time they are allowed to carry the TC on the tripod is when they are about to be hit by a vehicle and getting out of the way.
Other than that, never.
> Any of you guys allow your crews to carry the instrument on the end of the tripod? I'm about to crack down on it, and want to hear what some of you guys think about it.
>
> Thanks,
Not in a million years.
Never!
Chr.
> Any of you guys allow your crews to carry the instrument on the end of the tripod? I'm about to crack down on it, and want to hear what some of you guys think about it.
>
> Thanks,
Never ever, I have seen it done in the past but I have also seen 3 get smacked into a tree and one dropped, all of which could have been avoided. Box it or use a backpack.
I carry it, but not on the end of a tripod. It goes in the backpack box everytime.
Never with the instrument.
Sometimes I carry the level like that, but really should not.
The instrument has gone into the box since the guppie at this company. The ONLY thing allowed on the tripod to move is the auto-level, and even then, it must be carried up-right. The days of slinging it over your shoulder went out with Jimmy Carter.
Hmmm....love your avatar there Kris. When was that taken? Back when Carter was president? 😛
edit: okay, I can't tell what you got slung over your shoulder....but still it is kind of funny.
We still tote my GTS-302 over the shoulder, though we try to keep it fairly upright. It's not a very heavy instrument, and carrying it that way hasn't had any apparent effect on its accuracy. (18 years and still going strong!)
The robots don't seem as robust, so they get boxed before transport.
The levels always get shouldered, even the DNA03. I'll sling the AT-G2 any which way, but the DNA03 gets the upright treatment. No way am I running levels with a box -- talk about a way to kill production! Even Curt Smith's NGS geodetic leveling class teaches you to shoulder the level, but again, as upright as possible.
The last time I saw that done was 1994. I was against it, but I wasn't the boss. It was okay with the boss so my chainman continued to do it. It was no longer okay with the boss after the instrument was dropped on the pavement, tripod and all.
But the potential of traumatic physical damage is not the main reason for not shouldering a modern total station. The reason is that that sort of treatment will quickly put the instrument out of collimation.
I will sometimes leave the tribrach on the tripod and just box the gun for short walks between setups.
No further than I can spit.
nope - put it in the box.
When I worked for others, I did things the way the boss wanted. Their methods are split roughly half and half as to box it or not. If you want to crack down, do so.
Personally, I carry my instrument on top of the tripod often. The instrument is also checked very frequently in the office parking lot. All the tests, adjustments, and collimation procedures from the back of the manual are ran. It is very rare that any adjustment is ever needed and when I do adjust anything (including laser plummet), it is so minimal that I debate adjusting it at all.
The instrument is also tested on a calibration baseline frequently and I find that there is practically no variance in it through the years. It is a pretty tight instrument.
A recent 3-point traverse had one second of angular error and 0.004' of linear closure error. Some of that is cancelling error and some is luck, but an instrument that is banged around and has a messed up tribrach is not going to achieve those results consistently. My instrument does this well on a daily basis.
It is carried in a basically upright position and I walk so as to jar it as little as possible. If the terrain warrants it, I either carry it off the tripod by the handle or box it. Of course I allow myself some leeway in deciding when and how it should be transported as I paid for and will be responsible for any damage to it.