Hi guys
The calibration date for my Trimble S7 was 31 Nov. I'm sending it in tomorrow.?ÿ I haven't used it this month as I've been doing a large internal measured survey.
I know for my professional indemnity insurance I must get it calibrated every year. Is missing its date by two weeks going to cause a problem down the line? Should I notify the insurance company?
Anyone been in this position before?
Cheers, Andrew
I don't know their rules, but common sense says that it doesn't matter whether it is calibrated if you aren't measuring with it, and all should be well with a new calibration.
I really doubt that you have anything to worry about. I'll wager that 99% of users do not have their instruments serviced, ever, unless they stop working. Most have never been to a calibration baseline, many do not know what that is.?ÿ
As far as whether this affects your insurability, only your insurer can address that.?ÿ
I know for my professional indemnity insurance I must get it calibrated every year
I've never heard of a requirement like that.?ÿ In what what country are you located?
I'm in the UK. Do you guys in the US not get yours calibrated every year then?
I'm in the UK. Do you guys in the US not get yours calibrated every year then?
I'm in New Zealand. We do get ours done every year - but we don't have to, there is no legal requirement
Perhaps you need to look around when our insurance is next due. In 40 years I've never been asked for that as a requirement. Even for ISO9000 we only need to demonstrate that we take steps to ensure instruments are in good adjustment. (We have our own baseline, approx 1km. and 9 stations).
Lab. calibrations don't always tell you a lot in any case - just that it measures correctly when inside a nice warm office. External baselines give a far better indication of the real performance - unless all your work is inside nice warm offices!
I'm in the UK. Do you guys in the US not get yours calibrated every year then?
No, we send it in when we see that there is an issue, of course there are routines that need to be run on all the instruments to keep them in adjustment. I can't see getting them calibrated every year. Not that it's a bad idea, I know I've sent one in more than once in a year during some times of very heavy use.?ÿ
In NJ if you are doing NJDOT work you need to have your instrument calibrated each year.
And if you use a 100 foot steel tape, you need to send it to the NJ Dept of Weights and Measures for verification that it measures 100 feet.
I love the fact that we get them calibrated and then have them mailed back to us in a big box. :), Jp
And if you use a 100 foot steel tape, you need to send it to the NJ Dept of Weights and Measures for verification that it measures 100 feet.
Small comment here, most 100' steel tapes are actually 99.97'-100.03' +- after a few years of tugging through the brush. A calibration does not certify the tape is eggsactly 100.000'; it delivers a certificate saying how long or short it is so you can adjust during your data reductions.
Trivial when pulling one distance with the tape, a consideration when measuring long baselines (1000'+) to high accuracy with a 100' tape.?ÿ Thus the introduction of 300' Invar (Lovar) tapes which were insensitive to temperature but were much more sensitive to damage because of the weaker metal.?ÿ They required regular comparison to a standard and considerable care in the field, tension meters, accurate elevation differences, care in deployment and packing for storage.
Of course, it is an archaic technology, EDMs & GPS dominate 1,000'-10,00 foot accuracy so what's the point??ÿ
And if you use a 100 foot steel tape, you need to send it to the NJ Dept of Weights and Measures for verification that it measures 100 feet.
Small comment here, most 100' steel tapes are actually 99.97'-100.03' +- after a few years of tugging through the brush. A calibration does not certify the tape is eggsactly 100.000'; it delivers a certificate saying how long or short it is so you can adjust during your data reductions.
Trivial when pulling one distance with the tape, a consideration when measuring long baselines (1000'+) to high accuracy with a 100' tape.?ÿ Thus the introduction of 300' Invar (Lovar) tapes which were insensitive to temperature but were much more sensitive to damage because of the weaker metal.?ÿ They required regular comparison to a standard and considerable care in the field, tension meters, accurate elevation differences, care in deployment and packing for storage.
Of course, it is an archaic technology, EDMs & GPS dominate 1,000'-10,00 foot accuracy so what's the point??ÿ
In NJ if you are doing NJDOT work you need to have your instrument calibrated each year.
And if you use a 100 foot steel tape, you need to send it to the NJ Dept of Weights and Measures for verification that it measures 100 feet.
Oregon ODOT requires that you take your instrument to a calibration baseline before beginning any ODOT project, or, for their in house crews, every 6 weeks. Yes, that often.
A few years back I sent my crew out to the local baseline for an annual check of our instruments. As soon as they got there they called to tell me about the huge EXIT sign that had been erected across the baseline, rendering it unusable. By the condition of the ground shown in the pictures they brought back?ÿ I was pretty sure that the sign had been put up months previously (it later emerged that it was 6 months). I called ODOT Survey a stirred the pot a little. There was a guy there (Roger Galles, for those who remember Roger) who took it on as his thing. About 6 months later the sign was removed and relocated. The point to this story is that the baseline had been unusable for 6 months and nobody had reported it. Including the ODOT crews who were supposed to be out there every 6 weeks.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
When I was in Tulsa I visited the baseline near there. It is overgrown and unusable. At the rate trees and brush grow in that area I doubt anybody has been able to use it in well over a decade.?ÿ None of the people I worked with there even knew it existed.?ÿ There was supposed to be one on Fort Sill near Lawton, but it seems to be within the base boundary. I never made it down there to investigate more fully. Nobody I spoke to had ever been to it, either. One fellow on this board recalled having been there many years before - he wasn't sure how many.?ÿ But probably 30 or 40.
I applaud all of you who routinely get your equipment check and calibrated.?ÿ But you are the minority.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ
I do not know where the closest baseline to me is, maybe Ft Sill, Ok.
Was always trained how to adjust the instrument will the few tools that came with and wherever I was when it needed some alignment.
The only thing could not do was fix the emitter.
The new instruments have a different style of crosshair adjustment that takes more hands than I have to work it out.
Always shoot prior located points enough to notice any change in distance and angles.
Regular and proper maintaining equipment is the best way to go.
We visit the NGS baseline at Magnuson Park twice a year when we change our clocks. It has undergone some changes over the years such as the 1500 meter point missing and reset because of soccer field construction and now the 430 meter station is in a regulated wetland. I am hesitant to haul out the machette in the park considering the ramifications of destroying public property or having to explain myself to the police.?ÿI simply call the Seattle Parks Department Surveyor and they promptly remedy the situation. I noted at our last visit that the 150 meter monument had been hit pretty hard by a mower.?ÿ By the way there is a pretty cool art installation along the entire baseline by Perri Lynch.?ÿ
We used to visit the NGS Arlington baseline, but it is along the runway and is problematic with access and security issues.?ÿ?ÿ
