It comes down to using the method that achieves the reliability, precision and accuracy to do the job properly while still maintaining the efficiency to make money.
I still lay a rag tape on the ground and use my hand level when it makes sense. For deformation monitoring I up my game. The tape is just another tool that has its place...
What ever works best for you Nate.....you are the one in charge of the outcome of your surveys....works for me...
Nate The Surveyor, post: 401010, member: 291 wrote:
When you HAVE 6 different prisms, with varying offsets, (go set them up, you'll see)
Yes I've done this
it's rather hard, to get a fully matched prism set.
Perhaps if your gear is trash. I tested about 10 of our budget model prisms and got no more than 1mm spread for all but 1 outlier. We are still only talking an extra 1mm. You can buy Chinese knock-off prisms that are within 1mm of the genuine article. I was able to make 2 matched sets of 4 prisms for our 2 trucks that were within 0.5mm of each other
They often vary by 0.02', or 0.025', or 0.03' or more.
You need new gear. Knock off prisms are cheap.
But, I get more consistency, from the dot tape.
I'm not surprised. That doesn't speak to the accuracy of DOT tape though. It means your prisms are junk.
AND, to get signal return, from a prism, requires that you can see at least 60% of the glass circle.
This isn't true. I can obscure 80 percent or more of a mini prism and get an EDM return. The critical detail is what part of the prism you can see.
Fleabay is your friend. Drop a few dollars on some quality second hand gear or some cheap copies of the good gear
Speaking of eBay there are quite a few people selling retro reflective (dot) tape targets at a very reasonable price around $.50 to $1 per target with crosses already printed on them. I have tried to make my own targets and it works fine until the marker wears off. We use targets on construction projects all the time espically in areas near structures where you are going to be setting up many times.
Thanks for the reply... I have already solved the problem... for my needs, with DOT tape. I'm glad to hear that the prism offset issue has been better resolved now. My prisms span 30 yrs of acquisitions. So, you could very well be right. But, I don't do that kind of work often, so I have not looked through a Total Station in over a year.
The Javad system is adequate for boundary work. I can take a shot just about anywhere, and have very high confidence, except under the front porch!
N
Nate The Surveyor, post: 400968, member: 291 wrote: Finding a woman, willing to put up with a surveyor.
I'm at a loss for words.
Give em an inch, and they want a mile.
Give em a link and they want a chain.
Holy Cow, post: 400963, member: 50 wrote: Wasn't what I was expecting at all. I thought this was going to be the secrets to finding a woman willing to put up with a surveyor.
So on a dating site. That would be a SWF seeking SWMPLS/RLS? Or in my case a SWFMPC.
Have fun with that one Holy Cow! [emoji3]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nate The Surveyor, post: 400968, member: 291 wrote: Finding a woman, willing to put up with a surveyor.
I'm at a loss for words.
Give em an inch, and they want a mile.
For a surveyor it'd be a Tenth tho. [emoji3]
On another note anyone out there use solely metric for measurement?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nate The Surveyor, post: 401030, member: 291 wrote: Could be that my problem is I have a prism made in the 1970's and the rest from the 1980's. Frugality, resulted in all of them being from various brands, and labels, and batches.
The DOT tape has been great. I never went back to prisms.
What's your max distance in reflectorless you've achieved?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Around 1.5 miles. My leica rolls over at some point, and starts over. I dont remember for sure, but I think it's at 1000 meters.
So, 1001 meters reads 1 meter.
N
Second-Generation, post: 405787, member: 1477 wrote:
On another note anyone out there use solely metric for measurement?
Yup, Any and all surveyors outside of the US...
Now, on women, a 5'2" woman, is 1.575 meters tall.
