Well, it's not even Friday, but I'm thinking ahead to a glorious late summer weekend, and thought the team here could use a good chuckle. But keep it down if you will please.
Keep in mind: Solo operator (wife, a.k.a. "Prism Girl" now works on weekends). Phase I of control network 90% complete except for a few do-overs; ready to do topo.
I tried my Seco prism tripod previously, but it was like watching paint dry (although I got a great deal of exercise walking God's great earth.)
So now, I'm thinking of using these:
I have a roll of 2" wide reflector tape, which I'd cut into 1" pieces and stick to the "flags", similar to something like those I read here that the guys use for highway shots, minimizing time in the road. This is mainly dirt and grass, so I need something I can stick into the ground.
I'd walk around and plant 50 at a time or so, then go back to the instrument and shoot away; then go pick them up and do the next area.
ps: Obviously, budget on this project is not an issue, for those that haven't gotten that I don't do this for a living.
Thoughts?
I've done it too.
Accordion fold duct tape, stuck to C/L with DOT tape stuck to it.
small pebble with taped to C/L, with DOT tape stuck to it.
1" x 1" x 4' hardwood stakes, set in grassy field, with DOT tape on top. Shoot from one side, to the other, radially, to keep from skipping one. Setting about 15-20 at a time.
Small dot of paint on trees, with DOT tape.
Just to fuel you ideas. I've done it too.
N
If it is grass, buy you a goat. Put the reflective tape on two opposite legs at the same height.
As the goat wanders around grazing, take your shots.:D
James
I wrap 1in prismatic reflective tape around odd lengths and sizes of pvc to spread out and to fit over rods and pipes and tops of lath.
It saves a lot of cutting to get those prisimless shots.
rfc, post: 386780, member: 8882 wrote: So now, I'm thinking of using these:
Sounds like a good idea, but I worry those particular stakes you linked might not be tall enough for anywhere but a closely mowed lawn.
Bill93, post: 386859, member: 87 wrote: Sounds like a good idea, but I worry those particular stakes you linked might not be tall enough for anywhere but a closely mowed lawn.
You might be right...I was thinking of doing the open areas/fields/drive/ditches etc. first. Go lots of deciduous canopy with nothing but leaves on the ground. They'll work there too. But when i get to the raspberry patches....hmmm...I'll have to come up with something else. (I love the goat idea!)
JaRo has the organic solution. If you are not that concerned about burning fossil fuels you can have your robot take shots every few seconds as you drive your ATV mounted prism around the site. If the terrain is conducive to it you can have more fun driving something like the traxxas x-maxx 4wd - it sure makes gravel pile quantities go quickly.
[MEDIA=youtube]aeddA5qPnPU[/MEDIA].
Whatever you do - don't work solo - it's simply not safe and it does nothing to train the next generation - hire a student - if you can't do that bring a friend along.
If I tried JaRo's idea, the damn goat would lay down for a nap. take pin flags with an 18" wire, paint the bottom 6" of the wire a bright color. Stick the pin flags wherever you want shots, 6" deep (til the paint is covered) and reflectorless to the flag. use a 1' high target height, and you are good to go for topo. (if you don't need tight tolerances)
Monte, post: 386911, member: 11913 wrote: If I tried JaRo's idea, the damn goat would lay down for a nap. take pin flags with an 18" wire, paint the bottom 6" of the wire a bright color. Stick the pin flags wherever you want shots, 6" deep (til the paint is covered) and reflectorless to the flag. use a 1' high target height, and you are good to go for topo. (if you don't need tight tolerances)
Thanks for the idea Monte; but you may have missed the humor in "reflectorless" being in quotes. My instrument is not reflectorless (or robotic). I do like the idea of trying to use pin flags, perhaps with DOT tape put on the flags. Lot easier to stick in the ground than the little plastic garden tags, and (as Bill93 appropriately points out), taller grass and weeds wouldn't be as much as a problem.
I used to do the same thing with 3 foot or 4 foot wooden stakes. Put the reflective tape at the top, put a mark at the bottom of the stake and pound each stake in to the mark. From the mark at the bottom to the center of the reflective tape is the hr, use that and topo away.
I like JKinAk's idea. Get a remote control truck with a reflector mounted on it and measure the height above ground level. Then drive it around and shoot it from behind the gun. It would save you a ton of walking....
Dan Patterson, post: 386945, member: 1179 wrote: I like JKinAk's idea. Get a remote control truck with a reflector mounted on it and measure the height above ground level. Then drive it around and shoot it from behind the gun. It would save you a ton of walking....
That thing looks like it'd cost more than a robotic total station! It'd be totally fun to use though. I think these things are going to work great though:
And I already have hundreds of the pin flags.
Thanks for all the great ideas.
rfc, post: 386937, member: 8882 wrote: but you may have missed the humor in "reflectorless" being in quotes
You are right, I totally missed the reflectorless part. I thought all the suggestions with DOT tape were to help with increasing distance. Oops. But, goes to show, it's always worth throwing ideas out there, never know when they will trigger a thought that leads to a useful solution.
I use reflective tape on chaining pins quite often when doing boundary work. You have a pocket full of prisms. Many times for topo I'll use driveway reflectors set into the ground at the same height. Shoot em, pick em up and move them, shoot some more. On blacktop/concrete surfaces without a lot of traffic I've cut the driveway reflectors to a consistent shorter height , about a foot and a half, and inset them into a 4 x 4 x 4 wood block with the hole drilled to the same depth in each one. If it gets windy I put a bunch of 1" washers on the block to add weight.
"chaining pins" - Love em , I carry a bunch around with me when I recon sticking them next to the monuments I find so I can set up my traverse (city work). They are also great for probing. They may be out dated for their original use but still very useful.
T.W.
Tom Wilson, post: 387087, member: 247 wrote: "chaining pins" - Love em , I carry a bunch around with me when I recon sticking them next to the monuments I find so I can set up my traverse (city work). They are also great for probing. They may be out dated for their original use but still very useful.
T.W.
They work great for holding the "dumb" end of a 100' tape, stringline, etc. I have a set in a leather quiver in two of my trucks.
Back in the B.R. days (before reflectorless, a.k.a. before robotics) we would use bicycle reflectors as cheap "prisms". They could be taped to a coat hanger or a lath and arrayed around just as rfc proposes. That's what we did when the rodman had a sick day and the job needed to be done. So not only do I believe it can be done, I've done it.
Has anyone used the parker davis quick stakes or step stakes? I just saw them on the Allen precision website. Looks like you could add DOT tape to those as well.
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I use the Quickstakes on some projects, and think they are awesome. I haven't put reflector tape n them, so can't help ya with that, but I know they hold their color for years (the ones I know about are on 4 years now, no loss of color) and a metal locator picks them up! The downside is permanent marker can fade off them, so writing point numbers on them doesn't always work. They are easy to carry, don't weigh nothing, and go into most ground easier than a thick wood stake.