Survey instruments

Started in 1991 using a Sokkia SET2BII with the lower motion (tangent) screw which enhanced job security if you weren't careful. We did deflection angle traverses back then also, mainly because the PC liked that method. When we got a new PC in '93 we did angles to the right and I was much happier since deflection angle traverses resulted in more than one bust due to booking the wrong left or right... We used that instrument until about 2000 or so. Slow by today's standards but it did the job well.

Kern DKM2 and steel band in my case (am I old yet?)

Nate The Surveyor, post: 450312, member: 291 wrote: What instrument did you get proficient with, first?
My first was a 1923 Adolph Leitz.
My dad had me write down a compass brg with every shot. Angles were doubled. We usually used deflection angles, in lieu of ang. Rt, as is now the common standard.
It has a 20 minute verneer.
Nate

Nate, Do you still have the Leitz? And if so could you look up the serial #? I have an old Leitz transit.#10039 but only an estimated range of when it was made.

My first Instrument was a sokkia set II, with SDR 33 data collector. Then some early topcon GTS-3's with an HP48 data collector running TDS.

Dietzen 1min transit that tipped the scales around 20?ñlbs, was usable rain or shine, most any temperature range and no batteries required.

Wild T2. Learned by doing 8 sets of triangulation angles over and over on dam deformation surveys. Then moved to a K & E transit, took some getting used to. And i kept losing the magnifying glass because I would leave it setting on the glass above the circle, and then I would pick up the instrument and lose it. Anybody else? The way I solved that problem was to use the magnifying glass on my swiss army knife. Not so easy to lose.

John Hamilton, post: 450353, member: 640 wrote: Wild T2. Learned by doing 8 sets of triangulation angles over and over on dam deformation surveys. Then moved to a K & E transit, took some getting used to. And i kept losing the magnifying glass because I would leave it setting on the glass above the circle, and then I would pick up the instrument and lose it. Anybody else? The way I solved that problem was to use the magnifying glass on my swiss army knife. Not so easy to lose.

All of magnifying glasses I ever saw (or used), were on a lanyard that went around your neck (more or less idiot proof). I don't recall ever losing one of those (lost lots of other things over the years though).

Loyal

I learned to read a transit from my dad. But after full-time surveying with a different firm, I cut my teeth on T-2s and T-1's. We would use the T-2s for precise work and go to the t-1s for quick and dirty or local lots in subdivisions.
I think a survey curriculum should include old methods and equipment for the student to learn a little about difficulties, precision, and probable errors when retracing old work.

You hit the nail on the head, Loyal. I was an idiot. After I had to pay for it a few times I learned. For whatever reason they did not use lanyards or anything else, just kept it in the pocket.

John Hamilton, post: 450357, member: 640 wrote: You hit the nail on the head, Loyal. I was an idiot. After I had to pay for it a few times I learned. For whatever reason they did not use lanyards or anything else, just kept it in the pocket.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, WE all learned more the "hard way," than the easy way (some say that it builds character). I suspect that's why WE are such Characters!

😉

[USER=794]@Jered McGrath PLS[/USER] , I gave it to my brother. He lives in Ohio. I can get the Ser num. (He wanted it). It felt like pulling a wisdom tooth, to let him have it, but he's a great brother.

I have been studying them on EBAY, and I think some brands, and parts are interchangeable, just from the looks. Our old Leitz NEEDS a focus rack. (Rack and pinion gear, to focus the lense) We always had to treat it gentle, and carefully move the front portion in or out, to get focus. It has alot of wear! We used that thing for millions of miles! I want to buy another, but they are hard to find.
I

Lietz TM20C and Dietzgen 20 second vernier transit. Depending on which crew I worked on which instrument I used. Then the boss bought a Wild T16 and mounted a K&E Microranger EDM on top. Not on the standards but directly on the barrel. That thing totally destroyed a good instrument within 6 months. My favorite was a Kern DKM2AE with the DM500 mounted on it. I believe that is still the best optics I've ever used.
Andy

Wild T16, shortly followed by a T2002. Then Geodimeter 600/Trimble 5601, Trimble S-series.

Andy Bruner, post: 450365, member: 1123 wrote: Lietz TM20C

Hey, we had one of those, with an Autoranger S on top. Still got the Autoranger S. Just bought a TM 6 off ebay... for 55.00! We paid 3000 for the autoranger S, with the TM20c!
That was between the Leitz, and the Topcon 3c.
N

I was thirteen when I began setting up and turning angles on Dad's one minute Lietz transit. We turned deflection angles as well. (Seemed everyone did then) The magnifying glass was on a length of plumb bob string and was worn like a necklace or tied to the transit standard. Wearing it was a status symbol. Then we got a Pentax semi-total station, no data collection. It had a micrometer and we ran azimuths then. Then on to topcons with data collectors..and angles right..... I've operated a few different flavors. Each has its strong/weak points. My favorite would be either a topcon gts 301 or a gts 313. Both are simple and built to last with batteries that last days.

We started with a tape and transit, dumpy and wye levels then a T-2 and a tilting level then a Topcon 3C then a Leica TC-705 and a Leica GPS 500 system and that was all in 4 years of college. I spent my first 7 years of real surveying behind a Nikon NPL with an HP-48 with TDS for a data collector. I do appreciate using the older equipment before just learning how to push buttons.

Fennel Kassel, 1". HP3805. And as importantly I worked with a good LS in the field from almost day one.

(Then Leitz BT20, Super Hiway)
(T2 HP3800)
(Then, T16 T1 T2 T3 N3, AGA: 120 220, and several of them were Mils.)

Geodimeter 610 was the first instrument for me, first GPS was a Trimble 4600, I think it ran on 4 D sized batteries. Young bird I know. But I had never surveyed until 2002 when I moved to StL and worked on an archeological firm. While there we used the total station to tie down the grid and key artifacts. Once the field season was over I went straight to work for a land surveying firm, re-invented myself, went back to school for survey classes and never looked back.

Gurley 1' transit. We ran azimuths. I thought I was good when we would close flat on a 4 sided lot. The Ken DK2AE was a big step up. Went from running azimuths to angle right. Anyone who set zero on the Kern or the T2 knows why.

First proficient was the Carl Zeiss Th 43 Theodolite with the swivel base. Used that in conjunction with the old HP3800's. We always wound up 6 angles and figured mean in field (this was before handheld calculators) I'll let the old guys jump in on why we did 6 and not 2 or 4. Dietzgens, Buff & Buff and K&E's were in the closet also and had to be able to run them also (even with stiff legs) and 200 foot steel tape.