My tip would be to get a laser distance meter, like the Bosch DLR130K, which costs about $100 at Home Depot (maybe cheaper on the web). It's great for measuring around buildings (anywhere there is an inside corner). Puts a laser dot on what you are shooting. It's very accurate. Does decimal feet, calculates areas, adds and subtracts measurements ... I love mine.
There is a Stanley "Fat Max" laser distance meter, that I used to use, but I can't find it anymore at the box stores. It might have been discontinued. Avoid the cheaper sonar models, they are not good for survey use.
I got to thinking about it today because my batteries died and I had to tape round a complicated McMansion by myself, and I realized how much I like the thing and how much time is saves me.
It also can shoot through screen if you press the face against the screen (and there is a setting to measure from the face or rear of the unit), so it's come in handy on pad-locked screen porches on the all the foreclosures I've been surveying lately. It's also nice when you have hedges and landscaping along the house. You can usually find a hole to shoot through, and saves you from having to feed the tape through ...
Just thought I through that out there.
I just purchased one a month ago. I wanted to measure a powerline crossing for a road design I'm doing. I also figured it would work for many other jobs. I tested it before I went to the road design job on some powerlines near the office, and with a little practice you could get a measurement to them. However, in winds of 30-40 mph I just couldn't get a location on the powerlines at the road job. It does work well for many other measurement situations. It's accurate and quick. If you need a distance across a creek, or into a manhole (it has to be dry), or to a wall, it works great.
>
> Just thought I through that out there.
Thanks TPR!!
I'll take any little hint that I can get with the solo stuff!! Andy J uses something like that, and swore by it when I visited last year, but I had forgotten the exact unit. I have a project about to pay off, and I may invest in one!
Carl
Carl,,
yes, mine is a Leica unit. A8 I think. I really love it because it has a built in camera, so you don't have to actually see the red dot. Very handy here in sunny Florida. I use it a lot for getting the width of the canals, from seawall to seawall. While it was pricey, it has paid for itself many times over.
andy
Yeah, I use the leica disto-mat.... lots of uses for it, such as offsets for gps points to re-intersect distance/distance intersections.
That's pretty cool, Andy. I had never heard of the Leica A8. That's definetly a lot fancier than the Home Depot Models. Yours also has inclinometer (sp?) so it reduces to horizontal if you need to take an inclided reading. Looks like $800 on Amazon, so there is quite a cost difference for the added features.
I have two (2) of the Stanley Fat Max units. The first one does the decimal feet. The second one I bought off of ebay does not, but it does shoot to the nearest 1/16th of an inch. Just a quick conversion in the office if I'm in the truck with the newer one.
They are very handy, and I use mine all the time. Great tip for those that have never had thought about picking one up.:good:
I also use my Fat Max for locating trees on a distance o/s to the side...especially while running elevations. The dirt tends to mound up around the bases of trees and could throw off the average ground elevation if you don't remember to take those shots out before contouring. I get shots 3 or 4 feet out to the side of the tree.
you can also easily switch from measuring from the face of the laser or the base of the unit, which is handy. I have tested it on calculating a missing distance, and been pretty impressed. I try not to use that very often.
I've been trying to figure out a way to temporarily stick something to a house so that I can measure to an outside corner. I wonder if 3M makes some kind of long lasting "postit" type glue that would hold card stock?
A good trick is to measure to a window well or a door way, on a long wall, then use your belt tape to pick up the remainder.
I also use my belt tape as a place holder, say for a wood dock, and measure to it. the orange and black make an easy target to find in the viewfinder.
Great tip PR!
I was thinking that with a bit of tape and some small cards you could get all types
of measurements..
Here is a pic of what I was thinking I would do if I had one of those
The cards would be good for getting the diagonals.
Edit: Actually you could forget cards and just use duct tape that has a fold in the middle and two sticky ends.
_____|____
I actually thought about making something simple for taking measurements between outside corners, once. My idea was a peice of 1/4" plywood (1'x1'), or something similar, painted white, with a swivle and 5/8" threaded receptical. It could thread into a prism pole, and lean it againt the building surface so it was flush with the face of the building and a few inches of the plywood was hanging past the corner. The prism pole also would allow you to adjust the height, too. Then you could walk down the wall, and shoot back to the section of the plywood that hangs over.
You could also get fancier and make it an "X" shape so you could shoot two outside corners without moving it.
I never did it though. Having to tape outside to outside corners isn't too bad.
Tip for Solo Operators (Laser Distance Meter) - PR
I would use these..
TONGUE DEPRESSORS
around 3-4 cents each. Lightweight, sturdy, tape about one inch on a wall surface and you have a very sturdy sight. They are 6 inches long.
Leica makes a stick-on target plate (Laser Distance Meter)
Leica makes a target to use when measuring outside corners. It comes with Bostik Blu Tak, a re-usable "glue". It works pretty well depending on the surface you're sticking it to.
Here's one place to buy it.
Leica makes a stick-on target plate (Laser Distance Meter)
> Leica makes a target to use when measuring outside corners. It comes with Bostik Blu Tak, a re-usable "glue". It works pretty well depending on the surface you're sticking it to.
>
> Here's one place to buy it.
Bit pricey at $ 35 each
Leica makes a stick-on target plate (Laser Distance Meter)
They are a bit spendy and I'd probably buy another one, but I really don't use it much.
Tip for Solo Operators (Laser Distance Meter) - PR
Popsicle sticks are great for any type of reflectorless measurement. I keep a roll of masking tape with me as well, to stick on building corners. I make a mark 0.10 feet from the actual "corner" which is usually rounded or uneven.
Tip for Solo Operators (Laser Distance Meter) -Bruce
> Popsicle sticks are great for any type of reflectorless measurement. I keep a roll of masking tape with me as well, to stick on building corners. I make a mark 0.10 feet from the actual "corner" which is usually rounded or uneven.
Another great suggestion!
Tip for Solo Operators (Laser Distance Meter) - PR
Go to Office Depot and get some removable poster goo/putty stuff. I used to keep a wad of it on me and use zero offset, quarter-sized reflectors before I got my robot. The wad can get a little messy, but it works great. I will probably look at a way to start carrying that stuff and the reflectors again. There must be a hundred houses around here adorned with little reflectors I've left behind.
I have the Fat Max. I found that the AA battery one will not have hundredths, but the 9 volt model does. I love it.
Don't forget those manhole inverts are a snap! and if you are measuring manhole inverts, put a gammon reel cord lanyard on that thing. Don't ask me why I know that.
Also, the pouch you get with a mini-prism set is the perfect belt pouch for these things.
There is a web site called www.night-gear.com that has lots of stickers that are reflective and reusable. I use the reflective dots on lots of things and shoot them with my red laser on my lecia. It saves a lot of walking back and forth.
Hmmm... The Stanley FatMax I have (on the bottom of it is says "SWISS technology by Leica Geosystems"!) has a units button on it. You can measure in any mode, then hit the units button and see decimal feet, decimal inches, feet & inches (to the nearest 1/8") and meters.
I also have a Leica A5 but find myself using the FatMax more than the Leica. Both very handy units!