I hired a guy, he had surveyed for the DOT for years, then became a GIS, then back in the field.
First day out, he put the tripod up over a control point, pushed all three legs in, I'm asking; "what are you doing, you need to put the tribrach on and get close then fine level".
He looks at me, says he doesn't need to do all that, puts the instrument up, levels it, tweaks the tribrach and he's done, I look at it, the head is very close to level, the instrument is almost perfectly centered and leveled, it's on the point,,,,,,,,,,,
So I left him alone after that...............
I know I couldn't do that,,,,,,,he did it every time.
THiggins, post: 360482, member: 7840 wrote: Yep. The only thing I'd add to that is that I generally push in the leg farther from me, hold the two toward me, and look through the optical plummet and move the location of the legs I'm holding until I can see the point through the optical plummet before getting started with the rough leveling procedure described above.
Exactly my method.
Same here.
Setting up a tripod this way, is like good software. It's very complex to explain, and VERY simple to watch, and do.
BUT to describe it... it hard!
N
MightyMoe, post: 360546, member: 700 wrote: I hired a guy, he had surveyed for the DOT for years, then became a GIS, then back in the field.
First day out, he put the tripod up over a control point, pushed all three legs in, I'm asking; "what are you doing, you need to put the tribrach on and get close then fine level".
He looks at me, says he doesn't need to do all that, puts the instrument up, levels it, tweaks the tribrach and he's done, I look at it, the head is very close to level, the instrument is almost perfectly centered and leveled, it's on the point,,,,,,,,,,,
So I left him alone after that...............
I know I couldn't do that,,,,,,,he did it every time.
I'm certainly no expert to say the least, but reading many threads here on this subject has taught me that when you set the tripod up over the point, without the tribrach mounted, the tribrach mounting screw itself swings like a pendulum. If you center the aluminum swivel thing the screw goes though, and peer down through it (The hole is about 3/8" in diameter); do the "wheelbarrow thing" holding two legs, then pushing the legs in, if the point is near center of the screw, you will have 100% chance of quickly dialing it in aiming the plummet on the point, and finish leveling the instrument. Just saying.
This thread reminds me of a cartoon drawing I once saw. A guy bent over a point with a plumbob tied around his um..scrotal area.. and an instrument tied to his back. The caption saying "This will teach you to leave the tripod at the office!"
😛
Push them in as far as you can with all your weight on them in line with the leg. I've always done it that way. I don't know about 15 seconds, but I can definitely set up the instrument in well under 60 every time unless it's some crazy setup or something....
MightyMoe, post: 360546, member: 700 wrote: I hired a guy, he had surveyed for the DOT for years, then became a GIS, then back in the field.
First day out, he put the tripod up over a control point, pushed all three legs in, I'm asking; "what are you doing, you need to put the tribrach on and get close then fine level".
He looks at me, says he doesn't need to do all that, puts the instrument up, levels it, tweaks the tribrach and he's done, I look at it, the head is very close to level, the instrument is almost perfectly centered and leveled, it's on the point,,,,,,,,,,,
So I left him alone after that...............
I know I couldn't do that,,,,,,,he did it every time.
thats the way I do it and the other guys i have worked with do it. just eyeball it, set three legs in as far the ground will let em', fine tune and go. i can't honestly remember the last time it hasn't worked for me. not trying to boast but you get use to trusting your eye and it won't let ya down.
Setup time needs to consider bubble sensitivity. Especially as ambient temperature varies throughout the year. Where you saw the bubble a second ago is not necessarily where it still is in ten seconds or twenty. I insist on being convinced that a steady state condition has been determined. I'll admit that takes far more than 15 seconds no matter how close I am on the initial attempt. But, then, it's my license and reputation on the line, not that of someone who authorizes signatures on my paycheck.
I am far from an expert but one of biggest pet peeves is when someone who doesn't know what they are doing tries to set up the tripod. We do a lot of RTK work and I prefer the help to set up the antenna tower, rovers, etc but without fail before I can get to it someone grabs the tripod and attempts to set it up. The have the legs all out of whack, the wrong screws tightened at the wrong time, height set wrong, .25M extension for the receiver on the bottom of the pole, you name it. Those things are like kryptonite to someone who isn't familiar with them.