That was probably a Kern DKM
Yep, a Kern fixed rod forced centering theodolite with a DKM 503 attachable EDM was the shizzle prior to the integrated total stations with data collector.?ÿ It had slightly better optics than a Wild T2 and the balanced on the telescope EDM made shots simple and quick.?ÿ I was odd to fire off the EDM and hear the attenuator iris click back and forth until a suitable transmit/return signal was achieved, sometimes 10 seconds or so.?ÿ A huge advancement compared to the HP EDM or "Guppy" EDMS mounted on the standards.
Was good for two miles in favorable conditions and rock solid in traversing where the average range was a few thousand feet max.
Not a Total Station but I had the opportunity in the 70s to run a Tellurometer CA-1000 with the standard horn antennas for several hundred slope distance shots and the probable error of a single determination of distance was less than 1.5 cm, and the scale error due to atmospheric refractive index determination and crystal frequency drift was usually less than 5 ppm. Kinda crappy for short shots but near GPS accuracy for long shots in stable atmospherics.?ÿ The best we got was a few 15 mile shots and reliably 6 mile shots.?ÿ The guys with the parabolic antennas I knew were making 20+ mile shots often.?ÿ The killer is you cannot determine the slope angle using microwave EDM directly (the target is not optically observable usually) so the levelling accuracy is suspect, only way to clean it up was to level to the observing stations from nearby benchmarks.
Why did we do such long distance measurements??ÿ We could measure Township boundaries to determine chaining excess/shortage errors in original surveys and look for obvious busts across section lines in the Township(s).?ÿ Also great for long level lines for dams and canals, gravity pipelines (sewers) to detect big problems in long range bubble levelling.
Of course GNSS surveying has made it obsolete, but 'll claim 10 mile shots with regularity using terrestrial?ÿ equipment 50 years ago so I'm the champ. <g>
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Isn't the Topcon's longest wavelength 2,000 meters??ÿ How'd you resolve the integer value?
The GTS-2B book claims 7200 ft on one prism under ideal atmospheric conditions, and 14,100 ft (4300m) with 9 prisms.?ÿ So apparently they didn't have an ambiguity problem even in that older model.
Speaking of antiques ...?ÿ no distance record, but I did a mile with my GST-2B on one prism. Never tried a longer range.
@mike-marks?ÿ You are the champ for 10 mile shots.?ÿI don't think so. In 1973 in Montana we did a lot
of 20 mile shots with the MRA3 Tellurometer; and I do not call myself anything for that.
With my DI3000 and my Wild T3000 I have shot over 11,000 meters and I can go much farther.
JOHN NOLTON
I don't remember an exact number but it was probably something like 600 meters with a Leica TCR803 between 4 and 8 years ago when I was an instrument man running that instrument.?ÿ
I'm 37 and started school for surveying about 10 years ago and started work full time where I work now about 8 years ago.?ÿ
Mine has been about 1 mile. We called it ??power surveying?. Typically we occupied section corners and used a triple prism and a Leica Wild T2002 and this was in Kansas from hilltop to hilltop (yes there are hills in Kansas).?ÿ
Mine was a tad over a mile using a Topcon total station in 1988 during a large (2,400 acres) boundary survey near Indiantown, FL. Most of the distance was through the woods, but the prism was situated outside the woods. Afterwards, I wondered about the temperature differential from my occupied point in the woods to the prism. I had recently read about taking a temperature reading at the instrument and one at the prism when shooting a long distance through varying temperature zones.
@mike-marks?ÿ You are the champ for 10 mile shots.?ÿI don't think so. In 1973 in Montana we did a lot
of 20 mile shots with the MRA3 Tellurometer; and I do not call myself anything for that.
Come to think of it, the Lunar Laser Ranging?ÿ(LLR) experiment is probably the champ, about 239,000 miles.
?ÿ
I guess I was cheating a little bit. It wasn't a total station, just an EDM. I don't remember what it was. It was my first introduction to surveying, and just an incendental duty to temporary "physical?ÿ scientest" position.?ÿ It was dark grey and the size and shape of a suitcase. I think it had a German name (not Leica). The readout was actually physical numbers that spun around.?ÿ
With an actual total station, shots of about a mile were not unusual, we used early Topcon GTS series guns.?ÿ
In about 1979 on my first job as a party chief, we shot something a little over 13,000 feet in the cool of the morning in the mountains with an HP3810. I think we used 9 glass and built a big site out of lath and painted it brightly. Shot east to west, so the sun lit up the site very well. I recall doing it in feet and meters several times.
Many years later I went to work for a state agency. In every prism bag was a "pinky.". It was about a yard of bright pink cloth that was draped around the tripod below the prism. It made seeing the backsite so much easier. I had to go into a fabric shop once to buy some more material. Felt a little odd telling the salesperson "I need the brightest pink material you have in this place."
Single prism, common total station, shot of a little over 5000' one time. From a logging road landing across a valley to a logging cut. 1993. Leica 1010.
I was just curious. BLM was using alot of high tech stuff in Alaska back then. Inertial systems, etc. The HP 3800 was about the longest range EDM back then available to the average Surveying firm. There was some stuff that used radio waves instead of light beams.
What a strange iteration of "mine's longer"...
I am not sure what we were using was a "survey" instrument. This was work for a government agency in coordination with a University.?ÿ
