In 2008 I had the pleasure of performing Tri-Lateration Deformation surveys on all the lake and river dams in the USACE St. Louis District.?ÿ It was the last year that we had to use the Kern Mekometer.?ÿ What a moody beast that thing was!?ÿ There's a Control Monument that's 19400' north of the dam at Rend Lake.?ÿ Conditions had to be perfect for that machine to get it.?ÿ Always early morning before the heat waves started and hopefully there wasn't any fog or haze. We implemented a Trimble S8 DR HP 0.5" the following year.?ÿ It didn't even break a sweat to a single prism.?ÿ Flip on the long range and fire away.?ÿ I'd just have my guy park the white truck right behind it so I could see it.
Longest and biggest is where mistakes and errors and disasters live.
Being just right or Perfect is the goal.
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@jflamm?ÿ Which Kern Mekometer did you use? The ME3000 or the ME5000.
I can't seeing the ME5000 (Laser) having any trouble with that shot (19,400 feet ~ 5913 Meters).
Please explain because I am interested in knowing more.
Thank You,?ÿ JOHN NOLTON
@john-nolton?ÿ The ME5000.?ÿ It was hooked up to a car battery and controlled by a laptop running an archaic USACE program.?ÿ There was always a multitude of problems whether it was a moody cable or the program freezing up and you had to reboot.?ÿ I'm sure when this thing was new and fresh, it probably operated a whole lot better. As you know, there aren't any optics.?ÿ You would just aim until you got that really bright return from prism and then dial it in until the needle was in the green.?ÿ Hit measure on the laptop and listen to it clunk away.?ÿ I can't recall how many measurements we had it set to do, I think 10.?ÿ Sometimes it went quick, sometimes it took 5,10,15 minutes depending on the length and atmospheric conditions.?ÿ I wish I would have gotten pictures of it back then but I didn't have a camera phone yet.
Around 27000 feet with a Wild T2000 with scope mounted DI5L. That was considered a modular TS back in the early 1990's when I did the shot.
Out in Wyoming in the 1982-83 time frame, I think we went longer than that with K&E laser Rangers, but those were a tripod mounted EDM with visible red laser, not a TS.
SHG
