There's a lot going on here but something happens at 3.04, can anybody see what that is?
Somebody didn't set the legs in.?ÿ A little settling went on.
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That's an ugly setup hanging over the edge of tripod plate!
There are several bad practices demonstrated in this video.?ÿ Let's see how many we can name.
#1--Waiting to install the batteries until after the setup is supposedly perfect.?ÿ Extra handling of the instrument can move the instrument out of alignment very easily, especially if the legs are not FIRMLY set in the ground.
#2--The guidance that once you find your error with the plumb bob, all you need to do is move the instrument on the base plate.?ÿ They were more than two inches away.?ÿ They could not have made that large of an adjustment.?ÿ Why use the plumb bob in the first place if you have a vertical plummet??ÿ Never adjust on the base plate so much that the base hangs over the plate.?ÿ Adjust the legs on the tripod, then make only minor adjustments.
Keep the numbers growing.?ÿ There are plenty of other bad practices
An obvious part of the problem is due to the local water supply from which those students are drawing.?ÿ They are located downstream on the Kansas River from the sewage plant serving Manhattan and Kansas State University.?ÿ Not to mention the sewage plant serving the state capitol in Topeka.?ÿ We know what those politicians are full of, besides hot air.
That explains the quality of work done by a grandfathered city engineer in Upstate New York that I had the misfortune of trying to retrace when I first got my license.
Watching that was painful.
Setting the tripod up, fumbling the instrument onto it, then expanding the legs, gave me the shivers.
How come you know so much about Kansas?
The field wear was pretty atrocious too...but what the hell is a Tribbyark???
For the love of all that's sacred.....
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Besides everything already mentioned, it looks like they might trip over it. They look like they're in a huge rush (timed exam?). I've also found that even with experience, having 2 people setup is asking to make a mistake. Did I do that or did the other guy? Not that they had a choice at school.?ÿ
It also looked like they put C batteries in it?
Resident expert.?ÿ Spent most of my life here.?ÿ Except for about one year, my parents spent their entire lives here.?ÿ Grandparents were not born here, but met here, married and became permanent residents.
On my first visit to KSU while still in high school, my buddies and I wandered into a bar near campus called The John.?ÿ All of the stools along the bar were bathroom stools.?ÿ There was a sign on the wall reading, "Please flush.?ÿ KU needs the water."
I hired this guy once that had been in school with me. He had surveyed for DOT and in Florida for some private company so I knew he understood how to do basic tasks. I had him setup the instrument over a control point. He set the tripod up over the point, looked at it a couple of times adjusting it a bit, stomped in the feet. I started to get interested thinking how he was going to work this.
He put the instrument on, leveled it and slipped it over a minor move and it was done!!!
I went over and looked through the plummet, sure enough it was level and over the point. The tribrach screws were almost mid thread, so the head was very close to level. He looked at me and said he'd done it so many times he didn't need to swing the feet or look though the plummet to get it over the point. Alrighty then, I left him to it after that.?ÿ
I tried to do it like he did for a while after that, got better at it but still not like he did.
..I tried to do it like he did for a while after that, got better at it but still not like he did.
Having spent a good part of my early career using stiff-legged tripods on instruments without optical plummets I developed my own unique way of setting up and instrument over a point.?ÿ Once I did it a hunnerdmillion times it became second nature.?ÿ I guess being able to eyeball where level is at on the top plate is an important step.
I tried to foster my technique over the years with a few employees.?ÿ Some picked it up but most didn't.?ÿ Probably falls in the "lost art" category by now.?ÿ ;)?ÿ
I worked with a guy, Oran Abbot for those in the PNW, that time after time could throw the legs up over a point and with almost no adjustment it would be level and over the point.?ÿ It didn't matter of it was on a flat asphalt parking lot or on a sandy slope.?ÿ Talk about making a freshly mitted graduate feel bad.?ÿ I still think of Oran when I even come close.
As for the video, why use a plumb bob when you have an optical plummet.?ÿ Also, can you still buy a digital theodolite that runs on C batteries.?ÿ The video can not be that old based on the cars in the background.
That video has made the rounds before. It is a comedy of errors.?ÿ
I hired this guy once
Was his name Ted?
Hahahahah!?ÿ I actually googled tribiarch right after I heard it.?ÿ I was like well I'll be damned, have I been pronouncing this word wrong all this time?!
I feel bad for these students.?ÿ Any qualified surveying instructor wouldn't have let them video or post it