Tips & Tricks for field technicians
Always set any item of value IN the truck, not ON the truck. Always do a check walk around your truck before you depart to another point or destination.
Never work in the mud, it's not worth it. It's slow, dangerous and you spend too much time cleaning everything to make any real money.
Always carry a small level with you, it will be useful.
Learn to write upside down, you'll appreciate it one day.
Grab more shots than you think you need, because you will need them later on.
Staying safe is more important than getting that one shot. There are always other ways of getting what you need, just think outside the box.
Negative pole heights can work wonders in construction.
You can setup to a point in the ceiling.
Duct tape can do miracles.
Learn to write neat.
Always double check a benchmark height you give out because that is the most costly mistake to make and one that the contractor will never catch until it's too late.
Park the truck where you aim to finish and work forward towards it.
You can use the laser to guide you through thick vegetation to achieve your line of sight.
Always check the tricky shot stored correctly before you walk away.
Clean the gear before you put it in the car. Dry the gear before you put it in the box.
Check that you have all the expensive gear before you drive off. One missing spade or hammer is no biggie and can be easily replaced but everything else takes time and time is money.
If you're not sure how to do something, ask a friend, a boss or an enemy. Doing the right thing the wrong way can end up horribly wrong.
Never start work until you know exactly what you need to do, who you're doing it for and how you're mean to do it.
Re not working in mud, when I was a graduate my supervising surveyor said graduates should only be given 2wd vehicles. Granted sometimes 4wd is essential but the number of times field crews have lost half a day to get truck unstuck to save 10 mins walking will not be a small number! Playing in the mud is something you do on the weekend in your own truck.
How to use a spirit level on a traverse kit. How to correctly level that up.
How to run a calibration on the robot. When how often.
How to locate and shoot building corners. How to see if a house or building closes after taping it in. Also check the distance from the measured with gun to the taped so inverse.
When on zero lot lines or very tight situations to setback and side lines which corners are the most critical. That sideline setback should be checked before leaving the site and when it’s critical and over or so close to being over check it again. Nothing worse than having to return to a site for 5 minutes of work and the drive is a half hour.
