@mathteacher The flaw was an implicit assumption that y would not be broken up into its factors to be regrouped differently. In the example of 5 y^2...

So even in checkerboard land it may be wise to carry a compass.?ÿ I do, but can't remember the last time I used it.

And how many of those are really a survey error and how many were just thought cheaper to pay out rather than investigate?

@mathteacher said "Can you prove that With large y there can be no grouping of the factors on the left side into two values that differ by only 2 ?" ...

I expected either likes or refutations of the logic. So far neither?

Restate the problem as 7*13*19*y*y = x^2 - 1 = (x+1)(x-1) We are looking for two integers on the right side differing by only 2, which are also fact...

Zero is not positive, so is ruled out by the problem statement.

Only if you leave off the squaring of y.

What is important here is the number of satellites that are tracked by both receivers at the same time. If base and rover are tracking their max capa...

You totally lost me on how you got there from the initial problem posted.

Nope.?ÿ It works to the precision of my calculator, but the expression yields 15087454565 and 122831^2 is 15087454561. You can see that it doesn't wo...

My spreadsheet says 2954 is close.?ÿ Nope.?ÿ It isn't an integer solution.

You forgot the squaring of y.

Is there a way to solve this other than trying each value? Properties of integers is not one of my strong suits.

I think all of those you mentioned are MAGNETIC locators, so won't find aluminum and brass caps. They respond to either changes in the earth's field i...

I call it the Microsoft fix.

A case might be made (I'm not sure it would fly) that construction layout is a highly skilled trade but requires no judgment of uncertain evidence, wh...