Masonry Magazine March 2003 Page. 40
Surveying
Nikon
Cogo-
Inverse
Brng & Dist
Area & Peris
Line & O/S
PaInput XYZ
MSR1 MSR2 DSP ANG
SIN
PRO
USA
A view from behind. The Nikon total station gives you flexibility and an easy to read display.
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"To be honest, for layout applications, it's not practical to try and do it with one person," admits Delano. "To take a measurement and then run up there and make an adjustment and run back and take another measurement, it's really non-productive. We do not promote non-prism or one-man systems for that type of application."
There are other options to the standard rod. There are small targets that can be clipped on your belt or stuck in your tool apron. Another option is to use stick-on targets that can be placed on a wall or column near the point you are shooting. That would still require a lot of back and forth as you zero in on the measurements so having that second person saves time and exercise. If you use another of today's technologies the cell phone-you don't even need to shout back and forth.
Inside a building, when doing interior walls, for example, you're typically within a range of one to two hundred feet of the instrument. "You can carry what we call a peanut prism," says Delano. "We have small reflector type targets that are just as accurate, if not more so, than using the rod with a big piece of glass."
He goes on to demonstrate how the small targets can benefit both the worker, who doesn't have to carry that rod around, and the accuracy of the survey. "When I'm working on a deck, I don't want to plumb a pole with a big glass prism on the top, four or five feet above that deck. I want to get down on my knee at deck level, where the instrument man can observe right down to the deck so I don't have any plumbing error. I want to see the deck and make my mark on the deck and be able to put my target down on the deck and measure to that. These are the simple accessories that make all that possible and enable you to achieve very accurate results with these instruments."
Total stations and other surveying gear are available through rental agencies, as well as for purchase. Depending on your workload and how often you need that extra assurance of accuracy on the jobsite, you might find owning an instrument to be a logical step. With the tax benefits for depreciation and equipment write off, it might not be so expensive in the long term.
In that regard, Smith of Trimble cautions, "The first and most important thing is to source your equipment from a supplier that understands your needs as a contractor, and can offer you training and support. While learning to use the equipment is straight forward, the most important thing that you can do to guarantee your work is to make regular instrument checks. This means regularly checking a few known positions, and doing simple things like checking diagonals-a simple task with such tools."
Using a total station provides a complete layout solution that eliminates the need for using measuring tapes, plumb bobs, theodolites, or separate distance measuring equipment to give the mason contractor more control and better accuracy when checking layout on the jobsite. Give one a try.
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