Page 1 of 1

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:06 am
by pls7809
My guess is they needed to see something on the ground while looking over a fence.

See over the traffic?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:18 am
by Steve Martin
Maybe they are trying to minimize refractive effects?

I am not sure, but those Caltrans guys are always researching new procedures.

My guys have a hard time getting the Compensator to settle down with an 6 foot setup, with a 12 foot set up, it must be impossible to use the compensator.

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:58 pm
by RAM
Crew with too much time on their hands! started off with something like " I bet you can't......"

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:56 pm
by 7702
My guess is that the party chief probably told them to run trig levels with the total station so they wouldn't have short sights going up and down the hills. The crew, being somewhat inexperienced, thought they had to hold a 90 degree zenith to run levels. When they found out they couldn't get long shots like they were told, they had to improvise so the boss wouldn't be disappointed!

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 3:27 pm
by Rob_LS
I can't believe you guys haven't heard... K. Abdul-Jabbar passed the LSIT in April, and CT hired him. He started work this week. He is also playing on their District basketball team - Take that CELSoC, I mean ACEC!

Has anyone not in Caltrans tested results from their reflectorless total station measurements and compared results considering angle of incidence... Google laser scanning and AHMCT...

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:58 pm
by 7702
Where was that photo taken?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:21 pm
by Rob_LS
I'm guessing testing in the District 2 yard. Mark, I bet you were just kidding - you probably know it is highly unlikely that there are any "somewhat inexperienced" survey crews out there in CT... Unles you consider a crew with less than 20 years inexperienced, then there may be a few. Caltrans TS (Trasnportation Surveyor requires an LSIT, EIT, or 4 year degree in Surveying or Geomatics. TS PC - (TS Party Chief) requires a CA PLS. CT just had 15 staff pass the CA PLS exam.

Checking how your reflectorless TS operates is something we should be doing. Set points. Establish tight elevations on points and control with a level (digital or philly rod at least - not Lenker or 25 foot F-glass) then measure with the TS & prism pole. Then check locations & elevations with Reflectorless measurement...

How far can you go on AC and maintain elevations within 0.02' of the leveled values? How does your horizontal hold together between reflectorless and prism? If you don't know, you should! This has been a topic discussed at CLSA Conference, Chapter meetings and the CSU Fresno conference. Yet another reason for Continuing Education/Professional Development. (soapbox)

Wherre was the Picture taken?

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 10:02 am
by Stan_K
It may be at SECO's facility, sort of looks like their back warehouse. We also went up there to test out the 11-foot "Frankinpod".

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:44 pm
by 7702
I thought the yard looked like District 2 as well.

Rob, of course I was just kidding since I'm a seasoned Caltrans veteran myself. While a state employee, my crew did quite a bit of reflectorless work along I-5 doing quality control checks for the Vanguard surveyors.

District 2 was blessed with having numerous LS's in the workforce, so inexperience was not a concern there. Other districts weren't necessarily as fortunate back then.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:29 pm
by goodgps
Hey Clyde, You gotta look thru the other end !!

also;
A demonstration of the remarkable stability of the Dodge Ram 250.

"Hey there big guy" "get your paws off my leg"

and the other guy ? "I just can't watch this"