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Where are you surveying?

Hi,

I am not a surveyor but use a Promark 3 to check out soil conservation structures that I build. Now I have a farmer who wants to put in a 1020' by 62' cattle building. Can I use the stake out feature in Fast Survey to find the corners?

Thanks,

Dan

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  • Land Surveyor

    I don't think this is as much a matter of surveying (especially that of boundary) as it is a survey equipment support issue.  Construction layout does not fall under the legal definition of Land Surveying in my State (WI). The only thing I may tend to be cautious of is local ordinances (zoning, etc.) which may not be an issue at all since the existing foundation is being used as a reference for placement of a new structure.  If there is a building permit to do it this way all is clear.  On the equipment user's side, point in direction means (in most software) that you could set your instrument on a found building corner, sight the direction the wall, and compute the coordinates you need using right-angles from the baseline you made of the one wall.  For example, Coordinates on a found building corner can be assumed to be 5000.00 / 5000.00.  We know that the building will be 1020.00 feet on one side, so just "assume" North on the other corner, meaning that the coordinates on the other building corner will be 5120.00 / 5000.00.  It does not matter if you are facing North or not, your instrument has no idea of this, it's a trick I learned a long time ago, as long as you are set up on the one and backsighting the other.  So the coordinates on the other two building corners will be 5120.00 / 5062.00 and 5000.00 / 5062.00.  Now you have a perfect rectangle.  Be sure to calculate the hypotenuse and check the stakes diagonally in the field.  

    Best Regards, 

    Scott D. Warner, R.L.S. 

    • Scott,

      Thanks. I agree the use of the word survey is wrong. I have been a dirt contractor for a little over 30 years, including about ten years with my father-in-law. When I was learning the dirt business he called checking elevation "surveying" and I picked it up too.

      Dan Smith M.D.

      (Mover of Dirt)

    • Land Surveyor

      Dan,

      I'm glad things worked out for you.  When I worked for a Landscaping company during the Summer months while attending college, one of the things we used was an engineer's level (auto-level) to check elevations.  It was called a "transit" by the crew, notwithstanding that it was not a transit at all.  A transit is an instrument for measuring angles, both vertically and horizontally.  Well, we all knew what the so-called "transit" was and how to use it.  Fine and dandy, I guess.  Maybe fine, but not dandy....?  (That's George Carlin) I love his humor!

      Please feel free to question or comment again.  A man with your "level" of experience (pun intended) might be able to help Land Surveyors see things from a different "angle" (pun intended)....have you checked out these groups?............

      www.landsurveyorsunited.com/group/creativeconstruction

      www.landsurveyorsunited.com/group/constructionsurveying

      -Scott D. Warner, R.L.S.

      (Really Seeking Solutions)

  • fast survey is good software ..promark 3 works fine in rtk mode  close range if you have to extend some postprocessing will be required before launching rtk
  • Daniel.

     

    if you are talking about finding you must have a map showing where the building was placed with the propperty lines ..from there you can start  with localizing with points that are still available from the propperty and then stake the corners out.  if you do not have any info . and the propperty points can be shown to you by the farmer .. you can do a local survey of the propperty points and then fit the building in cad as the farmer wants and then have them stake out according to your made drawing. if none above is the case you have a bigger problem a way to try to find is to use google earth if the building is still shown there .and then you will be working with aprox coordinates not exact .

    • The farmer is placing the building in the space occupied by the one that fell down based on the SE corner of that original. It is exactly the same size as the old one and situated on 160 acres he purchased from his father years back. I went out and staked it yesterday with steel tapes and will go out tomorrow to check my steel tape attempt using a PM3/FAST Survey/Point in Direction combination. Will let you know how it went. Have you used Point in Direction Kendall?

      Dan

    • Mr Dan ,

       

      it as a very used command in staking out . if you have a starting point (ex: the first building corner) then you can survey a second point in the direction , so you can inverse  starting point to surveyed point to get the azimuth between those 2 points .. with that information you just go to point in direction occupacy is starting point , and direction is the calculated azimuth then just fill in the distance which is the lenght of the building . store that point and stake it out . now you have 2 corners of the building , the other 2 can be done with point in direction where the zimuths is a diffrence of 90 degree;s or 100 gons .. or you can do line offset  (with the correct dimensions and stake the other 2 corners out.

  • Land Surveyor

    Dan, I am not a Fast Survey software user, but i did look at the manual for the software and you may find your answer on page 256 for staking points - here's a link to the manual:            e-topo.web.auth.gr-TOMEIS_INDEX-TOMEASA-Pikridas-give-ashtech_manua...

    Once you have stored a point using any GPS device, you should be able to return to that point using stakeout.

    If it doesn't help please let the group know.

    -Scott D. Warner, R.L.S.

    • It looks like Point in Direction is what I am looking for ( p 387-391). Thanks for the link for FAST Survey.
  • The short answer is yes.

     

    It will stake out with the same accuracy that you are able to locate the structures you build.

     

    Phil

     

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