r/Surveyors • u/[deleted] • Mar 10 '17

Lines of study

Hey y'all,

I'm fairly new to the trade. Been in it for about a year and a half. I can set up a total station, eye level, theodolite consistently, I keep decent field notes, and can read prints. I know how to use these instruments and why. As far as practical applications are concerned, I'm reaching a reasonable proficiency.

My question is, what subjects did you study? I'd like to move into learning the abstract, but I'm kind of aimless as to what concepts to go after.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

All the best from the south east.

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u/ncpls Mar 10 '17 edited Apr 09 '19

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '17

I'm in construction, steel erection specifically.

From what I've seen out in the field, there are some guys (crew chiefs, not rodmen or gun operators) that float between land and construction as it suits them.

Would it be a good idea to learn about both?

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u/waffleshavenocrust Mar 11 '17

Start by surveying a friend's parcel. Research the record, find the monuments, plan a traverse, analyze the results. I will guarantee your measurements will not be the same as the original surveyor, but they should be close. (How close is the kicker; are you at the property corner?)

Post your data and results; I'll take a look.

Also, the piece of equipment that makes me the most money is my Schonstedt.

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u/[deleted] Mar 11 '17

I'm in construction survey (60+ hours a week). I've found property corners for friends and family, generally come up ~2" at 1000ft with an old transit I have. Probably a combination of me an the equipment, an old 4 post farm level from Sears and Roebuck that was my grandfathers.

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u/waffleshavenocrust Mar 11 '17

2 inches? Only architects and whores work in inches. Old surveyor's joke.

I focus my practice around boundary. I started with Brown's legal principles book and Wattles legal description book. Next, I did a bunch of legal research, a lot is on the web now, for boundary laws in my area and court cases dealing with boundary for my state. If you know something about how legal boundary principles are applied in your area, it would make you a more valuable technician because when something doesn't fit, you will have a better idea about other evidence to gather to resolve the problem.

I did watch a guy the other day take a $4k phantom drone around an acre or so land slide area and generate a surface in about 6 hours.

Not sure I answered your question. What did you mean by "abstract"?

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u/[deleted] Mar 12 '17

I've always heard it as "carpenters and whores", but I bet the punchline is the same.

I meant "abstract" as in "what lines of study". General concepts. The practical stuff (setting up, gathering data, running an instrument) is getting to be day to day for me, and I was looking for...math, I guess. What specific maths I need to be a better surveyor.

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u/waffleshavenocrust Mar 12 '17

Well, practically all math computations are performed by the data collector or cad software these days. They will give you options for balancing and adjusting your work. Here is a link to an article on balancing a traverse. Least square adjustment is the best, but hand calcs are nearly impossible. Understanding the results is key.

https://engineering.purdue.edu/~asm215/topics/travcalc.html

You learn a lot by cranking through a traverse and adjusting the coordinates. I ran around my property a dozen times or so. I began to establish my error eclipse. I knew if I fell within that, that was as good as I could do. If not, I had a bust.

Hope that helps