Thoughts

• Land Surveyor

  James Gill March 20, 2018 at 4:50pm

  Hello Timothy and welcome!  I've used Transits & totalstations, some GPS, Trimble, Nikon, Leica, Berger & Pentax in performing land surveys.  Some instruments were 30 sec, some were 10 sec, 5 sec & 2 sec.  For me, the quality & accuracy of the instrument really depends on the operator, type of survey (Geodetic, Plane, Boundary, Construction, etc...  Stability and consistency of measurements is really a function of setup & user operation.  If I do a boundary survey or construction survey I look at the standards and accuracy requirement for that project and follow those guidelines.  If i can get an accuracy of 1;15000 with a CST305r totalstation & be confident of its reliability, I'll use it.  If i have a 10 sec Nikon on hand and can get the same or better accuracy and reliability I'll use that.  Some products are way less costly to operate and calibrate than name brands.  It's up to the user and type of job, accuracy, and local standards to determine what type of TS or GPS, etc... to use.  I am a land survey instructor at a community college, 40-yrs experience in civil engineering & land Surveying.