Prism and pole

[bashabo]

Hi everyone,

Can someone please advice me how tall of prism pole and kind of prism that I should buy for my recently added surveying services? I have done a lot of surveying work long before, however not with total station. This is something new for me. Do I really need a tall pole with large prism, or a mini prism (with 1.4 m pole) will be okay for me? I planning to do small sacle residential and commercial work only. Appreciate your help. Thanks..

 

[Wasdifferent]

bashabo,
First of all, you'd be surprised at how often you have to extend a prism pole to make a shot. Get a long one, you'll need it.
It's also handy to have a 1 foot pole, a good auto level, a set of walkie-talkies, and an assortment of rods, prisms, poles, bipods, and tripods.
Carry backup equipment. Bring lots of stakes. Sometimes, contractors seem to get real touchy about having their men, and several hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment, sitting idle because you don't have the right equipment to do the job. If you want to keep them happy, keep them busy.

Best regards,

-Michael

http://www.sewellconstruction.com

 

[JoshuaCivils]

hello bashabo, im a setting out engineer and i agree with michael on the matter, if your only surveying and not setting out, you should not need a mini pole/prism and i only every use this for to the millimetre work such as kerb races and critical corners etc.
however i would reccomend in purchasing a mini prism which is attachable to a large survey pole, i personnally own a Pentax mini priwm and pole and i find it gives the accuracy and practicality required.

josh

 

[namdac]

Check with your local Survey Shop and see what kind of deal you could swing. Most of the companies that we deal with will want to sell you the highest end product. I just picked up a SDR33 Expert Note book and a Set 3B Total Station all reconditioned. About 40% less than a new one. All we use is a single prizm. On occation however we use a triple. For extermely large projects we use Trimble 5800 it works really well.
The transmitter on the Base unit transmits 2 mi., This means less set up time.
The GPS units be it trimble or lieca. The industry itself has invested quit a bit of money in machine control. MnDot has completed a project with it. Really sweet to watch run.
Regards,
Namdac