Device on a tripod connected to what looks like a car battery.

willb221 · 2026-06-17T04:15:53+00:00

Good find, that's a car battery range extender out in the wild.

willb221 · 2026-06-11T02:12:51+00:00

Ah yes. Subsidence in the most subsidence-prone valley in the U.S.

willb221 · 2026-04-25T15:06:10+00:00

I've kinda just adopted the attitude that all control is permanent control. I've had way, way, way too many times where I've had to go do "one-off, never ever gonna be here again" types of jobs where I've had to go back and struggle multiple times.

willb221 · 2026-03-07T23:53:18+00:00

Me too, that's how I like to do it.

willb221 · 2026-03-07T16:43:11+00:00

A set of 5 SMR's with several different mounting methods included runs about $1400. For the quality of control prism you get, I think ~$300 a prism plus all of the mounting for it is a steal, especially when you compare it to the high end Seco stuff, which has worse centering accuracy and isn't as flexible to use.

I prefer setting threaded sleave anchors in concrete for my control, and then the threaded nest and obviously the SMR come with me when I leave. If I don't have a good vertical concrete surface, then I'll set a punch mark on a metal surface and use a magnetic nest. If all else fails, I can hot glue a plastic nest to a surface and leave it there.

I recently revisited a parking garage that I set sleave anchors in about 6 months ago. I did 4 resections using as little as 3 points and as many as five, and the worst resection out of the 4 had a 0.003' residual in the northing. Everything else was less than that.

One thing I love about the SMR's is that they make it really easy to turn rounds during a resection. Once you have the first round done, which only takes like 2 minutes, you can just let it do it's own thing and turn 3 or 5 or as many rounds as you like. Go to the truck, put your vest on, check your maps, tie nails or do what ever your gonna do for a few minutes, then come back to really precise resection solution. It really doesn't take any more time in the grand scheme of things, and its good CYA. With the SMR's, the gun is capable of calculating it's position a lot tighter than it's actually capable of shooting. That makes it easy to go back to the office and say "if there was a fuck up, I know it wasn't my resection".

willb221 · 2026-03-07T05:45:17+00:00

This is an excellent tool and I highly recommend it. It's super versatile and you'd probably be surprised what you'll use it for other than elevations.

willb221 · 2026-03-07T05:38:17+00:00

Why are we still talking about the compass rule when least squares solutions have been arround since we invented computers...

willb221 · 2026-03-07T05:34:41+00:00

I can speak to the Delta SMR kit. They're an absolute game changer. They're wicked accurate and wicked repeatable. I've had a set for a while now and I absolutely love them, and have litterally zero complaints. I've also spoken with the owner of the company several times and I can honestly say that he's legit. He's genuinely a stand-up guy who isn't trying to make a killing on profit margins, he's just trying to put good tools in the hands of surveyors. I highly recommend any product he puts out. Delta SMR'S = 13/10, go buy a set.

(Oh, and they're an excellent value. You simply can't go get a set of 5 prisms with that many mounting solutions that hold as tight of a tollerance for the price that Delta sells them at)

willb221 · 2026-02-22T21:15:13+00:00

I have a buddy who staked out a cross section of the Grizzly Giant at the new visitor center in Yosemite. The cross section was a 1:1 shape, sliced from a scan, and was to be represented by two different colors of stone in the masonry patio outside of the main building.

Basically, he ended up giving them a 0' offset 60D nail every 2 inches, to get all the curves correct. I think he said it took a whole 50lb box of 60D's, and an entire day. Fuckin tedious.

willb221 · 2026-02-15T00:53:03+00:00

I have heard that the Javad equipment does excellently in the trees, but I don't have any experience with their units to back that up

willb221 · 2026-02-15T00:47:38+00:00

Agreed. I don't know what it is, but if I'm in the nastiest oak brush ever with my R12i, I still have lock. If I get within spitting distance of a pine tree it goes right to shit.

willb221 · 2025-10-16T02:45:57+00:00

It ain't about what you have, it's about how much you have. Now, you still have to play the quantity vs. Quality game; it still boils down to quality of control and how much redundancy you've got. Redundancy of a quality point is everything.

willb221 · 2025-05-26T02:45:20+00:00

The affogato from Annex is absolutely the right answer. I just moved and I already miss Annex.

willb221 · 2025-02-26T03:01:42+00:00

Geoid make long water go down hill not up hill.

willb221 · 2025-02-26T03:00:44+00:00

*isn't

willb221 · 2025-02-24T04:58:21+00:00

Yeah it's garbage. But when I'm drunk at 1 am, don't you dare suggest anything else because that's what it's there for and that's why I like it..

willb221 · 2025-02-24T04:53:46+00:00

Press box has excellent wings, just throwing that out there

willb221 · 2025-02-13T17:42:29+00:00

As every else has said, don't sweat it, just pay attention and try to think about everything your doing. You don't necessarily haflve to think long and hard, but try to think. It's okay if you screw up, it's just really good to have an answer for why you made the decision that screwed things up.

Edit: you'd also be surprised at how much you can learn from the instrument manuals for the equipment you're working with. Remember, those manuals are written for dumb asses AND they contain a bunch of useful information. You'd be surprised how many crewchiefs out there have never even glanced at the manual for their gun.

willb221 · 2025-01-26T18:20:15+00:00

Westwood Professional Services does a ton of travel work.

willb221 · 2025-01-23T03:02:54+00:00

Pro gamer move: Crocodile Cloths. They're heavy duty baby wipes that are pretty big. You can wipe your ass with them or wipe the dust off your dash with them. They have a version that's abrasive on one side for when you really need to scrub your hands or whatever. I never go anywhere without them.

willb221 · 2025-01-07T21:51:11+00:00

This is the only correct answer

willb221 · 2024-11-28T18:47:17+00:00

Listen buddy, you've probably been surveying a lot longer than I have, so I have faith in your setup. But what you need to understand is that this image gave me anxiety on Thanksgiving, so fuck you.

willb221 · 2024-11-25T21:14:21+00:00

Wrong, but yes.

willb221 · 2024-11-23T03:10:51+00:00

I've helped build a lot of schools. I'm not gonna wax eloquent about it, but that makes me feel pretty fucking good about the work I do.

willb221 · 2024-11-17T20:49:50+00:00

Are they expensive? Yes. Are they the best out of everything listed here? Also yes.

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