foxtrot_xray

Ran a query on my database (which is valid and complete as of NGS's archive at the beginning of this month (Aug 1st), and here is an interesting breakdown of the number of station types. The 'CDE' column is the 1 or 2 letter/digit marker type as seen on datasheets. The 'IN?' is wither it's a Intersection or not (1 - yes, 0 - no), and the # is the number of datasheets that list that as a marker type: CDE IN? # MARKER TYPE DESCRIPTION J 0 2 Earthenware jug Y 0 3 Drill hole in brick 23 1 3 VOR antenna 24 1 3 REN antenna 69 1 4 Regulatory sign 95 1 4 Rooftop blockhouse DK 0 5 Gravity reference mark disk DP 0 5 Base line pier disk 68 1 9 Commercial sign 05 1 11 Rock awash 28 1 11 LORAN mast 88 1 13 Observatory dome 93 1 13 Microwave antenna on building 17 1 17 Flag tower E 0 18 Earthenware pot L 0 22 Gravity plug 74 1 28 Large cross 18 1 30 Signal mast 84 1 39 Lightning rod 92 1 44 Antenna on roof 25 1 45 Radar antenna 26 1 46 Spherical radome 94 1 51 Rooftop ventilator 64 1 57 Silo DW 0 60 NOS hydrographic survey disk DA 0 61 Astro pier disk 27 1 63 Radio range mast 01 1 71 Lone tree M 0 76 Ammo shell casing 56 1 78 Skeleton tower 70 1 84 Monument 67 1 85 Oil derrick 12 1 88 Dolphin T 0 95 Chiseled triangle 11 1 96 Piling 58 1 150 Control tower G 0 150 Glass bottle K 0 156 Clay tile pipe 54 1 169 Water tower 02 1 176 Conspicuous rock 75 1 195 Belfry 41 1 223 Antenna mast DM 0 231 Magnetic station disk 82 1 242 Finial O 0 252 Chiseled circle DG 0 256 Gravity station disk 04 1 272 Rock pinnacle U 0 333 Concrete post (without other marks) 66 1 349 Windmill 89 1 357 Spire 61 1 363 Pole 83 1 387 Flagstaff DQ 0 416 Calibration base line disk 73 1 462 Lookout house 71 1 478 Boundary monument 87 1 542 Dome 65 1 560 Grain elevator 81 1 598 Gable W 0 606 Unmonumented 44 1 634 Microwave mast 72 1 636 Cairn V 0 670 Stone monument 13 1 698 Lighthouse 16 1 701 Daybeacon 21 1 724 Airport beacon 03 1 745 Mountain peak DU 0 780 Boundary marker 45 1 823 Microwave tower 91 1 824 Church cross 62 1 887 Flagpole 15 1 958 Range marker 43 1 1081 Radio/TV tower 86 1 1090 Cupola 22 1 1147 Airway beacon 52 1 1263 Standpipe tank 85 1 1321 Chimney A 0 1411 Aluminum marker other than a disk included elsewhere in table 55 1 1545 Tower C 0 1601 Cap of cap-and-bolt pair S 0 2036 Spike X 0 2107 Chiseled cross DT 0 2192 Topographic station disk 51 1 2626 Tank 57 1 2719 Lookout tower H 0 2806 Drill hole 90 1 3255 Church spire N 0 3469 Nail 63 1 3479 Stack 14 1 3916 Navigation light 42 1 3980 Radio/TV mast DJ 0 4356 Tidal station disk Q 0 5266 Chiseled square B 0 7676 Bolt DO 0 7827 Disk not specified (see description) R 0 8413 Rivet P 0 8743 Pipe cap 53 1 9769 Elevated tank DZ 0 10900 Azimuth mark disk F 0 17623 Flange-encased rod DH 0 18746 Horizontal control disk DE 0 19119 Traverse station disk Z 0 20695 See description DV 0 24159 Vertical control disk I 0 33163 Metal rod DR 0 33680 Reference mark disk DS 0 78967 Triangulation station disk DD 0 158147 Survey disk (other agency) DB 0 328935 Bench mark disk Not listed above are the just under 44k datasheets that have no marker type specified.

1 National Geodetic Survey, Retrieval Date = AUGUST 26, 2020 TT4376 *********************************************************************** TT4376 DESIGNATION - A 5 TT4376 PID - TT4376 TT4376 STATE/COUNTY- AK/YUKON-KOYUKUK CENSUS TT4376 COUNTRY - US TT4376 USGS QUAD - FAIRBANKS C-5 SE (2013) TT4376 TT4376 *CURRENT SURVEY CONTROL TT4376 ______________________________________________________________________ TT4376* NAD 83(1986) POSITION- 64 36 15. (N) 210 54 11 (E) SCALED TT4376 ______________________________________________________________________ TT4376 GEOID HEIGHT - 9.390 (meters) GEOID12B TT4376 TT4376.The horizontal coordinates were scaled from a map and have TT4376.an estimated accuracy of +/- 6 seconds. TT4376. TT4376.Significant digits in the geoid height do not necessarily reflect accuracy. TT4376.GEOID12B height accuracy estimate available here. TT4376 TT4376.Click photographs - Photos may exist for this station. TT4376 TT4376 TT4376_U.S. NATIONAL GRID SPATIAL ADDRESS: 6WUS996659(NAD 83) TT4376 TT4376 SUPERSEDED SURVEY CONTROL TT4376 TT4376.No superseded survey control is available for this station. TT4376 TT4376 TT4376 HISTORY - Date Condition Report By TT4376 HISTORY - UNK MONUMENTED TT4376 TT4376 STATION DESCRIPTION TT4376 TT4376'DESCRIBED UNK TT4376'BENCHMARK PRESUMED DESTROYED. I WANT to say 'nuff said, but.. literally, nothing is said.

I knew this was coming a while back, interesting to see a full background article on it.. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/18/science/foot-surveying-metrology-dennis.html In short: US has two feet. International Foot and the US Survey Foot. In about three years, we're ditching the US Survey Foot.

This is another, which I was always amused at. In Marion, IN, on the courthouse, there are three reported stations. One is an intersection station, the courthouse dome. This one can be ignored. That leaves these two: LA1607 DESIGNATION - I5 LA1608 DESIGNATION - I 5 RESET Okay, this is fine, nothing unusual yet. Until you get to the courthouse. Let's go look at "I5" (which is oddly missing that space, but..). It says it's "AT" the west entrance. And then gives info on how the stone is loose and it should not be used. I don't care how much you look - you won't see anything even close to resembling a disk. Or even an old drill-hole used to mount the disk. There ain't any indication that anything was there at the entrance. Now let's go look for "I 5 RESET". Apparently, it's 16 feet south of the west entrance. Well, hey, guess what - there's a disk there! .. But wait. It says "M 371". Dated 1992. Okay, so.. it's recent, NOT from 1962. And it is NOT "I 5", even if it somewhat fits the description of I 5 RESET. So, let's go to the NGS website, and see if we can find "M 371". Doing a search by Station Name, in Indiana - Not only is there no 'M 371' in Indiana, there isn't ANY station with "371" in it in the state. (No P 371, N 371, J 371, etc.) In fact, there are no "371" runs in Ohio or Illinois, either!

Since we've been talking about oddities lately, I ran across something interesting (to me, anyways) while on a drive. For your consideration, the following two datasheets: LG1351 *********************************************************************** LG1351 DESIGNATION - QUINCY RESET LG1351 PID - LG1351 LG1351 STATE/COUNTY- NE/FILLMORE LG1351 COUNTRY - US LG1351 USGS QUAD - EXETER (2017) LG1351 LG1351 *CURRENT SURVEY CONTROL LG1351 ______________________________________________________________________ LG1351* NAD 83(1986) POSITION- 40 38 58.61 (N) 097 22 35.40 (W) HD_HELD1 LG1351* NAVD 88 ORTHO HEIGHT - 479.098 (meters) 1571.84 (feet) ADJUSTED LG1351 ______________________________________________________________________ ..and... LG0792 *********************************************************************** LG0792 DESIGNATION - QUINCY LG0792 PID - LG0792 LG0792 STATE/COUNTY- NE/FILLMORE LG0792 COUNTRY - US LG0792 USGS QUAD - EXETER (2017) LG0792 LG0792 *CURRENT SURVEY CONTROL LG0792 ______________________________________________________________________ LG0792* NAD 83(1995) POSITION- 40 38 58.60546(N) 097 22 35.40154(W) ADJUSTED LG0792* NAVD 88 ORTHO HEIGHT - 479. (meters) 1572. (feet) SCALED LG0792 ______________________________________________________________________ Links to both sheets: LG0792 [QUINCY], LG1351 [QUINCY RESET]. QUINCY was never marked as destroyed. Which is accurate - it has NOT BEEN. In fact, QUINCY RESET *is* QUINCY. The station hasn't been moved. The agency just stamped "1991" onto it. The 'Reset' was leveled to - notice the ortho height on it is ADJUSTED. Whereas the original QUINCY is ADJUSTED position, but the ortho height is scaled. So as far as I can figure, in '91, they used QUINCY to level against/through/to, and instead of updating the original's "QUINCY" PID's ortho height and other links, they just created a new PID. I did measurements from one reference mark and the railroad (I had permission, was on a job for them), and it matched what was in QUINCY's datasheet. It also was prety darn exact with my handheld GPS. (I did not do any RTK over the station, admittedly.) I went ahead and submitted recoveries for both stations - though overall, just a small little strangeness.

THAT really worries me, because I too sometimes leave references to PIDs in my descriptions - not to mention what happens to the entries in the reference box of some stations that point to others.

According to the contributor's list: So, maybe he was just helping out?

For the record, feel free to post HH2 coordincates in your recovery logs. I am referring to the Lat & Lon *fields*. Since (1) The person submitting the form can't select the method of the coordinates (Scaled, Adjusted, HH1, HH2, etc) when entering in new ones, and (2), the large majority of geocachers/hobbyists wouldn't know what to select of the list even if the dropdown was available, it can cause some real big issues if someone tried updating Lat/Lon fields when the station is Adjusted. Since there is no dropdown, there is no way for the person on the other side handling and verifying this information if the user used a commercial grade multi-band differential GPS, or a consumer-grade handheld unit. The 'lite' form was made for quick submissions, and yes, hobbyists. The 'lite' version *USED* to be the default, but since most of the folks using this form are commercial/professionals, they reverted it to the full. If you don't care about your initials showing up (not many folks care - the OLD form they were required, I believe) and just want to make sure people know that the station is still there (i.e. It was monumented in 1943, and there hasn't been a recovery *since then*, go ahead, put in a submission!) I believe the COP should be on the lite form, and told the folks that they should add it, but they never did.

Please keep in mind - Unless you are a professional, and have the proper equipment, do NOT try to update the lat/lon or any other data about the station. For hobbyists, the ONLY FIELDS you should fill out are the following: PID: Enter this in, the form will load all other details. Agency Code: L - Miscellaneous Commercial or Private Forms Recovery Agency: GEOCAC Date Recovered: The date you found the station (not making the report!) Name & Email: This is not published, this is so you can be contacted in case there is an issue. Suitable for GPS: Optional. Recommended that you leave as-is. If the station (the marker) is in a field or open lawn, with no objects extending 15-degrees above horizon all around the station, then this should be 'Yes'. Condition: As a hobbyist, pick one of the following: Good: You found the station and it looked to be undisturbed. (scrapes over the disk is fine. silt on top is also fine.) Poor: You found the station, but somethig is wrong. (Disk is broken in half. Pieces missing. Cement post, or rock broken off or breaking off. Not Recovered: Use this ONLY if you spent a good amount of time trying to recover it. A drive-by "I was looking out the window and didn't find it" is unacceptable. The others should NOT be used without consulting a professional. (Surface Destroyed, Underground Destroyed, See Other). Descriptive Text: Leave this blank, UNLESS: You found it, and something significant has changed around the station from a previous NGS recovery. (i.e. A referenced road has moved. A new fence blocks easy location, new landscaping now blocks (professional) GPS usage, etc.) Any POOR stations should had a description test added as to WHY. (i.e. "Disk was found, but chunk of metal was missing. Iron bolt found, but top of bolt has been sheared off.) You did NOT find it, and you spent a good amount of time trying to locate it. (i.e. You and a friend used a measuring taps, measured everything out and just could not locate it. Or - again, having measuing everything out, you find out that a new sidewalk is over where the mark should be. You should never put any personal information in here (your name, phone number, email), nor Geocaching Links, handles, names, nor stories, (i.e. I don't wanna hear how you were walking your dog, and he took a piss on the telephone pole, and you happene dot have found this disk!) C.O.P.: This stands for 'Chief Of Party', and should be your initials. (i.e. Mine are "MFM".) This is optional. Pictures: Optional. If you submit, follow the photograph guidelines here: https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/web/surveys/photo_submissions/ If the form reports that pictures don't exist, it's recommended to upload pics, but still optional. (BenchMap will save pictures with this naming format, but resizing and adding labels will still be necessary.) Capcha: Yup, you need to know math, -Mike

Interensting. Just spoke (emailed) Dave over the last month, having looked to see if I could hire him for some surveying work. Good to see he's still more-than-retired busy.

Unfortunately, I've never owned and don't own an iOS device - and due to my jobs, I don't have the time to learn a new programming language needed for iOS. Now, if there IS a developer here, I'd be glad to work with them and help them with what needs to be done, but unless I have help with the development work, right now my hands are tied.

Thanks! SOon, the Android app will be able to load Datasheets directly, making it a lot easier to store offline files, when needed.

Hah, that's really interesting and neat. Now I'm tempted to have a few custom disks made that simply say, "This is not what you're looking for." ... 50 years from now, someone will find it and go, "What?!"

FHWA officially. (They weren't ever important enough for only three letters..) Jus'sayin'.

This, I believe is incorrect. Based on past conversations with Deb, years ago, on vertical control marks (true 'bench marks'), if the disk is ripped off, but the mounting location and/or stem still remain, it is destroyed. Horizontal control marks - especially those with underground marks - are not destroyed.

Just an update, in case there are some map geeks out there. Yesterday I pushed v2.4.0, and the biggest thing it has is NOAA Nautical Maritime maps. For those that like to find stations out in harbors and along coastlines, you can enable this map layer (sorry, does require Pro upgrade) and see which buoys and piers have stations on them. Sorry to those in the midwest. Without water, this feature is.. well, kind of useless. Unless you're arm-chair benchmarking. :)

No problem! About a month ago, the NGS realized that one of their servers was taking longer than usual to process datasheets. Last night I released an update - so that in the future, slow server times won't cause a failure to load a datasheet. It also: * Fixes the USGS Topographic Maps, * Adds USGS "USTopo" maps. * Fixes several crashes. There's an issue with font color in a couple screens, working on that now.

First time I've heard of that. 'Traveling Benchmark'. Makes me cringe.

BenchMap was made for Benchmark hunters. You can use any app that can support GPX files if you wish. Right now, due to changes on the NGS servers (combined WITH changes in the Android SDK), my app MAY have issues loading up datasheets. I'm currently working on a fix, and hope to have an update posted soon!

Hey all - Since I can't seem to find the original post, starting a new one. The Android app still works. Barely. Since I released the last version, NGS servers' response time to pull up a single datasheet has slowly been creeping up - from 2 seconds to the current ~10 seconds. (It seems to take between 8 and 15 seconds, depending on something internal.) Unfortunately, here's the thing - when I released that, the Android OS used a fixed 'webview', which my app took advantage of to display the datasheet. This webview had a fixed timeout of... TEN SECONDS. With help from another user, I got in touch with the NGS to let them know. Unfortunately, their response was that "security measures have slowed processing time'. This is "support speak" for, "Our data is too large for those servers to handle in the same amount of time they used to. In order for me to increase the timeout, it meant recompiling the *entire application* against a newer version of the Android OS. Which means having to implement all new code, security measures, and API changes to Maps, the Play Store, and .. well. Let's just say that to add one like (timeout = 120secons), resulted in about fifteen other files getting code changes, rewrittern, modified. I'm STILL running into an issue dealing with the filesystem, since that was **completely** changed in the last two years. However - I am very close to releasing it. I need to check it on other phones, however! TLDR: If you can side-load apps on your phone, and wanna run the version of the application to see if it crashes (it likely will at the beginning, because NO phones are the same!), drop me a message here, or at coyttl-at-gmail.com and let me know. Should have a beta ready by the end of the week. (More unrelated info: I have a skeleton of v3 in progress. Essentially, completely rewritten, with different map provider, since GMaps started charging. It's been on hold since this NGS thing came up. On the positive side, I have been talking to the NGS folks about introducing a **useful** API, which means - a year from now, it's entirely possible I won't NEED to release v3, because there will be 8 otrher benchmarking apps out there. Hee.) --Mike

Hey all! I haven't logged in here in quite a long time. An update - v3 is being worked on - but is on pause temporarily until I can get BenchMap back up and reliable on Android. Once that is done, I will polish off the first verison of v3, and then should (hopefully) have updates to provide different output formats. :)

I think I recovered a handful of those McClure ones, either earleir this year or last. I was drawn to the pattern they were laid out on. When looked on a map, they looked neat.

Keep in mind - Railroads are *private* property, and very dangerous. At worst, you can get killed. If caught, you will get ticketed or fined or locked up. (This is coming from a railroader.)

Yes, the direct link works. Not the PID search.

Here's another fun one!! God, I love this crap. PID: DQ8778 This has two interesting notes. First, if you go to try and pull up that PID on the website (using 'By PID' option), you get: INPUT ERROR - Invalid mark. Contact NGS Run Terminated. This mark IS AVAILABLE in the montly archives, and what I believe is causing the error is this odd Vertical Accuracy: DQ8778* NAVD 88 ORTHO HEIGHT - 84.75 (meters) 278.1 (feet) h-N COMP "h-N COMP"? I haven't seen that one before. Whohoo.