mloser

When I was freezing to death in March I kept hoping for summer to arrive. Now that it is here I keep finding benchmark locations where I feel it will be much easier to return in the fall or winter once the weeds and poison ivy die down. Summer might be a nice time to be out but it can sure make spotting some benchmarks much harder. Still, I will keep at it.

I have reached a sort of milestone and am pretty dang happy with myself. Today I snagged my 200th (and 201st, 202nd and 203rd). I was trying to save the 200th for a triangulation station, my favorite marks to find, but would up passing The Mercersburg Church Spire, JV4766 and had to take a pic of it. Those of you who actually read my postings will probably see the irony in the fact that a watershed benchmark find was one that I least enjoy (see my posting on "drivebys"), but I couldn't cheat--this was the 200th and it will remain the 200th. In the true spirit of driveby benchmarking this picture was taken out of a car window, although I was stopped. Stay tuned for my 300th! I managed 200 in 4 months. I guess I should be checking back in with number 200 in August!

Can't say I get too excited about this sort of station. For one thing, the thrill is usually in the hunt and there is rarely a need to hunt down a 300 foot tower. That said, I DO log them when I come across them--logged the Seattle Space Needle when I visited Seattle , for instance, as well as some other non-disk marks there. One thing to remember is that the station is usually, for lack of a real surveying word, a "pointy thing" on top of the structure, and is described in the text. I have found a couple that at first glance seem to be as described but are most likely not. WRIGHTSVILLE MUN STANDPIPE is an example. The tank still exists but the station is described as a ball on top. I am not sure that ball still exists. Another time I located a TV mast that was at the same basic location as the one decribed but certainly NOT the described mast--this one was newer and taller.

Spoo, I have had about a quarter of them want to accompany me! One took me up a hill and helped me find all three marks of a triangulation station. He thought he knew what I was looking for (their corner property mark) but was surprised when we found the Campbell station and reference marks. He had lived there all his life and never saw them. As I said above, another dug the mark out of his driveway, and at the same location another person was willing to dig the reference mark out of the yard. A motel owner let me dig one out, a security guard at a business followed me around watching what I did (curious, not hostile!). One landowner insisted on showing me all three marks of a triangulation station and thanking me for asking permission. One business owner, after I dug away at a hillside just off his property, wanted to see where it was because I was the first to find it and quite a few had looked! And on and on! So by all means, ASK!

To put it simply, I knock and ask. I have gotten anything ranging from an odd look to a walkalong to show me exactly where the mark is. And one guy even dug out a spot on his driveway to show me the station -- Avon, Lebanon, PA. I have been pretty lucky in finding people outside too, so I don't feel so guilty dragging them to their door to talk to some nut looking for a survey marker as a hobby. Still, they have, as a lot, been very understanding!

Ok, I give! You win!

Or perhaps to follow up on one of his most famous quotes: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

For those of you non-Perl folks there is a Windows app that does pretty much the same thing. I find that it leaves a lot of blank lines though, since I do not want all empty lines removed and I remove lots of lines, the blank lines sort of bunch up and leave empty looking spaces. The program is called Text Harvest

And of course you could look for President. And then there would be Wilson, RR's middle name: this is one of at least 6 of them. I suppose we could look for Governor and Nancy and Actor, which might prove a bit hard to get for many of us as it is in Alaska, and on and on (and on and on).

I have nothing but kind things to say about the metric system, except... ...nyone know where I can get a 30m tape? I have my 100 footer but I don't think Lowes carries the metric version. Anyone wanna send me one from the UK?

Just be sure you looked as hard as you could and read the description well. However, posting a NOT FOUND on Geocaching is not as severe as posting the same recovery with NGS. To post a NOT FOUND on NGS I make sure I am absolutely certain the mark is not where described, not just that I haven't looked hard enough or misread the description. I have gone to a few locations 2, 3 and most recently, 4 times. I finally recovered the 4-visit mark as not-found. Oh yeah, if you are in an area where someone else is also hunting marks, be forewarned that your NOT FOUND may be followed up with someone finding the mark. I certainly feel the peer pressure on here to "get it right" before I put it in writing.

I have to agree with both the pro and con statements for USPSQD benchmark hunters. For the most part they are accurate, but I have also found marks that were easily visible--one I spotted as I drove by it. However, they DO have a quota system of some sort, and I guess they essentially get some sort of credit or "boating merit badge" for just looking for, not finding, benchmarks. If the person is responsible he or she will put the proper effort into the hunt and not report a mark as not found if he/she hasn't done everything in his/her power to locate it. And the Power Squadron has company--I have followed a local Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employee's trail of 'not founds' and located a few of them. Look at the pics in this example, especially the second one.KW0837!

Colorado, I am thinking the format would be KJ0040_20040528_A.jpg, which separates the components of the name visually. The underlines are often used in the computer world to replace spaces, since until later versions of Windows spaces in a file name were not allowed. If they are storing these files on a mainframe computer they may need the underlines also. I still do it out of habit, from my old DOS days. Cool idea on the corn starch. I often get marks that are unreadable in the photo, and that would help. Salt shaker isn't a bad idea either. I carry too much stuff as it is and a box of corn starch would be a bit much.

I have been using a DV vidcam so my pics are only 1 megapixel. I kept whatever the camera saved, but never even bothered to look. Shame that my hard drive crashed last night though, so I would have to say I don't keep anything! Ha

... or Boston Ravine KS1750.... someone found the station but not the reference marks or azimuth mark. To me, a triangulation station isn't a 'found' unless you find all the listed marks!

I think ElCamino is right in his assessment of your hunt. By the description you definitely have three markers that are UNDER the road. A couple of things could explain the anomoly in the description versus your reality. The first is that the description has north and south reveresed. The second is that you do. The only way to be sure is to see the stamping on the mark, which as ElCamino said is a combination of dangerous and possibly destructive, if you manage to break the cover. My temptation in this case would be to find all three covers, photograph them, and put them either as a 'found', with explanation, or with a note on Geocaching.com. I would not submit to the NGS. You might want to go after the azimuth mark. This one looks like it might be pretty easy. They are often difficult to find because you only have the descriptions and not coordinates. At least it isn't under a road. You picked an almost impossible station to find for your first one, but I think you DID actually find two of the three marks. For your next effort, use Geoaching to find neaby benchmarks and try to find a few easier ones. You have KS1755 nearby. It at least isn't under a road surface!

... a stick which will collapse whenever you try to poke it into hard ground?

I LIKE it, but I want a longer one. I am too lazy to bend over to probe [insert goofy smiley of your choice here]. I love my camp fork for a number of reasons. No, wait, only one--the length. It's flaws are that it bends way too easily, and the handle is parallel to the rod, so after a while it starts to hurt. Yours has a much thicker rod and perpendicular handle. Both would cure my problems. Maybe I need to get our maintenance folks here where I work to put something together for me.

RACooper and I use camp forks we got at WallyWorld for $3 or so. It was his idea. The size and length are perfect, but the metal is a bit thin for aggressive probing. I have broken one and have a second that is bent up (they bend back pretty easily though). I have a third in the car waiting to go when number two breaks or bends in half. Still, until I find something a bit thicker, it is a great tool. See the original thread at Camp Fork thread.

Previous discussions here seem to indicate that this is a 'not found', and that is how I log these sorts of recoveries. (GeckoGeek pointed this out above). You are looking for a specific station, in this case a brass disk, and you haven't found it. Without the disk you cannot be sure you found the location of the mark you are looking for. All you know is that you found something that looks like where a disk used to be. It is not a 'destroyed' for the same reason--you don't really know what is destroyed.

I agree about the trespassing, although there are times I have done it, especially on railroad property. I never feel totally safe though, and tend to 'get in and get out' when I look for a mark on the railroad. As for what to do when confronted, here is an interesting web sitethat might help. There is a link to the ACLU's 'Bust Card' which has your rights as a photographer, and other links that . It is aimed mostly at off property photographers but can provide some help if you are accosted by a property owner or the police while on public property. So far I have only had interest in my benchmarking hobby, not hostility, and hope that continues. I always have enough documentation in my car to prove that I just have a flaky hobby and am not a terrorist. My charming face and disarming manner seem to help me quite a bit too. I have been stopped by Military Police and they simply told me to check in with HQ next time. I was open faced and honest about what I was doing and they seemed more amused than worried. One thing to remember is to NOT be confrontational at any time no matter how right you think you are or who is asking questions. You may be right, but the police usually have the last laugh in that sort of situation, so you could end up in the pokey waiting for your lawyer to prove you are right.

I show 162 found 66 not found 6 destroyed 10 notes 71% find rate We seem to be all over the place on this one. We are losing a lot to construction, mostly road widenings, but we aren't as bad as some areas seem to be. I haven't travelled far for my marks--about a 30-40 mile circle. Even within that area I get better luck some places more than others. Matt

This disk has looks used but there is no designation. Anyone have any ideas what it could have been for?

Nor will a radial search unless specified.

3) Payday is every other Friday.