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EdrickV

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Everything posted by EdrickV

  1. I've never used the Geocaching ID part, so I don't know how that would work, since that info would not be in the NGS datasheets. (As for the Initials field, your initials would only be in there if you submitted an official recovery report.) When I find a benchmark I usually mark it manually as found in GSAK. As far as the county field, I use this macro instead to populate state/county/country fields: http://gsak.net/board/index.php?showtopic=10074&st=0entry65322
  2. These days I think most people who load datasheets into GSAK use NGS>GPX which is available here: http://ngs.tsqmadness.com/help/index.html Unlike the old BMGPX it can create better formed pocket query style GPX files. (Including translating recovery reports into log entries.) It also is able to use the current datasheet format which has undergone a few changes that might cause issues with BMGPX. It has multiple options you can set and is a Windows GUI program rather then a command line one. For Android smartphone users there is also the free BenchMap app, by the creator of NGS>GPX, which downloads datasheet info on demand. http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tsqmadness.bmmaps As far as how to get the datasheets, I use per-state monthly archives when I load a new state into GSAK, (each state having it's own database) and if I wanted to get the most up to date info for a specific area I'd do a county search. Some of those files, for states with a large number of benchmarks, may need the text file split into multiple parts for processing in NGS>GPX (2 is usually enough in my experience) and I use a hex editor that can handle large files (XVI32) to do that. I also use the GDAK app on my Android phone for Geocaching/Benchmarking because it supports multiple databases and can handle an entire state's benchmark database, so doesn't need to download datasheet info and I can even preload maps on a state by state basis for use in areas with bad cellular coverage.
  3. Between GSAK/GDAK & BenchMap I don't have quite as much need for the benchmark viewer website as I did before, but I did test it out in Firefox and it worked without any issues.
  4. Thanks for looking into that EdrickV. Where did you find those notes? I got the info from here: http://www.nv.blm.gov/LandRecords/ Use Township 46 North, Range 28 East, (starting and ending) Mt. Diablo meridian, either All or Rectangular Survey Field Notes. (If you do All you can also check out the resulting plat maps.) In the search results, the most recent document is R0578, 1940 survey data, approved 1955. If you click on the text R0578 you will have access to the whole document (over 400 individual PDF documents) and can select page 75 which describes the mark you found on the border between section 32 and 33. Pages 63-67 are the intro for that part of the document and includes info on the instruments/techniques used in the survey. If you want to see the actual PLSS grid that these section corners form then you can use this site: http://www.geocommunicator.gov/blmMap/MapLSIS.jsp As far as nails go, I know PLSS surveyors here seem to use multiple types of nails when making witness marks for PLSS section corners. (The witness marks are used to re-establish the position of the section corner if it goes missing.) I've seen mention of 16d, 60d, and PK Nails. (The 60d and PK Nails were used relatively recently, the 16d I know of were from the 1970s I think.) I also think I've seen 40d nails mentioned, which the nails pictured might be based on length. (40d = 5", 60d = 6") Out here they like to put them in trees or telephone poles, but trees seem to be a bit hard to find near that section corner.
  5. Monkeykat's benchmark viewer is this site: http://benchmarks.scaredycatfilms.com/
  6. I only know of 3 marks in Michigan that specifically seem to be placed to mark the Michigan Meridian. The meridian mark is mentioned in the datasheet of this benchmark and marks the North end of the Michigan Meridian: http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=rj0028 These two marks are set on the meridian at or near where the Michigan Baseline and Michigan Meridian meet: http://www.Waymarking.com/waymarks/WMA4FT_Michigan_Meridian_Baseline_State_Park http://www.Waymarking.com/waymarks/WMA4VH_Michigan_Prime_Meridian_Benchmark (The Southern one marks where the baseline from the West meets the Meridian while the Northern one marks where the baseline from the East meets the Meridian.) There are plenty of other marks along the Meridian (thanks to the PLSS) but I don't know of any specifically placed to mark the Michigan Meridian. There seem to be Meridian Marks in the Waymarking database too. (Though a lot of the ones I saw on my first search were foreign.)
  7. I think that marker came from this 2005/2009 project: http://www.cast.uark.edu/home/education/field-programs/geomatics-for-archaeology-field-school.html
  8. If you were referring to me, I'm not going to do a destroyed recovery report but a not found report with presumed destroyed in the text. A benchmark in the step of a building is not usually that hard to find, especially with pictures available indicating it's location. However when the entrance isn't in the same spot, and the stairs are completely different and obviously relatively new, there are pictures on here showing that the building suffered a fire and might be replaced, and the building that currently exists is entirely different then the one that used to be there, then it's pretty evident the mark is gone. However, without the actual disc, I would not do a destroyed report. (I suppose, in theory, it could be buried underneath the new steps/entryway, but that seems a bit unlikely and in any event it would still not be usable.) I do kinda wish I'd taken a picture of the new building, but here is a Street View pic of the new building under construction: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Berkeley+Springs,+Morgan,+West+Virginia+25411&hl=en&ll=39.626894,-78.227732&spn=0.000528,0.001321&sll=38.298345,-77.489887&sspn=0.068841,0.169086&t=m&geocode=FVSjXAIdAFpW-w&hnear=Berkeley+Springs,+Morgan,+West+Virginia&z=20&layer=c&cbll=39.626894,-78.227732&panoid=1Ibc8-Q1Og0olhewC5mVvA&cbp=12,92.1,,0,-10.6 Here is a pic of the entryway where the benchmark was, from a Geocacher's log here: (pre-fire) It's not obvious from the above images, but the finished entryway is entirely different then the original one. (The new entryway has multiple doors on a kind of covered corner patio that probably has a better name I don't know, and the stairs all have ramps as well.) And here is a view of the mark itself, with some cinders around it from another log. The last Geocacher to look for the mark before me (2009) logged it as destroyed on this site, as I did, but did not apparently submit an official recovery report. Geocaching.com link for the benchmark in question: http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=JW1213
  9. I got that same error trying to do a report earlier. (Around the time I posted I think.) That sounds like something is down on their end. (Maybe a database server is down for maintenance or something?) I'm going to try and do my report at another time. (Unfortunately it is a Not Found/Presumed Destroyed report that, while I don't have the disc and don't know where it is, is still a pretty sure thing that the mark is gone for good.)
  10. The NGS datasheet pages don't use flash, they use Javascript and AJAX. Testing the website out on my Android phone, the results list which normally is a big box with headers and the search results comes up looking like an empty one line box. But by scrolling all the way to the right I saw the drop down box indicator, and clicking the seemingly empty box popped up the expected list, headers and all, as a list of checkbox items. Selecting an item and clicking get datasheets then worked. Maybe something similar happened with the iphones/ipads, and it was working but just didn't look like it.
  11. Panama is outside the NGS publishing area, so while there seem to be at least a couple NGS marks in the area, they are non-publishable, so aren't in the database here. Don't know about any other mark types. You could post what you found here and you could probably make a Waymark for it. (Which some people have done for non-NGS survey marks, among other things.) Edit: Note that there are areas with published international benchmarks in the database, Panama is just not one of them.
  12. The only further information on this that I've found are the field notes from the 1940 resurvey of the 9th standard parallel during which that monument was placed. Those notes do indicate that one of the pieces of wood near the marker could have been the original ceder post that was used to mark that particular section corner. The survey notes don't mention any witness marks, and the original 1874 survey fieldnotes are handwritten and I'm not sure I could read them well enough to find the mention of that particular corner, much less any original witness marks. (I think I like Michigan's database a lot better now that I've seen Nevada's equivalent.)
  13. I took a look at those spots in the benchmark viewer site, and the marks do show up on the MyTopo layer, however that's not so good for getting coordinates. So I used the National Map which also has a topo view and other stuff, and I got some approximate coordinates and make a couple map images. BM at 1316 elevation: N38° 13' 38.307" W81° 38' 37.522" BM at 895 elevation: N38° 13' 33.938" W81° 37' 50.710" (Probably too far North East.) Starting with the one on the left, the southernmost road (as seen on Google Maps, where the road is un-named) seems to be Briar Creek Road and, at the intersection with Rush Road, seems to be following a gas pipeline. (So it may be a pipeline access road.) On the pics above it would be the road South of Rush Creek road that heads west and isn't marked as a road but is visible on the satellite image, and is shown on Google Street View to be blocked off by a green gate. Not sure where exactly the pipeline is in relation to the road, or if it still exists. (The current park map makes it seem like the pipeline may still be there, since there are gas wells marked on it. Middle Ridge Trail is some distance North and branches off of Middle Ridge Road (Park Road 801) which Google Maps calls Dirt Ridge Road at the intersection with Rush Creek road. (It's possible the trail used to start closer to Rush Creek road but got changed.) So the mark should be near where the pipeline crosses Rush Creek road. (The pipeline probably goes underneath the road, and might be entirely underground, I don't know. But there may still be indicators of it's location.) As far as the one on the right (the hairpin curve one) rather then trying to measure off distances I would say use the terrain. There is supposedly a stream that goes under the road which has a culvert, the culvert should be aligned with the lowest area of the terrain North of the road. So go North of the road a bit and go downhill till the terrain starts going back up again. Then look for the Southern end and the culvert under the road. (There is what looks like a culvert visible on Google Street View on the South side of the road, but the North side wasn't visible on Google Street View.) Edit: 42 would of course be Rush Creek Road. Didn't notice it wasn't named.
  14. I think those nails may be Public Land Survey System witness marks, as the station itself seems to be a PLSS Section Corner. (Thus the station designation.) They are used to re-establish the section corner location if the marker is damaged/moved/missing. I don't know if there is any online database for Nevada that has info on PLSS section corners, but Michigan created a re-monumentation project that has an online database so here is an example of the kind of data it contains: http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/remon/dt_image.asp?remon_index=02N08EC1319961226&directory=02N08E You can see the PLSS grid on an interactive map here: http://www.geocommunicator.gov/blmMap/MapLSIS.jsp Thanks to the Michigan re-monumentation project I have actually searched for and found a quarter section corner on family owned land and made a thread about it here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=296569&st=0&p=5052876&fromsearch=1entry5052876 I have yet to find any other PLSS marks due to the fact that most of them are in the center of roads. Though I do know of one I may be able to find when the weather starts getting warmer.
  15. The USGS marks might not be in the NGS database, and might not be in any online database. The USGS database is still hardcopy, except for USGS marks that were also bluebooked for the NGS database. (Though it's possible they might be on Waymarking.com if someone else has found and logged them.) The AZHD seems like it might be an Arizona Highway Department mark, which likely would also not be in the NGS database, but there are some user-added ones in the Waymarking database. That last one I don't know about, unless that BOR means Bureau of Reclamation. There is an old thread mentioning a Bureau of Reclamation benchmark here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=183011 Their site lists some Colorado River related projects, but in a quick search I didn't see anything talking about benchmark locations. Actually being able to see the pictures would help to identify exactly what all you found and figure out if there's a way to locate their positions. There are lots of benchmarks in existence that aren't part of the NGS system.
  16. Minor question, but why does your link point to a spot that according to the Topo maps is the location of a BM (BM 188(3? 8?) near the intersect of Holopuni & Pulehu?? The benchmark there would appear on USGS topographic maps, and may or may not be related to the NGS mark. Could be the position is wrong, or it could be an entirely different mark. USGS marks and Army Corps of Engineers marks aren't always bluebooked for the NGS and there are other local agencies that make their own benchmarks. The number would indicate the elevation at the mark. It is possible that mark may not exist anymore too. There are even NGS marks that may exist but wouldn't come up in a normal search because they got flagged as destroyed, or are non-publishable due to lack of information.
  17. Was going to recommend looking in that same area, even without seeing your post. I used the Benchmark viewer website and saw the ditch on it North of the mark's position. From the right spot, zooming in with Google Street View seems to show some sort of concrete structure off the road, as well as something that looks to me like a building, possibly with a bridge going to it from land. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=20.84955,+-156.34977&hl=en&ll=20.849499,-156.349594&spn=0.000645,0.001321&sll=20.847222,-156.351389&sspn=0.010247,0.021136&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=20.849527,-156.349675&panoid=cJx5hlJJw5k69JNfZ6qq6w&cbp=12,31.53,,0,2.3 And, from my early days at Benchmark hunting, here's another example of a culvert mark that didn't have very accurate coordinates: Trying to get to those coordinates would result in very wet feet. (Among other things.)
  18. Assuming the results of Forward don't match the results above from Inverse, then yeah it sounds like something is wrong. Unless we're somehow misinterpreting what the datasheet is saying. Inverse just takes two sets of coordinates and gives info like I posted above, so those were the main station coordinates from the datasheet and the RM coordinates from Grasscatcher's recovery report. Forward is the one that you do the other way around, and I wasn't sure what info to put where.
  19. Looking at the area in the benchmark viewer using the My Topo map, there seems to be a non-NGS mark a ways to the Northwest, could that be related to this one somehow?
  20. Using the coordinates for the main station and RM1 in Inverse you get the following: Ellipsoid : GRS80 / WGS84 (NAD83) Equatorial axis, a = 6378137.0000 Polar axis, b = 6356752.3141 Inverse flattening, 1/f = 298.25722210088 First Station : ---------------- LAT = 39 5 13.48983 North LON = 108 43 57.62473 West Second Station : ---------------- LAT = 39 5 13.60000 North LON = 108 43 58.50000 West Forward azimuth FAZ = 279 10 28.5064 From North Back azimuth BAZ = 99 10 27.9546 From North Ellipsoidal distance S = 21.3083 m And the results for RM2: Ellipsoid : GRS80 / WGS84 (NAD83) Equatorial axis, a = 6378137.0000 Polar axis, b = 6356752.3141 Inverse flattening, 1/f = 298.25722210088 First Station : ---------------- LAT = 39 5 13.48983 North LON = 108 43 57.62473 West Second Station : ---------------- LAT = 39 5 13.20000 North LON = 108 43 57.30000 West Forward azimuth FAZ = 138 52 22.7606 From North Back azimuth BAZ = 318 52 22.9653 From North Ellipsoidal distance S = 11.8656 m Not totally sure I know how to use Forward, so I'll skip that one. Since this mark doesn't have a proper box score, DSWorld's compute RM position function won't work on it. (Same for NGS>GPX I think.)
  21. Didn't see the post on exactly what you were looking for till now, though I did see the responses to it in digest e-mails, and I thought I'd go one better then a filter. I made a GSAK macro that will extract the monumented date (or UNK) and place it in a custom field called Monumented. Then you can filter for UNK easily by typing: Monumented = "UNK" in the quick search field. (The quick search may not be shown by default.) You can also do things like this: Monumented < "1900" If you want to search for marks created before 1900. This macro can handle intersection station's First Observed note as well. I created it by modifying one of a series of macros I've previously used to extract Setting, Mark type, Setting Code, and Mark Code and put them into individual custom fields. If a mark does not have the properly formatted history entries (CORS for example) the Monumented field will be empty, which you can also filter for using: Monumented = "" Anyways, here's the macro if you're interested. You do have to create the custom field manually, since I haven't tried working out the code to only create the field when it doesn't exist. Once run on a database, you don't have to run it again on that database unless the database entries change. (AKA you process a newer state archive file that might have newer marks.) #******************************************* # MacVersion = 1.0 # MacDescription = Monumented Finder # MacAuthor = EdrickV # MacFileName = Monumented.gsk # MacUrl = #******************************************* $recno = 0 $part1 = "" $part2 = "" $part3 = "" $part4 = "" $part5 = "" Transaction Action=Begin While not($_Eol) $recno = $recno + 1 IF frac($Recno/10) = 0 ShowStatus msg="Processing record $recno of $_count" endIf $base = $d_LongDescription $part1 = Extract($base,"HISTORY - Date Condition Report By",2) $part2 = Extract($part1," MONUMENTED",1) $part3 = Extract($part2,"HISTORY - ",2) $part4 = Extract($part3,"FIRST OBSERVED",1) $part5 = Trim($part4) $result = CustomPut("Monumented",$part5) $part1 = "" $part2 = "" $part3 = "" $part4 = "" $part5 = "" GoTo Position=Next EndWhile Transaction Action=End Goto Position=Top Edit: Forgot to mention, after adding a custom field if you want to see it in the main view (which also enables sorting via it) you have to use View->Add/Remove Columns. The custom field will also show up on the custom tab of the Search->Filter dialog box, so you could combine UNK searches with other criteria like distance from a specific center point or whatever else you want.
  22. Haven't done half as much benchmark hunting as I'd like to, but I did have a couple of interesting finds. http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=BH2144 You wouldn't think this one would be hard to find: "THE STATION IS THE CENTER OF A 2 INCH IRON PIN SET IN A 1.5 FOOT IRON PLATE. THE PLATE IS ATOP A 11.5 FOOT ROUND STONE AND BRICK PEDESTAL WHICH IS 2.0 FEET HIGH." But I'm the only person who's logged it here. http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=AB4055 In addition to the following benchmark, I found another of these that was damaged (probably beyond usefulness) and apparently not bluebooked while looking for a Geocache. This one I believe I found after the damaged one, and I don't know if I still have a pic of the damaged one.
  23. Scaled marks in the benchmark viewer tend to jump around like that, not sure if it's intentional or not. Using a Google Earth overlay (link below) that as I recall is by the same author, all 3 scaled marks show up as having the exact same coordinates. All Southwest of the adjusted mark. (Of course, being scaled locations, the coordinates don't mean that much.) http://ngs.tsqmadness.com/ge/
  24. Have now downloaded the app, and it runs well even on my low end Android 2.3.5 phone. Will probably use this to supplement my GDAK databases. (GDAK having the benefit of being able to have offline databases, for both Geocaches and Benchmarks, but the drawback of requiring my laptop to update the databases.) The small size is good too, as I don't have a lot of room for programs on my phone. (And most of the room I do have required rooting and removing "built-in" programs to free up in the first place.) I like it better then NGS Control Points, which wasn't really designed well for my screen resolution.
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