Influence Waterfowl Calls Posted September 15, 2007 Share Posted September 15, 2007 I was thinking of looking for some benchmarks and thought that some of the things you would be looking for would be easyer to find if I had a better idea of what I was looking for. Like what is a spire? Are the tanks a common size and what size might that be? I have seen pictures of the disk so are there pictures of examples of the others that I could see so that I could keep an eye out for them. I noticed that on benchmark found bay a cacher around here was 512 feet away from where the cords in the listing sent him! Good thing he knew what to look for! Quote Link to comment
2oldfarts (the rockhounders) Posted September 15, 2007 Share Posted September 15, 2007 To make things a bit easier when you are just getting started you could try looking for benchmarks that have already been found by other benchmarkers. Also look at the benchmark page and make sure the Coordinates for the horizontal position are adjusted. These will normally take you right to where the benchmark is located. If the location is scaled it may be off by quite a distance. In either case be sure to follow the description for the benchmark. A TANK will normally be a water tank and as such will vary in size and height. The coordinates will be adjusted, so when you get to the location there should be little doubt about what you are looking for. A SPIRE is normally the "steeple" on a church or a part of the structure that resembles a steeple. Read the description for an accurate description of what the 'Station' is and what part of it was "Intersected". Here is a list of Intersection Stations that are referenced on the benchmark pages....... Monumentation Category Monumentation Code Definition Not for Landmark Stations O, U A Aluminum marker other than a disk included elsewhere in table O, U B Bolt O, U C Cap of cap-and-bolt pair D DA Astro pier disk D DB Bench mark disk D, U DD Survey disk (other agency) D, U DE Traverse station disk D DG Gravity station disk D, U DH Horizontal control disk D DJ Tidal station disk D DK Gravity reference mark disk D DM Magnetic station disk D, U DO Disk not specified (see description) D DP Base line pier disk D DQ Calibration base line disk D, U DR Reference mark disk D, U DS Triangulation station disk D DT Topographic station disk D DU Boundary marker D DV Vertical control disk D DW NOS hydrographic survey disk D, U DZ Azimuth mark disk O, U E Earthenware pot R F Flange-encased rod O, U G Glass bottle O, U H Drill hole R, U I Metal rod O, U J Earthenware jug O, U K Clay tile pipe O, U L Gravity plug O, U M Ammo shell casing O, U N Nail O, U O Chiseled circle O, U P Pipe cap O, U Q Chiseled square O, U R Rivet O, U S Spike O, U T Chiseled triangle O, U U Concrete post (without other marks) O, U V Stone monument O, U W Unmonumented O, U X Chiseled cross O, U Y Drill hole in brick O, U Z See description Landmarks not Listed L 0 Other mark or intersection station, see description Natural Objects L 01 Lone tree L 02 Conspicuous rock L 03 Mountain peak L 04 Rock pinnacle L 05 Rock awash Waterfront Landmarks and Visual Aids to Navigation L 11 Piling L 12 Dolphin L 13 Lighthouse L 14 Navigation light L 15 Range marker L 16 Daybeacon L 17 Flag tower L 18 Signal mast Aeronautical and Electronic Aids to Navigation L 21 Airport beacon L 22 Airway beacon L 23 VOR antenna L 24 REN antenna L 25 Radar antenna L 26 Spherical radome L 27 Radio range mast L 28 LORAN mast Broadcast and Communications Facilities L 41 Antenna mast L 42 Radio/TV mast L 43 Radio/TV tower L 44 Microwave mast L 45 Microwave tower Tanks and Towers L 51 Tank L 52 Standpipe tank L 53 Elevated tank L 54 Water tower L 55 Tower L 56 Skeleton tower L 57 Lookout tower L 58 Control tower Miscellaneous Landmarks L 61 Pole L 62 Flagpole L 63 Stack L 64 Silo L 65 Grain elevator L 66 Windmill L 67 Oil derrick L 68 Commercial sign L 69 Regulatory sign L 70 Monument L 71 Boundary monument L 72 Cairn L 73 Lookout house L 74 Large cross L 75 Belfry Features of a Building L 81 Gable L 82 Finial L 83 Flagstaff L 84 Lightning rod L 85 Chimney L 86 Cupola L 87 Dome L 88 Observatory dome L 89 Spire L 90 Church spire L 91 Church cross L 92 Antenna on roof L 93 Microwave antenna on building L 94 Rooftop ventilator L 95 Rooftop blockhouse You could watch the Benchmark Gallery to see what some of the "Tall" benchmarks look like. Somewhere in the forums are several threads for our 1st benchmark contest that involved finding 1 of each of the benchmark types on the above list. The find logs for that contest all have pictures with them. John Have fun. Quote Link to comment
2oldfarts (the rockhounders) Posted September 15, 2007 Share Posted September 15, 2007 I found the thread that John mentioned... The Unofficial Contest Logging Thread I think it shows how much fun was had by all. It's amazing what lengths some people go to have a good time..... Enjoy all of the pictures.. Shirley~ Quote Link to comment
Papa-Bear-NYC Posted September 15, 2007 Share Posted September 15, 2007 I think the best way to see what various types of stations look like is to spend some time paging through the gallery: Benchmark Gallery. There you will see mostly disks, but also many of the common structures including a fair share of spires and tanks. There is a large turnover. It's not unusual to see 5 - 10 pages of new pictures after a weekend. Just for the record here's a fairly average tank GT1964 And here's a spire (one of the more famous ones) Two spires actually - the one on the left is the station KU3989 Quote Link to comment
Influence Waterfowl Calls Posted September 16, 2007 Author Share Posted September 16, 2007 Ok so spires should be easy to find! For instance there is one listed at our local court square. Then it would be the stepel on top of the court house? I have seen it and have been there many times so would I log it or should I revist to log it? Even some tanks should be easy as well! I will give the links a look see as well! Thanks! Quote Link to comment
+Black Dog Trackers Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Influence Waterfowl Calls - Steeples and water tanks are not always totally easy, in fact they can be rather tricky. Tall structure survey marks like steeples, water tanks, smokestacks, radio towers, and such are called intersection stations. Here is some guidance on them. You may want to read that whole FAQ page if you haven't already. Here is a good collection of pictures of various kinds of survey markers. Quote Link to comment
ArtMan Posted September 16, 2007 Share Posted September 16, 2007 Steeples and water tanks are not always totally easy, in fact they can be rather tricky. ... Good advice as usual from Black Dog Trackers. Here's an example — THOMAS ST THOMAS CATH CH SPIRE (JW1290) — from my own recent experience. This was shaping up to be a classic drive-by: Here are the coordinates, the church is there, there's a pointy thing on the top, case closed. But as it happened, the priest was hanging around, waiting for his landscape contractor to show up. I explained, much to his disappointment, that I was in fact not the unreliable contractor. He explained how the original steeple was falling apart and his congregation couldn't afford a proper reconstruction so instead they replaced it with the stubby spire that exists today. The original station, under such circumstances, is considered Destroyed, and I logged it as such at Geocaching.com, and I've written to NGS suggesting that they do so on their records, too. There's a similar situation nearby in the same town, where a water tank is the benchmark. However, THOMAS MUNICIPAL STANDPIPE (JW1291) looks practically brand new and appears to be a new tank albeit one erected at approximately the same place as the original, pre-1942 tank that was measured to. In this case, I logged it as Not Found since I didn't have what I considered sufficient evidence. Anyhow, these are just two examples of how intersection stations like these are sometimes not as slam-dunk as you might expect. -ArtMan- Quote Link to comment
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