Identifying Benchmark

[+pictom]

I'm not one to download the location of benchmarks but when I find one, I take a photo. Problem is, I don't know how to take this info and then search for it on the benchmark section.

 

I know I tried to do this once before and the benchmark community didn't understand I had no knowledge and they were not able to speak to a noobie.

 

So I was kayaking and saw a benchmark in the water and photographed it. Now I have no idea how to see if it's listed.

 

IT appears to have RAN or RAU or RA something. Below the arrow is NO 1 (NO I) and 1924.

 

The zip would be 98388

 

All the benchmarks seem to be listed by numbers starting with SY but I can't match that up. Is thee not some number on the disk that would help in the search?

[+LSUFan]

I'm not one to download the location of benchmarks but when I find one, I take a photo. Problem is, I don't know how to take this info and then search for it on the benchmark section.

 

I know I tried to do this once before and the benchmark community didn't understand I had no knowledge and they were not able to speak to a noobie.

 

So I was kayaking and saw a benchmark in the water and photographed it. Now I have no idea how to see if it's listed.

 

IT appears to have RAN or RAU or RA something. Below the arrow is NO 1 (NO I) and 1924.

 

The zip would be 98388

 

All the benchmarks seem to be listed by numbers starting with SY but I can't match that up. Is thee not some number on the disk that would help in the search?

 

Pictom, see if this matches what you found. You can look up marks by their stamping (or designation) if you know the county and/or state where they are located by using the NGS website or their free software called DSWorld. GPS coordinates work also to search by.

 

By designation search:

 

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_desig.prl

 

http://www.geocaching.com/mark/nearest.aspx'>http://www.geocaching.com/mark/nearest.aspx

 

or by county, which shows all the marks in the county and you can read the designation at the end of the line to see what matches (the way I did it as it shows all for Pierce County, WA):

 

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_county.prl

 

It sounds like you found reference mark 1 (RM1) to what is called triangulation station RAN. The arrow on the reference mark actually points to the main mark which is close by, around 30 meters according to the datasheet. Here is the datasheet for the triangulation station RAN

 

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=SY3114

 

Each mark that is in the NGS computer files aka 'database' (which is what is on gc.com from around the year 2000) has a unique 6 digit permanent identifying number which RAN is SY3114. This is how it is referenced in the database, not by what is stamped on the disk. You could have many disks with the same stamped stuff, but the unique 6 digit permanent identifier (or PID) is what separates them all from one another. The PID for RM1 that you found is CE5008. Sometimes the reference marks will have their own datasheets but usually are listed just on the main stations sheet, which is the one for RAN or SY3114.

 

Also, not all benchmarks are stamped disks. They can be bolts, nails, chisel marks, bottles, etc. These kind of marks won't have any kind of name stamped on them, and can only be identified by their 6 digit PID.

 

Here is the gc.com page for SY3114

 

http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=SY3114'>http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=SY3114

 

From reading the description and subsequent recovery reports for station RAN, it is probably destroyed though.

 

As you are just starting out in benchmarking, there is a little learning curve. One of the first things to remember, is that not every benchmark you randomly run across will be listed either on gc.com or in the NGS database. You lucked out this time and it was, but don't always count on it. There are literally hundreds of thousands of benchmarks that are not listed in the databases that gc.com or the NGS has available online....that were placed by all kind of different government agencies and private companies.

 

As you learn more about benchmarking, then you will start to actively search for them....usually by intentionally seeking out a benchmark in the database instead of randomly running across them. A good place to begin this education, is gc.coms own help page:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/mark/

 

Also feel free to contact me with any questions, and I'll be glad to try and help if you don't feel comfortable posting questions in the benchmark section.......however benchmarkers are the most helpful people there are. You will become a benchmark pro in no time.

 

P.S. Since what you found is a reference mark to a triangulation station, you might want to learn about what exactly a tri-station is and the other marks that go with it. They are actually a little different from just a single benchmark that is the most common. Tri-stations are actually my favorite of all benchmarks to find. Here is more reading on them.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=185361

Edited July 1, 2012 by LSUFan

[+pictom]

THANKS LSUFan,

 

Here are two images of the benchmark. This was the best I could do sitting in a kayak that was slowly drifting and the benchmark underwater.

 

 

[+LSUFan]

Those are some good pics, and clear water. Yes, it should be reference mark 1 for triangulation station RAN. You can even read where it has 'reference mark' engraved into the disk at the backend side of the arrow.

[+Eartha]

Moving this one to the benchmarking forums.

[kayakbird]

pictom,

 

Great through the water pic's and 'Access via kayak'! Please log it with maybe a note.

 

Hope we see more from you, along with some background scenery shots. kayakbird