Found a benchmark on a hike...how do I find it online?

[+J Grouchy]

I was out doing maintenance on a geocache I own and saw an orange metal post in the ground a little way into the overgrowth. When I checked it out I saw the National Geodetic Survey note and at its base found the telltale concrete mound. I had to clear away gunk and debris and there was the brass disc. How do I find out which one this is so that I can log my visit? I've never logged a benchmark, but these don't show up on the GC maps and there doesn't seem to be a mapping function for benchmarks on this site.

Edited March 2, 2013 by J Grouchy

[kayakbird]

J Grouchy,

 

1) Read the 'pinned' items at the top of this forum.

 

2) Provide identifying information for the disc, verified with a clear photo:

a) Agency - cast lettering

Name - stamped lettering

c) Year set - stamped lettering

 

3) Location:

a) Lat/Long DDMMSS.s DDDMMSS.s

Distance to nearby land features or man made object

 

Nothing about a benchmark is meant to be a secret. kayakbird

 

Above faces were not inserted by me!! MEL

Edited March 2, 2013 by kayakbird

[+J Grouchy]

1)Read the 'pinned' items at the top of this post.

 

2)

 

I did. Tried wading through a million lines, but it all seemed to talk about hunting benchmarks when you already have a goal in mind.

 

Anyway...found it on my own with Google. http://benchmarks.scaredycatfilms.com/

[kayakbird]

J Grouchy,

 

Checking out some of the older marks near the one you logged today

 

SE ATLANTA

- congratulations on your first, by the way - and noticed this somewhat unusual CGS recovery from 1926:

 

DG2613'RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1926 (EOH)

DG2613'POSITION OF STATION WAS RECOVERED AS DESCRIBED. THE BRASS DISK

DG2613'MARKING THE STATION HAS BEEN REMOVED, BUT THE STATION IS STILL WELL

DG2613'MARKED BY THE DISK SHANK WHICH IS STILL IN GOOD CONDITION CEMENTED

DG2613'IN THE ROCK.

 

Many here would consider this Triangulation Station destroyed, but it was used as a call for V 290 in 1968:

 

DG0470'93 FEET SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF TRIANGULATION STATION CONLEY, AND

 

Looks like you have lots of potential for marks that have not yet been logged. I'll be hoping for some good scenery shots with discs in rocks. MEL

Edited March 3, 2013 by kayakbird

[+J Grouchy]

 

Looks like you have lots of potential for marks that have not yet been logged. I'll be hoping for some good scenery shots with discs in rocks. MEL

 

Yeah...I downloaded the lot in my vicinity and maybe I'll go for some of them. I hadn't really planned to go benchmarking, but my unplanned discovery got me interested.

 

As for the one I found today, it was in a scrubby, junky, weedy, thorny, overgrown area...so "scenery" is a generous term. The only thing worth seeing within ten feet all around was the benchmark itself.

[+billwallace]

..... The only thing worth seeing within ten feet all around was the benchmark itself.

 

'nuff-said

[kayakbird]

Ah, but there is mystery out there in the dark, dank woods:

 

DG0472'DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1968

DG0472'5 MI SE FROM ATLANTA.

DG0472'ABOUT 4.2 MILES SOUTHEAST ALONG THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY FROM THE

DG0472'CROSSING OF SAWTELL AVENUE AT ATLANTA, FULTON COUNTY, THENCE

DG0472'ABOUT 0.7 MILE EAST ALONG HENRICO ROAD, THENCE ABOUT 0.15 MILE

DG0472'NORTH ALONG A DIRT ROAD LEADING TO THE CONCRETE BASE FOR THE LEGS

DG0472'OF AN ABANDONED FIRE TOWER, THE SHANK OF A TRIANGULATION STATION

DG0472'DISK SET IN THE TOP AND AT ABOUT THE HIGHEST PART OF A 2 1/2-FOOT

DG0472'BY 2 1/2-FOOT BURIED BOULDER PROJECTING ABOUT 4 INCHES ABOVE THE

DG0472'LEVEL OF THE GROUND, 84 1/2 FEET NORTHEAST OF THE NORTHEAST CORNER

DG0472'OF THE CONCRETE BASE FOR THE NORTHWEST LEG OF THE TOWER, 131

DG0472'FEET EAST OF CONLEY RM DESCRIBED, 93 FEET NORTH-NORTHEAST OF

DG0472'BENCH MARK V 290 DESCRIBED AND ABOUT 4 INCHES ABOVE THE LEVEL

DG0472'OF THE GROUND.

 

CONLEY DG2613* NAD 83(1994) POSITION- 33 40 06.63589(N) 084 19 09.85421(W) ADJUSTED

 

CONLEY SHANK DG0472* NAD 83(1986) POSITION- 33 40 06. (N) 084 19 10. (W) SCALED

 

CONLEY RM DG0471* NAD 83(1986) POSITION- 33 40 06. (N) 084 19 10. (W) SCALED

 

V 290 DG0470* NAD 83(1986) POSITION- 33 40 06. (N) 084 19 10. (W) SCALED

 

Is there anything left of the fire tower that can be used to sort out the somewhat confusing calls to locate all four of these marks? kayakbird

Edited March 3, 2013 by kayakbird

[+Holtie22]

Ah, but there is mystery out there in the dark, dank woods:

 

Is there anything left of the fire tower that can be used to sort out the somewhat confusing calls to locate all four of these marks? kayakbird

I added a sketch that should clarify some of the confusion:

It appears to me that PIDs DG2613 & DG0472 are the same point. The first was for the original tri-station, while the second was for the vertical control established on the same point. The DG2613 coords for this station should be accurate.

[kayakbird]

Holtie22,

 

Very nice, Thanks. Was thinking about doing something like that on graph paper, but then started watching another college basketball game.

 

Don't think that I will get down there to use it; but map (mostly GE now) scouting is a big part of the appeal of Benchmarking for me. kasyakbird

[+J Grouchy]

Holtie22,

 

Very nice, Thanks. Was thinking about doing something like that on graph paper, but then started watching another college basketball game.

 

Don't think that I will get down there to use it; but map (mostly GE now) scouting is a big part of the appeal of Benchmarking for me. kasyakbird

 

Odd...so I go to a mapping site and find those four listings. When I pan the map around, every time I stop the positions change.

 

Obviously the online mapping tools are glitchy, but I've never seen markers dance around like this.

 

Edited March 5, 2013 by J Grouchy

[+Holtie22]

Odd...so I go to a mapping site and find those four listings. When I pan the map around, every time I stop the positions change.

 

Obviously the online mapping tools are glitchy, but I've never seen markers dance around like this.

 

I noticed that also. If you zoom in real close in hybrid mode, you will see that the Adjusted mark stays in the same place, but the Scaled marks move every time you click. Could have been done on purpose to show the unreliability of the scaled coords.

[+EdrickV]

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/

[monkeykat]

Hey folks, I haven't been on the forums much lately, been lurking every once in a while, started working a lot of overtime in january, which led to much less free time.

 

Being the author of the benchmark viewer, I can comment on the dancing benchmarks. There still exists what I consider a bug in the google maps software. If you try and map two or more locations with the exact same coordinates, at first, you would get a map with none of the "duplicated" marks. I think the latest version gives you at least one of the marks, but no method to know there are more than 1 there. Its actually not that uncommon to have 2 or more marks at the same location. I needed a solution to address the "invisible" marks.

 

What I did was add what I felt was a small fudge factor to each benchmark I chart. I use a random number generator to add what I felt was a small offset to every mark. Since it is random, any two or more marks at the same location will be offset randomly, and the chances of them being in the same location and "disappearing" is minimized.

 

The viewer is meant to get you close, but not exact. I suppose maybe my offset is a little too big. maybe I can shrink it down a bit, keep the marks closer. I have a V2 viewer I have been working on, upgrades to google maps V3, hope to release it soon. Glad to see people are still using the maps app.

[+shorbird]

Hey folks, I haven't been on the forums much lately, been lurking every once in a while, started working a lot of overtime in january, which led to much less free time.

 

Being the author of the benchmark viewer, I can comment on the dancing benchmarks. There still exists what I consider a bug in the google maps software. If you try and map two or more locations with the exact same coordinates, at first, you would get a map with none of the "duplicated" marks. I think the latest version gives you at least one of the marks, but no method to know there are more than 1 there. Its actually not that uncommon to have 2 or more marks at the same location. I needed a solution to address the "invisible" marks.

 

What I did was add what I felt was a small fudge factor to each benchmark I chart. I use a random number generator to add what I felt was a small offset to every mark. Since it is random, any two or more marks at the same location will be offset randomly, and the chances of them being in the same location and "disappearing" is minimized.

 

The viewer is meant to get you close, but not exact. I suppose maybe my offset is a little too big. maybe I can shrink it down a bit, keep the marks closer. I have a V2 viewer I have been working on, upgrades to google maps V3, hope to release it soon. Glad to see people are still using the maps app.

 

Monkeykat,

Your Benchmark Viewer is one of the best programs out there. I've used it constantly ever since you got it working, and it's great for planning trips or using on the road. Just want to thank you once again for putting it out there.

Edited April 19, 2013 by shorbird

[Wintertime]

Your Benchmark Viewer is one of the best programs out there. I've used it constantly ever since you got it working, and it's great for planning trips or using on the road. Just want to thank you once again for putting it out there.

Amen!!

[+EdrickV]

Monkeykat's benchmark viewer is this site:

http://benchmarks.scaredycatfilms.com/