If I Find The Station, Can I Find The Rms?

[+domiller]

I'm fairly new to this, and having a great time. However, since I live in the middle of nowhere, and like to find marks that are also in the middle of nowhere, I have a couple of problems. In two cases I have found triangulation stations (Holliday (EJ1878) and Wye (EJ1877)) by coordinates alone, as all the referenced trees, roads, witness posts, etc. were gone or moved. My question is, having found the station, is there an easy way to find the reference marks and/or azimuth marks? Are they a specific direction from the station? A specific distance? I managed to find RM1 for Wye by literally walking into it., but the woods around Holliday don't lend themselves to casual strolls. Is there a document somewhere describing the layout of triangulation stations?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Dale

[+domiller]

There's just nothing like answering my own question. I really should have done a bit more research first. For future forum searchers, the answer is to go to the NGS website and look at the original data sheet. The directions/distances to the reference marks are listed there. The azimuth mark will (apparently) have a direction but no distance (at least for my two examples). Now I need to take another couple of trips into the woods.

[+seventhings]

domiller -

 

Very nice Q&A. Good job.

 

For future reference, that section of the NGS datasheet that has the directions and distances to RMs (and, often, other stations) is commonly referred to as the "boxscore".

 

Taking the time to search for the RMs as well as the station is a good thing. Sometimes there's a bonus as many RMs have their own PIDs. Cheap finds!

 

Good hunting.

 

Will

 

p.s. while finding RMs is good, finding AZs is more impressive - AZs are typically between .25 and .50 miles from the station. sometimes, their location is well-described. sometimes not.

w

Edited May 9, 2005 by seventhings

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

The GPS Trackmaker is a wonder.

You can do exactly what you asking.

DGTV.....GPS TRACKMAKER

 

Use the Original Data sheets distances in meters and azimuths.

It has the abilities to convert to any data and unit you wish to use.

You can then create the points and send them to your GPS.

 

Here is an example.

Wye and reference marks.

It is not exact but I use it everytime I go out now.

And pretty darm close.

 

GEO*

[evenfall]

For future forum searchers, the answer is to go to the NGS website and look at the original data sheet. The directions/distances to the reference marks are listed there.

I really gotta tell ya, Once you learn how to read a Datasheet, It really is pretty simple and just gives you all the data you want in it's entirety. It just takes getting past the initial hang of it.

 

NGS Datasheets, Fresh from the NGS website are the best resource to use for benchmark hunting. Bar none.

 

For most of all definitions you will ever want to know, go here:

 

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

 

Get the sample that is a best fit for you or get them all and click all the links, as there is a lot there being defined.

 

Once you learn the ropes, it is really hard to imagine how much more straight forward you could make it.

 

And most of all from the mouth of a noob!

 

Thanks Domiller!

 

Enjoy,

 

Rob

[+domiller]

The GPS Trackmaker is a wonder.

You can do exactly what you asking.

DGTV.....GPS TRACKMAKER

Yes it can -- once you figure out how to work the interface. I just spent *far* too much time reproducing the map you made, but now I understand how to do it. I suppose I'm going to have to go searching for more triangulation stations.

 

I've spent the rest of my evening writing two Perl programs. The first pulls all the benchmark data sheets for central Arkansas from NGS and stores each in a separate file. The second pulls out the lat/lon coordinates to load into MapPoint. There may already be something out there to do that, but I didn't find it (maybe another case of not looking closely enough). Having all the relevant datasheets on my laptop, and a map showing where they all are will make hunting them down just that much easier.

[Z15]

The GPS Trackmaker is a wonder.

You can do exactly what you asking.

DGTV.....GPS TRACKMAKER

 

GOO*

 

That program is hard top figure out, at least for me it is. It's worse that CAiCE!

Edited May 9, 2005 by Z15

[+domiller]

Thanks for the encouragement and helpful hints. EJ1877 has now been completely recovered (station, both reference marks, *and* azimuth mark). If I have time after work tomorrow, EJ1878 is next on my list.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Thanks for the encouragement and helpful hints.  EJ1877 has now been completely recovered (station, both reference marks, *and* azimuth mark).  If I have time after work tomorrow, EJ1878 is next on my list.

How close was it on the coordinates on the reference marks ?

The azimuth was a gimme it had coordinates.

 

Thanks for trying it.

 

I am not that computer advanced.

But the SRTM is really awesome.

 

You can also download your tracks into DGTV,

and see them in 3-D called screenshots.

ThIs is some of the Benchmarks and trackS with triangulation's from

Cassville,Mo. 65626

 

You can upload any image(map)screenshot, photo, into it.

I really like it more than any program so far.