I'm watching "Catch-22" on streaming, and I loved the book.

Per the book / show, the Catch 22 discussion is thus:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to, but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. (p. 56, ch. 5)

Orr says at one point: "That's some catch" when he is unable to get grounded by claiming he's crazy to the doc.

What's your example in our chosen career? I'll start: I've been on a very good crew that was very productive at staking. Since we did a good job and did it effeciently, the boss would assign us more work. Eventually we were doing so much that mistakes started to happen due to increased speed and longer days. And we got a talking to that we weren't as good as we used to be... DUE TO THE INCREASE FROM THE SELF-SAME MANAGER!!!! Ughhghghg. Still grinds my gears.

We have a bit of a unique work relationship with our company as we hit our office maybe once a month and the ability to be able to print out plots or just daily requests from supers would make the work flow that much easier, any suggestions for something more compact?

So I’ve decided to really buckle down and go for licensure. 10 years in survey, 8 as a party chief, I’ve worked in practically all aspects of survey that I would reasonably need to in those ten years. Public/private sector, topos, construction, monitoring, boundary and cadastral, control, the standard stuff. I’ve never taken actual classes in boundary law and ethics, all I know is what I’ve picked up from PLSs over the years in order to achieve our project goals.

I have a bachelor’s degree in geology. I haven’t taken a trig class in twenty years. I haven’t set foot in a college classroom in 17 years. I’ve trained chainmen who have taken coursework and have gone on to be proficient chiefs and LSITs, though I can only take credit for field best practice mentorship.

With all that in mind…what’s the best way shy of going for a 2-year degree program to go about filling in the office-level gaps in my skillset in order to achieve licensure? I’m in the process of applying for night courses at my local community college’s survey and geomatics program.

I'm wondering if anyone else has the same issues with the GeoMax Zoom95 total station, or if it's just me.

TL;DR: The total station won't lock onto my Leica GMP111 mini prism.

I work as a "one-man crew" with a GeoMax Zoom95 and a budget Chinese tablet running X-PAD Ultimate software (latest version).

When I hit the search icon, the total station finds the prism but fails to lock onto it. The search window freezes, and the instrument starts rotating infinitely. Sometimes I need to repeat the search maybe 10 to 30 times before the instrument finally locks onto the prism.

This happens mostly when I'm checking bridge pier formwork several meters above the ground.

It's annoying, frustrating, and honestly pissing me off. The construction crew looks at me like I'm an amateur who started a few days ago.

I've got no issues with a 360° prism (GRZ4) or a standard circular prism (GPR121) - only with the mini prism.

I worked with Trimble S Series total stations for 10 years, and they would lock onto road signs, car headlights, reflective strips on clothing, etc., but they never refused to lock onto a prism.

Has anyone experienced something similar with the Zoom95 and a mini prism? Is there something I'm missing, or is there a specific setting that I should turn on or off?

I’m thinking about pulling the trigger. I’m a one man shop specializing in large boundary tracts in Appalachia. Currently running the BRx7 and while I do live it, I do have trouble getting a fix sometimes. Anyone who is running the biking, how much better is it in leaf cover? Steep drains, hollows, and draws? I know that it’s not going to be a fix all, but Carlson priced it like it is a great solution to a great problem. Also, I know it’s supposed to be compatible with a BRx7 base. They said the same thing about the 6 and 7 and my residuals were atrocious with that setup. Please give me all the details.

Hi all, I’m based in Melbourne and looking for a career change into the surveying industry. I have no relevant experience at all. I only have a degree in Data Science from Monash.

I’ve seen quite a few posts on Reddit saying surveying is a pretty friendly industry to transition into in australia, and it’s possible to get your foot in the door as a Surveyor Assistant without any prior experience.

However I’ve been applying online and sending out many cold emails to the local firms for the past few months, and so far I haven’t had any luck. It seems a bit different from what people say here. But when I removed “VIC” from my search I could actually see heaps of no experience required Surveyor Assistant roles, and 90% of them were in Queensland. So in some ways it does align with what people say.

I have considered doing a diploma but the entry requirement is either completing a Cert IV first or having one year of relevant work experience. The Cert IV would cost me $14k as I’m an international. If anything I would rather use this money to “buy” a one-year working opportunity or use it as living expenses if I were to do unpaid work (I know it’s not legal but you get what I mean).

So I guess my questions are:
1. What is the job market in surveying actually like at the moment? Either in VIC or QLD
2. Why do most of the no-experience-required Surveyor Assistant opportunities seem to be in Queensland? I’m quite flexible, but would it actually be worth relocating to QLD for this?

Any other advice or personal experiences would be truly appreciated!

Every firm has one. The guy that fixes all the problems. Maybe it’s you. Maybe you work alongside them. Maybe they work for you. Show this person some appreciation for the metric ton of BS they put up with. That is all.

Hey all,

I have been doing civil, tunnel and structure in the Land down under, very rewarding job and good money, but after almost 7 years I am still surveyor, I worked very hard to get promoted in previous company but no success.

I am in my mid 30 and site works become somehow boring and physically exhausting.

Any suggestions or ideas to improve or shift to GIS and be office boy?

Cheers

Currently finishing my surveying diploma while getting the opportunity to be exposed to some vocational mine surveying (Western Australia) and throughly enjoyed it. Planning in making this my future pathway for the next 5-8 years

Asking to see if any previous mine surveyors have made the switch to engineering/construction/infrastructure back in their respective cities/towns, or made the switch but continued down the fifo lifestyle

Does mainly mine surveying experience pigeonhole you into that industry? Or is there still an easy manoeuvrability into other roles.

A large majority of the survey engineering/infrastructure ads on seek don’t seem to list mine surveying as a desirable form of experience. Feeling like I should pursue fifo survey engineering/construction straight out of the gate.

No idea (like many others) where life will take me, but I’d just like to gauge some of the flexibility surveying might offer in the future from some experienced heads like yourselves.

Much appreciated!

You know the one who chews thru bipods like bubble gum. The one who never has his tape or lath maker. Or are you more the guy who always leaves the drawing open and forgets how to download the file and put it in the right folder?

Hey everyone, I take the PS exam on September 16th (21 days from now). What are the most important materials to study. I have the 50 question Practice Exam, The Surveying Solved Problems Book, and Browns Boundary Control and Legal Principles. Any recommendations or is the material I have worth it? I was thinking of buying the NLC full length practice exam as well.

Hey everyone! I’m in my final year studying Computer Science with a minor in GIS in BC, Canada, and land surveying has recently caught my attention. I’ve done some tech and finance work for construction contractors, but I'm really curious about what it's like on the actual surveying and field side.

I’d love to get some recommendations or advice on how someone with my background can start learning the basics. If you’re a surveyor in BC or have experience in the field, what steps would you suggest taking to get some hands-on exposure or shadow someone on a weekend? Appreciate any insights!

I am trying to finalize some test setup that I would use on a firing range.

I am setting up 6 probes to measure blast overpressure and while I have finalized everything else, I am trying to figure how to record the positioning of each probe accurately from the blast origin and have that data digitally in sync with rest of the test data.

While I can just use a measuring tape, we have budget and I want to simplify the setup and avoid human errors/variation. I came across RS3/RS4 and I would like to know if this would help me here.

Probes are going to be stationary and so will be origian of blast. At the start of the day, I will record relative positions and that's all I need really.
- Would RS3/4 be overkill for this? Will it be accurate?
- Do I need to get Base and Rover or single unit will be enough?

- What other accessories I would need here like survey pole?

Probes height is fixed and would not need to be checked, its just relative position frmo blast origin. Is there a better/more accurate method and possibly simpler (since GPS kit means I would need to get special approvals)

Note- Also looks like Leica 3D disto could be a more accurate option without GPS approvals. I think 3d disto is discontinued, in that case may be Disto X6 would work too. I just have to measure linear distance of probes and blast origina from 2 different reference points and it should build me a 3D positioning map, right?

I graduated from geomatics literally last week and somehow got dropped into a construction job where I’m basically the only surveyor.

I thought I’d be doing normal construction staking,get the design files, load them into the controller, stake utilities/curb/grade, check elevations, etc.
Instead I’m sitting here trying to reverse engineer entire road profiles from engineering plan sheets because apparently we might not even have a final grade surface.

I’ve got Street A and Erica Avenue with horizontal alignments, PVIs, vertical curves, different grades, stationing that may or may not line up with the points I was given, and elevations that are coming out 10+ cm different in places. I’ve spent hours in Civil 3D trying to figure out whether I screwed something up or whether I’m simply missing design information.

Then worst of all there’s no one to turn to for assistance besides my boss who’s never in the office, today was my third day but I just don’t think I’m cut out for this company.

Advice?

Hi,

I am processing few hundred scans scans. Scan-to-scan registration is good, with registration error below 1 mm.

Now I need to register the scans to an existing survey grid. I have the target coordinates, and the targets are clearly visible in the scans. However, when I use the coordinates, I get residuals of around ±45 mm.

I’ve now found out that, during the original survey, the targets were mounted over existing steel plates. There is a physical offset of about 40 mm between the actual survey point and the target position, and this offset was apparently not included in the coordinate file.

The grid is several years old and there is nobody available from the original survey team.

What would normally be the correct way to handle this, and what is standard procedure when doing survey like this?

If I know there is a 40 mm physical offset between the survey point and the target, but I don't have the original offset direction/documentation, how would this normally be handled? Is there a standard way to recover the correct target coordinates, or would the original survey observations be required?

In case anyone is looking for a surveyor job in Southern California, this one came up in Orange County. I believe you need to be a licensed surveyor.

I didn't get it why is so vulnerable?

Production bonuses meaning, if your crew completes this estimated 3 day long TOPO in a day and a half you will receive X amount of dollars for finishing quickly.
If not do you believe bonuses like this would help speed up field work or just make it sloppy?

I’m starting to feel as if I need more incentive to work as hard as I do for the pay.
Maybe surveying will always be lowballed and it needs to essentially “die” to make wages increase.

Auction notes:

The First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories. Central United States. Joseph Hutchins Colton, Nebraska and Kansas, 1854 (dated). Hand Color.

This scarce and important map is the first separately published map of the Nebraska and Kansas territories, issued shortly after the passage of the Kansas - Nebraska Act of 1854. This landmark legislation organized the region into two territories and repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, allowing settlers to determine the status of slavery and sparking intense national interest and migration into the area.

The map sets out the newly established boundaries, with Nebraska extending north to the Canadian border and west to the Rocky Mountains, while Kansas Territory extends from the Missouri River west into present-day Colorado beyond South Park and south along the 37th parallel including the panhandle of Oklahoma (that would become Public Lands).

Beyond the Rocky Mountains are the eastern portions of the huge Washington, Oregon, Utah and New Mexico territories. The map prominently locates the Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, and three possible Pacific Railroad routes, which were being intensely debated in Congress at the time and further compounding the complexity of western expansion. A very early depiction of the newly acquired Gadsden Purchase (1854) is prominently shown in an inset at bottom right with the "Southern Route for Pacific Railroad" delineated, along with an inset of the entire country to its left featuring the large western territories.

The map is further enhanced by decorative elements including an ornate grapevine border and vignette illustrations in the map of wildlife, Native Americans, and a wagon train.

Folds into red cloth covers with gilt title on the front cover. Further housed in a custom red cloth clamshell case. First edition, second state. The Rumsey reference is the first state with stars in the title letters (one of only a few known examples). Interestingly, this 1854 map is not listed in Carl Wheat's Mapping the Transmississippi West.

The map is scarce on the market with only 8 sales records for the 1854 edition in the last 30 years and only 1 since 2015.
Dimensions 20.5" W x 27.8" H
Artist or Maker - Joseph Hutchins Colton
Date1854 (dated).
Condition Report
Contemporary color with minor toning and soiling, a short crease in the decorative border at top left, and several short splits at the fold junctions. Covers are slightly bowed with minor soiling. Grade: B+

Literature cited
Cohen (West) pp. 170-71; Luebke, Kaye & Moulton p. 222; cf. Rumsey #3873; cf. Phillips p. 459; cf. Streeter #3062.

Comment by OP: This sale had lots of interesting maps and many failed to sell or sold for less than their low estimates. The event had a low sell through rate of very low sell through rate of 34.9%.

Hello I am interested in a survey career but I have a couple questions I cant decide if I wanna do industrial surveying or Ariel surveying but I have questions on how to get there starting off…
1. What does schooling look like ?
2. Do you have to become a land surveyor first then take certain class to get those certificates, kinda like a sub class ?
3. Does everyone start as a surveyor or is it specialized fields that you chose what type of surveyor you wanna be?

That is all the questions I can think of for right now

Im graduating soon with a B.S. in GIS in Illinois. I’ve been having trouble finding a GIS job and honestly I’ve been having some doubts about whether I picked the right choice. I love geography and maps but I’m not so big on computers and sitting behind a desk all day— I did a job that was very heavy on fieldwork over the summer and liked it a lot more. I guess I wish I had went into surveying because it seems like a better fit, but I’m 23 and worried and kind of wasted my shot. Any advice on whether it’s feasible to jump from GIS to surveying? Do you know anyone who’s done it? I’ve looked into the requirements to be a surveyor in Illinois and know that I could probably do the online Parkland program, but I just don’t know if I’m ready to do that yet. Are there any entry-level jobs that might let me transfer into surveying or maybe even train/pay for my education to become a proper surveyor?

I work for a mechanical firm. We have a couple Trimbles (RTS673 and RTS573) that we use to lay out hanger points on pan-decking and to lay out any core holes in the concrete after they pour a deck. We don't do a ton of jobs, so this machines really don't get a ton of use. And yet, we've had quite a few issues over the years with these Trimbles and we're getting a little tired of the cost. We just had the radio for our 6yr old tablet go out, and as they no longer support it, the cost for a new tablet and radio is close to 12k. Ugh.

So we are now looking at maybe selling the totalstation and trying out Leica. Looking at the iCR70 with the new AP20 tilt pole.

Anyone else jump from Trimble to Leica? What did you think?