Construction Tripod Adapter

[JATO_RaT]

Spencer, exactly. Using the elevator tripod for laser work has got to be the easiest way to go. I will eventually get a laser, I work by myself frequently and while the auto level is extremely precise, its obviously a 2 man job for efficiency. There are so many laser levels available nowadays. The magazines I subscribe to have reviews on occasion. I get Tools of the Trade and Fine Homebuilding and tend to favor the reviews in FH more then that of TT. Whats your favorite laser? Back when I first started using lasers, there was only one company making them and they were around $7000. Today they have better and obviously far cheaper models available. Rat....

 

[jtn]

Spencer,

Are you trying to lay out a line parallel to your property line? What accuracy are you trying to acheive?

I ask because as was mentioned by others a level is not the correct instrument for turning angles. Your enclosed transit appears to be much better, however if you want to be precise you need to center it above the corner pin of your property. As you found out the thread adaptor enclosed with the transit is to mount it to the tripod. Do not use washers or ANYTHING else between the bottom of the transit and your tripod as that will negatively effect your accuracy. Also do not overtighten it; it only needs to be snug "Youz don't need to put the death grip on it," as our survey party chief used to say. The hook on the adaptor is to hang a plumb bob.

If your goal is a precision survey, as it sounds, I would highly reccomend getting a tripod designed for a transit for ease of centering the instrument over a marker.

What did CST Berger say about the accuracy of the transit for leveling? When I worked on a survey crew we had a electronic total station but still used a dedicated level for shooting grades.

JT

 

[Spencer]

RaT, I don't have a lot of experience with a lot of different brands of laser's. Before I bought my auto leveling CST/Berger LM-400-2 I had rented a couple of lasers that had bubble vials on them to manually level them. Using the types that needed to be manually leveled is what convinced me to get an auto leveling type. I did all of my research on the internet and Tools Of The Trade is one of the places I used. I ended up with the CST because it was rated at 1/8" accuracy at 100', it worked in both horizontal and vertical modes, it is self-leveling, and I liked the LD400 detector better than the single sided models. I have had great customer service from CST as I have spoken about further up in this thread and more recently in this thread

 

[Spencer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Spencer,

Are you trying to lay out a line parallel to your property line? What accuracy are you trying to acheive?

If your goal is a precision survey, as it sounds, I would highly reccomend getting a tripod designed for a transit for ease of centering the instrument over a marker. )</font>


jtn, I was trying to get the line as close as I possibly could but the auto-level that I was first using was just not the right tool for the job. The enclosed transit that I ended up with is definately much better suited for the job. It is supposed to be accurate down to one minute. Now I don't know for sure if it is that accurate but I do know that it is accurate enough that any errors are going to be from me and not the transit. Kind of like my Ruger MKII 22 caliber pistol that I target shoot with. It may not be the most accurate gun out there but it is accurate enough that I know when I miss the 10 ring that it was my fault and not the guns. If there is a tripod out there that makes centering the transit over a mark easier than I am interested in hearing more about it. My CST tripod has just a couple of inches of travel. Do you have any pictures or links that you can share?

 

[jtn]

Spencer,

I would imagine the people you bought your transit from could point you in the right direction. From your description and looking at the CST Berger Site you referenced, I inferred that you currently have a "Machine Control Tripod." We always used a "Quick Clamp Wood Tripod." I recognized the adapter in your picture as every wood tripod I have used has one of those built in. The total station I used had an optical plumb, but a plumb bob can be attached to the hook on your adaptor. The advantage of a wood tripod is the height of the legs can be adjusted to get the plumb bob (and hence the instrument)centered, which seems to be the difficulty with your current setup. Also the slide on the adaptor allows some movement of the instrument on the tripod.

If you are happy with your current results then I would not bother buying anything else. I assumed you were wanting a surveyor-quality line marked.

Incidentally, a good way to check the accuracy of the angles you turn is to shoot the angle, then turn 180° horizontally, invert the scope, and shoot the angle again.

JT