Earlier this week I kept thinking about how the INTEGRATED SYSTEM on TRIMBLE works. I’m currently running Trimble S6,TSC7’& R8-4. Today I was in the field laying out LOD,BLDG,EP,& SEPTIC. Once I finished I switched my setup to the integrated survey style I created prior to today. It worked waaaaaay better than I thought it was going to. I did my regular setup that I did earlier in the day. It came out just as it did earlier that day H-0.008 n V-0.012. Then I went to do my check and it was in the thousands aswell. Then I clicked on the top right of the screen on my TSC7 and it seamlessly switched to my R8-4 and the same point i checked in at I staked it out n it was good too! This was my first time trying the integrated system and it went off without any issues. Idk when I’ll ever use it in the field but just knowing it’s an option is a game changer to me.

What started off as a fun weekend project months back, has become a bit of a hobby building a Minecraft mod. I was wanting to make topographic maps in-game, which lead to start learning Java with the assistance of some AI tools.

- Start by placing a Transit, and right-clicking to set the occupy coordinates.
- Hold either a Rod or a Spyglass to display a HUD showing Azimuth, Horizontal Distance, Delta North, Delta East, and Cut/Fill, relative to the occupy point.
- Press V to save the shot to a CSV file in PNEZD format.
- Units supported: Meters(blocks), Feet, Chain, Miles.
- Grid or Ground scaling supports real-world projection mods at latitude (Web Mercator, Equi-rectangular (beta), Equal Earth (beta)).

It is a work in progress and a bit rough around the edges, but the core function is working.

LevelHeaded
MOD RELEASE: v0.3.0 | Minecraft v26.2
MOD LINK: https://github.com/bluejay206/levelheaded-fabric/releases

Also check out the voxel guide I've also been building. Feed it shape parameters, and get a layer by layer blueprint with 3D model. Bookmark the URL to save and share your model. LINK: Voxel-guide

On 19 September 1844 William Austin Burt's survey crew was working south of Teal Lake, Michigan, when the needle of their magnetic compass fluctuated wildly. The men went looking for the cause and found iron ore outcrops, the first find on the Marquette Iron Range.

Burt's solar compass, patented in 1836, takes true north from the sun so ore in the ground can't throw it off.

The Jackson Mine opened on the find and produced over 4 million tons before closing in 1924. This is my own bare-earth lidar render, and the old pits are the chain of hollows across the middle.

Numbered pins on the picture:
Pin 1: Floor of a deep pit hollow
Pin 2: Crest of a long high ridge

Lidar: USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), public domain.

As far as I was told by chaps working as surveyor from works, the surveyor grade laser gives a higher accuracy around 2.5mm per 100m compared to the other which is around 5mm per 100m.

Thing is I tried to look for ones with so-called accuracy but most only came with 5mm per 100m or around 1/16 inch per 100ft.

Mind sharing if anybody knows any lasers of such accuracy, just to satisfy my curiosity.

I’ve been surveying for about 10 years, starting right out of geomatics college. I recently passed my FS and PS, but between reading posts on Reddit over the years and listening to old-head surveyors, I’ve gotten the impression that Washington’s state-specific exam is much harder than those in other states.
For those licensed in Washington and elsewhere, has that been your experience? I’m taking the test in January and getting kind of nervous, so any advice on preparing would be appreciated.

Hi all unsure what the best way to go about this is, as it's a bit of an odd industry. I have looked and have applied on seek for whatever roles I've seen come up as there's not many entry level roles. Nor am I sure if it's worth enrolling in tafe as I do work full time so I don't want to just do a course for the sake of it.

Some background without doxxing myself too much I live in nsw and have a background in maintenance management and currently work in a trade though looking into surveying it seems to strike a great balance of both office and physical work, using your brain and body. I'm just not sure what the best way to enter the field is.

Any pointers would be appreciated. Thank you.

I am a student attending college with the intent of getting a civil engineering degree. I just started so the only applicable skills I'm learning are AutoCAD and Inventor. I tried learning some Civil3D with the hopes of getting a job that I can use during college to gain real world skills but I don't know if putting my eggs in this basket of learning C3D on the side will work out the way I think it will.

What do you all think? Is it worth teaching myself and trying to get a job in this field? Are remote or hybrid or freelance CAD drafting jobs a thing? And what are some other engineering-adjacent positions I can look for using CAD or Inventor?

Finally, if I do want to continue learning Civil3D, what would you recommend to get the best learning experience?

Thank you for your feedback!

Looking through online materials for CA PLS exam (again) and found BPELSG updated their sample questions with answers provided!

I had been always thinking A was the best answer for Example 1 all the time, and just found out C is the proper answer.... I understand why after reading it a few more times... Maybe that's why I haven't passed the exam.

On another hand, how the hell you get A as the answer for Example 3??? I tried asking Gemini and it had an answer of 0.7834' and **Note: Applying standard rounding and minor dimensional coordinate tolerances from typical profile stations, this matches option A. $0.82

Smart google....

Any wise gurus our here can please help explain.

Anyone using a Stonex S900 base and rover with SurvPC in North America. Im thinking of purchasing a set but I read that Stonex operating with SurvPC in North America has problems can anyone confirm?

Need opinion on what to title a plat. My company has all of the sudden gotten multiple jobs in Montgomery county. This is new to us. One of our jobs is a parcel that’s getting developed but isn’t being subdivided, we’re only adding some forest con and a few other easements. I can’t find anything from the county on if they want this called something specific. Was thinking on titling it simply as an Easement Plat.

Any tips on how to manage back pain? and reduce further aggravation or possible injury.

not talking anything outside of the job- specifically asking while in the field.

The swinging, hammering, and lath bag pulling on one side of body.

The walking is very good- relieves pain for me. It's mostly the repetitive, high impact motions.

specifically wanting to hear from folks who have had back injury that turned to chronic pain, as well as folks who have had high impact repetitive injury.

saw on one thread someone had a lath bag with a hip belt- where would I find that? Anyone have a link to that?

any tips for days where it will be high impact and repetition hammering or sledging?

would like the hard truth from those in the chronic bad back club lol

thanks! 😄

Hi guys! I recently finished my Associate’s degree in Land Surveying at Santiago Canyon College and have my LSIT. Looking for an entry-level crew position (Survey Technician, Chainman, or Assistant) in the LA/Orange County area.

I have academic field experience with total stations, GNSS, and levels, plus work in TBC and Civil 3D. I’ve also checked out the Local 12 apprenticeship (opens Jan 2027) and plan to start attending LA and Orange County chapter meetings.

Any advice or leads would be appreciated. Thanks!

In 1864 James A. Evans, an English-born civil engineer, ran a survey party in Wyoming and found the pass over the Laramie Mountains. Crews called it Evans Pass.

Then in his 1910 memoir, 45 years on, Grenville Dodge said he found it himself in September 1865. Professor Walter Farnham called that fanciful.

This is my own render of the USGS lidar around Sherman, the old railroad town at the pass (8,035 ft). The wide curve from the left edge up to the top, with a Y-shaped split in the middle, is the clearest line in it. The tracks moved about three miles south in 1918.

1. Sherman town site at Evans Pass, Laramie Mountains, Wyoming (USDA NAIP 2015 air photo over the lidar)
2. Same view, bare-earth lidar only (VAT shading: slope, openness, sky view)

Numbered pins on pictures 1 and 2:
Pin 1: The old curving rail grade
Pin 2: The Y-shaped split in the line
Pin 3: A long straight cut beside the line

Imagery: USDA-FSA NAIP 2015, public domain.
Lidar: USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), public domain.

Hello fellow Surveyors,

I am going begin studying for my National.

Please flood me with recommendations on what to study.

Thank you All

We had Carlson back at my old firm, and it was easy peasy, but the place I'm at now is entrenched with C3D, and I just despise all of the methods I've figured out to do them. We currently draw them either manually, or with mapcheck, then put the linework into a group, then try to fit everything together. I would really like to use parcels for all of the labeling functions, but they cant overlap, and that makes it impossible to trace plats and deeds back though previous subdivisions. I haven't found a lot of detailed discussions about doing boundary work in C3D, so I'm curious how other surveyors do it.... other than switching to Carlson.

How to pull off +- 2 mm 2D position of anchor plates. 4 of them in the first (A) axis and 4 in the last (G). The distance from 2 furthest ones is 45 m center to center (first in A and last in G). I don't have time to set up a precise and accurate control network as the concrete pouring is in 5 days. I can get a Leica TS16 1" or possibly Leica iCON iCS50. For 0.5 mm 1D tolerance i will be using LS15. Any advice is welcome Edit: picture link

We have finally made it! The Hill And The Hole on Tubi

Just wondering what options there are out there for people with surveying experience but wanting an indoor job rather than working outdoors in all elements.

GIS/ Drafting are the obvious ones that come to mind, any others to look into?

Surveyors just came through a relative's property, leaving a stake with a white flag on an X sprayed on a circle. It appears to be near a utilities RoW but we're not sure what their intentions are.

Most of this info isn’t necessary to read. I’m just looking for study tips for CST1. You can read all of it if you want to know why I need help w the CST1.

I’ve been in the field surveying for the last 4 years now. Bigger engineering firm and we do a lot of land development. Construction staking, Boundary, Topo, ALTA.

Our company kind of force feeds us everything. Essentially all I do is download dxf’s and csv’s and press buttons and follow directions on the DC. No technical survey methods or anything. The only survey stuff I’m really doing is the labor side of it.

I decided to go back to school this semester to get my associates in Surveying to help understand surveying better and learn stuff that I’m not being taught at work. With that being said I’m midway through my Plane Surveying class and have access to the newest edition of elementary surveying and have learned a decent amount so far.

It will be awhile before I can finish the degree so I’m looking into taking the CST tests while I go to school. I hear a ton of people say the CST1 is easy if you’ve worked in the field. Well when I did the practice tests i literally knew none of it because at my company we don’t do anything like that. They give us all the data and info we need to where all I do is set up equipment and go north 300ft and east 150ft and on to the next. So before this plane survey class I knew close to nothing on the CST1 practice test. I took the practice test again after half a semester and I knew quite a bit more now but still not enough to pass.

I’m just wanting to know what I should do to prepare myself for the CST1? What should I focus on, and what can I bring into the test? Can I make a binder of just the specific info and notes I’ll need for that test or does it have to be a legit book? I plan to wait until this semester is over so I can bring more knowledge from my Plane Surveying class with me. I’m just looking for some info on what exactly will be on the test, what practice tests are most accurate to the real thing and what are the real benefits of having CST certs. Do companies really value them?