Default Base Setup to Nearest

I've had it happen a couple of times... I setup Auto base and tie control. Go back and stop base and download to DPOS it. When I get my calculations done at a nice little mom & pop diner I go back to the base and connect to the base and start it... OOPS. My base setup is still set to AUTO. I finish the job and go home. I find it later.

1. Can we get the LS to default to NEAREST in the Base Setup after a base point has been used in the project?
2. What all checks and balances do you guys use to catch this?

Thanks.

I like the idea of defaulting to the nearest point. It would save some clicks and prevent some blunders. I sometimes have a point that is pretty close to the base, but it isn't the base, though. And I don't want to inadvertently use the coordinate of a nearby fence post or telephone pedestal or something. It would be nice to have it default to the nearest point that has previously been used as a base. If no bases are within 50 feet or so, then default to the nearest point within 50 feet. If no points are within 50 feet, it defaults to AUTO. And it shouldn't let me start the base at all if the base coordinate differs from the AUTO coordinate by 50 feet.

In answer to #2, I always check in to a point I shot in the previous session. The first shot after starting a base and the last shot before stopping the base. Actually, I always do two shots on the same point after starting the base. I rotate the rover rod 180° to check the pole is straight and bubble level is adjusted.

John Thompson said:

In answer to #2, I always check in to a point I shot in the previous session. The first shot after starting a base and the last shot before stopping the base. Actually, I always do two shots on the same point after starting the base. I rotate the rover rod 180° to check the pole is straight and bubble level is adjusted.

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Yeah. I do that when I come back another day but it would help to do it every time I started the base.

John Thompson said:

I like the idea of defaulting to the nearest point. It would save some clicks and prevent some blunders. I sometimes have a point that is pretty close to the base, but it isn't the base, though. And I don't want to inadvertently use the coordinate of a nearby fence post or telephone pedestal or something. It would be nice to have it default to the nearest point that has previously been used as a base. If no bases are within 50 feet or so, then default to the nearest point within 50 feet. If no points are within 50 feet, it defaults to AUTO. And it shouldn't let me start the base at all if the base coordinate differs from the AUTO coordinate by 50 feet.

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Yes! It will start the base and if you are too far away (even in elevation) it won’t fix using the corrections. Just prohibit the starting, please.

James, too much automation can be bad too. How about if:
You start your base. And it simply gives you warning if there is another coord within 8 feet horiz and 12 feet vertical?

One procedure that we do sometimes is: Set the base on top the truck, on a hill, or on a long pole, leaning against a barn or house. Grab autonomous. Hit another nail nearby, and "Reverse shift" the base. (M-local). Sometimes, this coord is within a few tenths each time, or within a few feet of each other.
Just an extra screen, telling us that there is another near coord would be nice. And, hitting START when the base coord is 35 miles away should result in a Warning: "base coord is too far away" (it could also. Say: "idiot!")
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Nate

Nate The Surveyor said:

James, too much automation can be bad too. How about if:
You start your base. And it simply gives you warning if there is another coord within 8 feet horiz and 12 feet vertical?

One procedure that we do sometimes is: Set the base on top the truck, on a hill, or on a long pole, leaning against a barn or house. Grab autonomous. Hit another nail nearby, and "Reverse shift" the base. (M-local). Sometimes, this coord is within a few tenths each time, or within a few feet of each other.
Just an extra screen, telling us that there is another near coord would be nice. And, hitting START when the base coord is 35 miles away should result in a Warning: "base coord is too far away" (it could also. Say: "idiot!")
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Nate

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I agree, but this should be a common automation where you are just starting your base again after DPOS and it starts with the DPOS'd base position and not Auto.

There is no point in even allowing the base to start at all if you are too far away because you can't work. Corrections won't come in.

avoidthelloyd said:

I agree, but this should be a common automation where you are just starting your base again after DPOS and it starts with the DPOS'd base position and not Auto.

There is no point in even allowing the base to start at all if you are too far away because you can't work. Corrections won't come in.

Click to expand...

I've done both of the above. On item 2, it should say "Base coord bad". (Idiot!)

And on 1 above, I've done that too. I love my independence. but if it just warned, "OTHER COORDS EXIST within xxx of your selected base coord", it would be enough. I have a job where I have 2 base coords, 0.12' apart. I'd failed to properly set up the base. Dad was with me. It was the LAST time we EVER worked together in the field. He was having a koniption fit. "What are we doing WAY over here, or job is over near Broadway". He could never relax. He had fed his family with a 1923 Lietz transit, until around 1987, when I helped him get an edm. Dad. He's gone now, since April this year. When I work on this job, I have to be careful to get the RIGHT base coord. There are 2 in there.
such things happen as some kid moving your base nail, a foot. or so.
Double checks are important.
ALSO, when using REVERSE SHIFT, you can tie your old base nail, with a sideshot, and then opt to use the DPOS value, so now you have 2 coords, on one point. Gotta watch those.


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