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UH Anthropology Dept. |
Information for these pages was prepared by Julie Field, |
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From my experience, the manual that accompanies the station was quite cryptic. I am writing these instructions to aid anyone that uses this station in the future. I won’t explain everything, but hopefully these instructions will explain a few things, and make your mapping quicker and easier. Clearing the Memory 1) Turn on the station. The standard recording screen will be on. Press the "menu" key, and the menu list will appear. By using the arrow keys (the buttons that also say "All" and "Dist", you can scroll up and down the menu. Scroll down to highlight the word "Program". Push the "cont" key to select it. 2) Scroll down the choices in the "program" menu until you find "filetrans". Highlight it and push "cont". 3) Scroll down to "erase", and press "cont". The station will then ask if you really want to erase all the files in the memory. The arrow keys will toggle between "yes" and "no". Highlight "yes" and push "cont", and all the files will be erased. Now you are ready to enter in your own datum coordinates and begin mapping. (you will only do this once, at the start of your project). Setting up your first datum, orienting the station, and entering in the datum coordinates. 1). Set the station over your datum, and make sure it is level. Turn it on, and push the "menu" key. Scroll down to "ptnr/rh" and select it with the "cont" button. This will allow you to check that your first point will be numbered "1". (you can change this if you like). You should also enter in the height of the prism under the "hr" choice. Use the up and down arrow keys to enter in the numbers. After you finish, push "cont" and you will return to the menu subheadings. 2) Scroll down and select "HzO". This is where you enter in your orientation for the station. The Leica TC 600 does not have an internal compass, so you need to tell it where north is. Use a handheld compass to locate some visible, immobile object. Using tape, a pen, or a nail, mark that object with the compass coordinates as they should be from standing behind the station. Then, focus the station on the nail or mark. The screen will say: HzO: 000°00’00’. Use the arrow keys to enter the correct coordinates of your target into the station, and press "cont". The station will now be oriented on those coordinates, and it will be displayed as the Hz of the recording screen. 3) Now you need to enter in the coordinates for the datum that the station is on. Press "menu", and scroll down to the "program" option. Highlight and press "cont". Select the first menu choice, "station coordinates", and push "cont". The next screen is where you enter in the information about your datum. By pushing the arrow keys, you must enter in the datum number, the height of the station above the datum (hi: use a measuring tape from the ground to the mark next to the eyepiece"). Press "cont" each time after you finish entering the data. The last selection will ask for the station coordinates, and it will give you the choice of "file" or "keyboard". Use the arrow key to select "keyboard", and then press "cont". The coordinate screen will then appear. Then enter in the Easting (E), Northing (N), and Elevation (H) data. If you do not know the actual UTM coordinates, enter in 1000.000 for both the northing and easting. The elevation is a bit more tricky-- try and pick a number that is big enough to encompass your lowest measurement. YOu don’t want any negative numbers, so perhaps 100 meters will be sufficient. Once you have finished entering the easting, northing, and elevation data, push "cont". The screen will then display the data you have entered, and at this point you must push "rec" in order to record the coordinates for the datum, and also that the machine is currently on that datum. The machine will then display "station coordinates set". The station is now ready to shoot and record points. Shooting in points 1) Focus the optic crosshairs on the center of the prism target. Push the "All" button. The machine will then try and shoot in the point. If the target moves or you are off, it will pause and shoot a second time. A successful shot will produce a "beep", and the number of the point just shot will flash quickly on the screen. This point has been recorded. If you want to just measure the distance but not record the point, push the "dist" button instead. The measure will appear on the screen, including the Hz, the vertical, the distance, and the vertical difference between the prism and the station. If you decide you do want to record this measurement, simply press "rec", and it will be recorded. 2) Although it does not appear on the screen, the station will calculate easting, northing, and elevation for each point that you shoot. To view these data, press the "menu" button and scroll down to "view". Select view, and a choice of point or station coordinates will appear. By using the arrow keys and cont, you can view the data for each point or datum coordinate. You will need to look at this screen to record the coordinates for your next datum, if you need to create a second one. Creating a second (or multiple) datums 1) To create another datum, simply select your site and shoot it in from the first datum. Mark the spot on the ground with a stake or a flag. Then go into the view menu, and write down the Hz orientation, the easting, northing, and elevation data for that point. Turn off the station. 2) Move the station to the new datum, and set it up. Have someone hold the prism over your first datum. Turn the machine on, and push "menu". Select the "Hz" menu, and focus the station on the prism. Then, using the Hz orientation you wrote down, subtract or add 180 degrees, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds. This will produce a "backshot", an orientation that is exactly opposite of the original orientation of the station. Enter this orientation into the station as the new Hz. Then press continue. Now your station’s orientation is identical to what it was on the first datum. (also check the height of the prism, and change that if you need to). 3) Select menu and scroll down to the program selection. By using the arrow keys, enter in the new coordinate number, the height of the instrument, and then keyboard. For the easting, northing, and elevation, enter in the data you wrote down for this point. When you are finished press "rec", to save the new coordinates and set the station. Press "cont", and the station should indicate that it is set on the new coordinate. You can now shoot in more points, new datum, etc. 4) Every time you create a new datum, you will have to backshoot to the previous datum. That way your orientation will remain constant. Downloading 1) At the end of every day you should download. Place the station on a table top, and level it. Turn it on, and then plug in the transfer cord between the station and the computer. You should have the program "Convtran" or "Liscad" already installed on your computer. I had little success with Liscad, so I will tell you how to use Convtran to just download data. The installation disc for Convtran is in the orange station case. 2) Run Convtran, and select the theodolite data transfer task, and then the TC download task. You can save to either a disk or the hard drive. Select one, and give the file a name. The program will then wait for the transfer. 3) Press menu and scroll down to the "program" choice. Select it, and then scroll down to the "file trans" choice. Select "send". The data should appear and begin scrolling down the computer screen. When it is over, turn off the station and disconnect the cord. The structure of the file 1) The file that convtran creates is an ASCII data file. Each column consists of a code and the data. If you open this file up in Excel, you can specify a column break between each code. The convtran lists the data in this order, from left to right: code+point number, code +HzO, code + Vert, code+distance, code + easting, code +northing, code +elevation, and code +height of station. When you first open the file in Excel, you can place a column break between the codes and the actual data for each point. This will save you heaps of time editing the file. In Excel, you can delete the code columns and isolate the easting, northing, and elevation data. These data can go directly into mapping programs, such as CAD, Surfer, or Liscad. Good luck!
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