Justin Gabbard

ENG-122 Tech Writing

April 4, 2013

How to Set Up a Total Station

Total stations are used by land surveyors and professional engineers to collect field data to complete their projects.

There are many different brands of these instruments, but all of them are mounted on three-legged tripods and must remain completely level at all times for the data to be accurate.

FUNCTION

Extend all three tripod legs to a comfortable height Tighten the knobs (IMAGE

1)Open up the legs to form

a triangle on the ground. (IMAGE 2)

Step 1

IMAGE 1 IMAGE 2

Using both hands at all times, place the instrument on the top of the tripod. (IMAGE 3) Gently secure the instrument

with the tripod screw underneath. (IMAGE 4)

Step 2

IMAGE 3 IMAGE 4

Press all three tripod legs firmly into the ground. (IMAGE 5)

Step 3

IMAGE 5

Raise and/or lower each of the tripod legs until the bubble is roughly centered in the circular level.

Step 4

For fine-tuning, rotate the instrument until it is lined up horizontally with leveling screws A and B (IMAGE 6), and turn those same screws evenly in opposite directions until the bubble in the plate level is completely centered (IMAGE 7).

Step 5

IMAGE 6 IMAGE 7

Rotate the instrument 90° (perpendicular) and repeat Step 5, but using only the third leveling screw instead. (IMAGE 8)

Step 6

IMAGE 8

Rotate the instrument 90° (perpendicular) back to the first two leveling screws to double check that the bubble is still centered in the plate level. (IMAGE 9)

Step 7

IMAGE 9

The instrument is now completely set up and ready to use!

Step 8

TOPCON Corp. (2008). Instruction manual: Non-prism total station. Tokyo, Japan: JSIMA.

(COVER IMAGE) http://www.getsurveying.com/total-stations/1030-south-total-station-nts-355.html

References