Benchmark Questions

[+G'n,G]

I haven't started benchmarking yet, but I have some questions.

 

What's a good rule of thumb for logging a benchmark? Do you have to be close enough to touch it? Or can you just see it from 100 feet away?

Also, do you have to have certan info to email someone for it?

 

I also have a question about this benchmark. I've seen it before, and have gone by it a few times, but I haven't seen it since I've found that it was a benchmark. Am I still eligible to log it?

 

Thanks in advance for the answers!

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

G'n,G

 

Welcome aboard,

 

If the benchmark is a disk, it is standard pratice to read what is on the disk so you know that you have found the correct disk. We have found 2 disks only 20 feet apart and only 1 was in the database.

 

Now for a shameless plug...Geodetic Interactive Spatial Referencing Devices is a good thread that should answer most of your questions.

 

Another good place to get some informaton is HERE. This is the frequently asked questions.

 

Yes, you are still eligible to log that stack. (a suggestion, try and post a picture from a different angle than the others who have logged it. It helps make the benchmark gallery a little more interesting.)

 

Good luck,

 

John

[+seventhings]

G'nG -

 

Welcome to the community.

 

To echo what John (notorious old fart) said, the standard that most of us apply to our benchmark hunting is this: to validly log a mark you must be certain that the thing you found or observed is, in fact, the mark. For disks, most of us won't log a "FOUND" unless we can read the stamping and confirm that it is the stamping described on the datasheet. I don't think I ever logged a "FOUND" from more than about four feet away. See

FA0052

for an example of a benchmark disk that I found but did not find.

For other things (like radio towers, water tanks, stacks, chiseled squares, etc), most of us demand (of ourselves) that we remove all uncertainty as to whether the object is or is not the station. We do this by comparing the object and its location to the description in the datasheet, taking GPS GOTO readings from several different vantage points, talking to local people, and examining any other evidence (like building corner stones, etc.). If a church spire was "first observed" in 1934 but the church currently has a cornerstone with 1958 on it, chances are the spire is no longer the original nor is it in the original spire's exact location. See KV4832

for an example.

 

As far as logging marks that others have logged already, no problem. Although, as you gain experience and ability (yes, there is a learning curve), you'll probably find yourself particularly motivated to search for marks that others haven't got to yet (or, even better yet, to search for marks that others have logged as "NOT FOUND"). As a tip for a new hunter, I would suggest that you purposefully go after a few marks that others have found already. It's a low-frustration method of getting your bearings. When you find a mark that's already been found, see if you can add something of substance to the comments, like an additional measurement or a more carefully noted direction to a referenced object.

 

Another hint: it's possible to go benchmark hunting successfully with little or no equipment, but we've all figured out that you cannot go benchmark hunting without the datasheet (Geocaching, for sure, plus the NGS datasheet, as well) in your hand.

 

In all cases, have fun, enjoy the micro-tourism and nano-history aspects of the hunt, and be safe. Most of us oldsters stay off railroad rights-of-way, freeways, school yards on school days, and we respect (usually) private property, especially residential private property with large dogs.

 

Keep those questions coming.

 

Will

Edited January 17, 2005 by seventhings