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Surveying Gear

Starting off around 1990 with a Kern GK0 tilting level found at a camera fair, and bought simply
because I liked the look of it, I gradually amassed a range of instruments. Most of these were
associated with my hobby interest in surveying stone circles. I've listed the tripods as each one is
different to the others, and whilst the two Hilger & Watts tripods have the same fitting, they are of
a different style and height. The only tripod with what's considered to be the modern standard top
is that bought with the T2 theodolite from a surveying instrument service and hire company.

Levels

Theodolites

Height Staffs

Targets

Tapes

EDMs

Subtense Bars

Prisms

Sextant

GPS

Getting more serious and some thanks

In the 1990s I decided to have a go at doing accurate surveys of stone circles, and much of the
gear listed here is a result of that interest. I was starting from a very ignorant base, and would like
to put on record my grateful thanks to Ray Farmer and colleagues at Hall & Watts, Rugby for their
patience with my enquiries, as well as the staff at Gnomon Survey whom I met at one of the
surveying instrument exhibtions. I'm also grateful to the authors of the standard academic texts
on surveying from which I learnt loads. Interestingly, I was getting into surveying at what must
have been a cross roads in technology. The long standing mechanical / optical theodolites were
being replaced with instruments having electronic features, and this was both a blessing and a
curse. A blessing in that it allowed me to acquire the good quality gear listed here without going
bankrupt, and a curse in that I started to realise what facilities I was missing... and could use. I'm
now seeing adverts on the web for this old non-electronic gear for surveying in hazardous
atmospheres, and equally, adverts for rain and damp damaged total stations. My Kern, below,
bought for £75 was certainly seriously damaged by damp.
Theodolites
 Essentially, a theodolite is a means of measuring one's angle of sight to a normally distant
point. To do this, a telescope of about 20-30x magnification is provided, with cross-hairs precisely
set so that their centre aligns precisely with the trunnion (horizontal) and vertical axes of the
theodolite. Earlier theodolites used external scales read by a vernier. The three examples here all
use glass scales, and two offer high accuracy, 1" of arc, and are suited to topographical mapping,
and the third is 20" of arc and better suited for setting out on a building site. The two 1"
instruments get over the inevitable difficulty of accurately centring the scales with the axes, by
reading opposite sides of the scales, and taking the mean position. This involves quite complex
optical paths and many lenses and prisms in their design. The final reading is aided by some form
of micrometer, adjusted by a knob, which allows the resolution to be achieved.

They all include means of centring their vertical axis over a reference point, an optical
plummet, and from the period when they were produced, tripods weren't standardised, so each
example is quite different. The optical plummet is a small telescope at the base of the instrument
which, by means of a prism or mirror, looks down vertically through the vertical axis of the
theodolite. Its centre is defined by a small circle or cross hairs. The view is inverted, and it's quite
difficult moving the theodolite laterally so as to align the aiming point with the ground reference.
Modern instruments use lasers to define the point on the ground. It's even more difficult trying to
get the top of the tripod level and over the reference point at the same time. (We're aiming at 1-
2mm error maximum here.) So it's understandable that different manufacturers adopted different
schemes to facilitate this very important aspect of setting up.
Wild T2 theodolite

After a search during which I considered early total stations with the electronic distance
measurer integrated with the telescope, I bought a refurbished 1948 vintage Wild T2 from Hall &
Watts, Rugby. I think it was around £450 including a new, modern style aluminium tripod. I
rejected the used total stations on offer, as the only affordable ones (~£1500 or more) appeared
to have extremely crude methods of recording the data, even in the mid 1990s. I decided that a
notebook would be preferable. The T2 has been made over many years and its design has slowly
progressed, from a somewhat basic design to the last model which came with erect viewing and a
handle. My 1948 version shown below works well, and has been slightly adapted to take my Disto
Basic. It has an inverting telescope, and the tribrach is not removable in the field, as the later
ones were. Electrical illumination was provided but no longer works. The base of the theodolite is
provided with a 5/8" screw thread for the clamp screw on the tripod.
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I've been careful with the adaptations I've made so that if necessary I can revert the instrument
to its original state. They consist of the two clamps to hold the Disto above the telescope, and the
mounting below the telescope of the Webley SpeedPont pistol sight. This excellent device aids
enormously in sighting the telescope. now that my clamps have obscured the original aiming
marks. I've painted all items in bright red to help finding them should I lose them in grass. The
beam from the Disto is arranged to be parallel to the telescope axis, and the white tape visible in
the LH image above, is shimming. I was able to arrange the clamps so that they remained
mounted to the telescope, and that the removable parts could be stored in the well known T2
cylindrical case.
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The next images show the Disto mounted, and with clamps in place.
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tripod

Here's a few photographs showing my modern style aluminium surveyors tripod. The weight is
14lbs. Very familiar no doubt to working surveyors, but unfamiliar to people like me who've only
used photo tripods. The key points are the machined flat top, and the simple but effective and
sideways adjustable 5/8" screw clamp for the base (tribrach) of the theodolite or other instrument.
There's also a hook for a plumbline. This can be swung out of the way to allow a clear view of the
reference point using the optical plummet - important to recentre it before hanging a plumbline, or
the 1-2mm accuracy over the reference point will be lost. Being aluminium it won't rust, but it will
expand in the sun, and for accurate work timber tripods may be preferred. They however can
suffer from distortion due to damp ingress, so checks are always necessary.
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Kern DKM2-A theodolite

I found this on a camera stall at my local market in a distressed condition. Whilst outwardly in
good condition, I think it had been put away wet; and it was very stiff to move the telescope, and
the graduated circles had been seriously attacked with fungus, making it impossible to read the
angles. I paid around £75 in about 1995, and had it serviced at a cost of £200 by Gnomon
Survey, specialist in Kern equipment, and who replaced the circles. It's now in full working order,
and I was able to buy a dedicated tripod from the same people - without which it's a paper weight,
unless I could find an adapter from Kern theodolite head to the modern standard..

1 Side view of DKM2-A mounted on tripod. 2 View showing bright green LED and switched
battery pack in situ. 3 View showing LED in place. The addition of the LED lighting makes it much
easier to see the scales. I chose green because there's a green filter permanently installed. String
has been used to secure the battery pack so that the paint finish isn't spoilt.

The Kern DKM2-A uses a liquid oil surface as its reference for the vertical circles, and this
works well providing that the theodolite is well set up. The levelling screws on the DKM2-A are
enclosed, and of quite limited range, and the centring rod tripod, shown below, really does make
a difference. Viewing the plate level however, is not so easy as with the Wild T2 on which the
plate level is quite a bit easier to see, and adjust.

It's clear from the images above that the plate level is sited lower than the plate, and it simply
isn't as easy to see as that on the T2. (The cutaway on the left is for the later model in which the
telescope image is erect. The cross-section on the left certainly shows how complex these items
were, just before elctronics took over.

tripod

The dedicated Kern tripod has a special clamp arrangement on its top, and this mates with a
shaped socket under the theodolite, as seen above. This is not compatible with the now indusrty
standard, 5/8" diameter screw fitting.
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Side view showing the plummet rod with bulls eye level, and scale showing height to trunnion
axis of theodolite in feet and 10ths of feet. The plummet rod is connected to the tripod mounting
plate, which is nearly horizontal when the plummet rod is vertical. Fine adjustments are then
made via the theodolite plate level screws. (These have little adjustment range, compared to my
other theodolites.) In the rhs image above, note the button which can release the mounting for
greater lateral adjustment should it be required. The DKM2-A is provided with a normal optical
plummet should that be preferred; in which case, the plummet rod must be unscrewed from the
tripod head. The Kern page on the Swisstek website gives background information.
Hilger & Watts ST 156-4 theodolite
 This English made theodolite and its tripod was given to me by a works contractor who had
moved on to more modern equipment. Its case smells of disinfectant, so I wonder if it was used in
the sewers! With 20" resolution (versus 1" of arc), it's of a lower standard than the other two, and
the simpler optics for reading the glass scales are very much brighter, and clearer than in the T2
and DKM2-A. Other differences are that the level for the vertical reference is quite basic, whereas
that in the T2 is of the more precise wedge comparison variety, and that in the DKM2-A uses an
oil surface. To partly compensate for the lower resolution, its possible to use angle repetition with
this model. An extra axis and clamp is provided between the trunnions and the base, allowing
several measurements of a horizontal angle and then averaging them. It's also possible to move
the upper part of the theodolite laterally thereby aiding centring over the reference point. (Not
possible with the Hilger and Watts tripod.)

One other unique feature of this theodolite in my collection is the 3 pronged base of the tribrach
allowing direct centration on the top of a standard OS trig point. (Visible below the tribrach
adjusters in the image below, left.)
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Left, Hilger and Watts ST156-4 theodolite, side view, and Right, view showing upper part slid
sideways on its tribrach.
tripod
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Left, Hilger & Watts tripod with screwed ring mount, and Right, view showing base and tribrach
of theodolite.