PCjs Machines

You can survey your land yourself -- quickly, easily, and
inexpensively.  This is a simple compass and tape surveying system which
can be used to plot deeds, find lost property corners and lines,
calculate acreage and write land descriptions so that you can find your
boundary again at a later time. You can also establish test plots,
subdivide property, layout building foundations and gaming fields, hide
and recover buried treasure, or  even map a cave.

The surveying instructions (print them from disk files) are in plain
English. They presume only a high school education. No magic. The catch
is that the precision is only 98%, equal to the accuracy of drawing on
graph paper with a protractor and ruler. BASIC is required for
calculations, and with CGA or Hercules you can draw maps on the screen.

The intended audience is those people who need a good preliminary
survey. Obvious users include buyers and sellers of land, and
landowners who want to know their boundaries. Land use planners,
developers, artists, landscapers, architects, foresters, geologists,
prospectors, ecologists, hydrologists, pollution control engineers, and
industrial espionage engineers estimate with this method.

Speleologists and other brands of -ologists use this method to measure
points, lines, areas, and volumes on, above, and beneath the Earth. For
2% of the expense and trouble, they get 98% of the information.

Copyright (c) 1990 by DP_BYTER, proliferate freely.

Dear Wage Slave,

Have you ever wanted to live the easy-paced life in a Third World Country,
without the hassles of a foreign language, foreign money, and foreign laws?
You could live in an exotic Third World County at Ritner, Kentucky, (population
28 the last time I counted) and still be in the good ole USofA.

Don't hold me too close on the language and the law, but the local merchants
still traded me goods and services for Federal Reserve Notes last time I was in
town.  And the cashier is still expected to fill out your check for you.  The
area is awash with $100 bills, reputedly from the local marijuana farmers or
cocaine smugglers, depending on whom you talk to.

But Wayne County Kentucky certainly qualifies as a Third World County.  We have
it all, from being ruled by a Prince, to having the Nation's highest illiteracy
and subteenage pregnancy rates.  U.S.News & World Report calls it an "oral
culture" with "their beverage of choice: Whisky." I would call it an
anti_literate society that isn't too fussy about their source of alcohol.

The land around here is mountainous.  (Actually, it's plateauous, carved up
into lebenty-seven jillion little hills and hollers.) Lotsa caves, cliffs, and
such places that The Yuppie fears to tread.  I own about 150 acres here,
surrounded on three and a half sides by The Little South Fork of The Cumberland
Moat.  This has been certified by The Commonwealth of Kentucky as a genuine
"Wild and Scenic River".  About half the land is cleared, half is woods.  Most
of the land isn't fit to plow, and some isn't even fit to mow.  Lotsa rock.  If
you are familiar with karst, you know the situation.  No crops, tho I've done
it in the past.  A few cattle, goats, & donkeys keep the jungle under control.
Truly a half fast farm.

I live in a somewhat modernized Civil War vintage log cabin.  I could help you
find something similar.  Or you might remodel a barn or shed.  Or drag in a
trailer.  As strange as it must seem for someone used to the idea of a 30 year
mortgage, you can build your own house.  Really!  I mean, buy a hammer, a box
of nails, and some boards, and stick 'em together.  You might even convince me
that you are so valuable [for instance by laying a gold brick every morning]
that I should supply you with housing!

I'm looking for someone(s) to help me maintain my place, and to keep it
together while I'm gone.  Basically, this means playing watchdog, milking the
cow, and keeping the goats out of the garden.  This for a few days at a
stretch, tho I might be gone a few weeks or months if I thought that you could
function for that long.

Money.  People think that I should pay them to live here.  How bizarre!  If you
are looking to make lotsa money, this ain't the place.  Try counterfitting or
selling "investments".  You'll have a lot of trouble selling your labor by the
hour in this area.  The biggest employer here is welfare.  Next comes marijuana
production & cocaine transshipment.  Legitimate employment is very mixed small
farming, tobacco, coal, timber, oil, tourism, and some light industry.  Plus
the normal services.  Nepotism and cronyism are pandemic.  The natives dispise
any furrner who would take a job away from a deserving local son.

This is the ultimate low rent district for the self-employed writer,
programmer, artist, or craftsman [craftsperson?  craftsperdaughter??].  There
are lotsa affluent tourists at Lake Cumberland, Big South Fork, and Yahoo
Falls.  Speleologists, dendrologists, limnologists, or boeotiologists might be
interested in field studies here.

I have moral objections to welfare.  While I can't (or, rather, won't) make my
morals yours, the burden of proof is on you.  For starters, tell me how you
will live when the gravy train stops.  I certainly don't want a bunch of
beggars whining at my door.  Is it moral to take from the productive and give
to the unproductive?

The schools here are horrible, just like everywhere else.  I can't think of
anything good to say about them, unless your kids are majoring in chasing
balls.  Oh, you can establish your own private school, and the county school
bored will ignore you.  That's the best thing about the local schools!

You should rent first and find out if you really like life in The Boonies
before you put your money into your place in the wilderness.  If it is what you
want, then land is cheap here.  In 50 to 100 acre chunks, $150 an acre is
possible, $250 an acre is probable, and for $350 the choice is vast.  "Y'all
git whatcha pay fer." If it isn't what you want, then free is too expensive.

There is a list of representative properties in the file "RETIRE_H.ERE".

Old farmhouses rent for around $100 a month.  If you want an inhouse, that's
another $100.  In the fall and winter there is a good choice.  In spring and
summer, most are already rented.  I am not a rental agency.

I'm 46, born a real Yankee [east of The Hudson], raised in Stillwater, New
York, a PhD dropout, ex-married, ex-geochemist.  I'm an agnostic, but I can
tolerate your religious beliefs until they include me.  I long ago made my
peace with god.  I've been living in The Wilderness since '66.  I accidentally
bought a hill farm in '71.  I retired in '73 when I realized that it made more
sense to make outgo equal income, than to make income equal outgo.  And I must
admit that I preferred pig farming to playing departmental politics.

I'm pretty much of a hermit.  I don't appreciate a lot of traffic thru my
life.  Prowling around in the caves, woods, creeks and backwoods is my idea of
a good time.  I walk alone.  Nobody else wants to be leader, and a gaggle of
followers has always made me nervous.  They expect me to play Mother Hen.  I'm
a frustrated biologist, fascinated by the assortment of life here.  Caves are
my specialty, but I'm happy anyplace that grows something besides people.  When
I'm around the house, I do a lot of reading and computer programming.  I do
some photography, but as education, edification, and information rather than as
an art form.

I'm a bit of a survivalist.  I hate to depend upon someone else to feed me.
That's just too important a job to leave to the wage slaves.  It appears to me
that our civilization is coming unravelled.  Oh yeah, the economy is booming
[like a bunch of ants on a log tossed into the campfire], employment is up
[more people than ever need to sell themselves by the hour to survive], GNP is
up [we are consuming resources faster than ever], and inflation is down [would
you believe forever?] but I don't believe that this all equals prosperity.
Cassandra sez that we will have a dictator, and that we shall welcome him.  Are
you familiar with Executive Order No 11490?

Sometimes I think that I invent all this nonsense just to justify to my yuppy
friends why I choose to live in The Boonies.  Then I listen to "The Evening
News".  Perhaps nuclear war is the solution, not the problem.  Have you heard
the story that AIDS is the product of a deep ecology think tank called
Anthropomortic Research Associates (ARA)?

If this sounds interesting, send me a "dollar" and I'll send you a county
roadmap with the route marked.  I'll even give you your "dollar" back when I
get my map back.  BYO everything.  WARNING: Both alcohol and marijuana are
contraband in these parts.  It is a misdemeanor to be caught in public with
either, and a felony to transport.  Loaded pistols are OK in this Third World
County, if they are not concealed.  Dogs and children must be kept on their
leashes for their own safety.

DP_BYTER

Wayne County, Kentucky, 1990.

"AMER_ENG.TXT", collected by Dave Byter, 1/2 Fast Software, Ritner, KY  42639

Please observe the following rules when programming in AMER_ENG.LNG:

Do not use computerese, jargon, argot, newspeak, nor British when expressing
yourself in the American English Language.

Subject and verb always has to agree.

Do not use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.

It behooves you to avoid archaic expressions.  Avoid archaeic spellings too.

Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively.

Avoid cliches like the very plague.

Mixed metaphors are a pain in the ass and should be thrown out the window.

Placing a comma between subject and predicate, is not correct.

Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas.

Use your spell checker to avoid mspelling and to catch typograhpical errors.

Don't be redundant.

Don't repeat yourself nor say again what you have said before.

Remember to never split an infinitive.

The passive voice should not be used.

Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.

Don't never use no double negatives.

Poofread carefully to see if you have any words out.

Check carefully for grammatical errers.

Hopefully, you will use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.

Avoid colloquial stuff.

Eschew obfuscation.

No sentence fragments.

A preposition is never a proper word to end a sentence with.

Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.

Don't indulge in excessively sesquipedalian lexicological constructions.

And always be sure to finish what

         !WARNING!   !DANGER!   !ACHTUNG!   !PELIGRO!   !AVERTISSMENT!
                               1/2 Fast Software

This disk may contain bugs, worms, virons, xenons, kryptons, speleons, memes,
or other forms of artificial life. To protect your software, your data, and
your sanity, please take the following precautions to prevent infection.

1. Backup your files. Backup your DOS too!
2. Apply a write protect tab to any disk which you don't want trashed.
3. After using strange software, turn computer power OFF, and wait at least one
   minute before rebooting.
4. ABC. Always Be Careful.

              Copyright (c)1990 by Dave Byter, proliferate freely
          CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY  42639    606/376-3137

Pssst!  Wanna buy a beef?

I keep a few cows as landscape engineers.  Among other interesting by-products
of a cow's metabolism is a calf every year.  These calves are sold into a
future packed into a feedlot, tighter than Manhattanites.

If you have had second (or maybe even third) thoughts about the quality of
today's industrially produced beef, perhaps we can trade.  I'll sell you an
"organic" beef for the same price as I would get from the stockyards.  I'll
even haul it to the custom slaughterhouse where they can take off the fur coat
and replace it with the more familiar plastic one.

The estimated cost for 250 pounds of beef, cut wrapped, and frozen,
FOB Monticello, KY is as follows:

500 pounds live weight @ $0.80       = $400
250 pounds slaughter bill            = $ 70
Reserve for unforeseen circumstances = $ 30

Total -------------------> = $500 or $2.00 per pound in a 250 pound lot.

If this sounds interesting, contact Dave Beiter, ½ Fast Farm, Ritner, KY  42639
606/376-3137

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SPECIAL NOTICE TO EVERYONE WHO GOT THIS FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The reason that you couldn't get CAVEMAP to work might be that that file has
been deleted.  I usually only make that deletion when I know that you have
CAVEMAP1.BAS elsewhere.  If not then ask.

                             CAVEMAP1 INSTRUCTIONS
           Copyright (c)1987, 1990 by DP_BYTER, proliferate freely.
                            1/2 Fast Software Div of
                                   CAVE, Inc
                                  1/2 Fast Road
                               Ritner, KY  42639
				 606/376-3137
	      (please don't expect me to think on the telephone)

Please copy this disk before using.  You might make a mistake and destroy a
file.  Please give copies of this disk to your friends who might be interested
in land surveying.  Even give it to your enemies!

This program assumes that you already know what you are doing.  If you don't,
then you need to read

                             "SURVEY IT YOURSELF:
                    The Poor Man's Guide to Land Surveying"

which should be on the distribution disk as a set of files "SIY*.TXT".  Print a
copy with SIYPRINT.BAT and make a copy to give away, too.

Using the file GRAF1.CAV as data for CAVEMAP1 should plot Graph 1 of Chapter 1
on screen.  GRAF2.CAV should produce Graph 2 of Chapter 7.  The illustrative
surveys of Chapter 1 are in files TABLE*.CAV.  There are several examples of
surveys labeled EXAMPLE*.TXT and EXAMPLE*.CAV

An interactive program teaching land surveying is in vapourware.  Ask for the
latest version if you need it.

The instruments of choice are:
#1 A Silva Ranger compass.  Available for $39 from the address above.

#2 A 200 foot surveyor's tape measure, graduated in hundredths of a foot and
made of indestructible fiberglass & PVC.  Available for $26.  A 100' tape is
$21 and a 300' tape is $32.

Other instruments may suffice.  The compass needs to be accurate to one
degree.  The tape measure need be accurate to only one foot.  I have used a
carpenter's tape measure and even clothesline and TV antenna wire when
necessary.  With the Silva Ranger you can expect an error of 1% or 2%.  This is
usually plenty good enough for rural property and for preliminary surveys of
more expensive properties.

You need GW-BASIC to use the program CAVEMAP1.BAS   You should have gotten
GW-BASIC on your original MS-DOS package.  If not, raise a fuss with your
supplier until you do get BASIC.  [BASIC is so easy that you can program it
yourself, which is not what the software dealers want.] The easiest way to use
the program is to copy GW-BASIC onto a fresh floppy disk.  Then copy all the
files with extensions of BAS and CAV from the SURVEY LAND YOURSELF distribution
disk onto that working disk.  Then from DOS, command-> GWBASIC CAVEMAP1 <enter>

A special version of CAVEMAP is available for BASICA, the version of BASIC for
the genuine IBM.  It differs in that it has a gold write protect tab.  $995 +
$5 S&H.

Just follow the on screen instructions and you will be presented with a full
page menu.  The main menu directs you to the various subprograms.

I = Instrument definitions

Firstly, you should set the instrument parameters.  You may measure direction
as Azimuth (360 degrees in a circle, the default); Quadrants (an archaeic
method from the days B.C.  [Before Calculators] and still sometimes found on
old deeds); or gradians (400 gradians in a circle as used by the Army of the
United States of America to confuse The Enemy).  The compass may be corrected
for declination (default is 0.0).

You may use a backcompass reading.  This is a bit more trouble in the field but
helps to catch blunders.  (Default is NO.)

Distance may be measured in feet (the default), meters, chains, poles (an
archaeic unit equalling 16.5 feet used by Professional Surveyors to confuse the
client), or a pace (user defined).

You may use a clinometer to correct the slope distance to the true horizontal
distance (default is NO) and enter a clinometer correction (default is 0.0).

You may calculate the boundary as offset to the right (left is - numbers) from
the survey.  This is convenient when the boundary is a steel fence or a river.
The fence perturbs the compass.  The river perturbs the surveyor.  (Default is
NO).  Variance is a measure of expected error used to give some parts of a
survey more weight when assigning error.  (Default is 1.0).

The instrument parameters are saved with the data, so if you R = Read in a
file, then you automatically set them.  You can change any parameter anytime.

A = Assign coordinates

Since each shot must be TO the station FROM a known station, a station must be
assigned to start.  Any station may be assigned any arbitrary coordinates, but
the same station cannot be both Assigned and Shot.  Every station must have a
unique name.

S = Shoot a station

This is the main data entry.  You may automatically prefix your stations with a
unique identifier (Keep it short.  A few characters will suffice.) You will be
prompted for entries.

TO-> is the unique station number or name.

FROM-> is the reference station. Enter nothing if FROM is the previous station.

COMPASS-> is the compass.  May be degrees/minutes or degrees.decimal.  Multiple
readings are separated by a semicolon (;) and are automatically averaged.
BACKCOMP-> if desired.  May be multiple as above.

TAPE-> may be feet/inches or .decimal.  Chains or poles may be /links. No
multiple readings allowed.

INCLINATION-> if desired is degrees/minutes or degrees.decimal.

REMARK-> if desired.

If you enter a mistake you may back up by entering a "-" for the next datum or
correct it later when displaying data.  A TO-> of nothing but a return ends
data input and returns to the menu.

B = Reassign coordinates

This is used to move a previously defined station.  This allows you to start
surveying at an arbitrary location and come back to a previous survey such as
surveying a boundary half in one direction and half on the other.  Note that
only the one station is reassigned.  If you want to move a whole series of
stations, then you must recalculate them.  This is done with section D.

C = Close loop

This calculates the error when you have surveyed in a circle and returned to
reoccupy (with a different name, please) the same location.  You may also
mathematically distribute the error among the stations and calculate the
acreage.

D = Display data

This shows all entered data and allows you to correct it and recalculate.
For major editing, I use BLACKBEARD.

W = Write file to disk   and   R = Read file from disk

are ordinary MS-DOS textfile commands.  You should be able to use, modify, or
create these files with any standard word processing, database, or spreadsheet
program.  Holler if you can't.
L = List coordinates

This lists calculated station locations as North and East of the origin.  South
and West are - numbers.

M = Map

This attempts to draw a plot of all station coordinates on a 640 x 200 CGA
display.  For Hercules emulation, I use "HGCIBM.BAS".  It will print the plot
if your printer uses Seikosha (Star) control codes.  If it dosen't, then send
me a copy of the graphics control codes for you printer.  Will somebody please
tell me how to use the Hercules 720 x 348 graphics from GW-BASIC!!!

K = Kalibrate

This lets you check and change the horizontal to vertical aspect of your
monitor or printer.  It is also a test to see if you can use my graphics
routines.  If it won't work on your system, holler at me.

O = Offsets

This calculates a new boundary from the right offsets.  Be sure to W = write to
disk first, since this subroutine will destroy the original data.


P = Precision

This helps to find errors when using multiple compass readings or backcompass.

Q = Quit

This exits to BASIC.  Reenter with GOTO 1.

T = Throw out this data

Out with the old to make way for the new.

Shareware registration: When you have gotten $5 worth of use out of this
program please send your $5 for registration of your copy to:

                                   DP_BYTER
                            1/2 Fast Software Div of
                                   CAVE, Inc
                                  1/2 Fast Road
                               Ritner, KY  42639
                                 606/376-3137

                       Make checks payable to CAVE, Inc.


I would appreciate any complaints, comments, collaborations, corroborations,
criticisms, or corrections.  Even catching mspellings [marital status
irrelevant] and typograhpic errors would help.  If you have any problems, ASK.

This program has undergone continuous modification since it was first written
(for surveying caves, of course) in punchcard FORTRAN for an IBM 1620 in 1966,
and there is no reason to believe that it will stop evolving now.  If you have
any problems, or you catch any bugs, or you wish that it did something else,
then let me know.

Are you interested in land in rural Kentucky?  Raw land sells here (Wayne
County) and now (1990) for $150 to $350 per acre.  Mostly hardwooded hills,
some small fields, springwater, electricity.  Sometimes usable buildings, small
scale farmland or near Lake Cumberland or Big South Fork.  This might be a good
place to retire early, or just vacation.  ASK

COPYWRIG HT   is the copyright notice.
(C)1990  BY   is more copyright information.
DP_BYTER      is author information.
BROWSE   COM  is a much improved TYPE. Will the author of BROWSE please stand up
READ     ME   is a general explanation of how to learn to SURVEY LAND YOURSELF.
WARRANTY IAM  is the warranty on the software. I find it amusing.
HARDWARE TXT  explains what hardware I use & what you need.
SOFTWARE TXT  explains what software I use & what you need.
PROFSURV TXT  is a note for professional surveyors.
SIY      BAT  will BROWSE the entire text of Survey It Yourself.
SIYPRINT BAT  will send the entire text of Survey It Yourself to your printer.
SIY0     TXT  is the Introduction and Table of Contents.
SIYHALF  TXT  teaches you compass theory & operation.
SIY1     TXT  teaches you to plot a map from a land description.
SIY2     TXT  teaches you to write a land description from a map.
SIY3     TXT  teaches you to field survey & write a land description.
SIY4     TXT  teaches you to locate points on the earth from a land description
SIY5     TXT  teaches you to use topographic maps & aerial photographs.
SIY6     TXT  explains the Township & Range method of land description.
SIY7     TXT  teaches you about slope and its measurement.
SIY8     TXT  teaches you to measure acreage.
SIY9     TXT  discusses calculators & computers used for surveying.
SIY10    TXT  teaches you about error and blunder. You'll make plenty of 'em.
SIY11    TXT  is helpful hints for surveying in the real world.
SIY12    TXT  discusses more precise surveying instruments. $$$
SIY13    TXT  discusses protecting yourself from professional surveyors.
SIY14    TXT  lists sources for more information & materials.
SIYG     TXT  is a glossary of surveying terms.
SIYB     TXT  is a biography of the author and a history of the method.
SIYW     TXT  is a dictionary of words not in my spell checker.
SIY1_C   TXT  teaches you to plot a map without the Silva Ranger compass.
SIYORDER TXT  is the order form for instruments & updated software.

CAVEMAP1 BAS  is a GW-BASIC program to do the surveying arithmetic.
CAVEMAP1 TXT  is instructions for using CAVEMAP1.
SIY2LINR BAS  is a simple two line surveying program. It's that simple.
GRAF*    CAV  are Graphs 1 & 3 for Survey It Yourself.   .CAV is CAVEMAP data.
TABLE*   CAV  are Tables 1, 2 & 3 for Survey It Yourself.
EXAMPLE* TXT  are examples of land descriptions.
EXAMPLE* CAV  are examples of CAVEMAP data.

RETIRE   NOW  questions if you are ready to retire now.
RETIRE_H ERE  describes cheap land for sale in the Kentucky backwoods.
3RDWORLD TXT  describes a Third World County [no sic], Wayne County Kentucky.
EARLLAND TXT  describes 30 acres for sale on Lake Cumberland for $15,000.
SPECSHEE TXT  lets you describe what sort of land you want me to find for you.

BEEF     TXT  discusses bovine population control and consumption.
SOUP     TXT  is the label from a can of alphabet soup.
TAX_DAY  TXT  is the poem "'Twas the Night of Tax Day" and all thru the house-
GUNSMOKE TXT  introduces G. Smoke, CAVE Inc's Quality Assurance Engineer.
AMER_ENG TXT  is instructions for writing in the American English Language.
ART_LIFE TXT  is a warning about artificial life experiments and your computer.
Y        TXT  attempts to explain why I am giving away valuable information.
LIBRARYN TXT  is a note to librarians, shareware distributors, & sysops.
DIRECTRY TXT  is this file.
CAVE     BAT  is the official CAVE Inc mascot.
MS_BAT   TXT  is the BAT file in text mode.
INTRO    BAT  introduces this disk.
FILE1826 TXT  is the information entry for PC-SIG The Encyclopedia of Shareware.

30 acres on Lake Cumberland, Kentucky.  Actually, not quite on Lake Cumberland.
There is no private lakefront land.  The Corpse of Engineers owns all land
fronting on Lake Cumberland.  This strip of government land is about a hundred
yards wide between the property and the actual water.

Lake Cumberland is an artificial lake, damned [sic joke] in 1952.  The Lake is
100 miles long, has a surface area of 50,000 acres, and a shoreline of 1200
miles.  It is a popular fishing and recreation area.  Good hunting too.

Access to the Lake from the developed part of the property is a 10 minute walk
thru the woods.  By car, Beaver Creek Resort is a 10 minute drive on paved
roads.  Monticello is 10 miles away on KY Rt 92.  In the other direction on
Rt 92, the pavement ends within a mile. There isn't much thru traffic on Rt 92!

The property is located on the Jabez topo map, roughly a half inch from the
south edge and three inches from the west edge of the map.  The property is
approximately bounded by Rt 92 on the north, the jeeptrail on the east, the map
edge on the south (see Parnell Quad), and the creek on the west.  Topo maps are
available for public inspection and duplication at a Map Reference Library,
located at your local college Geology/Geography Department.  Or purchase for
less than $5 from Timely Discount Topos, 800/821-7609.  Ask for a "Topographic
Map Symbols" pamphlet to help understand the map.

The property is one side of a ridge, flatish on top and sloping westerly down
to the Lake.  The road comes in at the top of the ridge.  There are a couple
acres of this ridgetop cleared for pasture and garden.  The rest of the land is
covered with mixed hardwood timber.  It could be cleared for pasture, but I
wouldn't advise it.

The obvious housesite is on a little knoll looking westerly out over the Lake.
Except that you would never know that the Lake is there.  All you can see is
hills, woods, and more trees.  There are electric and phone lines into the
housesite.  There are two limestone springs, one conveniently located near the
housesite.  There are no building codes, health codes, zoning, nor easements.

There is a 20 x 30 foot barn in good condition, with three private stalls and a
loft.  Stock water is from a small pond.  Present residents are four fattening
hogs, two mules, and a horse.  In other times there have been goats, a milk
cow, chickens, ducks, geese, peafowl, and a jackass.

You get the timber rights, water rights, access rights, right rights, etc
rights.  The mineral rights have been reserved, but there are no economic
minerals.  The only mineral production in the area has been a few small oil
wells, now abandoned.  Taxes are about US$150 per year.

I do not supply pinup pictures.  I have some photos of the property, but there
really isn't much to see.  Send me $10 and I'll send you a set of prints.

The price is $15,000.  I would consider 1/4 down and $200 per month, plus
interest.

Dave Beiter, 1/2 Fast Rd, Ritner KY 42639.  606/376-3137

EXAMPLE0.TXT       The legal description is as follows:

FIRST TRACT: BEGINNING at two hickories, S 5 W 48 poles to a hickory and
dogwood; thence Southeast 18 poles to two white oaks; thence N 77 E 16 poles to
a black oak and walnut; thence N 55 E 52 poles to a black elm and hickory;
thence running with the West side of said Allen Bridge Road to a stake at the
highway; thence with said highway West to a white oak; thence with Frank
Sullivan's line to two hickories, the beginning.  Containing 15 acres, more or
less.

SECOND TRACT: ALL OF THAT PORTION of a tract known as the Poore heirs tract
that is surrounded by the old Monticello-Jamestown Road, the road formerly
known as West KY 92, and the driveway to the Allen Bridge Road.  There is also
included that portion of said land that includes the driveway serving both the
property known as the Poore heirs tract and the Selvidge tract.  It being the
intention of the parties that both the first and second parties shall have the
right to utilize this driveway for access to their respective properties.

Part of the description has actual directions and distances, part calls for
obvious boundaries such as roads, and other parts just mention the other
feller's property.  CAVEMAP can handle only directions and distances.

I surveyed the boundaries as shown by the owner.  This is typical of what you
should be able to accomplish with this surveying method.  This was a spur of
the moment job, with a Suunto MC-1 (a variety of compass similar to the Silva
Ranger) which I had never used before this trip.  I prefer the Ranger.

I used the built-in clinometer, just to see how convenient it was.  The
increase in the accuracy of the results did not justify the added effort.  I
used a 100 foot tape, because that was all I had.  I used one assistant, who
knew the way.  He advanced with the tape end, and I used his hat for a target.

The data are recorded in EXAMPLE0.CAV, to be used as data for CAVEMAP1.  From
CAVEMAP, R = Read the file.  You may then D = Display duh data and L = List the
calculated coordinates.  You may M = Map on the screen (in CGA graphics) and
maybe onto your printer.  The scale and aspect will be incorrect until you K =
Kalibrate the map.  If you C = Close the loop between WEM0 and WEM69A, you will
see that I had an error of 90 feet in a run of 5649 feet, a 1.6% error.  This
is higher than normal for my careful work (this rush job took only about 3
hours), but it still is plenty good enuf for my purposes.  I bought the
property based on this survey.

You can add the calls from the description of the first tract.  I = instrument
to change to quadrants and poles, A = assign an arbitrary starting location,
S = shoot the stations, and then B = reassign the first station such that the
last station equals WEM16.  Note that we did not try to survey on this line.

You can buy this vacation/retirement property on Lake Cumberland Kentucky for
$15,000.  See EARLLAND.TXT for more details.

I am EXAMPLE1.TXT

This is the land description from a deed in Wayne county, Kentucky.  It is in
two tracts.

FIRST TRACT
Beginning on a stake at a cliff and running S. 78 W. 22 poles to a hickory;
in the gap of the cliff; thence S. 20 E. 18 poles to a stake in the M. and
D. line; thence N. 54 E. 8 poles to their corner, a cedar and elm; thence
S. 61 E. 25 poles to a post oak; S. 30 E. still their line 40 poles to a
gum; S. 50 E. still their line 4 poles to a hickory; still their line 48
poles S. 50 E. to a double black oak; still their line N. 60 E. 8 poles to
a poplar, B's corner; thence running with B.'s line N. 10 E. to a chestnut;
thence N. 65 W. 15 poles to a stone and small hickory; S. 49½ W. 9 poles to
a stake; thence S. 72½ W. 9 poles to a stake; thence S. 59½ W. 6 poles to a
small hickory; thence N. 52¼ W. 3 poles to a chestnut; thence S. 85 W. 3
2/3 poles to a sassafras; thence N. 53 W. 5 2/3 poles to a maple; thence N.
61 W. 6 poles to a sugartree; thence N. 59 W. 6½poles to a beech; thence N.
51 W. 6 poles to an ash; thence N. 47 W. 10½ poles to a double white oak;
thence N. 42 W. 7 poles to an ash; thence N. 46 W. 4½ poles to a white oak;
thence N. 52 W. 5 1/3 poles to an elm; thence N. 51 W. 7 poles to an ash;
thence N. 69 W. 6½ poles to a double chestnut oak; thence to the beginning.

SECOND TRACT
Beginning on the East corner of second party's garden; thence with V.R.'s line
to a black oak and dogwood; thence N. 35 E. 22 poles to hickory & dogwood
L.W.M.'s line; thence N. 70 W. about 70 yards to a small ash and stone on
W.M.'s line; thence with W.M.'s line S. 29 W. 1 pole to a sugartree; thence
S. 19 W. 13½ poles to a four-forked sugartree; thence S. 16 W. 8¼ poles to
a sugartree; thence S. 22 W. 7 1/3 poles to a hickory; thence S20 W. 8 3/4
poles to an ash; thence S. 42 W. 5 1/3 poles to a sugartree; thence S12½ W.
9½ poles to a hickory; thence S. 31 W. 10 poles to a young beech tree; thence
S. 19 W. 6 1/3 poles to a soft maple; thence S. 21 W. 7½ poles to an oak;
thence S. 17 W. 7½ poles to a young beech tree; thence S. 21 W. 8¼ poles to
a double hickory near the barnyard fence corner; thence S. 25½ W. 4 3/4 poles
to a beech tree along side of barnyard fence; thence S. 30 W. 5 1/3 poles to
a soft maple; thence S. 31 W. 8¼ poles to a hickory; thence S. 34½ E. to a
stone and a hickory in the fence corner; thence back to the beginning.

The land descriptions were enterred into CAVEMAP and are files named
EXAMPLE1.CAV & EXAMPLE2.CAV in a data format.  You can read them just like you
are reading this file.  In addition, CAVEMAP can read this format and do some
useful tricks with the data.  Read file EXAMPLE2.TXT for more information.

Read (or better yet, print so that you can doodle with a pencil), CAVEMAP1.TXT
for instructions on the use of CAVEMAP1.BAS

EXAMPLE2.TXT

You will notice that the survey does not close.  That is, the last station that
goes "thence back to the beginning" has been given a distance of zero and left
hanging.  There is no reason to believe that it closes the gap.  Since the
survey runs down a ridge road, there is a lot of reason to believe that the
closing station should have a direction similar to the first station and the
penultimate [next to last] station, and perhaps a similar distance too.

You can close the loop assuming no distance for the closing shot.  Select "C"
from the main menu.  The first closure station is "JG0" and the second is
"JG25".  You should get a closure error of 3.1%, which is normal for a survey
of this sort.  You can easily survey it yourself to this degree of precision.
CAVEMAP will close the loop as best she can, and will calculate the acreage.
The calculated acreage is 27.3 acres.  Surveys with large errors may give some
strange answers.  You should not have any large errors when you survey it
yourself, but you may find some fantastic blunders in other people's surveys.

The file "EXAMPLE2.CAV" contains the data from the second tract.  I assigned
the coordinates of the initial station such that it is in the proper
relationship to EXAMPLE1.CAV.  Read it, display it, list it, map it, whatever
it.  Notice that again, the surveyor didn't want you to know just how bad a job
he did.  No direction nor distance is given for the last station.  However, it
is known from observing the property that the final shot was the same as shot
JG9 on the first tract, only backwards.

From the main menu, choose "S" to shoot a station.  Give the station a name,
such as "ICLOSE".  "FROM->" is JGA19.  The direction is S 65 E and the distance
is 15 poles.

Recalculate after "D" displaying data.  You can now close "C" station "JGA0"
and "ICLOSE".  The closure error is 6.9% and the calculated acreage is 6.9
acres.

Further instuctions are in the file CM_INSTR.TXT

I am EXAMPLE3.TXT

This example is an actual land description of a parcel of land in Wayne County,
Kentucky.

FIRST TRACT: BEGINNING at a beech old survey and running with the old lines N
32 W 15 poles and 9 links to a maple; thence N 46-3/4 W 19-3/4 poles to two
small chestnut oaks on the old line; thence N 19 W 25 poles and 7 links to a
hickory: thence E 37 poles to a hickory and maple; thence S 15 E 11½ poles to a
white oak and maple, corner to the old T.  A.  survey; thence with the said old
line S 10 E 17 poles and 5 links to an ash on the old line; thence with a new
line S 58½ W 16 poles and 12 links to a dogwood on the bank; thence S 30 W 49
poles and 5 links to the place of beginning.

This is EXAMPL3A.CAV You will notice that the survey crosses itself.  Think
about what it means to have a survey cross itself as this one does.

SECOND TRACT: BEGINNING on a hickory, M.A.'s corner, and running thence with a
conditional line made by H.J.T.  and E.E.C.  N 37½ E 40 poles to a white oak
and black oak on J.M.D.'s line; thence with his line S 65 E 52 poles to a
chestnut; thence with the A.  line S 76 W 8 poles to a stone where a poplar
formerly stood; thence S 59 W 22 poles to a white oak and maple; thence N 15 W
11 poles to a hickory and maple; thence S 89 W 37 poles to the beginning.  This
is EXAMPL3B.CAV

There is almost surely a typograhpic blunder in this description.  If I were
interested in this property, I would trace the deeds back at the courthouse.
Note that a title search is similar, but a lawyer only examines the validity of
the title to the property.  A title search does not examine land description
nor the location of the property.  This is land surveying, and is the job of
the professional surveyor.

These two tracts are supposed to total 40 acres, more or less.  That's what the
deed says, and it must be right because some lawyer's secretary typed it that
way.

For a description of what is actually on the ground, see "EXAMPLE4".

I am EXAMPLE4.TXT

This is a survey of the same parcel as described in "EXAMPLE3".  The survey is
incomplete, due to a sudden rainstorm.  The survey instruments are rainproof
[they are even caveproof!], but my assistant was not.

An estimate of the lacking data can be made from knowledge of the parcel.  A
quick guess from my monitor (I didn't even bother to print it) gives the
following shots as those needed to complete the survey.

TO    FROM   COMP  TAPE
ADD1  JWS61  217   286
ADD2         297   460

Shoot these stations and then plot the map.  It should be the same as the map
of "EXAMPLE3".  You can read "EXAMPLE3" and plot them both on the same screen.
I will leave it to you to figure out how they match!!!  When you get a survey
like this, you have troubles.  If you are considering purchasing it, the best
thing to do is to look elsewhere.

If you are already stuck with it, then you should trace your deed back to see
if there are [m]any typograhpic errors in the land description.  You should
also check with the deeds of your neighbors.  The calls in their land
description for the boundary between you should agree with that part of your
land description.  If that fails, then you must reestablish a new line.  Agree
where your property boundary should be, and survey it.  Do it right this time.
And bring along a camera.  If it ever comes before twelve of your peers,
pictures will mean a lot more to them than some hocus pocus about compass
error.

I am EXAMPLE5.TXT

This is a survey made by the United States Army Corps of Engineers when
condemning land for Lake Cumberland.  The survey looks worse than it is due to
its odd shape.  Close station A on station AA and you will see that there is
1.5% closure error, good enough for government work.

Actually, 1.5% error is pretty good, considering that the land is on the side
of a cliff, and that the survey was done by aerial photography.  You should be
able to survey with 1.5% closure error, tho perhaps not in such rugged
terraine.

Disk No: 1826                                                           
Disk Title: Survey Land Yourself                                        
PC-SIG Version: S1.35                                                   
                                                                        
Program Title: Survey Land Yourself                                     
Author Version: 1.005                                                   
Author Registration: $5.00, or $75 with compass & tape.                 
Special Requirements: A version of BASIC and a printer.                 
                                                                        
You can survey your land yourself -- quickly, easily, and inexpensively.
This is a simple compass and tape surveying system which can be used    
to plot deeds, find lost property corners and lines, calculate acreage  
and write land descriptions so that you can find your boundary again    
at a later time.  You can also establish test plots, subdivide          
property, layout building foundations and gaming fields, hide and       
recover buried treasure, or even map a cave.                            
                                                                        
The surveying instructions (print them from disk files) are in plain    
English.  They presume only a high school education.  No magic.  The    
catch is that the precision is only 98%, equal to the accuracy of       
drawing on graph paper with a protractor and ruler.  BASIC is required  
for calculations, and with CGA or Hercules you can draw maps on the     
screen.                                                                 
                                                                        
The intended audience is those people who need a good preliminary       
survey.  Obvious users include buyers and sellers of land, and          
landowners who want to know their boundaries.  Land use planners,       
developers, artists, landscapers, architects, foresters, geologists,    
prospectors, ecologists, hydrologists, pollution control engineers,     
and industrial espionage engineers estimate with this method.           
                                                                        
Speleologists and other brands of -ologists use this method to measure  
points, lines, areas, and volumes on, above, and beneath the Earth.     
For 2% of the expense and trouble, they get 98% of the information.     
                                                                        
PC-SIG                                                                  
1030D East Duane Avenue                                                 
Sunnyvale  Ca. 94086                                                    
(408) 730-9291                                                          
(c) Copyright 1989 PC-SIG, Inc.                                         

GUNSMOKE.TXT  Copyright (c) 1990 by G. Smoke, proliferate freely.

Salutations.

I am Gunsmoke, the CAVE Inc Quality Assurance Engineer and the ass half of
1/2 Fast Farm.  While other companies may have yahoos masquerading as jackasses
in their Quality Control Department, only CAVE Inc has the real thing!

There are several poses of Gunsmoke The Jackass testing our ½ fast software.
Reprints are available for $5 for a 4x6, $10 for a 8x10, and $20 for a 20x30
inch poster for the front office.  Contact 1/2 Fast Foto Div of CAVE Inc,
1/2 Fast Road, Ritner KY 42639 for proofs.  606/376-3137

Other asininities are available.

I have trouble with a standard keyboard.  I must hold a pencil in my fetlock
and hunt & peck.  Who makes computer keyboards for equines?

Please contact:

G. Smoke
QUAL_ASS Dept
CAVE, Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner, KY  42639

HARDWARE.TXT i am.

This software was written on and only tested on one computer.  This is a Taiwan
DTK PC/XT clone sold as Swan XT10 by Tussey Computer Products*. It includes 
640K, 8088 at 10MHz, 2@ 5.25 floppy drives, 0 hard, mono & CGA graphics.  There
is a 2400 Baud modem if you can't wait for the Pist Office to deliver a disk.

My printer is an old Seikosha SP-1000A.

Firmware is DTK/ERSO/BIOS 2.38

If you have troubles, or just comments, corrections, criticisms, collaborations
and corroborations then contact DP_BYTER, ½ Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.
606/376-3137.


* A Tussey computer may be a Swan, but a Tussey Computer Products warranty sure
is a goose.  Their salesmen are more than a bit fast and loose with their
promises, but their accounting department is neither fast nor loose.  My
recommendation is that you NOT attempt to do business with them.  Please!  Who
is the honest, simple, inexpensive, generic mail order outlet for generic,
cheap, not_worth_stealing computers?

LIBRARYN.TXT (C)1990 by DP_BYTER, proliferate freely.

Librarians, shareware distributors, sysops, etc:

This is release 1.004 The previous release may be named SURVEY LAND YOURSELF
in the late versions, or SURVEY IT YOURSELF in the earliest pre-release.

Please proliferate the information on this disk.  Feel free to do so for free,
or to charge a reasonable materials & copying fee.

You may compress [.ZIP] the files at your convience, fill the empty space with
other shareware or advertising, and distribute files or parts of files with
other shareware.  Your customers abhor a 1/2 empty disk!

There are four groups of files.

First is "SIY*.TXT", Survey It Yourself: The Poor Man's Guide to Land
Surveying.

Second is "CAVEMAP1", my personal program (in GW-BASIC) to handle the data and
draw a map on the printer.  There are also several graphs, tables, and examples
to be used with CAVEMAP.

Third is "RETIRE", some information about cheap land for sale here in the
Kentucky Boonies, a good place to retire young or just have a vacation place.

Last is FILLER, since Nature abhors a 1/2 empty disk.  See DIRECTRY.TXT for a
file by file description.

I suggest that authors write short advertisments to be included on other disks,
and that we leave room on our disks for advertising space.

See my file ADV.TXT for copy.
For a custom ad, send specs.
Preferably in bytes.

Your customers might be amused by MISS_BAT.

There's also SIY2LINR.BAS, a BASIC 2 liner for your collection.

Ms. Bat (c)1990 by Dave Byter, proliferate freely.



		    .=-.     proliferate freely      .-=.
		_..-'(                                 )`-.._
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	   ./.'i]'.].]]]]]\\•.      )ö ö(      .•//[[[[[.[.`[i`.\.
	./'',]]'.]]].]]]]]]\```````.'`∞'`.'''''''/[[[[[[.[[[.`[[,``\.
      ./`,]]]'.]]]]].]]]]]]]]]]]]]]( ^^ )[[[[[[[[[[[[[[.[[[[[.`[[[,`\.
    /',i]]]'.i]]]]]].]]]]]]]]]]]]]]{ NSS }[[[[[[[[[[[[[[.[[[[[[i.`[[[i,`\
  /'.]]]]]'.]]]]]]]].]]]]]]]]]]]]]][ BCI ][[[[[[[[[[[[[[.[[[[[[[[.`[[[[[.`\
,/'.]]]]]'i]]]]]]]]].]/'      ``\]]:`:!:':[[/''      `\[.[[[[[[[[[i`[[[[[.`\,
l`/'   `\:/'      `\:/'           \]]:@:[[/           `\:/'      `\:/'   `\'l
l/       V          v            }='\:I:/`={            v          V       \l
V        `          `   Plot Deed    \I/   (c) 1990 by  ' DP_BYTER '        V
`  Survey Land Yourself:  $5 to       V  CAVE Inc, Ritner KY 42639          '


 Great for land shopping, scientific & engineering estimates.

PROFSURV.TXT (c)1990

Professional Surveyors-

This is not a professional surveying system, nor will it pretend to be one.  It
is a preliminary survey.  For folks who are land shopping or contemplating a
sale, that's all they need.  And rural property around here (backwoods
Kentucky) is so worthless that most isn't worth surveying right.  It's either
survey it yourself, or nothing at all.  And you oughta take a look at some of
the land descriptions!!  When they need a professional job done, I hope that by
surveying it themselves they have made your job easier.  If not, then I'd be
interested to know the reason why.

You might consider this method as your reconisance.  It is so quick and simple
that even your office personnel can gather useful information.  I suggest that
you keep a Silva Ranger in every vehicle.  The Silva Ranger is available in
quadrants for those who use that system.  I have found quadrants to be much
more prone to blunder than the standard azimuth system.

If your present software makes a big production out of reducing preliminary
surveys, then look at CAVEMAP1.BAS.  You might find the data format a bit
unusual, or you might like it.  If you think that there is hope, I'll customize
the program for you.  It's just a whole lot easier if you make the tool fit the
operator than if you try to make the operator fit the tool.

The error of this method is about 1 per 100.  That's right, 1%!  Yes, I know
that if your crew brings back anything worse than 1 per 3000, then they
resurvey it on their own time.  That's fine, when you need that precision.  For
a preliminary survey, you don't.

This method was devised to survey caves.  And I mean wet, muddy, crawling
caves.  I prefer data with 1% error to no data with 0.001% error.  I wouldn't
take a transit into a cave if you were to give it to me.

I'm an analytical chemist, not a surveyor.  I would appreciate feedback from
professional surveyors.

Dave Beiter, CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner,  KY 42639.  606/376-3137.

 SIY0.TXT    Introduction                                                     0













                                    SURVEY


                                      IT


                                   YOURSELF


                    The Poor Man's Guide to Land Surveying



              Unpublished compuscript Copyright (c) 1985, 1990 by

                              David Perry Beiter
                                  CAVE, Inc.
                                 1/2 Fast Road
                               Ritner, KY  42639

                                 606/376-3137



                          Revision date:  07 July 90

			     Copied 08 Aug 90 for:

				    PC-SIG
                            1030D East Duane Avenue
                             Sunnyvale, CA  94086
                                 Disk No: 1826

                           ^Go forth & exponentiate^


 SIY0.TXT    Introduction                                                    1

                              Property Evaluation

 When actually evaluating a property, I usually do the following:

 1) I eyeball the property and sketch it on a topo map.  I might pace survey at
this time.  Chapters 5 & 6.

 2) I eyeball the deed, looking for problems in both the land description and
in the chain of title.  Chapter 11.

 3) I plot a map of the property from the land description, if possible.
Chapter 1.

 4) I consult an aerial photo of the property.  Chapter 5.

 5) I have the owner show me the lines and corners.  Chapter 11.

 6) I check with the neighbors as to their opinions about the lines, corners,
and deeds.  Chapter 11.

 7) I survey the property lines, corners, etc. as shown and plot a map.
Chapters 3 & 1.  *

 8) I compare the map from the deed with the map from reality.  Chapter 11.

 9) I reconcile the two maps, resurveying as necessary.  Chapters 7, 9, 10, 11.

 10) I measure the acreage.  Chapter 8.

 11) I search the deed against its predecessors in the courthouse.  I look for
problems both in the land description and in the title.  *

12) I permanently mark the lines and corners.  Chapter 11.

You may wish to add or delete items to meet your particular needs.  But do not
follow this recipe while learning.  Learn the chapters in order.  And learn to
survey in your backyard before you try it for real.

* Disclaimer.  I am neither a Licensed Land Surveyor, nor an Attorney.  That I
may, from time to time, act as my own surveyor or lawyer is certainly not a
recommendation that you do so.  The most important part of doing it yourself is
knowing the limits of your [in]competence.  Further legal inquires should be
directed to Lyman M. Lyonn, Esq., at Pluckum, Phuccum, and Chuckem, Attorneys
at Law, Route 572 Box 66-G, Delta, KY 42613.

See Luke 11:46 for a legal opinion.


 SIY0.TXT    Introduction                                                    2

                            What Else Do You Need?

This text was written assuming that it would be distributed on floppy disk,
which is much cheaper than newsprint nowdays.  If you received a paper copy,
you can ignore the computer references, and they will ignore you.  Ignorance is
bliss.

There are some things that just won't fit on a floppy disk.  And some things
might fit if I were a bit smarter.  Besides, this forces you to register your
copy of my book and programs.

There are several options.

Shareware registration is one buck [$1].  This doesn't even buy you an
acknowledgement.

Registration, an updated disk, a copy of the two graphs needed for these
instructions, and my fond wishes are five bux [$5].

A durable plastic protractor and a ruler graduated in tenths of an inch and
millimeters are two bux [$2].

To actually survey land, you will need a Silva Ranger type 15 compass.  This
does more than just tells you which way is north.  It is the compass of choice
for professional geologists, foresters, prospectors, and guides, as well as
surveyors who need a preliminary survey.  It has its own built-in protractor
and ruler.  This item will cost you thirty-nine bux [$39].

You may also need a surveyor's tape measure.  For a small job, you could use a
50 or 100 foot carpenter's tape measure.  For learning, you can simply count
your steps (pace the distance).  An unbreakable 200 foot Keson PVC coated
fiberglass surveyor's tape measure, graduated in tenths of a foot, costs you
twenty-nine bux [$26]. A 100' tape is $21 and a 300' tape is $32.

Shipping and handling are five bux [$5].  Shipping is by US Postal "Service"
First Class for the software, and UPS for the instruments.  For delivery to
Kentucky addresses, add 6% "sales" tax on the merchandise or supply exemption.
Our sales tax # is 050222.

The 1/2 fast special is an updated disk, graphs, the plastic circular
protractor and ruler for your disk full of something interesting & five bux
[$5] postpaid.  Ask.

Make checks payable to CAVE, Inc and send your order to: Dave Beiter, CAVE Inc,
1/2 Fast Road, Ritner KY 42639.

Foreign orders are welcome, tho we will have to work out the details.

 SIY0.TXT Introduction                                                       3

There is a handy order form named SIYORDER.TXT on this disk.  You could copy it
to your printer.  Or you could import it into your word processor and fill it
out the modern way, if you have nothing else interesting to do.  It is a plain
vanilla ASCII textfile, as are all these instructions.


                         How to Use These Instructions

Land surveying involves two parts.  Part of the work is done in the field.
Here you actually walk around the real land and measure directions and
distances.  The second part is done in an office, or more commonly on the
kitchen table.  Here you evaluate what you have done in the field.

You will actually have to survey some land and plot some maps in order to learn
to survey land and plot maps.  This should take you a weekend to learn.  I
think that it is pretty simple, altho I distinctly remember puzzling for hours
while I was devising this method.  Of course I didn't have any instructions and
I was surveying alone in a deep dark dank hole in the ground.  You got it easy!

Applying your new abilities to your particular problem could be more
difficult.  I can't imagine, let alone write instructions for, all of your
applications.

If you have a question on either the basic method or on a specific application,
ask.  Dave, CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  Phone 606/376-3137.
Please don't expect me to think on the phone.  Days, evenings, weekends-it's
all the same to me.  I'm retired.  Are you interested in retiring young?

When writing, enclose a copy of your deed, map, data, or whatever is in
question.  Tell me what you are trying to do, and why you can't do it.  Enclose
a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope [SASE] if you wish a reply.

MY GUARANTEE: I can teach you to survey land.  If either you or I decide that
you are incapable of learning and applying this technique, you get your money
back.  Or rather, I'll send you a check which your bank will exchange for those
little green pieces of paper which drive men crazy.  I get my instruments and
instructions back.  Used, please.

To encourage you to start learning this evening, this guarantee is good only
for three months from the date which you receive my materials.  It can be
renewed for $1 per month.  Write or call if you get stuck.

If your guarantee has expired, enclose a $10 service charge for questions about
the basic method.  Enclose a $20 service charge for questions about a specific
application.  If you enclose a signed statement releasing your material for
inclusion as an example in future instructions, then the service charge is
waived.

 SIY0.TXT Introduction                                                       4

I would appreciate any comments, complaints, criticisms, collaborations,
corroborations, or corrections.  I will consider any editing, from catching
mspellings and typograhpic errors to co-authoring additional chapters.
Negative feedback invited.  One constructive criticism is worth more than a
thousand adulations.

CAVE Inc., 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner KY  42639.  Dave, 606/376-3137








      "Thou shalt not move survey corners." -Moses, in Deuteronomy 19:14


          "Acursed is he who moves back survey corners." -Deut. 27:17






                                  Dedication



Dedicated to the memory of James Ballentine, the Union College IBM 1620
computer, and Wuckit's Skull Cave, without whose serendipitous congruence in
1965 none of the following would have been conceivable, let alone possible.
















 SIY0.TXT Introduction                                                      5

                               Table of Contents


Chapter   Name                                                 Page

0         Introduction                                           0

1/2       Compass Theory and Operation                           6

1_C       Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way     9

2         Write a Land Description from a Map                   19

3         Field Survey and Write a Land Description             21

4         Locate a Point on the Earth from a Land Description   27

5         Topographic Maps and Aerial Photographs               29

6         Township and Range                                    32

7         Slope Distance and Clinometers                        33

8         Measure Acreage                                       39

9         Calculators and Computers                             42

10        Error and Blunder                                     47

11        Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World         52

12        The Next Step Up                                      58

13        Self Defense Against Surveyors                        59

14        Sources                                               60

G         Glossary of Surveying Words Defined                   61

B         Biography and History of the Method                   65

W         List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings             66

1         Plot a Map from a Land Description                    72

ORDER     Order Form for Instruments, Graphs, and Updates       82


SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way             9

                                 Chapter 1_C


              Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way


For this chapter you will need:

a) These instructions, copies of the necessary graphs, and some graph paper.
These are available for five bux [$5] from CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY
42639.  Registration and an updated disk are also included,

a½) Optionally, a durable plastic circular protractor and tenths of an inch &
millimeters ruler for another two bux [$2],

a-) If you are in a hurry, or are a cheapskate, you can make do the first time
with a schoolchild's semicircular protractor, a ruler, and any lined paper.

b) Pencil and paper,

c) Calculator. A common calculator makes the arithmetic a lot easier, tho you
could do it by hand if you like. If you don't own a calculator, I suggest that
you purchase one. They cost between $2 and $10 and are available almost
everywhere. The most significant difference between varieties is the quality
of the keypad. Everybody skip the fancy math the first time. I find a hand
calculator to be a lot more useful than a popup "calculator" on a computer.  I
personally use a Sharp EL-510S (solar) and a Sharp EL-506A (battery).

You will not need:

a) Any land,

b) Any land description,

c) Any assistant,

d) Nor to leave the comfort and safety of your kitchen.

e) You don't even need this computer, except to make a printout so that these
instructions can be doodled with a pencil.

Normally I have students plot the map using the Silva Ranger compass as the
protractor. This develops familiarity with the compass and thus makes its use
in the field easier. This compass costs $39, which is why you will use a
circular protractor for learning. If you have a Silva Ranger, then use the
instructions in the regular Chapter 1.


 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          10


A survey station consists of some point with an individual name and location.
The survey station may be located on the land, in a land description, or on a
map.

Survey stations on the land or on a map are connected together with lines,
similar to a "Connect-the-Dots" puzzle.  These survey stations may or may not
be corners of the property.  Survey stations in a land description are
connected by a set of instructions telling you how to find the next station.














                             TABLE 1

Line   Station   Station   COMPASS   TAPE         Comments
       TO        FROM      degrees   feet

1      0         0         0         0            You gotta start somewhere!

2      1         0         40        200

3      2         1         122       170

4      3         2         193       224

5      4         3         305       271          This is supposed to be the
                                                  same as station 0










 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          11

Look at Table 1.  The station is named "0".  This is the station TO which you
are surveying.  The station FROM which you are surveying is also named "0".
The station refers to itself.

The COMPASS direction to TO from FROM is 0.  A fancy name for the compass
direction is AZIMUTH.  The TAPE distance is also 0.

Each station must refer to either some previous station or be given some
arbitrary location.  Be sure that you start someplace.  The best directions in
the world are worthless if you don't know where to start.  Have you ever asked
for directions in Rural America?  If so, you know about directions which start
at no where.  Convert to now here.

When you get around to using CAVEMAP1.BAS you will find Graph 1 there.  Or you
could register this disk and I'll send you the graphs.  Meanwhile, any piece of
lined paper can be used.  Draw an arrow along one of the lines and write an "N"
near it.  My graph has cheater lines on it, but they are not necessary.

Turn the graph paper so that the North Arrow points up.  Away.  To the top.
Unless there is some very good reason not to do so, always put North at the top
of your map.  This cartographic standard makes it much easier to keep the map
orientation fresh in your feeble little mind.  You will learn to *!HATE!* maps
with North in any other direction.

Station 0 is plotted as the little "x" labeled "0" on my paper Graph 1.

Line 2 of Table 1.  The station TO is named "1".  The station FROM is named
"0".  The compass direction is 40.  Lay the circular protractor on the map.
Turn the protractor so that "N" points North.  Slide the protractor around
until you can see [If you don't have Graph 1, then you won't see it until you
make it.] the "x" which marks station 0 thru the center hole.  Twist the
protractor until the N-S line on the protractor aligns with the lines on the
map.  The 40 degree compass direction lies in the direction marked "40" on the
protractor.

Make a mark on your graph next to the 40 degree direction.  Use a straight edge
to draw a straight line from the "x" marking station 0 to and thru the mark you
just made marking the 40 degree direction.  Now use your ruler to measure off
200 feet [at the scale of 100 feet per inch] along the 40 degree direction.
Now put an "x" at this point and label it "1".  Ain't this easy?!

If you can do it once, then you can do it twice.  On to Line 3 of Table 1.  The
TO station is 2.  The FROM station is 1.  The way to get to TO from FROM is to
go in a COMPASS direction of 122° from North for a TAPE distance of 170 feet.




 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          12

Put your circular protractor on the map with the "N" end pointing the same way
as the North Arrow in the map.  Slide it until you can see station 1 thru the
peephole.  Precisely align the N-S line on the protractor with the lines on the
map, and place the center of the protractor precisely over the station.  Mark
the map along the 122 degree direction.  Remove your protractor and draw a
straight line along the 122 degree direction.  Measure off 170 feet with the
100 feet per inch ruler and mark the station.  Label it "2".

This is easier done than said.  On to line 4.  These are the instructions to
locate station 3.  Plot and label station 3.  Hopefully this is still easy.  If
you can do it thrice, then you can do it forever.  Or however long it takes to
get the job done.

Plot line 5.  Station 4 should be at the same place as station 0.  Or at least
too close to call them different.  If there is more than about 20 feet [that's
really 20 hundredths of an inch] between them, try it again.

If you have already tried it again, then give it up for a few days.  You have
blundered.  Your blunder should be obvious in hindsight.  If it is already a
few days later and you are still making the same mistake, then perhaps it is
hopeless.  You can send me back my instruments and instructions, and I'll send
you your dollars back.  Be sure to enclose the maps which you have tried to
draw so that I can improve my instructions.

Or just send me copies of your maps and whatever else you have done, and I'll
straighten you out.  If you have an idea of what went wrong, then make a note
of it.  Dave Beiter, CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  606/376-3137.

Everybody else now knows how to plot a map.

The CLOSURE ERROR is the distance on the map between two stations which are
supposed to be in the same place.  It is a check on the precision of your work,
and by implication, its accuracy.

Precision is like getting all the bullets in the same hole while target
shooting.  You have a steady hand, or a good shooting rest.  Accuracy is
getting them onto the proper target and evenly distributed around bullseye.
Your rifle is properly sighted in.

The closure error is best thought of as a percentage of the run.  The RUN is
the distance which you have surveyed around a loop until you used the same
station location again for a closing station.  Just add up all the tape
distances.  The run for the map of the land description in Table 1 is 865 feet.

Measure the distance between station 0 and station 4 on your map.  Divide this
by 865 and push the % key.  If you have no distance between the stations, then
you have 0.0% closure error.  Congratulations.

 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          13

                                    Table 2

Line   Station   Station   COMPASS   TAPE         Comments
       TO        FROM      quadrants poles

1      10        10        0         0            Stone in Speed's line

2      11        10        S72E      293 3/4      Two white oaks

3      12        11        N72E      123          Corner with Davis & Green

4      13        12        N87W      352          Dogwood in Green's line

5      14        13        S3W       23           The beginning corner


Table 2 is the land description of a real parcel of land in Kentucky.  The
compass is recorded in quadrants and the distance is in poles.  This is the
common notation in Kentucky.  It keeps the landowners stupid.

The best way to handle the oddball units of measure is to convert them to the
familiar common units.  Change the quadrant notation to the 360 degree notation
and understand where you are going.  What the quadrant notation means is to
face the first direction.  Then turn the given number of degrees towards the
second direction.  You can plot this with a semicircular schoolchild's
protractor, but that won't teach you how to survey land.

Look at Table 2, Line 2.  The COMPASS direction is S72E.  What this means is to
face South, then turn 72 degrees towards the East.  Look at your circular
protractor.  South is 180 degrees.  Now count off 72 degrees around towards the
east.  You will wind up at 108 if you do it correctly.  If you have your
calculator, or are old enuf to be able to subtract with a pencil, then you can
simply subtract 72 from 180 and get that 108.

To translate quadrants to degrees, use the following rules:

If the compass direction is a cardinal direction (N, E, S, or W), then
   translate to ([0 or 360], 90, 180, or 270).

If a direction is within a quadrant, then do the following with the number of
   degrees within the quadrant:

   If the quadrant is NE, then add the degrees to 0.

   If the quadrant is SE, then subtract the degrees from 180.

   If the quadrant is SW, then add the degrees to 180.

 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          14

   If the quadrant is NW, then subtract the degrees from 360.

To translate your normal compass direction (azimuth) into the quadrant system,
use the following rules:

   If the direction is a cardinal direction ([0 or 360], 90, 180, or 270) then
   translate to (N, E, S, or W).

   If the compass direction is greater than 0 and less than 90, then the
   degrees are correct and the quadrant is NE.

   If the compass direction is greater than 90 and less than 180, then subtract
   the degrees from 180, and the quadrant is SE.

   If the compass direction is greater than 180 and less than 270, then
   subtract 180 from the degrees, and the quadrant is SW.

   If the compass direction is greater than 270 and less than 360, then
   subtract the degrees from 360, and the quadrant is NW.

Believe me, the quadrant system made a lot of sense in Antiquity (B. C.,
Before Calculators) when the arithmetic was done by hand.  Today its only use
today is to confuse those who would survey it themselves.

A pole is the same as a rod, is the same as a perch.  Still confused?  That's
16.5 feet in the English system of measurement.

To plot a map at the scale of 100 poles to the inch, you could make a new ruler
labeled so that each tenth of an inch equals 10 poles.  Each inch is 100
poles.  Or you can use your old 100 feet per inch ruler and mentally change the
scale from feet to poles.

Typical Kentucky land corners are identified under comments.

Translate the compass directions and plot a map of this property.  Plot it on
the same graph paper as you used before.  Draw a North Arrow pointing towards
the top of the paper.  Note the scale; "100 poles per inch".  Start where I
have marked an "x" and labeled it "10".

When I plotted a map of the data of Table 2, I really couldn't see any closure
error.  Calculating with a hand calculator, I determined the closure error to
be 3.0 poles, or 0.4%.  The direction to station 0 from station 4 is 293
degrees.  Compare this with the closure error of your plot.  Remember, the
percent closure error is the map measured distance between the two stations,
divided by the run, times 100%.  You should come out with a closure error of
less than 2%.  Anything more is blunder.


 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          15

A bit more about blunder and error.  Error is a small difference of opinion
which sneaks into measurements.  This is due to the unfortunate fact that the
real world isn't mathematically perfect.

Error is a part of this method, as it is with all real measurements.  So far
you have made errors in placing the exact center of the protractor over the
station, in aligning the protractor with the lines on the graph paper, in
getting the mark exactly at the proper degree, in placing the straightedge so
that the direction line goes thru the from station and the direction mark, in
placing your distance ruler with 0 exactly over the station, in guesstimating
where some distance such as 293 3/4 really is on the ruler, and in getting the
station mark exactly where you want it.  And the protractor and ruler have
error in their manufacture.  Plus a few more errors that I haven't thought of
yet.

You can never eliminate all the errors.  Just realize that they are there, and
manage them.






Blunders are the *BIG* mistakes.  The most common blunder in surveying is to
read the wrong end of the compass.  You are going just exactly bassackwards
from where you think you are going.  Blunders are obvious when you notice
them.  When eliminated, they are gone completely.  Except when someone reminds
you of the time when you surveyed for half a day before realizing that you
compass was always pointing toward your beltaxe!

Blunders, by definition, are big enuf to catch and cure.  Always be sure that
your work has built-in blundertraps.  When they are not caught, little blunders
become BIG ERRORS.















 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          16

                                    Table 3


TO     FROM      COMPASS   TAPE                   COMMENTS

20     20        0         0

21     20        122       127 feet

22     21        8         169 feet

23     22        3         103 feet

24     23        86        211 feet

25     24        92        174 feet


26     25        S15E      12 poles

27     26        S14E      5 rods 7 links

28     27        S86W      7 poles 5 links

29     28        S2E       1 chain 32 links

30     29        S86W      13 rods 13 links


31     30        N4W       6 poles 1.5 links

32     31        N8E       3 perches

33     32        278       245 feet               supposed to close on 20

34     33        237       15 feet                closes on 20


Table 3 gives you some more practice in plotting a map.  Note that the
direction and distance units vary.  Translate all of this to into degrees and
feet.  Plot a map from this land description.

What sort of closure error did you get?  What is this in terms of percent
closure error?  Is this an acceptable closure error?  The actual calculated
closure error is 0.00%.  Station 33 was supposed to be the closing station as I
produced these data.  The distance for station 34 is my closure error when hand
plotting the map.  My hand plotting error was 0.8%, which I consider to be
excessive.  That's why I use a computer.  And the computer is easier too.
 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          17

Take another look at your map.  The closure error should be quite small.  Now
look at the boundary of the parcel and think about it.  Is it possible to make
a blunder and still have a small closure error?  Possible, but not probable.

You are now ready to plot a map of whatever interests you.  You may need to
translate the land description into the proper format to plot.  Some units of
distance which you may encounter are: a pole or a perch or a rod, 16.5 feet; a
rope, 20 feet; a chain, 66 feet; a link, [a hundredth chain] 0.66 feet; a
furlong, (ten chains) 660 feet; a yard, 3.00 feet; a meter, 3.28 feet.

If your map comes out too tiny, or if it won't fit on the paper, then you will
have to change the scale of your map.  A square plot containing 10 acres has
the length of each side exactly one furlong, or 660 feet.  At a scale of 100
feet per inch, the map of that 10 acre square would be 6.6 inches square.  This
fits nicely on the graph paper.  You might want to plot on a few different
scales just to see what happens.  If you run off the graph paper, you can add
another piece to that side.  Line up the gridlines.  Mark how the two sheets
connect, or tape them together.

You can obtain a copy of the deed for a parcel of land by visiting your
Recorder of Deeds, or whatever title s\he holds in your county.  Just walk into
the courthouse and ask for deeds.

You will need help finding what you want, so ask.  The deeds are indexed in
various ways, depending upon where you are.  In Wayne County Kentucky, deeds
are indexed alphabetically by date. Really! I told you that you would need help!

To actually survey land, you will need different instruments.  The protractor
will be replaced with a compass.  I use the Silva Ranger type 15 compass for
all of my surveying work.  It is comparatively cheap ($39), precise to about
one degree (the same as your hand plots), fits in your pocket, and is nearly
indestructible.  Anyone can quickly learn to take good compass directions with
it.

You may already have a compass sufficient to survey it yourself.  The Brunton
pocket transit is also known as the Army Artillery compass.  These are commonly
available in Army surplus stores, after having been dropped by an excited
soldier.  They can be rebuilt for approximately $50.  They are slower, more
difficult to use, much more delicate, and more expensive than the Silva Ranger,
but if you have it, use it.

A lensatic compass, also known as an Army marching compass, is not sufficient.
This fine product of the American military-industrial complex was diabolically
engineered.  Without eight weeks of Basic Training in the use of the
bassackwards scale, you are sure to get lost with it.  Should The Enemy attempt
to use one of these marching compasses, he would immediately become completely
disoriented.  He couldn't even find his way back from the latrine with it.
Leave your lensatic marching compass in the latrine where it belongs.
 SIY1_C.TXT     Plot a Map from a Land Description the Cheapie Way          18

A Boy Scout compass, a car compass, a "survival knife" compass, or other such
compasses are not capable of being read to a sufficient precision.  There are
several other types of compass which are capable of a one degree precision.  If
you think that you might have one of these, ask.

The ruler will be replaced by a tape measure.  A 200 foot fiberglass and PVC
surveyor's tape costs $26.  You can get away with using a carpenters tape
measure if you are careful not to snag or step on it.  It's nice to get more
than 12 feet in a shot, too!  A steel tape will work until somebody steps on
it.  And you might not want to be holding onto the end of a 200 foot lightning
rod.

If you have any problems, comments, criticisms, or corrections, contact:

Dave Beiter
CAVE Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner, KY 42639

606/376-3137


 SIY1.TXT    Plot a Map from a Land Description                              72

				  Chapter 1

		     Plot a Map from a Land Description

For this chapter you will need: 

a) Silva Ranger type 15 compass, available for $39 from CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road,
Ritner, KY 42639. 606/376-3137. If you do not have this item, then you cannot
execute these instructions. Instead, you must use the instructions in Chapter
1_C, "Plot a Map the Cheapie Way".

b) These instructions,

c) Pencil & notepaper,

d) Calculator. A common calculator makes the arithmetic a lot easier. If you
don't own a calculator, I suggest that you purchase one. The cost is between
$2 and $10, available almost everywhere.  The most significant difference
amongst calculators is the quality of the keypad. Everybody skip the fancy
math the first time. I find a hand calculator to be a lot more useful than a
popup "calculator" on a computer. I personally use a Sharp EL-510S (solar) and
a Sharp EL-506A (battery).


You will not need:

a) Any land,

b) Any land description,

c) Any assistant,

d) Nor to leave the comfort & safety of your kitchen.

e) Your computer, other than to print a printout of this chapter.

Forewarned thrice!!!  Don't let the instructions which come with the compass
scare you off. If you do read their Instruction Manual, then tell me what you
think of it.

All that you really need to know is that the red end of the compass needle
points North.  Because so many people kept forgetting this fact, the New and
Improved Silva Ranger Compass Type 15CL has the north end of the north arrow on
the compass painted red.  Send your adulations to Silva Compass, Binghampton,
NY 13902-1604. They even have a Customer Service Office at 800/572-8822.



 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              73

Open the compass. There is a graduated dial. Note that there is a mark every
2 degrees, with every 20 degrees labeled.  Grab the dial and twist it around.
There is an index pointer line on the compass base under the mirror. It points
to the compass reading on the compass dial. The New and Improved Silva Ranger
Compass has done away with the index line, and has only an index blob.

Read the compass reading.  Read it to 1 degree accuracy.  Use a magnifying
glass if necessary. What is the compass reading? Write the compass reading
down on a piece of paper.

Is this the correct compass reading? I can't tell from here.  You gotta check
your own work, starting right now. Read the compass reading again. Compare it
with what you have written down on your paper. Turn the compass dial and read
it again.

You can also set the compass reading on the compass dial to any reading. Set
the compass reading on the compass dial to 40 degrees.

If there are four 40s on your compass, this is because you have a compass which
is graduated in quadrants. You thought that you knew better than I, and had me
special order you a quadrant compass against my advice.  The methods for
converting between the two systems of measurement are covered later in these
instructions. See page 78.

There are two distance scales along the sides of the compass base.  One is
graduated in twentieths of an inch, the other in millimeters. There are two
more scales on the new Ranger, marked 1:25000 and 1:50000, which can be used to
measure distance on metric topo maps.

There is a compass needle which points North.  You need to know that the red
end of the compass needle points North.

There is a device to internally adjust for magnetic declination.
The declination adjustor is the brass screw on the dial at 45 degrees.

Turn the declination adjustor with the screw driver on the lanyard.  The
declination is read on the black declination scale under the tail of the black
arrow. Set the declination to 0 for now. If you have an old Ranger, then the
declination is set under the north end, the screwdriver is located on the
safety cord, and the scale is red. It makes no difference, but it might be
confusing to set the north declination on the south end of the compass if you
don't know what you are doing.

A survey station consists of some point with an individual name and location.
The survey station may be located on the land, in a land description, or on a
map.


 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              74

Survey stations on the land or on a map are connected together with lines,
similarly to a "Connect-the-Dots" puzzle.  These survey stations might or might
not be corners of the property.  Survey stations in a land description are
connected by a set of instructions telling you how to find the next station.

				   TABLE 1


Line  Station  Station  COMPASS  TAPE        Comments
      TO       FROM     degrees  hundredths
                                 of inches

1     0        0        0        0           You gotta start somewhere!

2     1        0        40       200

3     2        1        122      170
  
4     3        2        193      224
 
5     4        3        305      271         This is supposed to be the same
                                             as station 0


Look at Table 1, Line 1.  The station is named "0". This is the station TO
which you are surveying. The station FROM which you are surveying is also
named "0". The station refers to itself.

The COMPASS direction to TO from FROM is 0. The TAPE distance is also 0.

Each station must refer to either some previous station or be given some
arbitrary location. Be sure that you start someplace. The best directions in
the world are worthless if you don't know where to start. Have you ever asked
for directions in Rural America? If so, you are familiar with directions which
start at no where. Convert to now here.

Line 2 of Table 1.  The station TO is named "1".  The station FROM is named
"0". The COMPASS direction is 40.  Set the dial on your compass so that the
compass reading is 40. Isn't this easy?

The TAPE distance is 200. In this case 200 hundredths of an inch. Now get out
Graph 1. This is 10 to the inch graph paper.

When you get around to using CAVEMAP1.BAS you will find Graph 1 there.  Or you
could register this disk and I'll send you the graphs. Meanwhile, any piece of
lined paper can be used. Draw an arrow along one of the lines and write an "N"
near it. My graph has cheater lines on it, but they are not necessary.

 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              75

Turn the graph paper so that the North Arrow points up.  Away.  To the top.
Unless there is some very good reason not to do so, always put North at the top
of your map. This cartographic standard makes it much easier to keep the map
orientation fresh in your feeble little mind. You will learn to *!HATE!* maps
with North in any other direction.

Put the compass on the graph paper.  Now turn the compass so that the red and
black orienting arrow points the same way as the North Arrow on your map. Your
compass is now oriented with the map.  If you need to be more exact, use the
black meridian lines inside of the compass dial. Align these black lines with
the north-south lines on the graph paper.  The compass needle is pointing
towards Magnetic North on Earth. If you have an old style Ranger, then these
lines are red and the arrow is all black. Same difference.

Now orient the map with the Earth.  Turn the whole graph paper, leaving the
compass on the paper. Turn the paper until the red and black arrow inside of
the compass dial lines up with the compass needle.  The New and Improved
Upgraded Foolproof Silva Ranger Compass Type 15CL has a red head on the arrow
so that you can remember which end is north.  Those with the old fashioned
Ranger must remember "The arrow head and the needle red."

For now you can ignore the orientation of the map. Don't let the compass
needle confuse you.

Turn the graph paper so that the North Arrow points to the top.  Put the
compass on the graph paper and turn the compass so that the red and black arrow
points the same way as the North Arrow on the map.  Slide (don't twist) the
compass until the ruler edge of the compass goes thru where I have labeled an
"x" with the name "0". Now line up the black lines inside of the dial with the
north-south lines on the map. Be sure that the ruler edge of the compass still
goes thru the x.  Now draw a line along the ruler edge, starting at the x and
extending towards the mirror. This is the plot of the compass direction. The
COMPASS direction is 40 degrees.

The TAPE reading is 200. That is 200 hundredths of a inch.  The inches ruler
on the side of the Silva Ranger has a mark every 5 hundredths, a longer mark
every 10 hundredths, and is labeled every 50 hundredths.  This is NOT a
sixteenths ruler.

Use the ruler to measure off 200 hundredths of an inch along the line
representing the 40 degree compass direction on your map. That's exactly 2
full inches. Start at the "x" which is labeled "0".  You will find it more
accurate (and also more confusing!) to start measuring at the 1 mark on your
ruler.

Make an "x" 200 hundredths out the 40 degree direction line from station 0.
Label this station "1". Congratulations! You have just plotted your first
station. Wasn't that easy?
 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              76

If you can do it once, you can do it twice. On to line 3.  The TO station is
2.  The FROM station is 1.  The way to get to TO from FROM is to go in a
COMPASS direction of 122 degrees from North, a TAPE distance of 170. Set the
compass reading to the compass direction of 122 degrees.

Put the compass on the map, orient the compass to North, ignore the compass
needle, and slide the compass until the edge passes thru the "x" labeled "1".
Align the black lines with the north- south lines.  Draw the 122 degree
direction line on the map.

Now it gets tougher. The TAPE distance is 170 hundredths of an inch, measured
along the direction line. Remember, the ruler is more accurate if you don't
start at the cut corner.  Put an "x" 170 hundredths out the 122 degree
direction line from station l. Label this station "2".

You can locate the station more accurately if you first mark the spot with a
tic, a little short line out from the proper spot on the ruler. A sharp pencil
helps too. Wasn't that easy?

If you can do it twice, you can do it thrice. Line 4 gives the instructions on
how to locate station 3.  Plot the location of station 3 on your map. Mark it
with an "x" and label it "3".  Hopefully that was easy.  If you can do it
thrice you can do it a hundred times, or however long it takes to get the job
done.

Plot Line 5. Station 4 should be at the same place as station 0. Or at least
too close to call them different.  If there is more that 20 hundredths of a
inch between them, try again.

If you have already tried again, give it up for a few days.  You have
blundered, and it should be obvious in hindsight.

If it is already a few days later and you are still making the same mistake,
perhaps it is hopeless. You can send me back my instruments and instructions,
and I'll send you your dollars back.  Be sure to enclose the maps which you
have tried to draw so that I can improve my instructions.  Or just send me
copies of your maps and whatever else you have done, and I'll straighten you
out. If you have an idea of what went wrong, make a note of it. See the end
of this chapter for my address and phone number.

Everybody else now knows how to plot a map.







 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              77

The CLOSURE ERROR is the distance on the map between two stations which are
supposed to be in the same place.  It is a check on the precision, and by
implication, the accuracy of your work.

Precision is like target shooting and getting all the bullets into the same
hole.  You have either a good gun rest or a very steady hand.  Accuracy is
getting them distributed around the bullseye on the proper target. Your rifle
is properly sighted in.

The closure error is best thought of as a percentage of the run. The RUN is
the distance which you have surveyed around a loop until you used the same
station again for the closing station. Just add up all the tape distances.
The run for the map of the land description in Table 1 is 865.

Measure the distance between station 0 and station 4 on your map. Divide this
by 865 and push the % key. If you have no distance between the stations, you
have 0% closure error. Congratulations.

				   TABLE 2

Line  Station  Station  COMPASS    TAPE      Comments
      TO       FROM     quadrants  poles

1     10       10       0          0         Stone in Speed's line

2     11       10       S72E       293 3/4   Two white oaks

3     12       11       N37E       123       Corner with Davis & Green

4     13       12       N87W       352       Dogwood in Green's line

5     14       13       S3W        23        The beginning corner

Now look at Table 2. This is the land description of a real parcel of land in
Kentucky. The compass is recorded in quadrants and the distance is in poles.
This is the common land description notation in Kentucky.

You must translate the quadrant notation into the familiar 360 degree
notation. The meaning of the quadrant notation is to face the first direction
(North or South).  Then turn the given number of degrees towards the second
direction (East or West).  Line 2 has a compass reading of S72E.  Set the
compass dial so that the pointer points to S, then turn it towards E for 72
degrees. The reading on your compass dial should be 108.

Now that you know what you are trying to do, you can take a mathematical
shortcut. You can subtract 72 from 180 and get 108.


 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              78

Where did the 180 come from, you ask? Look at your compass.  S is 180.  N is
360 or 0, whichever is more convenient.  E is 90.  W is 270.

To translate quadrants, use the following rules.

If the compass direction is a cardinal direction (N, E, S, or W) translate to
([0 or 360], 90, 180, or 270).

If a direction is within a quadrant, do the following with the number of
degrees in the quadrant:

   If the quadrant is NE, then add the degrees to 0.

   If the quadrant is SE, then subtract the degrees from 180.

   If the quadrant is SW, then add the degrees to 180.

   If the quadrant is NW, then subtract the degrees from 360.

To translate your normal compass direction (azimuth) into the quadrant system,
use the following rules:

   If the direction is a cardinal direction ([360 or 0], 90, 180, or 270), then
translate into (N, E, S, or W).

  If the compass direction is greater than 0 and less than 90, then the degrees
are correct and the quadrant is NE.

  If the compass direction is greater than 90 and less than 180, then subtract
the degrees from 180, and the quadrant is SE.

  If the compass direction is greater than 180 and less than 270, then subtract
180 from the degrees, and the quadrant is SW.

  If the compass direction is greater than 270 and less than 360, then subtract
the degrees from 360, and the quadrant is NW.

Play with the compass dial whenever you are in doubt.

Believe it or not, this system made a lot of sense in Antiquity, when the
arithmetic was done by hand. Today it is an anachronism. It's only use in the
present world is to confuse those who would survey it themselves.

A pole is the same as a rod.  16.5 feet.  This one made sense in the days
before the invention of the tape measure. But for now, plot at a scale of 100
poles to the inch.

Typical Kentucky land corners are identified under the Comments.
 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              79

Translate the compass readings and plot a map of this survey. You can plot it
on the same graph paper as you used before.

When I plotted a map of Table 2, I really couldn't see any closure error.
Calculating with a hand calculator, I determined the closure error to be 3.0
poles, or 0.4%. The direction to station 0 from station 4 is 293 degrees.
Compare this with the closure error of your plot.  Remember, the percent
closure error is the closure error divided by the run, times 100%. You should
come out with a closure error of less than 2%. Anything more is a blunder.

A bit more about blunder and error.  Error is a small difference of opinion
which sneaks into your measurements. This is due to the unfortunate fact that
the real world isn't mathematically perfect.

Error is part of this method. So far, you have made errors in setting the
declination adjustment, in setting the degrees on your compass dial, in
aligning the compass with north on your map, in placing the compass edge so
that it goes exactly thru the previous station, in setting the beginning end of
the ruler exactly on the station, in guesstimating exactly where some reading
such as 293 3/4 is on the ruler, and finally in getting your pencil in exactly
the right spot. And then there are manufacturing errors in the compass. Plus
a few more I didn't think of.

You can never eliminate all the errors. Just realize that they are there, and
manage them.

Blunders are the *BIG* mistakes. The most common blunder in surveying is to
read the wrong end of the compass. You are going just exactly bassackwards
from where you think you are going.  Blunders are obvious when you notice
them. When eliminated, they are gone completely. Except when someone reminds
you of the time when you surveyed for half a day before realizing that you
compass was always pointing toward your beltaxe!

Blunders, by definition, are big enuf to catch and cure.  Always be sure that
your work has built-in blundertraps. When they are not caught, little blunders
become BIG ERRORS.












 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              80

                                    Table 3

TO    FROM     COMPASS  TAPE                 COMMENTS

20    20       0        0

21    20       122      127 feet

22    21       8        169 feet

23    22       3        103 feet

24    23       86       211 feet

25    24       92       174 feet


26    25       S15E     12 poles

27    26       S14E     5 rods 7 links

28    27       S86W     7 poles 5 links

29    28       S2E      1 chain 32 links

30    29       S86W     13 rods 13 links


31    30       N4W      6 poles 1.5 links

32    31       N8E      3 rods

33    32       278      245 feet             closes on 20?

34    33       237      15 feet              closes on 20


Table 3 gives you some more practice in plotting a map.  Note that the
direction and distance units vary. Translate of all this into degrees and
feet. Plot a map from this land description.

What sort of closure error did you get?  What is this in terms of percent
closure error?  Is this an acceptable closure error?  The actual calculated
closure error is 0.00%. Station 33 was supposed to be the closing station as I
produced these data. The distance for station 34 is my closure error when hand
plotting the map.  My hand plotting error was 0.8%, which I consider to be
excessive. That's why I use a computer. And the computer is easier too.

 SIY1.TXT   Plot a Map from a Land Description                              81

Take another look at your map. The closure error should be quite small.  Now
look at the boundary of the parcel and think about it. Is it possible to make
a blunder and still have a small closure error? Possible, but not probable.

You are now ready to plot a map of whatever interests you.  You may need to
translate the land description into the proper format to plot. Some units of
distance which you may encounter are: a pole or a perch or a rod, 16.5 feet; a
rope, 20 feet; a chain, 66 feet; a link, [a hundredth chain] 0.66 feet; a
furlong, (ten chains) 660 feet; a yard, 3.00 feet; a meter, 3.28 feet.

If your map comes out too tiny, or if it won't fit on the paper, then you will
have to change the scale of your map.  A square plot containing 10 acres has
the length of each side exactly one furlong, or 660 feet.  At a scale of 100
feet per inch, the map of that 10 acre square would be 6.6 inches square. This
fits nicely on the graph paper.  You might want to plot on a few different
scales just to see what happens. If you run off the graph paper, you can add
another piece to that side. Line up the gridlines.  Mark how the two sheets
connect, or tape them together.

You can obtain a copy of a deed for a parcel of land by visiting your Recorder
of Deeds, or whatever title he holds in your county.  Just walk into the
courthouse and ask for the deeds.

You will need help finding what you want, so ask.  The deeds are indexed in
various ways, depending upon where you are. In Wayne County Kentucky, deeds
are indexed alphabetically by date. Really. I told you that you would need
help!

I find the three little rubber map grippers on the compass to be an annoyance.
They are meant to keep the compass from slipping on the map paper.  They work
too well. Just pull them out and stick them onto the compass box with a piece
of sticky tape. You might want them again when using the compass with a topo
map in the field.

If your deed does not give directions and distances, you are out of luck.
There is no way to determine where a boundary given simply as "bounded by John
Dough's property on the south" is, unless it is stated on John Dough's deed.
You will just have to skip drawing a map from the deed.

You may prefer to use a separate circular protractor and ruler for plotting.
But start with the Silva Ranger.  Using the Silva for plotting on paper will
teach you how to use it for surveying.

For those of you with land in Township & Range territory, see Chapter 6.

If you have any questions, problems, or comments, write or call me.
Dave Beiter, CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner KY 42639.  606/376-3137.


 SIY10.TXT         Error and Blunder                                        47

                                  Chapter 10

                               Error and Blunder

In this chapter you will learn about your mistakes.

You will need:

a) To think.

Mistakes have been made before.  If you haven't made any mistakes while
learning to survey, then it can only be because you are not learning.  You were
smart to skim the entire book first.  Just wait until you have actually tried
some of this!

The way to keep from making a fool of yourself is to keep track of your
mistakes.  It does you much less than no good to have the answer, but then not
know how good that answer is.  No fool like a confident fool.

Error is part of all numerical measurement.  In most surveying situations, you
can never know what the correct answer is.  The best which you can do is to
come close.  And to know how close.

Mistakes come in two kinds.  The kind with which you are most familiar, the BIG
ones, are blunders.  Blunders are big enuf so that they are obvious once you
have found them.  They occur only occasionally.  You hope.  Blunders can be
eliminated.  Once caught, the blunder is corrected.

Error is the sum of all the little mistakes.  The ones which are so small that
you can't even see the little buggers, let alone catch 'em.  The best you can
do is to keep your errors small.  In terms which even a Neanderthal could
understand, error is like being eaten by worms.  Blunder is like being eaten by
a cave bear.

The compass is the most important source of error when surveying with this
method.  The one best thing which you can do to improve the quality of your
surveying is to take backsights.  This is little extra trouble, especially if
you have an assistant with an extra compass.  I usually accept a one degree
difference between the compass and the backcompass.  Anything more is blunder,
and the compasses are read again.  If you don't take backsights, at least take
two compass readings.  The worst problem with the Silva Ranger is that you can
sight it while tilted and not know it.  This binds the needle and causes
blunder.

Always check that you have not made the blunder of binding the compass needle.
Eliminate the blunder by holding the compass level.  When the blunder is gone,
it's gone.

 SIY10.TXT         Error and Blunder                                        48

Another cause of compass error is to have the needle perturbed by nearby iron
or steel.  A backsight usually catches this blunder.

Compared with compass error, the error contributed by the tape and clinometer
are minor.  Table 4 shows the calculated theoretical errors for several
combinations of instrument errors.

















 SIY10.TXT         Error and Blunder                                        49

                                    Table 4

                               A Table of Errors

COMPASS   TAPE   INCLINOMETER  TOTAL    COMMENTS
error     error  error         error
degrees   %      degrees       %

1         0.1      2           1.75     standard quality

0.5       0.1      2           0.88     excellent compass

2         0.1      2           3.49     poor compass


1         0.1      2           1.75     standard quality

1         0.2      2           1.76     tape to 2 tenths

1         1        2           2.01     tape to one foot

1         5        2           5.30     tape to five feet


1         0.1      2           1.75     standard quality

1         0.1      4           1.76     poor clinometer

1         0.1     10           2.32     guess clinometer


1         0.1      2           1.75     standard quality

1         5        5           6.11     compass & pace

2        10       10          10.7      compass & guess

5        10       10          13.4      quick compass & guess


1         0.1      2           1.75     standard quality

0         0.1      2           0.12     tape & incl error only

1         0        2           1.75     compass & incl error only

1         0.1      0           1.75     compass & tape error only

 SIY10.TXT         Error and Blunder                                        50

For those of you who prefer English to numbers, 

                         BE CAREFUL WITH THE COMPASS!

You can measure the distance to only the nearest foot, guess at the
inclination, and still nearly all of the error comes from the compass.

How many more ways can I say it?  Take a good compass reading, then repeat your
compass reading.  Then take a backsight.  Or two.

These theoretical errors can be considered to be the expected closure error.
In practice, you should reject any survey with a percent closure error of more
than the theoretical error for your instruments.  You have blundered.  Go do it
again.  If you don't survey in loops so that you can check the closure, you
won't catch those blunders.

If you are in a situation where you can't do it again, consult.  There are some
mathematical tricks which might save a bad job.  Usually the easiest way is to
just resurvey it.

The error in the location of a station is the percent theoretical error times
the distance from where you knew you were right.  The error in the acreage of a
parcel is approximately 1.5 times the percent theoretical error, times the
acreage.

The second commonest source of gross blunder, after faulty instrument
technique, is faulty recording technique.  I always have my recorder repeat
each number after recording.  I make an office copy of the notes while they are
fresh in my mind.

Be sure that you know which station goes with what numbers.  This is especially
important if you took multiple compass readings or are branching.  The recorder
should also be sure that all data are recorded before allowing the instrument
reader to move on to the next station.

The third commonest gross blunder is reading the wrong end of the compass.
This is all too easy to do, even with the Silva Ranger.  Keeping track of what
you are doing with a sketch map helps.

The fourth gross blunder is lost survey notes.  I offer no easy solution.

By taking backsights and rejecting loops with bad closure, it is possible to
achieve an error of about 0.5% using the Silva Ranger compass.  If you need
more than 99.5% accuracy, you need better instruments.  You probably should
hire a professional surveyor for the job.  Do the preliminary survey yourself
so that the surveyor doesn't waste any of his expensive time.  It will also
keep him honest.

 SIY10.TXT         Error and Blunder                                        51

If you have determined an error in surveying a line, you may distribute the
error according any of a number of schemes.  All of them require more
arithmetic than I would do by hand.



Dave Beiter
CAVE Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner, KY  42639

606/376-3137


 SIY11.TXT   Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World                  52

                                  Chapter 11

                 Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World

In this chapter you will read tales of hard-won experience.  Many of these
inspirations have come while surveying in some deep dark dank muddy hole in the
ground.  This surveying method was devised to give usable data under the worst
of environmental conditions.  Cheaply.  With inexperienced assistants, or no
assistance at all.  The instruments are practically indestructible under
abnormal use.

The only simple way to destroy a Silva Ranger compass is to put it on the
dashboard of your car or truck.  The defroster will cook it.  The plastic
mirror will craze and warp and the compass capsule might get an air bubble in
it.  Silva warns, "Do not lay your compass near [a] radiator[, n]or where [the]
temperature can become excessive, such as on a pavement in the sun." I have
never tried a radiator, but I have defrosted a couple of Rangers.  I don't
spend much time around pavements nor in The Sun, but I never have had any
trouble with sunshine, black rocks, and the Ranger.

I also once broke the hinge on a Silva Ranger by dropping it on a sidewalk.  I
have dropped Rangers on rocks hundreds of times without damage, but the one
time that I dropped one on a sidewalk was fatal.  Stay away from sidewalks!

The basic surveying method is so simple that I have seldom spent more than an
hour teaching someone to survey in a cave.  The worst problem is getting
legible notes.  It takes about ten minutes to master the mysteries of the
compass.

If the compass is tilted, then it will give you the wrong answer.  Be sure that
the needle jiggles when you tap the compass.  Look in the mirror to check
this.  Don't try to look at the compass dial directly.

The best way to improve the quality of your survey is to improve the quality of
your compass readings.  Be sure that you have taken a good compass bearing,
then take another one.  Or better yet, take backsights too.  Best yet, have
your assistant use a different compass to take the backsights.

The compass declination changes with time, as much as a degree per decade.  The
declination map in the Silva instructions is sufficient for most surveying.  If
you have a declination error, it will result in the map being rotated.  This is
more of a nuisance than a calamity.  When you are comparing maps, just rotate
for best fit.  The amount of rotation is the declination error and can be
measured with the protractor.  A new map could be plotted or calculated with
the correct declination if you think it is worth the bother.



 SIY11.TXT   Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World                  53

Magnetic declination is shown on the topo map of the area.  The Isogonic Chart
of the United States (see Chapter 14) can also be used to calculate the current
magnetic declination.  Why bother?  The chart in the Silva Ranger Instruction
Manual is a bit dated, but is still plenty good enuf for surveying it yourself.

The tape measure must seem like a new kind of candy to animals.  I have had one
tape measure devoured by a herd of pigs, and another damaged by a dog.

The 200 foot fiberglass tapemeasure can make quite a Gordian Knot if you aren't
careful.  My suggestion is to coil it up around your elbow and hand.  Tie it
with a piece of twine.  When uncoiling, walk away while feeding tape from the
same side of the coil from which you wound it, Last In First Out [LIFO].

On ground flat and smooth enuf to walk easily, a compass and pace survey is the
ultimate in getting a lot of information for a little trouble.  The 10% error
is acceptable for much preliminary work.  If I have an assistant to keep the
owner occupied, I can usually pace survey while walking around the land the
first time.

Try to pick survey stations which you can find again.  Not every station need
be permanent, but do it whenever convenient.  A gatepost, an unusual tree, a
point of rock, or a piece of pipe pounded into the ground are good permanent
stations.  Flagging ribbon or rags will make a station more obvious.  Temporary
stations need be no more than a scuff mark.  If you blaze trees or make other
permanent marks, be sure that they are in the right place first.  Especially if
they are on someone else's land!

A 300 foot roll of bright orange flagging ribbon is available from CAVE, Inc
for two bux [$2].  Other colors, stripes, polkadots, and flags on wire are
available special order.

When permanently marking property lines, it is considered to be in good form to
invite the affected neighbor along.  Bring your camera too.  If it ever comes
before twelve of your peers, then photographs will be worth a lot more than
some mumbo jumbo about compass error.

You need not make the distance between stations the same as did the original
surveyor.  He probably set as few stations as possible.  It takes the boss
about ten minutes of fiddling to get a good set with a transit or undamped
forester's compass.  Then he can relax while the rest of the crew hacks brush
for a half hour.

The Silva Ranger uses no tripod and takes only ten seconds to read.  I usually
read the compass at each tape-length.  You can set up long shots to reduce the
number of compass readings, but it is certainly not worth it.



 SIY11.TXT   Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World                  54

The clinometer should be read parallel to the ground.  This means that your
target should be your eyelevel on your assistant.  The tapemeasure should be
read parallel to the ground too.  The tape should be pulled tight, with just a
little sag.  And don't go around a tree and put a bend in the tape.

If your station is a mark on the ground and you hold the tape at waist height,
then you must read the tape over the station mark.  Drop a pebble or your
pencil from the supposed tape reading and marvel at how far off you can be.  It
takes a lot of tape error to have much effect on your survey, but since this is
a systematic error (all in the same way) you should eliminate it.

You don't need to occupy exactly a station to use it.  Here in backwoods
Kentucky, corners are commonly trees.  It is rather difficult to stand at the
center of a tree!  Unless, of course, the tree is long dead and rotted away.
But then you can't find it.  [You can't win.  You can't break even.  You can't
even get out of the game.  (That's thermodynamics for you!)]

But you can measure as if you were measuring to the center of the tree.  Sight
the compass on the center of the TO tree while standing in front of the FROM
tree.  Measure the TAPE to halfway around the tree.  Have your assistant put
the clinometer target at the proper height alongside of the tree.  Another
handy trick is for both you and your assistant to take a step or few to the
side.  This could enable you to "see thru" some brush, or to get away from a
perturbing fence or hornets' nest.

If you are trying to follow another surveyor, you must be able to find at least
one of his stations.  It need not be the starting station.  Just a station
which you can identify.  You can start anywhere and go in either direction.

If you cannot find any previous station, map the given boundaries of the
parcel.  The resulting map should look pretty much like the map drawn from the
land description in the deed.  The boundary should be made of segments which
intersect at the corners.  From the comparison, you should be able to come
close enuf to find a corner if there is anything there to find.

Just because your predecessor was a professional surveyor, don't assume that he
couldn't make a mistake.  While most of today's surveyors check their work for
blunders just like you should do, it wasn't always so.  There are occasional
blunders.  Typograhpic errors, they call 'em.

The old surveys here in the far Boonies of Kentucky are overrun with blunders.
Many were surveyed from the safety and comfort of the owner's front porch, with
the assistance of a jug or three of moonshine.  It is quite possible for you to
be right and for everyone else to be wrong.  It is quite common, actually.

Even if the old surveyor did a good job, there may be copying errors.  I have
noticed that about one new mutation is made in every three deed transcriptions.

 SIY11.TXT   Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World                  55

Every station must reference a previous station, or be a fresh start.  But FROM
need not be the previous station, only a previous station.  You can go back and
branch off from any previous station.  When branching, circle the FROM in your
notes so that you will be sure to notice it when plotting.  You can shoot many
stations from a single station, such as the locations several buildings.

It is possible to have multiple loops in your survey.  These often help to
isolate a blunder to a particular part of the survey.  When calculating
closure, remember that RUN is the distance around the loop in question, not
necessarily the entire distance of the survey.  For instance, you could map the
boundaries, plus the roads, trails, fencelines, streams, buildings, wells, and
cave entrances, as well as any other lines and points of interest.

You need not actually put your assistant on a station to survey it.  A "compass
and guess" station is often sufficient.  You will get good at guessing the tape
after a while.

A station can also be located with compass directions from two other stations,
and no distances.  Measure and plot the directions from the other stations.
Your inaccessible station is where the direction lines cross.

You probably won't want to survey right down a line such as a fence or the
middle of a river.  The fence perturbs the compass; the river perturbs the
surveyor.  Simply survey alongside the line and measure the offset.  Five paces
is a good distance from a wire fence.  Be sure to record which way to the
fence, as well as how far.

It is a simple matter to survey around a hornets' nest or a briar patch.  Just
keep good notes of what you are doing.  You may want to plot field map as you
go along.

If you are trying to survey a straight boundary between two corners, you
needn't concern yourself with surveying a straight line.  Survey wherever
convenient, plot this line on your map, draw your straight line, measure the
error at each station between the corner stations, and go back to the field and
move your tentative stations as indicated on your plot.  It sounds overly
complicated, but it really is a lot easier done this way.

A good next book up is "Compass Land Surveying" by F. Henry Sipe.  See Chapter
14, Sources.  This book is full of useful information without a lot of fancy
mathematics.  The instrument used is the Forester Compass, but most of it is
applicable to the Silva Ranger.  There are good chapters on the legal aspects
of surveying and on problem solving.  Sipe is showing you how to think about
what you are doing; he is not training you to recite magic formulae and
incantations.  A good next book down is "A Layman's Guide to Land Surveying"
also by Sipe.  Here he explains how to hire the right surveyor and how to tell
him what you want done.

 SIY11.TXT   Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World                  56

In general, when land is sold, the intent of the seller, rather than the actual
land description, takes precedence.  It is just too easy to blunder when
surveying or typing.

The locations of the corners control the location of the boundary lines.  A
fence may stray from the straight line between corners, but that does not
automatically make the fence line the boundary line.  Of course the adjoining
landowners may agree to call the boundary line any place they choose.  If this
agreed boundary line is much different from the proscribed location, a written
contract should be executed.  Consult your attorney.  If a line is marked and
remains uncontested for a number of years (which varies from state to state),
then there are grounds for adverse possession.

The direction and distance are merely an aid to finding the next corner.  The
actual location of the corner takes precedence over where the "degrees and
poles" run to.  If no one has blundered, then you should be close enuf to
easily find whatever the corner is.  Blazed trees, carved rocks, car axles or
pipe pounded into the ground, and cast concrete posts are good ways to mark
corners so that they may be easily found.

Corners or lines which move, such as a trail junction or a streambed, may or
may not move the property corner or line.  The general rule is that if the
movement is evolutionary [insidious, gradual and progressive], the boundary
moves also.  If the movement is revolutionary [obvious, sudden and
catastrophic], then the boundary does not move.

If you have any problems in applying the basic surveying method to your
particular situation, ask.  Draw a sketch of what you want to do.  I'm
especially interested in any scientific applications.  This is a good method
for measuring points, lines, areas, or volumes with dimensions ranging from a
few tens of feet to a few miles.  The expected error is about 1% of the
distance.  A mile of survey line should take between about an hour and a day to
complete with a two or three man crew.  Applications range from the exotic to
the mundane.  My particular uses are mapping caves, locating property
boundaries, and setting building foundations.

I can't tell you everything about everything.  Before you holler for help,
THINK about what you are trying to do.  If you want to modify the method, then
you should calculate how this would affect the final survey.  Draw yourself
pictures whenever you get stuck.

And when you are stuck good, it will not be because of something which you
don't know, but rather it will be because of something which you do know that
ain't so.




 SIY11.TXT   Helpful Hints for Surveying in the Real World                  57

There are situations when a ½ fast survey simply is not good enuf.  For
disputes, or where a licensed surveyor is mandated by force of law, get a
professional.  Even then, you probably will want to survey it yourself first.
Get all the problems solved and the arguments with the neighbors settled before
the $100 an hour fellow arrives.  You can also keep other surveyors honest.

You should agree with the professionals within your limits of error.  If not,
then don't stop asking questions until you know the reason why.  And don't
accept magic as a answer.  Magic is for magicians and shysters and such.  Magic
will get you ripped off.

The hand plotting method with the Silva Ranger compass works well only when the
tape distances on the map are between 0.5 and 3 inches.  If you are using a two
hundred foot tape measure, you cannot accurately plot on an aerial photo or
topo map scale.

You can accurately reduce a larger map on graph paper by the method of
squares.  Select your reduction factor, such as ten times smaller.  Draw big
squares on your map, with each side of the big square the reduction factor
[10x] squares long.  Now sketch your new map on the small squares, using the
map with the big squares as a guide.  Enlargements are done the same way, only
different.  Of course, if you have calculated, rather than plotted with a
compass, then you can plot directly at any scale.  And if you use my CAVEMAP
program on your computer, it might even draw the map on your printer.  An
enlarging/reducing copier can also be used, but it probably won't be able to
make the scale which you want.

If you have the proper sort of mentality, you can see that you could easily
prestidigitate a few numbers in a land description, and no one would be any
wiser.  At least not until after the land was magically stolen, and then it is
too late.  You can see that you don't need to actually walk down a boundary
line to survey it.  You would use a calculator to be sure that everything
closes perfectly, with no embarrassing closure errors to attract suspicion.

Even if you don't have this sort of mentality, others do.  People have been
thinking this way for at least 3500 years.  Moses had something to say about it
in his second book of rules for maintaining a civilized society.  See
Deuteronomy 19:14 & 27:17.

If any of this is still magic after you have practiced a few times (except for
the fact that the red end of the compass needle points North) ask me for a
better explanation.  No magic.  When you make blunders in magic, you can't
catch them.  This makes magic very dangerous.  There should be no magic in your
surveying.  Magic is for magicians and investment advisors.

If you have questions, problems, or just constructive criticism, contact me.

Dave Beiter CAVE Inc 1/2 Fast Road Ritner, KY 42639 606/376-3137


 SIY12.TXT      The Next Step Up                                             58

                                  Chapter 12

                               The Next Step Up

The error involved in this surveying method is approximately 1%, or a precision
of 99%.  This is due to reading the compass to only one degree.

If 99% precision is not acceptable, a better compass can be used.  A Brunton
pocket transit type compass on a tripod can be read to a quarter degree.  This
results in an expected error of 0.45%.  The cost of the Brunton Pocket Transit
and tripod is approximately $270.

A Suunto KB-20 compass in a steady hand or on a monopod will yield about the
same results for $25.  Unfortunately, the Suunto only functions on level
ground.  Also, you cannot use it for a protractor and ruler to plot your map.
There is also a rivalry error introduced by the interaction of the virtual
sighting mechanism and some quirks of stereoscopic vision.

A staff compass or forester's compass can be read to about a quarter degree
also.  The "staff" refers to a Jacob's staff, a one footed tripod.  The cost is
about $400.  There are several models.

The next improvement in the instrumentation is a telescopic compass.  These are
accurate to about a tenth degree.  The expected error is approximately 0.15%.
A telescopic compass and tripod costs approximately $800. Several models.

The magnetic field of The Earth is not accurate to a tenth degree.  You will
have to be aware of magnetic storms if you try for this sort of precision with
a compass.  It is not only getting expensive, but it is getting to be a lot of
trouble too.  This book is supposed to be a poor man's guide to surveying
quickly, easily, and inexpensively.

To obtain errors of less than 0.1%, or a precision of 99.9%, requires the use
of even more expensive and delicate instrumentation; a transit or theodolite.
I never have had any use for this sort of precision.  This is the realm of the
civil engineer.  There is surely no land around here worth that much trouble.

If you have a lot of preliminary surveying to do, an improved method of
measuring distance is available.  A small device called a stringbox will
quickly measure distance without an assistant.  A thread is pulled over a
rotating counter, and the distance is read on a dial.  These cost between $100
and $200.

If you need to read many inclinations, an Abney level is much handier that the
clinometer on the Ranger.  An Abney level costs between $50 and $150.

Dave Beiter, CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639 606/376-3137


 SIY13.TXT      Self Defense Against Surveyors                               59

                                  Chapter 13

                        Self Defense Against Surveyors

This surveying method does not use bulky instruments on tripods, nor does it
require three assistants waving flags.  It is very easy to survey
surreptitiously.  Use this ability wisely.

Some other surveyors are not quite so discrete.  When the government wants to
take your land by eminent domain, it first sends out a team of surveyors.  You
can rest assured that they won't be using any "poor man's method", either.  If
you ever see uninvited surveyors on your property, invite them to leave.  At
gunpoint, if necessary.  Tell them to bring a court order when they return.

It is much easier to stop the theft of your land before it has been measured
and entered onto the government's maps.  You can't stop the surveyors
permanently, but you can make them show you a court order.  This will warn you
what new grandiose project you are soon to be a part of.  There are many sad
stories of residents learning too little and too late that their home was a
part of some new toxic waste disposal site or missile silo.  Don't let it
happen to you.  And you can even use your poor man's method to keep the
government surveyors honest.

If you have understood how a land description is generated from a actual
survey, and how a lost line may be found from a land description, then you will
notice that it is not necessary to actually survey the boundary.  Preliminary
civil engineering surveys are usually done from aerial photography.  It is
quite simple, given the proper equipment and mentality, to conjure a land
description which is not what it purports to be.  Without ever setting foot
near the property.  Forewarned.

When your poor man's survey is not good enuf for your purposes, then you will
have to call in a professional surveyor.  Most of these folks are quite honest,
and do a quick and efficient job.  You should read "A Layman's Guide to Land
Surveying" (see Sources, Chapter 14) before surveyor shopping.

As with any bunch, there are a few shysters and quacks hiding behind a
professional demeanor.  You should be able to smoke out these charlatans
masquerading as surveyors by doing your own preliminary survey.

Any professional surveyor should agree with you to within your limit of error.
If he doesn't, then don't stop asking questions until you get a good answer.
Accept no magic.  If your "professional surveyor" insists that you are too
stupid to understand what he is doing, then get a real professional.  You might
even report the quack to the state surveyors' licensing board.


 SIY14.TXT      Sources                                                      60

                                  Chapter 14

                                    Sources

ASCS (Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service), a federal office
located in each county seat.  See the local phone book.  Aerial photographs for
that county.  The national photo laboratory is USDA/ASCS, POB 30010, SLC, UT
84130.  801/542-5856.  You'll need the location marked on a topo or county map
for them to select the proper photos.

CAVE Inc, ½ Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  Dave, 606/376-3137.  Education and
consulting; geology (speleology, hydrology, chemistry), real estate (rural &
remote properties, property evaluation), computer programming (PC\IBM & Apple
II).  Send your questions, comments, and complaints here.  I also sell the
required compass, tapemeasure, etc.

Johnson Camping, Inc, Binghampton, NY 13902-1604.  800/572-8822.  Send your
comments about the Ranger here.  Especially tell them what you think about
their Instruction Manual.

Sipe, F.  Henry, 1404 Harrison Ave, Elkins WV 26241.  304/636-2465.  "A
Layman's Guide to Land Surveying", $5.  This little book tells you how to shop
for a surveyor, and how to tell him what you want done.  "Compass Land
Surveying", $??.  A textbook for surveyors using a forester's compass.  Very
good at explaining problem solving.  Most is applicable to the Silva Ranger.
This fellow holds West Virginia Surveyor's License No 1.

Timely Discount Topos, Inc, 9769 West 119th Drive, Suite 9, Broomfield, CO
80020.  (800)821-7609 & (303)469-5022 & (303)466-3780[FAX].  Just what the name
says.  If you can't wait five months for USGS, order your topo maps here.
Other USGS publications too.

USGS (United States Geological Survey), Topo Maps, Box 25286, Federal Center
Bldg 41, Denver, CO 80225.  Topographic maps.  Request a free index map of your
state.  Ask for a free "Topographic Map Symbols" pamphlet too.  Very slow.

Last chance to remind you to take careful compass readings.  The precision of
your compass readings is the major factor controlling the precision of your
surveying.


 SIY2.TXT    Write a Land Description from a Map                             19

                                   Chapter 2

                      Write a Land Description from a Map

For this chapter you will need: 

a) Silva Ranger type 15 compass, available for $39 from CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast
Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  606/376-3137.  If you do not have a Silva Ranger
compass, then you may substitute a circular protractor and a ruler.  You could
even make do with a schoolchild's protractor and ruler, but you won't like it.

b) These instructions,

c) Pencil & notepaper,

d) The maps which you plotted in Chapter 1 or 1-C.

You will NOT need:

a) Any land,

b) Any land description,

c) Any assistants,

d) Nor to leave the comfort and safety of your kitchen.

e) You don't even need this computer, except to make a printout so that these
instructions can be doodled with a pencil.

Label your notepaper "Data measured from Map 1".

Make column headings, "TO FROM COMPASS TAPE COMMENTS".

Get out the map which you made from the data of Table 1.

Station 0 is the starting point.  On the first line write "0" for station TO,
"0" for station FROM, 0 for the COMPASS direction, and 0 for the TAPE
distance.  Now you have started somewhere.

Onwards.  TO 1, FROM 0.  Lay your compass on the map next to station 0.  Turn
your compass so that the mirror points in the direction of travel.  Slide the
compass so that the edge of the compass base aligns with the line TO 1, FROM
0.  Now turn the compass dial so that the red and black arrow points north on
the map and the black lines inside of the dial align with the north-south lines
on the map.  Remove the compass and read the COMPASS direction under the index
blob.  Record this number in your notes.

 SIY2.TXT    Write a Land Description from a Map                            20

To measure the TAPE distance, use the ruler on the base of your compass.
Remember, this ruler is graduated in twentieths of an inch, not sixteenths.

Fill out your table of data.  At each station, record the station TO, the
station FROM, the COMPASS direction, and the TAPE distance.  Now compare this
table with Table 1.  They should be the same.

How close is close enuf?  For now, 5 degrees and 5 hundredths of an inch.  For
serious work you can be accurate to 1 degree and 1 hundredth.

Any boundary on a map can be described as a land description by this method.

1} Start someplace.

2} Then measure the direction and distance to the next point.

3} Repeat step 2 until you have your land description.

Any point on the map, such as the location of a building, well, or cave can be
described in this way.  Draw a line TO the point FROM a point which you have
already located.  Measure the direction and distance.  The station FROM need
not be THE previous station.  It need be only A previous station.  Be sure to
keep track of the station FROM when you write your land description.

Now label another table.  The name of this table is "Data measured backwards
from Map 1".  Write the standard column headings, "TO FROM COMPASS TAPE
COMMENTS".  Add another column, "compass backwards".

Start at station 4.  TO 3, FROM 4.  Measure and record the compass and tape the
same way as you did before.  In addition, at each station take another compass
direction reading with the red and black arrow pointing backwards.  Pointing
south on your map.  Record this direction under compass backwards.

Compare the land description going forwards with the one going backwards.
Notice that you have the same compass and tape (or close enuf) going in either
direction around the map.  They are in different places, to be sure.

The value of "compass backwards" can be calculated.  Simply add 180 to, or
subtract 180 from, the compass reading going in the normal direction.  Take the
choice which gives the answer between 0 and 360 degrees.

Play around with this until you are convinced that you can translate map into
land description, and land description into map.  Forwards and backwards.
Fluently.  And when you get confused again, draw yourself pictures until you
are unconfused.

No magic.  Magic is for such as magicians and politicians.  It will get a
surveyor or a scientist into BIG trouble. Don't.


SIY3.TXT       Field Survey and Write a Land Description                    21
       
                                  Chapter 3

                   Field Survey and Write a Land Description

In this chapter you will write a land description just like you did in Chapter
2.  The only exception is that you will do it from a map on a grand scale.  The
real Earth.

For this chapter you will need:

a) Silva Ranger type 15 compass, available for $39 from CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast
Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  606/376-3137.  This time there is no substitute for
the real thing.

b) A place outdoors to practice,

c) Pencil and notepaper.

You will not need:

a) Tapemeasure, but when you do need one, an unbreakable 200 foot Keson PVC
coated fiberglass surveyor's tapemeasure is available from CAVE Inc for $26.

b) Clinometer,

c) Assistant,

d) Deed.

e) You don't even need this computer, except to make a printout so that these
instructions can be doodled with a pencil.

You will be doing something different with the compass.  You will use it for a
compass.  Put the compass on like a necklace with a pendant.  The latest fad.

Open the compass lid.  Tilt the mirror up about halfway towards straight up.
Hold the compass out in front of you, at about mouth level.  Close one eye and
sight your target thru the vee sighting notch atop the mirror.  Now look into
the mirror, without moving the compass.  Twiddle with the mirror until you can
see all of the compass dial in the mirror.

Don't try to look at the compass dial directly.  You can't see the dial and
still hold the compass level, so don't bother trying.  The compass must be
level when taking a compass direction.  The compass needle must be free to
swing and jiggle without binding on the compass case.



 SIY3.TXT       Field Survey and Write a Land Description                   22

There is a line in the mirror.  Turn the compass until this line goes thru the
pivot point of the compass needle.  Now turn the dial until the red and black
arrow lines up with the compass needle.  The needle red and the arrow head.
The old Ranger has an all black arrow, but don't let that confuse you.  Note
that the needle may not be exactly in the center of the red and black arrow.
That's OK, just so long as the needle and the sides of the arrow are parallel.

Your compass direction is under the index blob.  And it will stay there until
you change it.  Read the compass direction at your leisure.

To take a good compass reading, the following four things must all happen at
the same time.  In what order you do them makes no difference, as long as they
all finally happen at the same time.

a) You see your target thru the vee sighting notch.

b) You see the line in the mirror pass thru the center of the pivot.

c) You see the red and black arrow and the compass needle align.  Needle red,
   arrow head.

d) The compass needle really is pointing North.

Now that you know how to take a compass reading, find yourself a place to work
outdoors.  A yard or park is the best choice.  It needs to be level and at
least 25 paces square.  A pace is how far you get in one step.  About 2.5 to
3.0 feet.  Try to find a place without too much traffic or interruptions.

Pick an obvious place to start.  Try to keep away from steel.  Steel perturbs
the compass.  Stay 5 paces away from cars, steel reinforced pavement, or wire
fences.  I don't know how far from a steel reinforced building is dangerous,
never having had that problem.  50 paces??

Label your paper with headings: TO  FROM  COMPASS  TAPE  COMMENTS 

Your starting point is station 0.  Describe or mark it so that you can find it
again.  You'll know if you have done a good job of marking it when you try to
find it again.  Enter the data for this station in your notes.  A row of 0 0 0
0.  Remember, you gotta start somewhere.

Pick your next station.  It is the second station, but name it "1".  This one
need not be permanent.  A wad of paper, a beer can, or an assistant will do.
Just so long as it stays put for a few minutes & you can see it from station 0.

Go back to station 0.  Measure the COMPASS direction TO station 1 FROM station
0.  Sight thru the vee sight, put the line in the mirror in the center of the
pivot, and turn the arrow until it aligns with the compass needle.

 SIY3.TXT       Field Survey and Write a Land Description                   23

The arrow head and the needle red.  Check that the compass isn't tilted so that
it binds the needle.

Now pace off the distance to station l from station 0.  Enter this information
in your notes.

I hope that you don't feel that I have cheated you, but that's all there really
is to land surveying.  If you are really dissatisfied, I'll refund your money.
What can I say?  I told you that is was ridiculously easy.

For the rest of you, there are a lot of helpful hints.

Organize your data notes the same way as you did in Chapter 2.

TO       FROM      COMPASS      backsight      TAPE      COMMENTS 

Record your data for each station.  Be sure that you have recorded the data for
each line before you move on to the next station.  And always be sure to start
somewhere.

You can check your compass technique by taking a compass direction to station 0
from station 1.  If you align the tail of the arrow with the red end of the
compass needle, you can read your original compass direction under the index
blob.  No need to fool around adding 180 degrees.

This is a backsight.  You took the compass direction to station 0 from station
1.  What you really wanted was the direction to station 1 from station 0.
These directions are 180 degrees apart.  You were heading in exactly opposite
directions.  Be careful that you don't make the classic blunder of getting them
mixed up.  Everybody has to do it once.  Record backsights in the backsight
column.

Notice that when you are standing on station 1 looking at station 2, your
compass reading is TO 2.  When you look back to station 0, your backsight is TO
1.  They are not entered on the same line.

With a little practice you should be able to get your sights and backsights to
agree within a degree.  For now, five degrees difference is plenty good enuf.
You might not be able to agree even within five degrees if you are near a lot
of steel.  If you have this problem, then try a different yard or park before
yelling for help.

The distance is measured in paces.  Just walk between the stations and count
your steps.  Measure to half paces.  If you want to know the distance in feet,
you will have to measure the length of your pace in feet for a conversion
factor.


 SIY3.TXT       Field Survey and Write a Land Description                   24

Your pace should be about 2.5 to 3.0 feet.  By the definition of a mile (a
thousand double paces) it is 2.64 feet [5280 / 2000, where the symbol "/" is
computerese for the arithmetic operation of divide].  You could use your
tapemeasure if it won't cause a traffic jam.

You should now have two stations recorded.  Station 0, your starting station,
and station 1, with compass and tape data.  Pick station 2, put something there
so that you can see it from station 1, and go to it.

Put in station 3.

Now put station 4 in the same place as station 0.  Make a note in your comments
that station 4 is the same place as station 0.

Your now have four stations in a loop.  The closure error on the ground in
reality is 0.0  Stations 0 and 4 are in exactly the same place.

Pick up your trash and go back to your kitchen table, or whatever you are using
for an office.

Get out a fresh sheet of notepaper.  Transcribe your field notes.  Make a nice
clean office copy without all the doodles and crossed out mistakes.  (You've
already found out that erasures of bad data are an invitation to blunder.
Cross out those mistakes.) Be sure to label both the field and office copies
with what you have surveyed, when, with what instruments, and by whom.

Now plot a map from your data.  Just like you did in Chapter 1.  Be sure that
you label your map.  Be sure that the North arrow points up.  A Suggested scale
is 10 paces per inch.  Write on your map: "10 paces = 1 inch" (or whatever
scale you are using).  This is so that you will remember the map scale
tomorrow.

You should have a closure error of a few paces.  If you wish to get more
technical, you should not have more closure error than 2 paces plus 5% of the
run.  If you do have more error than this, it is not error.  It is blunder.  Go
survey it again and find out what you did wrong so that you don't make the same
mistake again.

If you do make the same mistake again, try a different place.  The most likely
problem in a city is too much steel perturbing the compass.  How well do your
sights and backsights agree?

Now find a place where you can try the 200 foot surveyor's tapemeasure.  Note
that the tapemeasure is graduated in feet and tenths, not inches.  This makes
the calculations a lot easier.

I like to call TAPE by the name PACE when I'm doing a pace survey.  That makes
it easier to understand my notes later.
 SIY3.TXT       Field Survey and Write a Land Description                   25

If you can't find a convenient place to use the tapemeasure, just continue.
Play with the tape when you find a safe place.

If you wish, you can plot your map at the same time as when you collect your
survey data.  Your protractor is already set to the proper direction.  The
ruler is right there in your hand too.  This is the great advantage of the
Silva Ranger over other systems.  Replot your field map when you get back to
your kitchen office.  Plotting as you survey helps you to keep track of what
you are doing, and catches blunders.

All this time you have assumed that the compass needle was pointing North.  It
wasn't, but it was close.  The compass doesn't point towards The North Pole,
but rather to The North Magnetic Pole.  Adjust the declination on your
compass.  Turn the declination adjusting screw located at 45 degrees on your
dial.  Use the screw driver on the safety cord.  Read the declination under the
tail or head of the black arrow.

It doesn't make any difference which end of the arrow you use, but you might
understand better which way is which if you use the arrow head as the
declination pointer.  Even Silva gets confused when they try to set declination
on the south!

The Silva instructions have a map of the United States of America with the
declinations marked.  Or look on a topographic map.  Or ask your local
Geological Survey.  Note that if you move a hundred miles or so east-west, you
must readjust the declination.  Declination also changes with time.  I usually
set the declination to 0.0 and correct the compass with my computer program.
If I bother to correct it at all.  The declination read from the Silva
instructions will be plenty good enuf for you.

Steel objects perturb the compass.  I can't say it often enuf!  Cars, fences,
axes, guns, knives, motors, buildings, steel reinforced pavement, and maybe
even your eyeglass frames, jewelry, wristwatch, or pacemaker will affect the
compass.  When in doubt, test.  See how close to the compass needle the object
must be before the needle is affected.  Then at least triple it for safety.
For a movable object, have an assistant move it around while you watch the
compass needle.  For an immovable object, sight on a distant target, then move
along the line of sight away from the test object.  If you were far enuf away,
the compass reading will not change.

Some places have magnetic rocks which disturb the Earth's magnetic field which
your compass is sensing.  If this is the case, then you are out of luck.  Such
places are usually in areas of mining activity or of metamorphic rock.  You
can't survey with a compass in Lodestone Gulch nor on Magnetic Mountain.




 SIY3.TXT       Field Survey and Write a Land Description                   26

Silva claims that their sealed liquid filled compass capsule resists static
electricity interference.  I never heard of static electricity affecting a
compass, but direct current sure does.  There is no resistance possible either,
since it is the magnetic field which is perturbed.  The compass aligns with the
perturbed field just like it is supposed to do.

Sloppy technique is another problem.  The Ranger is much more accurate when
used on the lanyard than when held freehand.  Be sure that the compass is
pulled to the end of the necklace.  This both steadies it and keeps it in the
proper position.  If the target is almost in the vee sighting notch, or if the
mirror line is almost in the center of the needle pivot, or if the arrow and
the compass needle are almost aligned, then you will get almost the correct
compass direction.

The worst problem with the Silva Ranger compass is not getting the compass
level.  You can have an assistant check this for you, or you can check it
yourself.  Tap the side of the mirror with your finger.  The needle should
jiggle and return to the same place.  If the needle is not free to jiggle, then
the compass is tilted and you will get the wrong compass direction.

Another trick is to flop the compass over on its side, then sight it again.
The needle and the arrow should line up again.  Perfectly.

You should try surveying in the park a few times so that you make most of the
normal beginner's blunders in a safe place.

If you have questions or comments, contact me. 

Dave Beiter 
CAVE, Inc 
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner, KY  42639

606/376-3137 


 SIY4.TXT    Locate a Point on the Earth from a Land Description             27

                                  Chapter 4

              Locate a Point on the Earth from a Land Description

In this chapter you will relocate stations on the Earth from the land
description.  The method is the same as you used in Chapter 1, except that now
you are plotting your map at full scale.

For this chapter you will need:

a) Silva Ranger type 15 compass, available for $39 from CAVE Inc, ½ Fast Road,
Ritner, KY 42639.  606/376-3137.

b) Your previous survey data,

c) Your previous survey location.

You will not need:

a) Tapemeasure, altho when you do, a 200 foot Keson fiberglass surveyor's
tapemeasure is available for $26 from CAVE Inc, ½ Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.
606/376-3137.

b) Clinometer,

c) Calculator,

d) Assistant.

e) You don't even need this computer, except to make a printout so that these
instructions can be doodled with a pencil.

This step is a bit trickier to learn.  You will have the bad tendency to cheat
on yourself.  You will change the compass sighting or your pace length a little
bit so that you will come out right on your previous station.  Try to pretend
that you have never been there before.

Return to the scene of Chapter 3.  Find your beginning station.  You should
remember where it is.  Could a naïve surveyor find it?  To find station 1,
follow the instructions in your land description.  TO 1, FROM 0, set the
compass for the number of degrees which you have recorded for COMPASS.  Sight
off in that direction, just like you were taking a compass direction.  Your
station is somewhere along that line.

The distance along that line is however far you have written in the land
description under TAPE, or PACE if you prefer.  Measure off that distance along
the compass direction.

 SIY4.TXT    Locate a Point on the Earth from a Land Description            28

You are now at station 1, within the error of the method.  If you are exactly
where station 1 was the last time, then you are either cheating or you are
exceedingly lucky.  And don't cheat by moving the station.

Once you have set station 1, use the same method to set station 2.  This is so
easy that if you can do it twice, you can do it forever.  I hope that you are
not disappointed to find that there is no magic is surveying.  Finish setting
the stations which you have in your land description.  Try not to cheat.  You
need to get a intuitive feel for error.  The way to do this is to make lots of
errors in a place where they can be caught and measured.

Your closure error should be less than 2 paces (or feet) plus 5% of the RUN.
Run is how far you have surveyed around the loop which you are closing.

If you have an assistant who is into playing this sort of game, you can give
each other land descriptions to follow.  You could even have a treasure hunt
with an appropriate buried treasure at station 19.

You can survey the same way with the land description in a deed or whatever.
You will need to locate on the real Earth a corner described in the deed.  It
need not be the beginning corner used by the previous surveyor, only an
identifiable corner.  If you can't identify any corners, see Chapter 11 for
instructions to try to find lost corners.

Plot out a map first so that you know what you are doing.  Tabulate the land
description into the standard format.  Do this at home where you can think
about it when you get confused.  You can see that you could start at any corner
and go in either direction.  Use the map to keep track of what you are doing.

If you have a map or plat, but not the land description, measure the directions
and distances from the map.  You may have to draw some more north-south lines
to use with the black meridian lines inside of the compass dial.

Most of the survey error comes from the compass.  A one degree error in the
compass reading produces an error of 1.7% of the tape distance at the location
of the station.  You can get a good feel for this by setting two stations next
to each other and taking compass directions to them from another station.  It
might be more convenient to do this on a piece of paper rather than in the city
park.  Just do it somewhere to prove it to yourself.

Take some good advice from an analytical chemist.  Know where you must be
careful (compass) and where you may just as well be fast and sloppy (tape).  If
you are reading the direction to one degree, then it is irrelevant to read the
tape to a hundredth of a foot.

This is the basic method of surveying, the ability to work in the three
languages of map, land description, and the real Earth.  All the rest is just a
refinement of this basic method. If you have questions or problems, contact me.


 SIY5.TXT    Topographic Maps and Aerial Photographs                         29

                                  Chapter 5

                    Topographic Maps and Aerial Photographs

The first survey which you should do on any piece of land is to simply to look
at the topographic map.  Topo maps at a scale of 2000 feet per inch are
available for most of the United States for less than five bux [$5] delivered.

See USGS or Timely Discount Topos in Chapter 14 for instructions on where to
order a topo map in the USA.

In other parts of the world, write the Geological Survey in your capital.

Having taught topo map reading at the University of Kentucky, I know that I
cannot teach you to read a topo map by mail.  The only way for you to learn to
read topo maps is to compare a topo map and the real ground.  Order the topo
map for a familiar area, like around your home.  Be sure that you get the
pamphlet "Topographic Map Symbols" too.  Then walk around with the map,
compass, and symbol sheet.  Orient the map so that the North Arrow points the
same way as the compass needle.  Compare the map with reality.

The only really different feature of the topo map is the topographic contour
lines, those random brown squiggles doodled all over the map.  If these contour
lines still seem like random brown squiggles to you, try this.

Imagine the Second Great Flood.  As The Sea rises, the new shoreline will move
up into the land.  At any given rise in The Sea level above today's Mean Sea
Level (MSL), the new shoreline will be represented by the contour line at that
level.  You can see [hopefully] that in level land, a large area will be
flooded by a small rise in The Sea.  On steep ground, the new land flooded
would be only a narrow strip.  Bays will reach up into the valleys, and ridges
will extend out into The Sea.  High ground will eventually become a chain of
islands.

The contour lines do all these things, without the necessity of all that water.

Be sure to ask for the free pamphlet "Topographic Map Symbols" when you order
your first topos.  Every house, barn, creek, river, rapids, dam, highway, road,
jeeptrail, government boundary, school, cemetery, church, pond, lake, picnic
grounds, railroad, high tension line, pipeline, mine, stripmine, woodlot,
swamp, spring, windmill, &c, etc, et cetera is marked with a special symbol.
In Township and Range country, the section corners and lines are marked.
Sometimes fencelines are on the map too.

Once you have learned to read a topo map on familiar ground, you can read a map
of any place of interest.  Map Reference Libraries are located at most college
Geology and Geography Departments, and at major city libraries.  The addresses
of these Map Reference Libraries are listed on the Index Map for that state.
 SIY5.TXT    Topographic Maps and Aerial Photographs                        30

Many public libraries have topographic maps of the local area.

Topos are so quick and cheap from Timely Discount Topos that you can order them
for an area of interest and then use them for impressive wallpaper.

Each state has an index map or a "green book" which you can use to determine
the proper map to order.

Each topo covers about 7 miles across for the standard 7.5 minute map.  It is
named for some prominent feature, generally the largest city, village, or
hamlet, but sometimes for some other landmark.  Each map tells which maps join
on the sides and corners.  You can make three guesses of the proper map and get
the index map or "green book" and a "Topographic Map Symbols" pamphlet all for
less than ten bux [$10] delivered.  This will make you an instant expert on
local land use.

Aerial photographs for agricultural areas are available in your county ASCS
office.  See Chapter 14.  Visit them with the area of interest marked on your
topo map.  Use the office photo mosaic index to locate the aerial photo
covering your land.  It may help if you know the name of a nearby farmer so
that the clerk can look up the photo of his farm.

County ASCS offices usually have photos of all agricultural land at a scale of
660 or 1000 feet per inch.  Fields, trees, buildings, roads, cowpaths, streams,
fences, etc., etc. can be easily seen on the photos.  ASCS may have their
version of the property boundaries and ownership marked on the photos.  Where
the property boundaries are field boundaries, the ASCS version is usually quite
accurate.  In woodland, they are guaranteed incorrect.

You may also be interested in using a stereoscope.  With this instrument, two
aerial photos are combined to create a 3-D image of the land.  This is one of
those things which you just must see to believe!

In non agricultural areas, the BLM, National Forest, Corpse [sick] of
Engineers, or other agency may have aerial photography.  Sometimes in color.  I
doubt that there is any part of the United States for which aerial photography
is not available.

I can't teach you to read topo maps or aerial photos by mail.  But if you have
trouble finding the proper item, I might be able to help.  And if you have any
interesting scientific or engineering applications, I'd be glad to consult.
Agriculture, geology, hydrology, botany, forestry, wildlife management,
archaeology, land use planning, flood management, historical research,
construction engineering, and law enforcement come quickly to mind.




 SIY5.TXT    Topographic Maps and Aerial Photographs                        31

The Silva Ranger is especially handy for determining your location on a topo
map.  First, find some recognizable landmark both on the ground and on the
map.  Then measure the direction to it with the Ranger.  Place the Ranger on
the map with the edge passing thru your landmark.  Your location is along this
line.  If you shoot and plot the direction to another landmark, your location
will be where the two plotted lines cross.  You can get a feel for the amount
of error involved by plotting directions from several landmarks.

With the Ranger this is so fast and easy that it can be easier done that said,
once you find your landmark.  If you have ever tried this with a Brunton pocket
transit, protractor, ruler, and pencil, then you will really appreciate having
everything in one instrument and the protractor already set to the proper
reading too.  Geologists' Heaven!



Dave Beiter
CAVE Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner KY  42639


606/376-3137 


 SIY6.TXT       Township and Range                                           32

                                   Chapter 6

                              Township and Range

Those of you who have land described by the Township and Range (Checkerboard
Square) System are surely wondering what all the foregoing has to do with
surveying land. The Township and Range System was established to prevent the
chaos of land claims such as happened in the Eastern States.  An imaginary grid
has been drawn upon the land.  Land is described by its location on this grid.

A topographic map is the best way to understand the T&R system. Section lines
are laid out and labeled on these maps, as well as roads, fences, buildings.
wells, streams, and much more.

Often the topo map and a stroll around the property is plenty survey enuf.
Where it isn't, you must survey in the same way as we do here in the original
Colonies [you do know that Kentucky was part of the Commonwealth of Virginia].
Find a section corner or other good starting point on both the topo map and the
ground.  Pick your next station.  Measure the direction and distance. Continue
around the line in question, or to the corner in question.

Set the declination on your compass so that your section lines run North-south
and east-west with those of your neighbors.  The grid may be wrong, but you
can't change it.

A section is one mile (5280 feet) on a side and contains 640 acres.  When a
section is quartered, each quarter has sides of a half mile long and contains
160 acres.  The four quarters are named for their locations: Northeast, SE, SW,
NW.  These quarters can be quartered again into four 40 acre quarter quarters.
And again as necessary.

There are occasional irregularities in the section lines.  This is usually
where two survey crews met.  Again, the topo map is the best way to deal with
the problem.

If you have questions or comments, contact me.


Dave Beiter
CAVE Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner KY  42639


606/376-3137


 SIY7.TXT       Slope Distance and Clinometers                               33

                                   Chapter 7

                        Slope Distance and Clinometers

In this chapter you will calculate the horizontal distance from the slope
distance.  You may construct and use a clinometer.

You will need:

a) Silva Ranger type 15 compass, available for $39 from CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast
Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  606/376-3137.

b) These instructions,

c) Semicircular protractor, string, and weight, available for $1 from CAVE Inc,
1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  This item is optional if your Ranger has a
built-in clinometer.

You will not need:

a) An assistant,

b) A deed.

When you measured the distance on the ground from one station to another, you
were measuring the slope distance.  What you are supposed to be plotting on
your map is the horizontal distance.  If your land is flat and level, like a
salt flat, then these distances are equal.  Otherwise, the slope distance
overstates the horizontal distance.  The slope angle, or inclination, is the
angle between your tape as you read it and true horizontal level.

The inclination is measured with an instrument called an inclinometer,
sometimes called a clinometer (without the "in" [Is that a proper preposition
not to end a sentence with?]).  Zero is level.  The inclination is recorded in
degrees, either plus (uphill), or minus (downhill).

When you get around to using CAVEMAP1.BAS you will find Graph 2 there.  Or you
could register this disk and I'll send you the graphs.

Look at Graph 2.  This represents the cross section of a hill.  The survey
stations are named with letters.  The distance to station B from station A is
300 feet.  Measure this with the ruler on your compass using the scale of 100
feet per inch.





 SIY7.TXT       Slope Distance and Clinometers                              34

The inclination is 10 degrees.  Measure it with the semicircular protractor.
If it has been too many years since you have touched a protractor, just
remember that any seventh grader can help you.  Place the small hole [not the
middle of the ruler] in the protractor over the starting station.  Turn the
protractor so that the horizontal line from the station goes thru the 0 degree
mark.  This is the long line where the graduations begin and end.  Read the
inclination on the scale where the slope line crosses it.

There are two scales so that you can use either end of the protractor.  To know
which scale to use, think about what you are measuring.  The size of the
inclination angle starts at 0 when both directions are the same.  Small slopes,
small numbers.

Be sure that you use the hole and line about a half inch back from the ruler
edge of the protractor.  You might have to extend some lines on your map to
read the scale.  Just extend as necessary.

You can also use your Ranger for this purpose.  The method is very similar to
that of getting a compass direction from a map.  Lay the compass on the drawing
with the side of the base plate along the line whose slope you wish to
measure.  Then turn the dial until the black [or red, if you have an old
Ranger] meridian lines align with the horizontal lines on your drawing.  Read
the slope from the dial under the index blob.  If you have a reading of 300 &
something, then subtract it from 360.  If you have a reading near 180, then
read the blob near the latch rather than the index blob.  Then figure the sign
of the inclination; up is positive, down is negative.

Now measure the distance to station D from Station A.  You can't do this in
reality unless you are a miner, so be content to do it on paper.  Use the ruler
on the compass which is graduated in twentieths of an inch.

Measure a little bit more carefully.  The distance is just a little short of
300 feet.  The actual horizontal distance is 295 feet.

This was calculated with the help of something called the cosine, abbr.  COS,
pronounced "cosign".  For those of you who never have had a trigonometry
course [I'm one of you], the COS is simply the horizontal distance divided by
the slope distance.  For any given angle, the COS of that angle will always be
that same number.  This is not magic.  It is the definition of cosine.

Horizontal distance divided by slope distance equals the cosine of the
inclination.  The symbol for divide in computerese is "/".

HDIST / TAPE = COS (INCL)

Rearranged in a more useful way, HDIST = TAPE * COS (INCL)


 SIY7.TXT       Slope Distance and Clinometers                              35

That is, to calculate the horizontal distance, multiply the measured slope
distance times the cosine of the measured inclination.  The symbol for multiply
in computerese is "*".

Or you can draw a picture on a piece of graph paper and measure it there.  At
first all this fancy mathematics is magic.  Draw yourself pictures until it
isn't magic anymore.  And if it ever seems like magic again, draw pictures
until the magic runs out.

Playing with magic is dangerous.

Don't!  Magic is for such as magicians and preachers.

If you are interested in the vertical distance between stations B and D, you
could drill a well.  On paper, you can easily measure this distance with a
ruler.  There is also a mathematical way to calculate the vertical distance.
The vertical distance equals the slope distance times the sine, abbr.  SIN,
pronounced "sign", of the inclination.  IUP = TAPE * SIN (INCL).  The
calculated vertical distance is 52 feet.

On the other side of the imaginary hill, measure all the distances and angles.
By calculation, the slope distance is 152 feet, the horizontal distance is 143
feet, the vertical distance is minus 52 feet, and the inclination is minus 20
degrees.

If you don't get these numbers, what sorts of mistakes could you have made?
What sorts of mistakes could the typesetter have made?  What sorts of mistakes
could the printer have made?  What sorts of mistakes could the draftsman have
made?  [Authors don't make mistakes!] Are these errors or blunders?

Now calculate the run from A to B to C.  And the run from A to D to C.  What is
the difference in going over the hill rather than going thru it?  Is this enuf
error to be a problem to you?

The sine and cosine can be easily obtained with a fancy scientific calculator.
Just enter the angle and push the button labeled SIN or COS.  Or just stick
with graph paper.











 SIY7.TXT       Slope Distance and Clinometers                              36

                                  Sine Table

Angle    SIN    COS    Angle    SIN    COS    Angle    SIN    COS

0      0.000   1.000     15   0.256  0.966     30   0.500  0.866

1      0.017   1.000     16   0.276  0.961     31   0.515  0.857

2      0.035   0.999     17   0.292  0.956     32   0.530  0.848

3      0.052   0.999     18   0.309  0.951     33   0.545  0.839

4      0.070   0.998     19   0.326  0.946     34   0.559  0.829


5      0.087   0.996     20   0.342  0.940     35   0.574  0.819

6      0.104   0.995     21   0.358  0.934     36   0.588  0.809

7      0.122   0.993     22   0.375  0.927     37   0.602  0.799

8      0.139   0.990     23   0.391  0.921     38   0.616  0.788

9      0.156   0.988     24   0.407  0.914     39   0.629  0.777


10     0.174   0.985     25   0.423  0.906     40   0.643  0.766

11     0.191   0.982     26   0.438  0.899     41   0.656  0.755

12     0.208   0.978     27   0.454  0.891     42   0.669  0.743

13     0.225   0.974     28   0.470  0.883     43   0.682  0.731

14     0.242   0.970     29   0.485  0.875     44   0.695  0.719

                                               45   0.707  0.707

How much error are you willing to tolerate so that you don't have to fiddle
with the clinometer and the arithmetic?  If you are making a pace map, don't
even bother thinking about the clinometer error.  The change in your pace
length is more than the error which you would produce by ignoring the
clinometer.  And if it is too steep to walk comfortably, it is too steep to
pace.




 SIY7.TXT       Slope Distance and Clinometers                              37

Silva made a Ranger type 15TCL with a built-in clinometer.  Except for
measuring strike and dip while mapping geologic structure, I personally dislike
the clinometer Ranger.  For surveying, I would rather use my homemade
clinometer than the built-in Silva Ranger clinometer.  The new Ranger type 15CL
comes with a much improved clinometer.  It is just as inconvenient to use, but
the new and improved clinometer doesn't get in the way like the old one.

To use the clinometer on a Ranger compass for surveying, set the compass
reading to either 90 or 270 (due East or due West).  Open the sighting mirror
to about 45 degrees.  Flop the Ranger on its side so that the base plate is
vertical.  Tilt it front to back and sight your target along the top, which is
really the side of the base plate.  Look in the mirror and read your
inclination.  Note that you must read the clinometer while you are sighting it
and that the base plate must be vertical so that the clinometer pointer swings
freely.  Unlike the compass reading, the clinometer reading is not preserved.

An alternate method is to very carefully rotate the Ranger flat while still
sighting along the edge of the base plate towards your target.  Now you can
read the clinometer scale more easily.  The clinometer reading is preserved
until you jiggle or bump the compass.  If it is worth using the clinometer, it
is worth reading twice so that you know that you have not bumped the reading.

An alternative alternate method is to open the mirror all the way and hold the
Ranger vertical and crosswise in front of you.  This method cannot be used to
determine the inclination from station A to station B.  It can tell you the
slope of a far away hillside in profile, or the dip in a roadcut.  Actually,
you are reading apparent slope or apparent dip.  Play around with it until you
see the difference between dip and apparent dip.  Or maybe you couldn't give a
dip about strike and dip.

I use an Abney level for my surveying work.  An Abney level costs about $50.  I
doubt that most of you would need it even if it were already in your pocket.
But do build the protractor clinometer and/or experiment with the clinometer on
the Ranger.  Use it when the land is steep enuf or valuable enuf to be worth
the effort.  You decide.  If nothing else, you can use it to determine the
height of standing trees.  Same trigonometry.

The homemade protractor clinometer consists of three parts: the protractor, the
weight, and the string.  Tie one end of the string thru the small hole and
around the ruler edge of the protractor, so that the string pivots from the
small hole.  Tie the weight on the other end of the string.  The string should
be long enuf so that the weight clears the curved edge of the protractor.






 SIY7.TXT       Slope Distance and Clinometers                              38

To read an inclination with your new instrument, hold the protractor with the
curved side down out in front of you at arm's length.  Sight along the top edge
to your target.  Tilt the protractor a little so that the string swings free of
the scale.  Get a good sight and tilt the protractor straight again.  Hold the
string against the scale with a finger until you read it.  Unfortunately, this
is not the inclination.  Level, 0 degrees inclination, reads 90 on the
protractor scale.  The inclination which you want is the scale reading minus
90.  Uphill is plus, downhill is minus.

I know this indirect reading is a hassle.  Hopefully your land is level enuf so
that you can leave the clinometer in your pocket.  Anyone knowing a source of
cheap protractors with 0 in the center of the scale, please let me know.

Usually the inclination can be safely ignored in all but the more accurate
surveying or on steep ground.  But only usually.  You must be alert to this
error.  And this is a systematic error.  The error is all the same way; the
horizontal distance is always shorter than the measured slope distance.

But don't get carried away when following a previous surveyor who didn't even
know that there is a difference between the slope distance and the true
horizontal distance.  As one of the local realtors here in backwoods Kentucky
sez, "The Good Lord put the land here on the sides of the hills so's that He
could fit more acres in here."


Dave Beiter 
CAVE Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner, KY  42639. 


606/376-3137 


 SIY8.TXT       Measure Acreage                                             39

                                   Chapter 8

                                Measure Acreage

In this chapter, you will calculate the acreage of a property from the map.

You will need:

a) These instructions,

b) Pencil & paper,

c) Common calculator, or hand arithmetic,

d) The maps which you plotted in Chapter 1.

You will NOT need:

a) To believe the seller's word.

The easiest method to use to measure acreage is to simply count the squares.
Yes, there are fancier ways to solve the problem.  Counting squares on a map
has the advantages of simplicity and ease.  No magic.

Get out Graph 1, where you plotted your very first map from the description in
Table 1.  Count the squares within the boundary lines of your map.  If a square
is on the line, count it only if more than half of it lies within the boundary.

Each square is 0.1 inches on a side.  The area of each square is the square of
the side.  0.1 * 0.1 = 0.01 square inches in each square.  To find the area
within the boundary, multiply the number of squares within the boundary times
the area of each square.  This is the area in square inches.

In computerese, the symbol for multiplication is "*", and the symbol for
division is "/".  Since my printer prints in computerese, whatcha see is what
you got.

Check your answer.  Is it reasonable?  Is 413 square inches within the boundary
a reasonable value, or a blunder?

If this were the plot of an actual parcel of land plotted at the scale of 100
feet per inch, then you could calculate the acreage of the land represented.
At 100 feet per inch, the side of each square represents 10 feet on the
ground.  The area of each square represents 10 * 10 = 100 square feet on the
ground.  There are 43,560 square feet in one acre.  Divide the area represented
by one square on the map by the area of one acre, 100 / 43,560.  Thus each
square on the map represents 0.0023 acres.

 SIY8.TXT       Measure Acreage                                             40
Now multiply the number of squares times the part of an acre represented by
each square.  The result is the number of acres inside of the boundary.  I
calculate 1.03 acres.  There is an error associated with this number.  This
error ranges from 1% to 10%, depending upon the quality of your survey.

Now try it with the map drawn from Table 2.  You plotted this map at a scale of
100 poles per inch.  The side of each square represents 10 poles on the
ground.  A pole is a rod is 16.5 feet, so each side is 165 feet.  The area of
each square is 27225 square feet, or 0.625 acres.

This parcel was bought as 140 acres.  How many acres do you think are there?

This method of the squares works at any scale.  But you must calculate a new
number of acres per square each time that you change either the scale of your
map or the mesh of your graph paper.

You should plot your map so that it covers hundreds of squares.  Smaller maps
may have considerable error from squares on the boundary.  To check for
blunders, mark out a square with sides of 209 feet on your map.  This
represents one acre.

What happens when there is an obvious closure error?  Well, you'll just have to
fudge it.  I usually just draw a line between the closing stations and call
that the boundary.  If I think the error is worth correcting, I draw a triangle
across the map, with one side of the triangle being the closure error.  I then
either add or subtract the area of this triangle, depending upon whether the
closure error underlaps or overlaps.

A better way is to sketch a new version of the map with the error distributed
around the whole loop.  If you have very much error to correct, then you have
blunder, not error.  The cure is to go back and survey it right the next time.

There are mathematical methods to distribute the closure error and measure the
acreage, but they require the use of a computer.  If you have access to a
computer, then use my computer program CAVEMAP1.BAS

Calculate the area of the plot of the description of Table 3.

The proper acreage is that calculated from the distances corrected to
horizontal with the clinometer and COS.  The uncorrected acreage will always be
greater than the true acreage.  Perhaps the difference is enuf to be worth
correcting.  You decide.

You will be amused to know that the legal standard for accuracy of acreage for
Kentucky surveyors is plus or minus 10%.  If you can't survey that well
yourself, ask for your "dollars" back.



 SIY8.TXT       Measure Acreage                                             41

There are several other units used for the measurement of land.  The metric
unit (used everywhere but the United States of America) is the hectare.  One
hectare is 100 ares, or 2.47 acres.  The are [pronounced "air"] is 100 square
meters.  A square rod [or perch, or pole] is 272.25 square feet, or 0.00625
acre.  A rood is 40 square perches, or a quarter acre.  A section in Township
and Range territory is one square mile, 640 acres.  A quarter section is 160
acres.  That assumes that the section is not an irregular section.

The acre is 10 square chains, or 43560 square feet.  That is, unless you are
speaking British.  In that case, an acre is 4 roods, which is only 0.999997123
of the American acre or 43559.87471 USA square feet.  If your land is so
valuable that this makes a difference, then you shouldn't be using my poor
man's method of land surveying.


Dave Beiter
CAVE Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner, KY  42639


606/376-3137


 SIY9.TXT          Calculators and Computers                                42

                                   Chapter 9

                           Calculators and Computers

For this chapter you will need:

a) A calculator or computer with SIN and COS functions.  A Sharp EL-506A
scientific calculator is available for $25 plus $5 shipping & handling from
CAVE Inc, 1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  606/376-3137.

b) Pencil and paper,

c) Graph paper,

d) An understanding of how to plot a map by hand.

You will not need:

a) An assistant,

b) Any special mathematical training.

It is easier, and far more accurate, to calculate rather than to hand plot a
map.  But unless you already know how to hand plot, the mathematics will just
be so much magic to you.  Magic is fine for magicians and economists, but magic
allows surveyors' blunders to escape undetected.

This fancy math comes with even fancier qualifications.  Firstly, you can learn
this only after you already know how to plot a map by hand.  Secondly, if you
have only a small amount of surveying, you will probably find it easier to hand
plot than to learn this.  Thirdly, if you wait until you have an incentive, it
will be a lot easier to learn.

To do these calculations, you must have a SIN function on your calculator.
These are usually called scientific calculators.  I prefer a Sharp EL-506A,
which does the calculations with one entry, instead of the double entry needed
on most other scientific calculators.  It also does all trigonometric,
logarithmic, power, and inverse functions, as well as calculating mean and
standard deviations.  And these do not interfere with its use as a common
calculator.  $25 from CAVE, Inc.

A programmable calculator is nice if you know how to program it.  I personally
have used a 1980 model Radio Shack BC-4000 programmable calculator made by
Texas Instruments.  It has eight addressable internal memories and fifty
program steps.  I can calculate everything that I want to know without writing
down any intermediate data.  If you use a calculator without addressable
memories, then you will have to use paper and pencil for memory.

 SIY9.TXT          Calculators and Computers                                43
It's a whole lot easier to learn with the paper and pencil, too.  This sort of
programmable calculator costs about $40.

I have also used an assortment of computers.  Those computers which I have
programmed and which are still on the market at a reasonable price are:
Commodore VIC-20, Radio Shack COCO 2, Radio Shack TRS-80 III, Apple //e, Laser
128 (an Apple //c clone), and an ibm [service mark of the Institute for the
Befuddlement of the Masses] PC-XT clone.  A computer is easier to use than a
programmable calculator, but you can't take it into the field with you to
calculate while you survey.  Even if you have a laptop computer, I doubt that
you would take it into the field.

A table of data is needed to record and calculate the station locations.  Label
a sheet of paper with the following headings:

TO  FROM  COMP  TAPE  RUN  INORTH  IEAST  SNORTH  SEAST  Comments 

The first four columns are the raw data taken from the field.  For practice,
copy the values from Table 1.

RUN is the total distance so far.  RUN (of the TO station) is RUN (of the FROM
station) plus TAPE.

INORTH is the incremental distance north for this shot.  INORTH is TAPE times
the cosine of COMP.  IEAST is the incremental distance east for this shot.
IEAST is TAPE times the sine of COMP.

SNORTH is the summation distance north of wherever you started.  SNORTH (TO) is
SNORTH (FROM) plus INORTH.  SEAST is the summation distance east of where ever
you started.  SEAST (TO) is SEAST (FROM) plus IEAST.

Be sure to keep your pluses and minuses straight.  Negative NORTH is south.
Negative EAST is west.  Don't blunder.

To plot your map, use SNORTH and SEAST to plot the location of each station on
a piece of graph paper.  Start with a clean sheet of graph paper.  Draw a North
Arrow.

Pick a map scale.  You can use any map scale here with no loss of precision.
For now, chose the same scale as you used to plot your very first map, 100 feet
per inch.

Pick a place to start.  From point 0, draw a line north.  Along this north
axis, label the distance every 100 feet.  Draw and label the east axis.  South
and west too.




 SIY9.TXT          Calculators and Computers                                44

Plot the location of station 0.  SNORTH is 0 units north of where ever you
called 0.  Put a dot on the north axis at 0.  SEAST is 0 units east of where
ever you called 0.  Move the dot which you just put on the north axis to 0
units east.  Sounds kinda silly, but 0 is not a special case.

Plot the location of station 1 the same way.  SNORTH is 153.  Put a dot on the
north axis 153 hundredths of an inch north of 0.  SEAST is 129.  Move the dot
(maybe it's easier to leave it and make a new dot?) to 129 hundredths of an
inch east.  That's the location of station 1.  That should be the same place as
when you located the station the old way, back in Chapter 1.  Now you know how
you will check your work while learning all these new things.

Plot the rest of the stations from the data of Table 1.  If you draw lines
between the stations, this map should look just like the one which you plotted
on Graph 1.

You'll have to decide which method to use.  Plotting with the Ranger is quick
to learn and the map can be drawn in the field as a blundertrap.  The
calculator is faster and more accurate, especially on long surveys.  You'll
know when it becomes easier to use a calculator.

If you are using inclination, a lengthier table is needed:

TO  FROM   COMP  TAPE  INCL  HDIST  RUN  INORTH  IEAST  IUP  SNORTH  SEAST  SUP

To correct the measured distance to a true horizontal distance, multiply the
distance times the cosine of the inclination.  HDIST is TAPE times the cosine
of INCL.  IUP is the incremental distance up in this shot.  IUP is TAPE
multiplied times the sine of INCL.  SUP is the summation up (elevation) of the
station above the starting station.  SUP(TO) is SUP(FROM) plus IUP.  Negative
UP is down.

So now you have SUP.  What do you do with it?  Unless you are plotting 3-D maze
caves on 3-D graph paper, you can probably just ignore it.  Write in the
elevation as necessary.  You can also plot a graph using SUP and SNORTH as the
axes.  This is called a cross section.  You could also plot SUP and SEAST.
There is a lot more fancy mathematics which can be done, but I doubt many of
you will be interested in even this much.  If you have a application for some
fancier plotting or surveying, ask for special consultation.  I'm especially
interested in scientific applications.








 SIY9.TXT          Calculators and Computers                                45

For those of you who wish to try this method, here are all of my equations in
one place.

HDIST = TAPE * COS (INCL)

RUN (TO) = RUN (FROM) + TAPE

INORTH = HDIST * COS (COMP)

IEAST = HDIST * SIN (COMP)

IUP = TAPE * SIN (INCL)

SNORTH (TO) = SNORTH (FROM) + INORTH

SEAST (TO) = SEAST (FROM) + IEAST

SUP (TO) = SUP (FROM) + IUP

CLOSURE = SQR( [SNORTH {A} - SNORTH {B} ]^ 2 + [SEAST {A} - SEAST {B} ]^ 2)

CLOSURE percent = CLOSURE * 100 / RUN

The symbol "^" ["carrot"] means exponentiate or power in Applesoft and GW-
BASIC.  The same as "**" on some other computers and in FORTRAN.  The
function "^ 2" means to square, to multiply by itself.  Hopefully, by now you
know that "*" means multiply and "/" means divide.

Professional surveyors call north "latitude", and east "departure".  They also
call a map a "plat".  Gotta keep the peons convinced that they are stupid.

It is very much easier to blunder with the calculator than with a hand plot.
And a computer can lie with a straight face even longer than can a politician.

I don't pretend to be able to solve all your problems here.  You are welcome to
a copy of any of my programs, but I've always found it easier to write my own
than to make yours work.  I have programs for IBM clone PC/MS-DOS [in GW-BASIC
{same as BASICA}], Apple II [in Applesoft], COCO 2 [cassette BASIC], TRS-80
III [disk], Commodore [cassette BASIC], and the Texas Instruments programmable
calculator [weird machine code].

Only the Apple II and PC are presently on line and supported, but they all
worked while I was using them.  The PC program and the Apple II program (to a
lesser extent) do a lot of things not covered here.  These are calculations
which are only practical with a computer.



 SIY9.TXT          Calculators and Computers                                46

I am especially interested in scientific applications.

If you need any custom programming to make my program fit your computer or your
application, I will help.  But unless your computer is sitting on my desk, you
will have to do most of the work.

This compuscript was originally written longhand and then typed to make a
master for xerographic copying.  Typing was a nightmare, and the revisions were
a host of tribulations.  Writing on a computer compares with writing on a
typewriter, just like writing with a ballpoint pen compares with writing with a
goose quill and inkberries.

As a special one time offer, I will sell to some lucky fool one Radio Shuck
COCO 2 computer, complete with my CAVEMAP surveying program for only $50.  Be
the first to buy this wonderful piece of technology.  I have been told that
cartridges [an EPROM in an expensive box] are still available for such
activities as Pac-Man [Pac-Person?  {Pac-Perchild??}] and Donkey Dong.  If it
won't work as a babysitter, it still might work as a doorstop.

Here is a simple BASIC program which should work on any computer.  Try it.  It
is the program SIY2LINR on my PC disk.


1 D=.01745329:PRINT"Instructions in SIY*.TXT
Survey It Yourself: The Poor Man's Guide to Land Surveying
(c)1990, DP_BYTER -=>Go forth & exponentiate^<=-
½ Fast Software
CAVE Inc
Ritner KY  42639
606/376-3137
Quick. Easy. Inexpensive instruments. No magic.

2 INPUT"Compass ($39)";CO:INPUT"Tape ($26)";TA:SN=SN+TA*COS(CO*D):
SE=SE+TA*SIN(CO*D):PRINT"SNORTH =";SN,"SEAST =";SE:GOTO 2
'Do you believe in magic? Y\N
This is interpreted BASIC. You need GWBASIC or BASICA or help.

3 'Enter direction (as 0 to 360 degrees) and distance from land 
description. SNORTH = distance north of beginning station, 
SEAST = distance east. Plot on graph paper, connect the dots, 
this is the map, or plat, of the property. 
This is too easy for a 2-liner.

Actually, I can do it with only one line of code.

1 D=.01745329:INPUT"Compass ";CO:INPUT"Tape ";TA:SN=SN+TA*COS(CO*D):
SE=SE+TA*SIN(CO*D): PRINT"SNORTH =";SN,"SEAST =";SE:GOTO 1
'DP_BYTER, 1/2 Fast Software, Ritner, KY  42639   606/376-3137


 SIYB.TXT       Biography and History of the Method                          65

                                   Chapter B

                      Biography and History of the Method

David Perry Beiter was born in Troy, Rensselaer County, New York (east of the
Hudson River, and thus a genuine Yankee) on the Twenty-ninth day of March, in
The Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Forty-Four from the union of
David Luke Beiter and Elizabeth Perry Beiter.  He had the good sense to move
from Troy to Stillwater, New York when he was three days old.

Education was instilled at Stillwater Central School, Mechanicville High
School, Union College at Schenectady, New York (Bachelor of Science in
Chemistry, 1965), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York
(Chemistry), University of Kentucky at Lexington, Kentucky (Master of Science
in Geology, 1970), and Fergle University at Cincinnati, Ohio (Doctor of
Eschatology, 1987).

He is a self-taught surveyor.  While at Union College, he was a part of a group
of several students were doing informal research in the local caves.  They
desired to make a map of these caverns, but the available methods used for land
surveying were not appropriate for cave surveying.  A cheap rugged surveying
method was then devised, as well as the first computer program to handle the
data (written in FORTRAN on punchcards and run on an IBM 1620).  Further
development of the surveying technique and the computer program was done at the
University of Kentucky and a cave over twenty miles in length was surveyed.

This surveying method was brought out into the light of day while shopping for
rural property in Kentucky.  Rural property is seldom surveyed in the backwoods
of Kentucky.  Someone shows the prospective purchaser the boundaries as best
that can be remembered.  The land description is recopied from the previous
deed, along with all the previous mistakes.

In 1971 the author purchased three springs and a remote farm at Kidder,
Kentucky, with the intention of studying the water chemistry for a PhD
dissertation.  In 1972 he retired.  In 1976, he purchased and moved to a
remoter farm at Ritner, Kentucky (population 28).  Since 1972, he has assisted
approximately one hundred families to retire.  If you are interested in early
retirement and/or purchase of inexpensive (US$150 to US$350 per acre) rural or
remote property contact him for the latest list of available properties.  Cheap
rentals are $100 per month for an old farmhouse.

The author is a confirmed hermit and ochlophobe.  He works and lives in a
slightly modernized Civil War vintage log cabin on ½ Fast Farm.  His driveway
is one mile long and has a locked gate.  Trespassers will be violated.
Survivors will be prosecuted.

The author is happily divorced.  His family consists of a jackass named
Gunsmoke, a tomcat named Forney Cat, a bitch named Yuppie, and two kids named
Billy and Capricia.


 SIYG.TXT       Glossary of Surveying Words                                  61

                                   Chapter G

                          Glossary of Surveying Words

Abney level: A hand held instrument for measuring inclination precise to about
0.2 degrees.  There are several manufacturers.  Cost about $40 to $150.

Acre: 10 square chains. 43560 square feet.

Aerial photo: A photograph taken straight down from a high altitude airplane so
that the photo looks like a map.

Are: Pronounced "air".  100 square meters.

Azimuth: The common method of giving compass directions, whereby a full circle
is divided into 360 degrees, starting at North and turning clockwise.  I'm told
that this doesn't apply in the Southern Hemisphere.

Backsight: Instrument readings taken to the FROM station, from the TO station,
but recorded as if the sight were taken normally.

Blunder: A BIG mistake, obvious and correctable.

Brunton pocket transit: A sighting compass precise to about 0.5 degree.
Brunton makes the original; there are several imitators.  Also know as Army
Artillery Compass when graduated in gradians to confound The Enemy.  Cost:
about $200.

Cardinal direction: Any one of the four directions; North, East, South, or
West.

Chain: 66 feet.  4 rods.

Clinometer: Inclinometer.  A device to measure inclination.

Closure Error: When surveying in a loop and making the ending station the same
as the beginning station, the calculated distance between these two stations.

Compass direction: A direction from one station to another station, measured as
azimuth.

Corner: A point on a property boundary, established to define that boundary.

Cosine: Abbr.  COS.  Pronounced "cosign".  A mathematical function of an angle,
equal to the adjacent side divided by the hypotenuse (longest side) of a right
triangle containing that angle.


 SIYG.TXT       Glossary of Surveying Words                                 62

Declination: The angle difference between the compass direction towards
Magnetic North and that towards True North.

Departure: What professional surveyors call the east distance.

Elevation: The distance above (or below) an arbitrary zero level.

Error: The difference between a measured value and reality.

Forester's Compass: Staff Compass.  A surveying compass precise to about 0.2
degrees.  Cost: $400.

Furlong: 10 chains.  660 feet.

Gradians: A method of giving compass directions, whereby a full circle is
divided into 400 gradians, starting at North and turning clockwise.  The Army
uses this to confuse The Enemy.

Hectare: 100 ares.  10000 square meters.  2.47 acres.

Inclination: The angle in degrees between a line of sight and horizontal.  Up
is +, down is -.

Inclinometer: Clinometer.  An instrument to measure inclination.

Land description: The written definition of a piece of property.

Latitude: What professional surveyors call the north distance.

Legal description: A land description typed by an attorney's secretary.

Lensatic compass: Also known as the Army Marching Compass.  A diabolically
engineered compass graduated in bassackwards whatchamacallits in order to
totally confuse The Enemy.  Precise to about 10 degrees.  Cost: about $10.

Line: A part of a property boundary between two corners.

Link: A hundredth part of a chain, 0.66 feet.

Magnetic North: The direction towards the Magnetic North Pole.  This is where
the compass needle points.

Pace: The distance covered in one step.  Usually between 2.5 and 3.0 feet.
1000 double paces of 2.64 feet define the mile as 5280 feet.

Perch: A rod, a pole, 16.5 feet.

Percent closure error: The closure error divided by the run times 100%.
 SIYG.TXT       Glossary of Surveying Words                                 63

Plat: What professional surveyors call a map.

Pole: A rod, a perch, 16.5 feet.

Quadrants: An archaeic method of giving compass directions, utilized to
simplify the arithmetic B.C. [Before Calculator]  Presently used to keep
landowners stupid.

Radians: A mathematical method of measuring angles, used by some calculators,
computers, and pure mathematicians.  A Radian = 57.2957795131 degrees.

Ranger: A sighting compass imported by Silva Compass, precise to about 1
degree.  Cost: about $40.

Rod: A perch, a pole, 16.5 feet.

Rood: 40 square rods, perches or poles.  10890 square feet, one quarter acre.

Rope: 20 feet.

Run: The distance surveyed since an arbitrary starting station.

Sine: Abbr.  SIN.  Pronounced "sign".  A mathematical function of an angle,
equal to the opposite side divided by the hypotenuse (longest side) in a right
triangle containing that angle.

Square perch: A square rod, 16.5 * 16.5 = 272.25 square feet.

Staff Compass: Forester's Compass.  A surveying compass precise to about 0.2
degrees.  Cost: $400.

Station: A place where surveyor's measurements are taken.

Stringbox: A distance measuring instrument which operates by measuring a thread
pulled from it.

Tape distance: A distance from one station to another, usually measured in
feet.

Theodolite: A surveying instrument which can measure the angle between two
directions, as well as the angle between a direction and Magnetic North.
Precision: about 0.01 degree.  Cost: $thousands.

Topo map, topographic map: A map showing the shape of the surface of the land.
In the United States, usually a 7.5 minute map at 2000 feet per inch showing
all surface features.  Cost: about $3.


 SIYG.TXT       Glossary of Surveying Words                                 64

Transit: A surveying instrument, similar to a theodolite, which can measure the
angle between two directions, as well as the angle between a direction and
Magnetic North.  Additionally, the sights can be easily turned around
(transitted) to obtain a backsight.  Precision: about 0.01 degree.  Cost:
$thousands.

True North: The direction towards the North Pole.

Another last chance to tell you to take precise compass readings, with a double
check and a backsight.  Nearly all your error is in the compass with the poor
man's method of land surveying.

If there are any other surveying words which you think that I should define
here, then tell me them.


Dave Beiter
CAVE, Inc
1/2 Fast Road
Ritner, KY  42639

606/376-3137


 SIYHALF.TXT Compass Theory & Operation                                          6
    
                                  Chapter 1/2


                         Compass Theory and Operation


If you do not have a Silva Ranger compass, then skip to Chapter 1_C.

Honest!  I really didn't plan on a Chapter 1/2.  There really is a god, and Her
Name is Serendipity!  Some people have complained that Chapter 1 is too long,
and then I had to make it even longer to accommodate the new Ranger.  There is
a lot to cover in using the Silva Ranger, and you are learning to survey too.
It might take more than one pass to understand it all.  If it takes more than
three passes, then complain.  My address and phone number are at the end of the
chapter.

Don't think that you can take a shortcut by reading the little Instruction
Manual.  If you think that this technical writing is half-assed, then you
oughta be enthralled by the Ranger Instruction Manual.  This is one case where
you should NOT read the instructions before operation.  Silva's Instruction
Manual is so bad that I must limit my warranty.

                               WARRANTY NOTICE!
                       The warranty of CAVE, Inc of the
                       SURVEY IT YOURSELF: instructions
                        will be VOIDed if you read the
                       Silva Ranger Instruction Manual!

I strongly suggest that you do not look at Silva's instructions before you look
at mine, or you run the grave risk of declaring yourself stupid.

Silva Compass now has a new and improved version of the old standby Ranger
15T.  The author has not personally field tested this new and improved version,
and makes no claims that it is fit for any purpose whatsoever, including
Surveying It Yourself.

Eventually, these new and improved upgraded Rangers will be given the cave
test.  Two previous models of the Ranger were used to survey many miles of cave
under the most abusive of environmental conditions.  Anything that goes into a
cave can be pretested by being stirred in a bucket of sand and mud, rolled down
a stone staircase, and then washed in a washing machine.  And still work.  You
could depend on the old Rangers to get you to hell and back.  Or at least to
survey The Backdoor To Hell Cave.

There is no magic in a compass, not even a fancy compass.  If you thought that
you were buying magic, then I will give you your money back.  Reluctantly.  I
wish that you would have forewarned me.

 SIYHALF.TXT Compass Theory & Operation                                         7

The only thing that might pass for magic is that the red end of the compass
needle points North.  Even if you don't really understand it all, you can still
survey it yourself.  I have a Master's degree in geology, and I don't
understand it all either.

It is sufficient for many useful purposes to have an instrument which will
point in the same direction as any other of its kind.  This enables people to
communicate direction on The Earth's surface, or indeed under The Earth's
surface.

You have probably used a common compass to tell which way was north.  And I am
sure that all of you have watched The Sun rise in The East, and set in The
West.  The mere fact that The Sun stays put and The Earth moves underneath it
does not impair The Sun's usefulness for finding direction.

Those of you who don't live in a cave or in a big city probably have watched
The Sun rise in The East many times.  You might have even noticed that The East
isn't always in the same place.  The mere fact that The East isn't always in
the same place does not impair its usefulness for determining direction.

If you give directions from Sunrise, you must take into account the fact that
Sunrise moves.  Maybe this doesn't make much difference for the job at hand, or
maybe it does.  You decide.

For example, if you wanted to tell someone the direction from your house to the
house in which your brother lives (without being there to point to it) you
might say that it is the house towards where the sun rises and a little around
to the right.  If there are only a few houses in the village, this amount of
precision might work just fine.  If you are installing spaceport runway landing
lights, it might not be good enuf.  You decide.

Hopefully, I have gotten this far without telling you anything that you didn't
already know.  A compass points North, just like a Sunrise points East.
Knowing that, the next question should be "What is the standard deviation?"

If your question is, instead, "What is Standard Deviation?", then you are about
to learn something new.  If you have any rituals which must be first performed,
then perform such rituals now.

Hocus. Poke us.

Standard Deviation is merely a way to come closer to the answer to the
question, "How close should I expect to come to the truth?" Just like ole
Sunrise, the direction in which the compass points isn't always the same.  It
might be good enuf for what you are doing, it might not.  You decide.  Standard
Deviation is a more precise way to measure precision, used by people whose
business it is to ask what the numbers mean.

 SIYHALF.TXT Compass Theory & Operation                                         8

All the fancy on the Ranger enables you to determine a direction precise to
about one degree.  This is quite sufficient for preliminary surveying, and most
of the time this is all that you need.  Even if you need more precision, it is
usually well worth your while to do a preliminary survey.  A precision of one
degree is about what you can draw with a paper and pencil and ruler and
protractor.  Is that good enuf?  You decide.

Is it too good??  Most of the time I would be happy to have a freehand sketch
on the back of an envelope.  This, plus a cryptic description of what to find
when you get there, has been the standard way to describe property since the
invention of writing.  If you need a more precise description, then with SURVEY
IT YOURSELF: you have the instruments and instructions for doing so.  Continue.

There are a bunch of gadgets on the Ranger which increase its precision from
that of a napkin sketch to pen & ruler quality.  I'll tell you more about them
when you need them.

The Ranger compass can be used just like a tourist store compass to tell which
way is north.  The red end of the compass needle points north.  This is good
enuf to navigate while driving on unfamiliar roads, or to find your way back to
the lodge.

The Ranger compass can be used just like any decent hiking compass to orient
maps and get directions precise to about ten degrees.  Turn the compass until
the arrow under the compass dial lines up with the compass needle.  Read the
direction from the compass dial on the edge towards the landmark in question.

There is also a way to get a direction precise to one degree with the Ranger.
You will learn how to do this when the proper time comes.  Meanwhile, you can
use the Ranger just like any other compass with which you are familiar.  Ignore
the gadgetry you don't need.

No magic.  Magic is for magicians and bankers.  If anything about the compass
seems like magic (except for the fact that the red end of the compass needle
points north), then you had best think about it until the magic runs out.  It
might help to get out a map of someplace familiar (the United States for
example) or better yet, a globe.

If you have any problems with my instructions, then contact me.  CAVE, Inc,
1/2 Fast Road, Ritner, KY 42639.  Dave, 606/376-3137.

If you have problems with the Silva Ranger instructions, then contact Silva
Compass, Johnson Camping, Inc, POB 1602, Binghampton, NY 13902-1604.  Customer
"Service": 800/572-8822


 SIYORDER.TXT                                                                82

        SURVEY IT YOURSELF     ORDER BLANK             Keep this page:

Name: _______________________________________________________ Dave Beiter

UPS address: ________________________________________________ CAVE, Inc.

Postal address: _____________________________________________ 1/2 Fast Road

City, ST, ZIP: ______________________________________________ Ritner, KY  42639

Phone: _______/_______-_____________________________________  606/376-3137

DA$="900808":NA$="PC-SIG":VER$="1.005"

     Prices are effective 07 July 90 and are subject to change without notice.
 _                                               _       _
[_] $ 5  Registration, updated disk, graphs     [_] PC  [_] Apple II
[_] $39  Silva Ranger type 15CL compass or in   [_] quadrants       _
[_] $26  Keson 200 foot surveyor's tape measure or [_] 100' $21 or [_] 300' $32
[_] $ 2  C-THRU Plastic circular protractor and tenths ruler
[_] $ 2  300 feet of orange vinyl flagging ribbon or other color [specify]
[_] $ 2  pad (50) quadrille paper [_] 10/" or [_] 5/" or [_] 5/" graph

                    ---=>  Shipping & Handling: $5.  <=---
              Kentucky residents add 6% sales tax on merchandise.
 _
[_] $5 & your disk full of something interesting.  The ½ fast special:
    Registration, updated disk, protractor, ruler.  Free shipping.
 _
[_] $ 5  I have no need to survey it myself, but I like your programming
    style in AMER_ENG.  Send me another diskfull.  Free shipping.

Total amount: $_______ Date:____________ Check/MO payable to CAVE, Inc.

Paid by: [_] Check, number __________, Bank ___________________________________
         [_] Money Order, number______________, Issuer_________________________
         [_] Federal Reserve Notes (not recommended)
         [_] I enclose a copy of the deed to___________________________________

From where did you obtain this disk? __________________________________________
Help me fine tune my instructions to my audience.
Occupation: ___________________________________________________________________
Hobbies: ______________________________________________________________________
Level of education: ___________________________________________________________
Purpose of learning to survey: ________________________________________________
Anything else which you think would help me educate you.
Are you interested in cheap ($150 to $350 per acre) land?  Y  N

 SIYORDER.TXT                                                               83

       SURVEY IT YOURSELF     ORDER BLANK             Send this page to

Name: _______________________________________________________ Dave Beiter

UPS address: ________________________________________________ CAVE, Inc.

Postal address: _____________________________________________ 1/2 Fast Road

City, ST, ZIP:_______________________________________________ Ritner, KY  42639

Phone: _______/_______-_____________________________________  606/376-3137

DA$="900808":NA$="PC-SIG":VER$="1.005"

     Prices are effective 07 July 90 and are subject to change without notice.
 _                                               _       _
[_] $ 5  Registration, updated disk, graphs     [_] PC  [_] Apple II
[_] $39  Silva Ranger type 15CL compass or in   [_] quadrants       _
[_] $26  Keson 200 foot surveyor's tape measure or [_] 100' $21 or [_] 300' $32
[_] $ 2  C-THRU Plastic circular protractor and tenths ruler
[_] $ 2  300 feet of orange vinyl flagging ribbon or other color [specify]
[_] $ 2  pad (50) quadrille paper [_] 10/" or [_] 5/" or [_] 5/" graph

                    ---=>  Shipping & Handling: $5.  <=---
              Kentucky residents add 6% sales tax on merchandise.
 _
[_] $5 & your disk full of something interesting.  The ½ fast special:
    Registration, updated disk, protractor, ruler.  Free shipping.
 _
[_] $ 5  I have no need to survey it myself, but I like your programming
    style in AMER_ENG.  Send me another diskfull.  Free shipping.

Total amount: $_______ Date:____________ Check/MO payable to CAVE, Inc.

Paid by: [_] Check, number __________, Bank ___________________________________
         [_] Money Order, number______________, Issuer_________________________
         [_] Federal Reserve Notes (not recommended)
         [_] I enclose a copy of the deed to___________________________________

From where did you obtain this disk? __________________________________________
Help me fine tune my instructions to my audience.
Occupation: ___________________________________________________________________
Hobbies: ______________________________________________________________________
Level of education: ___________________________________________________________
Purpose of learning to survey: ________________________________________________
Anything else which you think would help me educate you.
Are you interested in cheap ($150 to $350 per acre) land?  Y  N



 SIYW.TXT       List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings                    66

                                   Chapter W

                   List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings

The following words were not in the PC-WRITE dictionary.

abbr            The abbreviation for abbreviation.
Abney level     A type of clinometer consisting of a sighting  tube, a rotating
                bubble level, and a protractor.
adjustor        A device to adjust something.
adulations      Many excessively laudatory flatulent flatteries.
altho           Newspeak for although.
Applesoft       Floating point BASIC on the Apple II computer.
archaeic        The archaeic spelling of archaic.
ASCS            Acronym: Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service.
authoring       The writing of polished text.
babysat         To babysit in the past.
babysitter      One who sits on babies.
backcompass     A compass reading taken back towards the direction from which
                you are travelling.
Backdoor to Hell Cave  
                A fabled cavern of mythical size and difficulty.
backsight       A sight taken back towards the direction from which you are
                travelling.
backsights      More than a single backsight.
Ballentine      The name of the fellow who showed me FORTRAN. 
ballpoint       The generic writing instrument of the late Twentieth Century.
BASICA          A computer language on the Genuine IBM PC.
bassackwards    The condition of being completely turned around and headed in
                the opposite direction from that intended.
befuddlement    Causing complete and utter confusion or worse.
Beiter          The author's family name.
beltaxe         A small axe to be carried on the belt.
Bemis Heights   A hamlet in New York where The Battle of Saratoga was fought
                during The Revolution.
Binghampton     A city in upstate New York.
bldg            The abbr. for building.
BLM             Acronym: Bureau of Land Management.
blundertrap     That which traps a blunder.
blundertraps    Those which trap blunders.
Boonies         A place where Dan'l Boone would feel at home.
Broomfield      A city in Colorado.
Brunton         A fancy compass, sometimes called an Army  Artillery compass,
                or pocket transit.
buggers         Obnoxious bugs.
bullseye        The center of a target.

 SIYW.TXT       List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings                   67

bux             Newspeak for Federal Reserve Notes. You probably  call them
                "dollars".
Capricia        The name of a pet goat kid.
CAVEMAP         A surveying computer program.
cheapie         Pejorative term for inexpensive.
Chuckem, Gona   A junior partner in Pluckum, Phuccum & Chuckem Attorneys at Law.
clinometer      An instrument for measuring inclination, or slope. An
                inclinometer.
clinometers     More than one clinometer.
COMP            An abbr. for compass.
compuscript     A manuscript written with a computer.
computerese     A language of the computer literate and numerate.
copier          A machine for copying printed paper information.
COS             The abbr. for cosine.
cosign          To guarantee a bank loan such that they take all of the profit
                and you take all of the risk.
cowpaths        Beaten trails in a pasture caused by generations of plodding
                cattle.
Dan'l           The way Dan'l Boone pronounced his name.
declinations    The differences in direction between true north and magnetic
                north at various places.
deflecting      The act of turning away from a proper direction.
defrosted       Melted by a defroster.
defroster       A vehicle hot air blower for melting your compass.
Denneys Gap     A pass thru a ridge, inhabited by Denneys.
Deuteronomy     An Old Testament book, (c) 1473 BC, by Moses.
diabolically    In league with the devil.
dong            The jacking organ of a jackass.
doodled         Having been created by absent minded drawing or scratching.
doorstop        The best use for a Radio Shuck computer.
EEAST           An abbr. for Error East.
Elkins          A city in West Virginia.
engineered      Purposefully designed.
ENORTH          An abbr. for Error North.
enthralled      Held in a spellbound slavery of love.
enuf            Newspeak for enough.
EPROM           Acronym for Eraseable Read Only Programmable Memory, a type of
                computer chip.
eschatology     The scientific study of ultimate purposes.
Esq.            The abbr. for Esquire.
exponentiate    To raise to an exponent or power. To multiply by itself a
                number of times. Exponentiation is to multiplication what
                multiplication is to addition.
exponentiation  The mathematical operation of raising to an exponent.
                Multiplication done a number of times.
eyelevel        The elevation of your eye above ground.
FAX             A machine for sending a facsimile of a paper copy thru a
                telephone.
 SIYW.TXT       List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings                   68

fencelines      Lines with fences on them.
Fergle          A facetious University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
firstly         Doing first.
forester        One who manages forests. A fancy type of compass.
foresters       More than one forester.
forewarned      Having received an early warning. 
Forney Cat      The name of my pet tomcat.
gatepost        The post from which a gate swings.
Gordian         A mythological knot which could only be untied with a sword.
gotta           Imperative. Newspeak for got to. Must.
gradians        A method of measuring direction where a circle is divided into
                400 parts to confuse The Enemy.
gridlines       Lines drawn at set intervals.
guesstimate     An informed but inaccurate measurement.
guesstimating   The act of making an informed but inaccurate measurement.
gunpoint        Threat with a firearm.
Gunsmoke        The name of the author's pet jackass.
GW-BASIC        The acronym for Generic Whizbang Beginners All-purpose Symbolic
                Instruction Code, a computer language on the PC-clone.
HDIST           An abbr. for horizontal distance.
hectare         100 ares. 2.47 acres.
hornets         Many large flying insects with vicious stings pursuing a
                surveyor.
IEAST           An abbr. for increment east.
incantations    Magical, mystical words.
INCL            An abbr. for inclination.
inclinometer    An instrument for measuring inclination. A clinometer.
inexpensively   Without the expenditure of excessive money.
inkberries      Poke berries. A weed whose berry was used for ink.
INORTH          An abbr. for incremental north.
instilled       To have had implanted slowly and without consent in one's mind.
isogonic        Of equal compass declination.
issuer          One who issues something, such as a money order.
IUP             An abbr. for incremental up.
jeeptrail       A road requiring a four wheel drive vehicle.
Keson           A manufacturer of measuring instruments.
kinda           Newspeak for kind of. Approximately.
lanyard         A cord for holding equipment around the neck.
laptop          A small computer used in the lap.
laser           The acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
                Radiation. A brand of computer.
latrine         An outdoor toilet.
lengthier       More lengthy than lengthy.
lensatic        An Army marching compass. A cheap sighting  compass accurate to
                about ten degrees. If you have one, destroy it before someone
                uses it to get lost in the woods.
Lexington       A city containing The University of Kentucky.
Lyman M. Lyonn  An Associate with Pluckum, Phuccum & Chuckem  Attorneys at Law.
 SIYW.TXT       List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings                   69

magically       Accomplished with the use of magic.
mathematically  Accomplished with the use of mathematics.
Mechanicville   A city in upstate New York.
monopod         A tripod with only one leg and foot.
moonshine       Homemade whiskey, usually made in remote locations under the
                light of the moon.
MSL             The acronym for Mean Sea Level
mspellings      Pellings' marital status is irrelevant.
mumbo           Muttered incantations. Usually mumbo jumbo, muttered GREAT
                incantations.
mythical        Celebrated in myth.
newsprint       Cheap paper for ephemeral printing.
Newspeak        The new rationalized American language.
notepaper       Paper suitable for taking notes upon.
nowdays         Newspeak for present.
ochlophobe      One who fears crowds and crowded places. I don't actually fear
                them, I simply despise them.
oughta          Newspeak for ought to. Should.
Pac-Perchild    A non-sexist video game.
perturbing      Disturbing, deflecting, or upsetting.
Phuccum, Hardy  A Junior partner at Pluckum, Phuccum & Chuckem Attorneys at Law
Pluckum, Howie  The Senior Partner at the prestigious Law Firm of Pluckum,
                Phuccum & Chuckem  Attorneys at Law.
POB             The acronym for Post Office Box.
polkadots       Colorful dots in a pattern.
prestidigitate  To perform sleight of hand magic.
pretested       Having been subjected to a preliminary test.
protractor      A device for measuring angles, consisting of a graduated circle
                or part thereof.
protractors     More than one protractor. 
punchcards      IBM cards, used to talk to computers in the era before floppy
                disks.
quartered       Divided into four parts. 
radians         A method of measuring angles, where the arc of the circle
                segment is divided by its radius. One radian = 57.29577951°
rangefinders    Devices for measuring distances without a  tapemeasure.
Rangers         A class of sighting compass imported by Silva.
readjust        To adjust again.
recopied        Having been copied again.
remoter         More remote than remote.
Rensselaer      A county in Upstate New York on the East Bank of the Hudson.
replot          To plot again.
resurvey        To survey again.
resurveying     The act of surveying again.
Ritner          A ghost town in Kentucky, between Denneys Gap and Jones Holler.
roadcut         A trench for a road, exposing rocks in the walls.
rotted          Consumed by fungus.

 SIYW.TXT       List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings                   70

Saratoga        A county and city (properly, Saratoga Springs) in Upstate New
                York west of The Hudson.
SASE            The acronym for Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.
Schenectady     A city in upstate New York on the Mohawk River containing
                Union College and General Electric corporate headquarters.
schoolchild     A child babysat by the school system.
SEAST           An abbr. for Sum of the East. 
semicircular    Being half a circle.
serendipity     The art of making unexpected fortunate discoveries. 
sez             Newspeak for says. 
shalt           The archaeic imperative future auxiliary verb. 
Silva           The brand name of a compass made in Sweden. 
Sipe, F Henry   The author of the book "Compass Land Surveying". 
SIYORDER        The name of a computer file containing an order form for Survey
                It Yourself.
SLC             The acronym for Salt Lake City.
SNORTH          The abbr. for Sum of the North.
speleology      The scientific study of caves.
SQR             An abbr. for square root.
squiggles       Randomly multiply curved lines.
stereoscope     An instrument for observing 3-D images from aerial photographs.
Stillwater      A town and village in Saratoga County, Upstate New York between
                Frog Island (Riverside) and Bemis Heights.
streambed       The portion of a valley normally covered by running water.
stringbox       A one man distance measuring instrument.
stripmine       A method of mining whereby the surface of the earth is totally
                disturbed.
SUP             An abbr. for Sum of the Up.
Suunto          The brand name of a Finnish compass.
tapemeasure     A flexible graduated distance measuring device.
TCL             Silva Ranger compass with built-in clinometer.
textfile        A computer file containing only letters, numerals, and certain
                punctuation. Plain ASCII.
theodolite      A fancy and expensive surveying instrument.
theoretical     Calculated mathematically, rather than measured.
thermodynamics  A branch of Physics concerning the distribution of heat and
                energy.
tho             Newspeak for though.
thru            Newspeak for through.
tomcat          A male domestic cat.
topo            Topographic map.
topos           More than one topo. 
transitted      Moved across, in surveying to take a sight in the exact
                opposite direction.
tribulations    Afflictions, difficulties.
trickier        More tricky than tricky.
TRS             Pronounced TRaSh. A class of Radio Shuck computers.
typograhpic     A typograhpic error, not a editorial error.
 SIYW.TXT       List of Unusual Words with Their Meanings                   71

uncoiling       The act of removing the tapemeasure from its carrying
                configuration.
unconfused      Not confused any more.
uncontested     Not contested.
uncorrected     Not corrected.
undamped        Of a compass needle; able to jiggle forever.
underlaps       Where two parts fail to join.
unpublished     Not published.
USGS            The acronym for United States Geological Survey.
vee sight       The little notch on a Silva Ranger mirror cover.
VIC             The acronym for Video Interface Chip of Commodore Computer.
voided          Made ineffective.
whatcha         Newspeak for what do you.
whatchamacallits Things with name unknown.
whizbang        Technologically sophisticated.
woodlot         A patch of forest.
Wuckit          The landowner of a large cave in Albany County, Upstate New York
xerographic     A dry copying process. 


The text of "Survey It Yourself: The Poor Man's Guide to Land Surveying" was 
imported from a previous incarnation on an Apple IIe via direct wired RS-232
ports (null modem).

Control was with MS-DOS 3.3 and BASIC programs written for the purpose.  [Am I
to believe that I am the first to want to transmit data between Apple and PC,
quickly, easily, and inexpensively?] There seemed to be some garbage thrown in
by the interface [or perhaps by that dreaded computer virus, the Apple
Insidious Dementia Subroutine?].  This was removed and a major rewrite was made
with with BLACKBEARD*.  The text was further cleaned, and spell checked with
PC-WRITE.  A BASIC program written for the purpose (SIYFLT0.BAS) filters
inappropriate printer controls from the distribution version of the text.

The program "CAVEMAP1" has been completely rewritten in GW-BASIC, but has still
not been completely debugged.  Some of the more esoteric subroutines have not
been included in the distribution version.  Send me a disk full of something
interesting (EDIEDO [Empty Disk In, Empty Disk Out]), return postage, and a
buck for the latest version.  If you need something different from what is done
with "CAVEMAP1", ask.  I may be able to easily patch it in, or I may think that
it is such a dumb idea and such a good teaching example that I will tell you to
program it yourself.  Please modify my program to fit your job.

Graphics.  The graphics on "CAVEMAP" are CGA HiRes [640x200], mapped onto a
psuedoHercules card by HGCIBM.  Why is it can I write 720x348 graphics from C,
but not from BASIC?  Am I missing something obvious, or is there some great
incompatability between GW-BASIC and Hercules graphics???  There has to be a
more elegant solution than writing 640x200 graphics and then distorting them
onto a 720x348 display!!!  I think that I know the answer; that the attorneys
are still waxing fat on the carcasses of IBM, Microsoft, and Hercules.  Let the
bloodsuckers feast, but somebody please write a machine language subroutine
[SCREEN 99] for those of us who must write with our computers in the meanwhile.

* Is there something strange about the way I think that makes me prefer
BLACKBEARD to all other word processors?  Is it simply that BLACKBEARD does
just what I would expect it to do and does it with a simple mnemonic keystroke,
or does BLACKBEARD make the operator think like BLACKBEARD?  Who was it that
dreamt up such keystrokes as control-alternate-F8 [or is it alternate-shift-
numeric-slash plus control-shift-F8] as the command to do some simple task?
No wonder my mailbox is stuffed with offers to teach my secretary some well-
-advertised computer program or another at a weeklong seminar costing only
$999.99 [plus meals, lodging, transportation, and tips for these ophioleum
marketing engineers].  A pox on computer salesmen!  A viron on computer
software salesmen!!  A meme for independent bitflippers.

				   SYNFOODS
				 ALPHABET SOUP

			 "So good it must be synful!"

			 Ingredients: ABC, EDTA, PABA,
			 DDT, NSS, CRF, SKAT, BHA, BHT,
			 DES, DEA, FBI, KGB, CIA, KSP,
			 BCI, IRS, KRS, MEK, RPI, ACRO,
			 EDB, SAE 10W-40, IUPAC, WCTU,
			 ACLU, AAUP, API, UDIPTA, KKK,
			 BAN, BAM, PAM, DOD, DOE, HUD,
			 EPA, OSHA, FDIC, FSLIC, USA,
			 CSA, TNT, TNB, RAM, ROM, REM,
			 RUM, DOS, MOV, MBA, Polysorbate
			 160, FD&C Red #7, FD&C Yellow
			 #27, FD&C Green #62, FD&C
			 Fuschia #2, SOS, DOA, natural
			 and artificial flavorings, and
			 water sufficient for processing.

			   The Synthetic Foods Corp
				 1/2 Fast Road
			       Ritner, KY  42639

                            LAND SPECIFCATION SHEET

    If you don't have any questions for me, I have some questions for you.

Name    ______________________________________________    Dave Beiter

Address ______________________________________________    CAVE, Inc.

        ______________________________________________    1/2 Fast Road

        ______________________________________________    Ritner, KY  42639

Phone   ________/________-____________________________    606/376-3137


        What kinds of properties do you think would be worth looking at?

$$$: 90% of the places would cost less than $_______________

Total acres: 90% of the places would have more than ________acres total land.

Garden: 90% of the places would have more than __________square feet of garden.

Cropland: 90% of the places would have more than _______acres of plowable land.

Pasture : 90% of the places would have more than _______acres of mowable land.

Woodland : 90% of the places would have more than _______acres of trees.

                               ACCESS & EGRESS

Jeep: Maximum distance willing to travel on a jeeptrail.     ___________ miles.

Pickup: Maximum distance willing to travel on a dirt road.     __________miles.

Tough car: Maximum distance willing to travel on poor gravel.  __________miles.

City car: Maximum distance willing to travel on easy gravel.   __________miles.

Would you consider property located on a paved road?  Y  N

How close/far do you want to be from neighbors?

How close/far do you want to be to a population center (Monticello, pop 7000)?


Would you be interested in renting?  Y  N  Caretaking?  Y  N  Squatting?  Y  N

Do you want a local statistical weather summary? Y($2)  N       On disk? Y  N

Photos: I no longer supply free pin-up photos. If you would like a set of
color prints of any property(s), the price is ($10.) Also ASCS aerial photos.

Topos: Topo map with property boundaries marked, ($5.) Xerox of topo with
property boundary marked, ($2.)  Specify.
In the following list, circle those items which describe desirable properties.
Double circle those which are "must have".  Cross out those which are
undesirable.  Double cross out those which would reject properties.
If it don't matter, then don't mark it.

River  Creek  Lakefront  Pond  Spring  Well  City water  Electricity  Telephone

Gas   Modern house  Shack  Trailer  Outhouse   Inhouse    Barn   Shed    Fenced

Crossfenced   Cave  Cliff  Rockhouse   Near wild river   Near Lake Cumberland

Near National Forest     Near Big South Fork National Park     Mineral rights

Paved road     Gravel road      Dirt road      Jeeptrail     Private driveway

Schoolbus route  Airstrip  No buildings  High tension lines  __________________

Do you want me to give your name to the local realtors?  Y  N

Do you read topo maps? Y  N  Do you have access to a Map Reference Library? Y N

Do you read aerial photos? Y  N    Do you have access to a stereoscope? Y  N

Would you like to own land in a 3rd World county? Y N  A Nature Preserve? Y  N

Would you like to live in a Third World county?  Y  N  A Nature Preserve? Y  N

Would you like more info on learning to survey land yourself?  Y  N

Can you read a floppy disk?  Y  N     Apple II?  Y  N      PC-clone?  Y  N

Would you like a list of suppliers for mini business & industry?  Y  N
($2 or the name, address, phone & merchandise of your 10 favorite suppliers)

Would you like info on the local small and smaller business climate?  Y  N

For what purpose do you wish to buy land? What do you propose to do on or
with the land?



Any special requests? Specific questions merit specific answers.


Would you like a 16" x 21" map of the USA with all nuclear & military areas
marked? This is the War Resisters League's "Nuclear America".   Y ($2.)    N

My price is a 5% finders fee on the purchase price, if & when you buy.
Elsewise nothing. This includes a preliminary land survey, a preliminary title
search, & a geologist's opinion of the water & mineral resources.

                       Make checks payable to CAVE, Inc.
                     _                                   _
Please_vote for the |_| Democratic Socialists, or the   |_| National Socialists
  or |_| None of the above.


                       THE NIGHT OF TAX DAY


'Twas the night of Tax Day...
And all thru the house,
Every creature was whirring,
Even the mouse.
The floppy was placed in the disk drive with care,
In certainty Saint Silicon soon would be there.
The chips were nestled
All snug in their sockets,
Their RAM filled with visions of STARWARS and ROCKETS.
And Mamma in her kerchief
And I in my cap
Had just settled down
For a long ev'ning's rap,
When out of the drives there arose such a racket,
I raised up my fist, right ready to whack it.
Away to the printer I flew like a flash,
And I swore that I'd change my brand of hash!
More rapid than junk FAX these tax forms they came,
And it booped and it beeped and it called 'em by name:
Now Form 1040! Now Form 1065! Now Schedules A and F too!
On! Form 1120! Form 4562!! Form 1098!!! Form 8362!!!!

To the top of the ladder,
To The Top of The Heap!
Just go away,
Go Away!
I gotta sleep.
As stray bits which down the cable do fly,
When they meet with the processor, soon go awry,
So up the tab all these taxes they flew,
With a surtax and threats of penalty
And interest too!
Now it may be some virus was having its yucks,
But the total was over 87 kilobux.
So she read all the Pubs, and she said, "What the heck!"
Then we signed all the forms, and we wrote 'em a check.
And crossing her fingers and blowing her nose
And giving a nod, from her chair she arose.
She ran to her van, to the key gave a twist,
With a spray of gravel, you could tell she was pist.
And I heard her exclaim as she roared out of sight--
"I think in Paducah they'll postmark it midnight."

Copywright (c) 1990, Dave Byter, proliferate freely.
1/2 Fast Software, Ritner KY  42639.  606/376-3137

My sincere apologies to Dr. Clement Clarke Moore.

Y.TXT (c)1990 by Dave Byter, proliferate freely.

Why am I giving away this valuable information? Several reasons, including the
philosophical belief that information is free.

The one that is important to you is that this is advertising for the surveying
instruments.  I'm content to take my profit on the compass and tape.  If, in
addition, every reader would send me a buck and pass copies on to two of
his/her/its/their friends who would do the same within one week I'd be
delighted.  After a year, I would not be delighted.  I'd have every poor
relative, investment advisor, and tax collector beating a path to my door.

$2^52 is a LOT of dollars, even by Department of Defense standards! I promise
that I will pay off the National Debt, and then buy Kentucky and give it back
to the Indians if you good people out there will just send me $2^52.  That's
even enuf that I could retire with the change left over after my philanthopy.
I might even buy the New World and give it back to the cave bears.

 Volume in drive A has no label
 Directory of A:\

COPYWRIG HT       1858   7-07-90  10:40p
(C)1990  BY       1023   7-07-90  10:43p
DP_BYTER          1024   7-13-90   2:41p
BROWSE   COM       960  12-20-88   6:08p
READ     ME       5120   7-13-90   2:04p
WARRANTY IAM     10090   7-13-90   2:11p
HARDWARE TXT      1019   7-07-90  11:20p
SOFTWARE TXT      2962   7-07-90  11:23p
PROFSURV TXT      2048   2-08-90  12:39a
SIY      BAT       701   5-20-90  10:26p
SIYPRINT BAT      1005   5-20-90  10:40p
SIY0     TXT     10593   8-08-90  10:26p
SIYHALF  TXT      7845   7-07-90   9:04p
SIY1     TXT     22458   7-13-90   3:24p
SIY2     TXT      4342   7-03-90   2:24p
SIY3     TXT     13783   7-03-90   2:52p
SIY4     TXT      4854   4-26-90  10:10p
SIY5     TXT      6529   7-03-90   3:29p
SIY6     TXT      2048   1-22-90   2:11a
SIY7     TXT     12799   7-03-90   4:02p
SIY8     TXT      5675   7-03-90   4:10p
SIY9     TXT     11023   7-03-90   4:33p
SIY10    TXT      7036   7-12-90  12:03a
SIY11    TXT     17155   7-03-90   6:14p
SIY12    TXT      2623   7-03-90   6:19p
SIY13    TXT      2737   7-03-90   7:45p
SIY14    TXT      2182   7-03-90   7:51p
SIYG     TXT      6397   7-03-90   8:19p
SIYB     TXT      2983   7-03-90   8:25p
SIYW     TXT     14335   7-13-90   2:18p
SIY1_C   TXT     20389   7-13-90   2:25p
SIYORDER TXT      5083   8-08-90  10:27p
CAVEMAP1 BAS     22576   7-11-90  12:36a
CAVEMAP1 TXT      9543   8-01-90   9:02p
SIY2LINR BAS       735   4-05-89  10:35p
GRAF1    CAV       731  11-25-89   9:41p
GRAF2    CAV      1007   7-31-90  11:51p
TABLE1   CAV       761  11-25-89   9:28p
TABLE2   CAV       832  11-25-89  10:51p
TABLE3   CAV      1843  11-25-89  11:10p
EXAMPLE0 TXT      3030   7-31-90   2:58a
EXAMPLE0 CAV      9046   7-10-90  11:29p
EXAMPLE1 TXT      2866   7-31-90   9:02p
EXAMPLE1 CAV      3520  11-24-89  12:36a
EXAMPLE2 TXT      2009   7-31-90   2:52a
EXAMPLE2 CAV      3061   7-31-90   9:40p
EXAMPLE3 TXT      2017   7-31-90   9:35p
EXAMPL3A CAV      1443  11-29-89   5:50p
EXAMPL3B CAV      1000   7-31-90   9:57p
EXAMPLE4 TXT      1499  12-04-89  12:59a
EXAMPLE4 CAV      8157   7-31-90   9:52p
EXAMPLE5 TXT       551  12-08-89   2:21a
EXAMPLE5 CAV      1843  12-07-89  10:26p
RETIRE   NOW      4082   2-08-90  12:44a
RETIRE_H ERE     17336   7-30-90   1:06p
3RDWORLD TXT      7759   7-07-90  11:51p
EARLLAND TXT      3063   8-04-90  12:56a
SPECSHEE TXT      4375   7-06-89  12:21a
BEEF     TXT      1024   1-05-90   1:54a
SOUP     TXT       689   8-28-89  12:19a
TAX_DAY  TXT      1811   7-08-90  12:09a
GUNSMOKE TXT       874   7-08-90  12:18a
AMER_ENG TXT      1647   7-15-90  12:36a
ART_LIFE TXT       750   7-08-90  12:32a
Y        TXT      1024   7-08-90  12:36a
LIBRARYN TXT      1528   7-08-90  12:38a
DIRECTRY TXT      3700   8-09-90  10:28a
CAVE     BAT      1024   1-25-90   8:52p
MS_BAT   TXT      1024   8-01-90  10:31p
INTRO    BAT      1018   8-08-90  10:26p
FILE1826 TXT      2961   8-29-90   5:14p
       71 file(s)     344438 bytes
                           0 bytes free