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By Mick
Capman,
PSFM President (Kalamazoo County Sheriff – Retired)
First
of all,
after having chosen your preferred RP, set up
the tripod. Position one of the tripod legs towards
the core or majority of evidence at the scene.
Second,
position the tripod legs such that the “face plate”
appears level to the eye (looking at it from more
than one position), as seen here.
Third,
position yourself between one of the sets of tripod legs (as
seen in forefront position of below photo) and position the
“leveling foot screw” (one of three found on the tribrach)
at a ‘neutral’ or common setting position. This will appear
as a ‘scribed mark’ on the foot screw itself.
Fourth,
level the Instrument as seen being done by other troopers in
the below photo. There are many good ways to level the
instrument effectively & quickly.0
Notice below, the detective
adjusting his “leveling foot screws”:
Fifth,
point the Instrument towards a northerly direction* for
zero(0)-setting. It is a generally accepted practice
in the field for commencing all horizontal angles
from a “generally known compass position” of zero.
Horizontal
angles, as you recall, are important for showing
relationships between like and/or other evidence points.
Vertical angles are generally pre-set/defaulted by
the manufacturer, with the ‘zero’ point found directly
overhead or up. Vertical angles, etc. are calculated by
EvR to show “changes to the lay of the land” (topography).
It is a
given that all slope distances commence with ‘zero’ being at
the Instrument. Ergo, all
measurements (2-angles & the distance) begin at ZERO (just
like distances do on other conventional means of
measurement ... i.e. steel/cloth tape, etc.).
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Sokkia
FMS530r3
(as of 11/04) Press FUNC button, then the
F2 button twice, then the FUNC
button again. Take time to examine the screen and
become accustom to its general appearance and settings.
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Leica
FMS407
(as of 01/03) Press the F4 button until
Hz=0 is seen over F2. Then
press F2 button twice, then the F4
button once. Take time to
examine the Instruments screen and become accustom to
its’ general appearance and settings.
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Other
Models?
Email
mapscenes@aol.com for steps
Truthfully, you do not
want the “zero set” function button to be too readily
accessible ~ guess why?!! If it is accidentally pressed at
any time while doing your important scene, it will cause all
horizontal angles to be terribly off and the relationship of
evidence, one to the other, will be in error!
AVOID, at all cost, re-zero setting at any
time once the scene documentation has started.
Sixth,
the Reference Measurement Protocol. Position the zero-end
of the measuring tape at the ground RP point directly
below the Instrument. Turn on laser plummet or look through
optical plummet to determine this point, and stretch out the
tape and measure to a reasonable distance (20, 25, 30, 50,
100+ feet).
Position a prism pole (or
mini-prism on sectional pole) at that measured location.
Then, using the “rough sight” on Instrument’s scope POINT
the Instrument towards the target (prism). Now, AIM
the Instrument by lining up cross-hair in Instruments
reticle to that of the prism.
Interior and other ‘unique’
scenes present a different consideration in this regard.
Other considerations regarding this process can be found
elsewhere at this website.
 
a handy use of sectional
prism pole is for positioning RM location.
Seventh,
create a Rough Sketch of the scene. This very helpful aid
permits a written record of your diagramming procedure and
can be used, for memory’s sake, to assure you that all
criminal evidence has been accounted for. And it is a
vital part of basic, Police/law enforcement
investigation practices.
 
Eighth,
setting up the EvR for scene work. J Just follow these
simple steps:
1-
power up device (TDS,
Panasonic, Tracker)
2-
tap icon to enter EvR software
3-
Tap
Create New Scene, press OK
4-
Fill in
Scene Name, press OK
5-
Optional
dialog box, press Ok
6-
Tap
Reference (found at screen bottom or top)
7-
Tap Occupy Reference Point (as shown here)
8-
Measure
Total Station Height (to mark on side of Instrument).
 
9-
With
Instrument POINTED towards prism (or other specific point),
AIM Instrument with such that it’s cross-hair is precisely
in the center of the target.
10- Tap Shoot Angles and
Distance button
11- Input where prompted, the Target
Height (as shown here), press OK
You should
now be ready to begin the scene documentation process!!
J First document, if you choose, “short lived”
evidence points (body location, shell casings, etc.).
Exclusively use the “Pnt” input-window for
labeling these sorts of evidence:
You may also “pre-select”
your perceived LINE-codes to be used at the scene. For
example, you may choose multiple edge of pavement (EP)
codes, or gravel edge (GE), fog line (FL), Yellow center
line (YL) codes, or skid mark (SM), yaw mark (YM), gouge
(GOU), debris line, steering (power & trailer) wheel-axle
line codes, etc. etc., as seen here:
Whew …!!
that could have been a pretty BIG scene or
one of just a few points. And now that you feel you have
documented all that is/was important ~ knowing all the
“issues at hand” and are ready to tear down the
Instrument and head back to the office.
Ninth,
But before you do that > > take one more “relaxed”
look at the scene and go over carefully all that you’ve
accomplished. You can view, on the EvR, close up views of
all evidence ‘shot’ etc. Just make sure for yourself that
all has been documented. ‘Stuff’ won’t be there when you
return the 2nd time if something is now
forgotten!!!! Murphy’s Law takes over in that regard!
And
finally Tenth,
we’re ready now for our last RM (reference
measurement). By using the rough sight, POINT the
Instrument back toward the RM. AIM the Instrument
using the Horz./Vert. fine-adjustment knobs and line up
reticle cross-hair to that of the specific object or prism.
Code the EvR as a RM
and take the ‘shot’. Once this step is complete and,
assuming all other things/considerations are equal (!), you
can start to put equipment away.
If total station has become
wet for any reason, wipe off with a towel and let it later
“room dry” out of its box. Wipe dry too the storage box.
Good Luck
and we’ll see you at the next scene! If we can help, give
us a call.
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