Survey a run you can't drive

Not every route can be driven end to end. Part of an old ditch may be full of water, a culvert or a fence may be in the way, or a stretch may be too soft. Two tools on the Survey screen let you finish the survey anyway. A third reads the grade between two spots without recording anything.

Before you start

• You're on the Survey screen of your workflow, recording a survey or ready to (Survey a route)
• The GPS button at the top of the screen shows a green RTK: RTK Fixed, the most accurate GPS position. Shots and Grade Check don't work without it.

Time: a few seconds for each obstacle, shot or grade check.

Pause round an obstacle

Pause works while you're recording, with Drive selected (the normal way of recording, a point every 10 ft).

1. Tap Pause before the obstacle

   Survey up to the obstacle. Then tap Pause: the grey button in the column of buttons down the right side of the screen, under Drive and Shots.

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   You should see the label at the top of the map turn orange: Survey PAUSED. Pause turns into an orange Resume button.

2. Drive round and line up on the route again

   Take whatever path you need. The detour isn't recorded and the point count stays where it was. A thin line on the map shows where you've been.

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3. Tap Resume

   Back on the line past the obstacle, tap the orange Resume button, where Pause was. The next point is logged straight away, where you are.

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   You should see the gap joined by a straight line, drawn dashed on the map and on the ground chart along the bottom. Its length is the straight distance across, not your detour.

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Take shots where you can reach the line

Use Shots when you can only get to the route at certain spots, for example dry crossings along a flooded ditch. In Shots, the app records one point each time you tap, instead of one every 10 ft. You can switch between Drive and Shots at any time, even mid-survey.

1. Tap Shots

   Shots is the white button with a target picture, right of Drive, in the column on the right. Tap it.

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   You should see the label at the top change to Shot Survey. Points stop logging by distance. An orange Log Point button and a white Grade Check button take the place of Pause.

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2. Stop on the spot and tap Log Point

   Drive onto the route and stop. Hold still with the implement at the same raised height you survey at. Then tap Log Point, the big orange button.

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   You should see a green message along the bottom of the screen: Point 27 logged (the number is the point count).

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   Log Point greys out while there's no RTK Fixed. If the fix drops or the GPS goes stale as you tap, the shot is refused with No usable GPS fix — point not logged. Wait for the fix and tap again.

3. Repeat at each spot you can reach

   Drive to the next spot, stop, and tap Log Point again. Shots show as large orange dots on the map, joined by a dashed line. On the ground chart, straight dashed lines join them.

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4. Tap Drive when you can drive the line again

   As soon as the route opens up, tap Drive, left of Shots. The app goes back to a point every 10 ft, and Pause comes back.

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Where to put shots

• At both ends of the stretch you can't drive, so the bridge starts and ends on measured ground.
• On every rise and every low spot you can get to. A straight line between shots hides anything in between.
• Closer together where the ground changes, further apart on an even slope.
• Back to Drive as soon as you can drive the line again.

Read the grade between two spots

Grade Check works like a rod-and-level check: shoot one spot, move, and read the grade, distance and fall. Nothing is saved to the survey. The button shows only with Shots selected, but you don't have to be recording.

Use it to check the fall of an existing ditch before you decide whether it needs work, or to check a finished pass.

If it doesn't work

• No Pause button: Shots is selected, or you're not recording. Pause is for Drive while recording.
• No usable GPS fix — point not logged: wait for RTK Fixed. More.
• The design cuts a hump you didn't know about in a bridged stretch: the straight line missed it. Add shots there, or check the stretch with Grade Check.
• Grade Check or Log Point is greyed out: not connected, or no RTK Fixed yet. Connect and wait for the fix, or tap Simulate to practise.