Shetland Attack Pony

[graham]

When a lot of survey work was going on in Wookey, some years back, Willie Stanton set up a calibration leg in the  car park - only to be told some time later that a bloody great conduit stuffed with magnetic ooh nasties went just underneath!

What this reminds me, however, is that calibration should be carried out both very close to the site being surveyed in both space and time.

Now, unless the Wexses intend re-surveying North Hill Swallet on a regular basis ...

 

[graham]

So nobody's actually read the calibration method from the maker of the device then.....guys you only need to read the 1st 4 points and all your questions/thoughts/ponderings will be answered...

Aha, OK. There are two different things going on here. The calibration that Menacer is talking about will ensure that the instrument is recording consistently. The calibration that I, and I suspect others, am talking about is calibrating the instrument with respect to a known bearing. Given that the instrument is reading a magnetic bearing, the one form of calibration (Menacer's/the manual's) does not mean that the other form (mine/every magnetic instrument's) can be forgotten.

 

[graham]

How accurate is a SAP.

OK, I have the data, recorded using a SAP.

I know the mag var on the day.

But what other correction is needed?

Or to put it another way:

How accurate is a Shetland Attack Pony?

 

[menacer]

They are calibrated to a normal magnetic compass or clino.....is that what you mean.....(my pony says 100 degrees so does my tandem) so it depends on how accurate my compass clino is really...
The manual states tolerances of +/- 1 degree...

That small loop we did in sidcot down the lobster and up lobster pot bypass with an error of 0.61 gives it a fairly good field test, but mine in particular is reliant on the tandem I set it up with...as will be every individuals once they calibrate theirs after the first "factory setup" from Phil...
I did a manual pony test before and after use in sidcot and nothing changed.....(checked the left right up and downs)

Maybe email Phil at furbrain dot org dot uk to get "the info from the ponies mouth"

 

[graham]

So your pony has the same systematic error as your tandem.

I wonder what it is ...

 

[menacer]

My tandem is 1 degree different to the factory settings supplied on the pony.
The pony is accurate to +/- 1 degree.
My tandem could be spot on or it could be 2 degrees out.

Either way it would be consistent.

Im guessing the surface calibration thing against a fixed point(as done with normal compasses) would equally apply here.

 

[graham]

Im guessing the surface calibration thing against a fixed point(as done with normal compasses) would equally apply here.

YES!!!

 

[jguarro]

Hi everybody,

I'm a caver from Barcelona (Catalonia), and I've recently received a new unit of the SAP, and now I would like to download the Windows Driver and the PonyTrainer software, but it looks like their website www.shetlandattackpony.co.uk  is down and Phil is bouncing the emails I sent him. Does anybody know an alternative place to download the software and driver?

Maybe Phil manages to put his website running in short, but I'm going to a caving expedition and we won't have internet connection available.

Thank's in advance,
Josep Guarro

 

[menacer]

I have a copy of the drivers i could mail you if you send me your email address..
Tried ringing phil but no answer 

 

[jguarro]

I have a copy of the drivers i could mail you if you send me your email address..
Tried ringing phil but no answer 

Many Thank's! I've just sent you a PM.

Josep

 

[furbrain]

Sorry for not answering your calls - I've been in surgery this morning! The website is down, but I am hoping it should be up and running soon. If its not running by the end of today, I'll sort out an alternative site for hosting drivers etc.

For the meantime, you can contact me on: beardydoc <at> googlemail <dit> com

 

[furbrain]

Ok, website is back up now.

Phil

PS if anyone has any questions about the SAP, please email me; I don't check this forum terribly often.

PPS if you were worrying that I was unwell - I am a doctor; I was working in a GP surgery today!

 

[jguarro]

OK, thanks to Carmen, and Phil I have been able to download the Ponytrainer software and diver, it's now running on my PC, and I can have access to the stored data etc.

I see that in the "File" menu there is the option to "Reset Leg Count", but in my unit it does nothing at all (no reset of the leg count), Am I doing anything wrong?

Thank's
Josep

 

[furbrain]

No, you're not doing anything wrong. That menu item doesn't currently do anything - that should be fixed with the upcoming
firmware and PonyTrainer upgrade (which will include support for 400g surveying).

Going back to an earlier question. If you have calibrated a pony with a compass that points to magnetic north, the pony will read magnetic north. If you calibrate it with a compass values with respect to true or grid north, then your pony will read true north or grid north only for that place and time - it will drift off true/grid north as the magnetic pole moves. It is therefore simpler to calibrate it with respect to magnetic north.

Phil