1. Justin Gabbard
ENG-122 Tech Writing
April 4, 2013

2.  Total stations are used by land surveyors and
professional engineers to collect field data to
complete their projects.
 There are many different brands of these
instruments, but all of them are mounted on three-
legged tripods and must remain completely level at
all times for the data to be accurate.

3.  Extend all three tripod legs to a
comfortable height
 Tighten the knobs (IMAGE 1)
Open up the legs to form a
triangle on the ground.
(IMAGE 2)
IMAGE 1 IMAGE 2

4.  Using both hands at all times, place
the instrument on the top of the
tripod. (IMAGE 3)
 Gently secure the instrument with
the tripod screw underneath.
(IMAGE 4)
IMAGE 3 IMAGE 4

5.  Press all three tripod legs
firmly into the ground.
(IMAGE 5)
IMAGE 5

6.  Raise and/or lower each of the tripod legs until the
bubble is roughly centered in the circular level.

7.  For fine-tuning, rotate the instrument
until it is lined up horizontally with
leveling screws A and B (IMAGE 6),
and turn those same screws evenly in
opposite directions until the bubble in
the plate level is completely centered
(IMAGE 7).
IMAGE 6 IMAGE 7

8.  Rotate the instrument 90°
(perpendicular) and repeat
Step 5, but using only the
third leveling screw
instead. (IMAGE 8)
IMAGE 8

9.  Rotate the instrument 90° (perpendicular) back to the
first two leveling screws to double check that the bubble
is still centered in the plate level. (IMAGE 9)
IMAGE 9

10. The instrument is
now completely set
up and ready to
use!

11.  TOPCON Corp. (2008). Instruction
manual: Non-prism total station. Tokyo,
Japan: JSIMA.
 (COVER IMAGE)
http://www.getsurveying.com/total-
stations/1030-south-total-station-nts-
355.html