Drawing using suveyors' bearings

[Grizzly Albert]

Please help a newbee.

 

I'm trying to draw property lines & rights of way using surveyors' bearings. You know, north is the top of the page with bearings being so many degrees east or west of north or south.

 

I've managed to get the degrees to line up north and south but autocad thinks that east is 90 degrees so all my lines come out 90 degrees wrong. I've about tried everthing I can think of but none of the lines come out right.

 

I have autocad desktop 2004. Any help you can give would be appreciated.

[ReMark]

You need to look at the UNITS command.

 

First dialog box, under Angle, Type select Surveyor's Units or Deg/Min/Sec.

 

Next, check off the box for Clockwise if that is the direction you want to turn your Angles in.

 

Then click on the Direction button at the bottom of the window. This will bring up the Direction Control dialog box. Make your selection. Click the OK button when done. Exit the dialog box.

[nestly]

Are you entering bearing in this format @30

[Grizzly Albert]

Nestly,

 

Yes. A typical line command would be (LINE) (Click starting point) end @230'

 

Right?

 

Grizzly

[ReMark]

Then choose Surveyor's Units.

[eldon]

Very peculiar, because even though my units are not set up for Surveyors units, AutoCAD understands perfectly that line command input

[Grizzly Albert]

When I type in UNITS I get the Drawing Setup dialog box.

 

Under ANGLE I select SURVEYOR and specify precision.

 

I dont click clockwise because surveyors angles go clockwise for some quadrants and counter clockwise for others.

 

Whatever direction I specify, the lines are still wrong.

 

My 2004 autocad doesn't have a direction button at the bottom - this may be what I need. Is there another command that might work in my edition?

 

Thanks

[nestly]

@ Eldon, Yes, AutoCAD understands surveyor input regardless of the UNITS settings.

@ Grizzly If you're using the Compass directions, "East" would be 90 degrees by default, If you're only using angular input, then "North" would normally be 90 degrees. Is yours different than this?

[ReMark]

We must be using different versions of AutoCAD 2004 then. Ah, wait just a minute....nope. Only one version.

 

Typing UNITS at the command line and pressing ENTER brings up the Drawing Units dialog box.

 

Under ANGLE select Surveyor's Units. Under PRECISION select how you want those units displayed.

 

Then click on the DIRECTION button at the bottom of this window. There are four buttons: OK...Cancel...Direction and Help.

 

Clicking on the DIRECTION button opens a second window. This window is for Direction Control.

 

Your base angle can be set to East, North, West, South or set to Other. If you set it to "Other" you get to pick the direction. Click on the button next to the word ANGLE. You'll be popped back into your drawing where you can pick two points. When you have made your picks AutoCAD returns you to the window you just left. Click the OK button to close it. Click the OK button in the Drawing Units window to close it.

 

Done.

 

Don't try pulling a fast one on me. I have a second system running 2004 right next to my main system running 2011 so I see exactly what you see.

Edited December 7, 2010 by ReMark

[ReMark]

I spent several years on a survey crew as a transitman and then as an assistant field chief. We were always instructed to turn all angles to the right (clockwise) unless we specifically wanted to turn deflection angles which didn't happen all that often.

[Grizzly Albert]

The degrees are like a compass, 0 is 12 o'clock but the directions are not. East is 12 o'clock, north is 3 o'clock.

 

If I use an azimuth, the line is where it's supposed to be. If I use a bearing, I get a line with degrees measured from east and west rather than from north and south.

[nestly]

By default, 0degrees is at 3 o'clock, not 12 o'clock. As ReMark suggested, I think your "Direction" is not set to the default base value of East..... or your UCS is rotated 90 degrees relative to the WCS.

Can you post a sample drawing?

[eldon]

The degrees are like a compass, 0 is 12 o'clock but the directions are not. East is 12 o'clock, north is 3 o'clock.

 

If I use an azimuth, the line is where it's supposed to be. If I use a bearing, I get a line with degrees measured from east and west rather than from north and south.

 

I think that you are using two systems which together are making a nonsense.

 

If you are using the azimuth (or whole circle bearings) then you need to set the direction as North and the angles as clockwise.

 

If you are using Surveyors (American) angles, then you DO NOT have your direction as North and the angles as clockwise. Surveyors angles work from the default AutoCAD position, and as you have altered that for your azimuth, the surveyors angles do not work as you expect them to. Use one system or the other. AutoCAD is not clever enough to realise what you want

[Grizzly Albert]

How does one send a drawing?

[ReMark]

I think you are directionally challenged in more ways than one today. LOL

 

I've used AutoCAD to lay out surveying notes plenty of times and once one establishes the point at which the transit is set up and the direction of your back-sight (0d-00'-00") then it is quite easy to locate all your objects by angle and distance.

Edited December 8, 2010 by ReMark

[nestly]

Click the "Go Advanced" button beside the "Post Quick Reply" button to get to the Advanced Reply window, then click the "Paper Clip" icon to add an attachment. (sometimes I have trouble getting the attachment to upload properly and I have select the file a 2nd time)

 

A screenshot of the Advanced Reply window can be seen here. http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?23105-How-do-I-make-a-post

 

BTW, I'm not sure, but if you post an attachment, it might not show up right away until a moderator reviews it.

[ReMark]

Acceptable file types include: 3ds bmp dcl doc docx dwf dwg dxf eps gif jpe jpeg jpg lsp pdf png psd scr txt zip.

 

There is a file size limitation. In the case of drawings that exceed it you may have to zip the file to post it or make other arrangements (email) to share the file with a forum member.

[Grizzly Albert]

BigBuckSiteMapUSGS.Ortho.dwg

 

I hope this works and you can tell me how set the directions. I've been fooling with it for two days now and there is no telling how I've messed up the settings.

 

I finally drew thw lines by rotating a verticle line - pretty crude, but it seems to worked.

[ReMark]

Once you have the direction set then you can start your line command then enter the distance and angle right at the command line. Example: 23.5'

[eldon]

In your drawing, you have set the zero angle to be North and the direction clockwise. You CANNOT use Surveyors angles for the direct input or for listing a line. But you can input lines with the Azimuth angle.

 

You can only use Surveyors angles for input when you have not altered the angle system origins.

 

Rotating angles from North is a very safe way of doing things. You can see that it at least looks correct.