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Steps 8-11: Guys, midspans, and adding objects

A guy anchor is its own map object, linked to a pole, that records the down-guy's ground anchor (location, lead length, angle, type, and a photo).

Applies to: All customers.

Steps 8 through 11 are the map work at and around the pole: add guy anchors, measure midspans, add anything the import missed, and clean up as you go. The videos below walk through the midspan and guy-anchor captures.

Measuring a midspan (1)

Measuring a midspan (2)

Adding guy anchors (1)

Adding guy anchors (2)

In this guide


Step 8: Add guy anchors

A guy anchor is its own map object, linked to a pole, that records the down-guy's ground anchor (location, lead length, angle, type, and a photo). If your configuration collects guys, capture them here. Long-press the Add Guy Anchor button to choose a placement method (availability depends on your configuration):

  • Add Guy Anchor (AR): sight the anchor with the camera and place two points; the app computes the lead length and angle. Use this when you can see the anchor.

  • Add Guy Anchor (Manual): place it on the map with the crosshair. Use this when you cannot sight it.

  • Add Guy at Current Location: drop it at your GPS position (most accurate with an RTK receiver, see Appendix D).

Fill in the anchor's required fields (type, and anything else your configuration asks for) and take its photo. You can edit or delete an anchor from the map later. Note: deleting an anchor does not remove the matching guy-wire attachment you recorded on the pole, so clean up both if you remove a guy.


Step 9: Measure midspans

A midspan measurement captures the wire heights between two poles, usually at the lowest point of the span.

  • Tap the span line between two poles and choose Add Midspan. It snaps to the middle of the span. Confirm the location.

  • Standard mode is typical for midspans. On your first one, press and hold the measure button and choose Standard; the app remembers it for the following midspans.

  • Get directly under the line and step back until all the cables are in frame, from the ground at the bottom up to the top power line.

  • Choose Continue, then drag the ground reference line to set the ground and confirm it. Getting the ground reference point right is the single most important part of a midspan; it re-baselines every height.

  • Mark each cable on the photo the same way you placed pole attachments in Step 7 (+ Attachment, then classify; the picker shows only the Wire tab for midspans). Configurations that do not capture attachments in the field skip this stage.

  • Choose Finalize, review the summary, then tap Finalize Midspan Data.

Fill in the crossing / "over" field if your configuration has one. Some configurations add an attribute recording what the span crosses (for example road, railroad, driveway, or a navigable waterway). This is not a built-in field: whether it exists, and what values it offers, come from your configuration's dropdown, and you set it on the midspan's Attributes tab. If your configuration includes it and it is required, a blank value can make a midspan look incomplete after export, so fill it in before you finalize.

Multiple crossings. If several lines cross at one location, record one midspan per line rather than lumping them together.


Step 10: Add poles, spans, and lines that are not in the import

Not every pole will be in the import, especially on new builds, overlash, or blank/KML jobs. You can add objects directly on the map.

  • Use the Add control. A tap typically adds a pole; a long-press lets you choose another configured type. Available types depend on your configuration.

  • Placement methods: at the map crosshair (manual) or at your current GPS position; AR placement is available for object types that support it (notably guy anchors). GPS placement is most accurate with an RTK receiver.

  • Connected runs: turn on Continue Adding to lay a line of poles that auto-connects with spans, and use Auto Midspan to drop midspan points along the way.

  • Draw lines and polylines (for conduit runs, fiber, or right-of-way edges) by tapping successive vertices; vertices snap to nearby features. Finish with at least two vertices.

  • With an object selected, use the action bar in the bottom sheet to move, connect, or delete it. When moving a pole or point that already has midspan or guy points tied to it, an Update Measurements toggle controls whether those points follow proportionally; turn it on to keep them attached, or off if you'd rather reposition just the pole and check the points separately afterward.

  • Update Location: if an imported pole's position is off, stand near it and use Update Location to replace its coordinates with your device's actual GPS position. Review the original versus the GPS position before confirming.

Note: If a midspan or guy point looks like it moved or disappeared after you repositioned a pole, check whether Update Measurements was on or off during that move. That toggle controls whether attached points follow the pole automatically.


Step 11: Field tips and common mistakes

  • Check your photos before you leave the pole. Blurry birthmarks, unreadable cable tags, and bad upshots are the most common causes of return trips. Use the full-screen viewer to zoom in and confirm.

  • Cable tags matter. Zoom in far enough to actually read them; a blurry tag is useless.

  • If you cannot get the stick to the base of a pole, switch to Standard mode or use the can't-reach-the-base options in Step 7 rather than improvising.

  • Do not invent a missing dropdown value. If the category you need is not in your pick list, note it and ask your administrator to add it to the configuration (see Start here). A wrong value looks correct to the office; a blank one does not.

  • If a task truly cannot be completed in the field (a tag you can't reach, a shot you can't get a clean angle on), use Mark Missing on that task rather than faking a capture. Pick the reason that fits from the menu; this records the task as missing instead of leaving it blank or forcing a bad photo.


More field-edit tools

  • Adjust a guy after capture. Open a guy anchor and use Edit Guy to fine-tune its angle (in half-degree steps) and its lead length.

  • Edit a polyline. You can move a polyline's points and insert a point, then use Save Edits to keep the changes, or use Extend Polyline to keep drawing from an end.

  • Look up an existing object. Some workflows include a step to find an already-collected object. Type to search, or use the scan button to scan a tag, review the match, and choose Select Object to use it.

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