Let me just start off by admitting that I'm a very new Compass and PocketTopo user.
Okay, I put a PocketTopo plot on top of a Compass plot, and this is what I got:
I did not alter either plot in any way other than cropping from screen shots and proportionately resizing. Obviously the angles are different, but apparently the distances aren't proportionate either (if 1.5-1.6 and first6-first7 are equal, 1.6-1.7 and first7-first8 should also be equal):
Here are the screen shots of the data if you are wondering if I entered data incorrectly:
Now for the unbelievable part. I took a transparent cave survey protractor and measured the angle between stations 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 (1.5 being the vertex, 1.4 and 1.6 being the ends) after calculating this angle to be 107.5. The PocketTopo plot gave me roughly 107 degrees, but the Compass plot gave me roughly
95 degrees!
I've double checked the Compass plot, and it's definitely on the plan view and not some weird orientation that might make the angles look different. This is a single survey with no loops tied in, so software loop error corrections shouldn't exist. I guess it's possible that I have some setting incorrect in Compass, but it doesn't make much sense to me why Compass would have a setting that made the angles messed up. The strange part is some of the angles appear to be what they are supposed to be.
Do any of you have any ideas??? Surely this software that MANY cavers use isn't inaccurate at plotting survey lines? One of my friends printed out a Compass plot to sketch around in a cave, and now I seriously question how accurate his map was.
Any help or input you can provide would be very much appreciated.