FOCUS 35 TOTAL STATION USER GUIDE
6 –
Instrument Technology
88
Beam Divergence
All distance meter measurement beams diverge as the range from the instrument increases. The
divergence of the distance meter beam relates to an increase in the size of the area being sampled,
not to a degradation of the measurement precision.
A larger measuring area at longer range is generally better because it enables smaller objects, such
as power lines and antennas, to be detected and accurately measured. With a smaller measuring
area, these small objects can be easily missed. A smaller measuring area has advantages when
measuring tight corners and vertices at close range. When observing measurements to a tight corner,
the distance meter beam divergence introduces a range error caused by the size of the sampling
area.
