Land Survey Coordinates - help me decipher

[smoo.chas]

How does N20 (degrees) 52'38" W translate?

A friend gave me a survey land. In the upper left corner of the property, its says:
R=624.92
L=17.65'

What is R?

The distances are easy to discern but under each distance measurement, there is a coordinate with degrees and feet and inches with two directions.

[slhill]

Wow, I haven't read an explanation or tried to explain this in a while, but I'll have a go.

The N20(deg)52'38"W is an angle - it is actually an angle west of north by 20 degrees 52 minutes and 28 seconds. Believe it or not, I remember this bit from my Voyage of the Mimi lessons in 6th grade - related to steering a boat. I see you understand the distance that goes with this. So, when you are drawing this in AutoCAD, you would begin the line, then type "@87.04'<N20d52'38"W". This works even if you're in decimal degrees.

Ok, so that's your line.

The 'R' is for Radius - so that would be an arc'd line. I've usually seen this with an angle property so you can input the radius, length (L), and angle of chord connecting the ends, but I think you can still draw it with the information you have.

[smoo.chas]

Slhill,
So let's take the line on the left that says 87.04 with N20degrees52'38"W

That translated to point that is 87.04 feet away at a angle that is definite by N20blahblah OR -70degrees on a x-y grid, yes?

I'm still not sure where the R, radius has to do with what point or line exactly.

I really appreciate your help! I guess I should read the Voyage of the Mimi at some point in my life!!

[slhill]

smoo.chas wrote:

Slhill,
So let's take the line on the left that says 87.04 with N20degrees52'38"W

That translated to point that is 87.04 feet away at a angle that is definite by N20blahblah OR -70degrees on a x-y grid, yes?

It's more like about +160 on the x-y grid because it is directional from the starting point, but if your at the end, it would look like -70ish.

I'm still not sure where the R, radius has to do with what point or line exactly.

In this case, I think the radius is so large as to make the line look straight, but I agree - that particular bit of information is lacking clarity.

I really appreciate your help! I guess I should read the Voyage of the Mimi at some point in my life!!

The Voyage of the Mimi I remember was actually a PBS TV series, but we used it as part of a classroom social studies unit complete with ocean maps and following the boat as they tracked humpback whales.

[smoo.chas]

You've been a tremendous help. Thanks soo much!

[malmond]

Are you trying to enter these coordinates into say, Autocad? There's a certain (and very accurate) way to enter coordinates into autocad. I do it often when I draw plats(I label them project information site plans) as part of my residential sets. Just wondering.

malmond