The Jump Instrument button or the instrument right-click option Jump Instrument to New Location offers a way to, in one step, add a new instrument model, disconnect the interface from the current instrument, hide the prior model and reconnect the interface to a newly added station.
There are a number of reasons to use this command that stem from a fundamental concept with in SA which is that an instrument model defines an instrument plant. SA assumes that all measurements from that plant where taken without moving the instrument. This allows the measurements to all represent the same measured features even if they are taken over a long duration of time. Should either the part that you are measuring or the physical instrument move, then a new instrument model needs to be added to SA and any subsequent measurements linked to this subsequent station.
Drift checkoffers a convenient way to verify if your instrument has moved.
There are a number of other reasons why a Jump Instrument operation should be performed:
If an instrument is physically moved from one position to another.
If the part that is being measured is moved from one position to another.
If measurements have already been taken at an instrument plant, a jump instrument operation must be performed prior to performing a level compensation and taking additional measurements.
If for any other reason the reported coordinates from the instrument are altered. This might include Zeroing the reported azimuth for an instrument for example.