by EricColburn
January 25, 2012 in Associate Membership, Business, Geomatics, GIS, GPS, Land Surveying, News, NGS, NOAA, Surveying Software
NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS)
NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is in the process of developing new Geographic Information System (GIS) software tools for display and analysis of NGS survey data.
by EricColburn
November 12, 2011 in Associate Membership, Business, Business Practices, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice
Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company
If you’ve followed the last few Premium Posts, then you know that I’ve been working through the “Knowing Your Numbers” series of posts, describing how to use Metrics in your professional land surveying business.
To date, I’ve written Knowing Your Numbers-Business Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company, an article on which business metrics you can use to run your land surveying business, Knowing Your Numbers-How To Measure Your Success, an article on the importance of developing your own set of metrics and benchmarks to accurately measure your success, and Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company, an article on how to use Project Metrics for your land surveying company.
In this Premium Membership post I share: How to Develop Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company.
by EricColburn
October 9, 2011 in Associate Membership, Business, Business Practices, Continuing Education, Geomatics, Land Surveying, Premium Membership, Professional Land Surveyor Practice
Knowing Your Numbers-Project Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company
In earlier Premium Posts, I wrote Knowing Your Numbers-Business Metrics for Your Land Surveying Company, an article on which business metrics you can use to run your land surveying business, and Knowing Your Numbers-How To Measure Your Success, an article on the importance of developing your own set of metrics and benchmarks to accurately measure your success.
In this Premium Membership post I expand on that theme; specifically how to use Project Metrics for your land surveying company.
Your land surveying business, no doubt, collects at least two business and project metrics, being: Time and Employee. Every week you have a the metrics of your employees hours worked, what projects they’ve worked on, or time spent on non-project specific hours worked. Because this is the least data required to collect to pay your employees, this is often where project metrics collection ends in many land surveying firms.
With this minimal amount of collected project data, you simply do not know and understand enough about your land surveying projects and business to run your business.
by EricColburn
September 19, 2011 in Associate Membership, Business, Geomatics, GNSS, GPS, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, News, Trimble
LIVERMORE, Calif.–Monday, September 19, 2011
Topcon MR-1 Modular GNSS Receiver
Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) announces the release of the MR-1, a rugged, compact GNSS modular receiver with advanced technology.
“The new MR-1 receiver is a ruggedized GNSS platform that delivers Topcon’s G3 and VISOR™ technologies in a compact and easy to integrate package,” said Charles Rihner, vice president of the Topcon Emerging Business Unit.
by EricColburn
July 10, 2011 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Business, Land Surveying, Links, News, Surveying Software
AutoCAD Civil 3D Updates
This hotfix is suitable for all AutoCAD 2012 verticals and will fix the slowdown caused by the layer control update available in the ribbon.
by EricColburn
February 22, 2011 in Associate Membership, Business, GPS, Land Surveying, News, OPUS, Surveying Software
Yesterday, I was using the National Geodetic Survey’s (NGS) Online Positioning User Service (OPUS), where there was a bright green notice at the top of the OPUS page that said, “OPUS will feature a new look-and-feel on or about 03/01/2011″.
In researching this impending change to the look of OPUS, I found the following notice on the NGS Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) newsletter, which says the change is planned for this Thursday, February 24th.
Regardless of which date is correct for this change (or another altogether), I figured I’d give you a heads up.
On Thursday OPUS webpages will have a new look, consistent with CORS and NGS web standards.
What’s new? Read the rest of this entry →
by EricColburn
November 27, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, GPS, Land Surveying, News, Professional Land Surveyor Practice
National Geodetic Survey (NGS)
GPS is Taking over the World!
The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has announced a new policy that traditional horizontal survey projects performed with terrestrial survey techniques will no longer be accepted for processing or loading into NGS databases.
The Specifics Are: Read the rest of this entry →
by EricColburn
October 5, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, GNSS, GPS, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, Leica, Leica, News, Surveying Software
Professional Land Surveyor News
5 October 2010, (Heerbrugg/Cologne) Leica Geosystems is pleased to announce its new robotic Imaging Total Station, the Leica Viva TS15. This state-of-the-art total station provides advanced imaging functionality combined with dynamic tracking capabilities for one-person surveying. Furthermore, Leica Viva TS15 features the easy-to-use Leica SmartWorx Viva onboard software.
The Leica Viva TS15 adds a high-resolution camera to further enhance total station productivity. Traditional robotic operation is significantly improved with imaging features through Image Assisted Surveying and Documentation.
by EricColburn
August 25, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, GNSS, GPS, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, Leica, Leica, News, Surveying Software
Professional Land Surveyor News
(Heerbrugg, 18. August 2010) Leica Geosystems is pleased to announce Leica SpiderWeb v4.0 as part of the new reference station software update that also includes Leica GNSS Spider v4.0 and Leica SpiderQC v4.0. SpiderWeb v4.0 features an all-new Business Center web portal combined for SpiderWeb and GNSS Spider Network RTK Services and the unique Coordinate Computation Service has been further enhanced.
Leica SpiderWeb is a software solution for the convenient presentation of GNSS network and data over the internet. It provides efficient and secure access to data for post processing. Value added services assist with the convenient distribution and use of GNSS data sets from individual stations or networks to users through standard web browsers.
New Spider Business Center – Innovative GNSS service web portal Read the rest of this entry →
by EricColburn
August 23, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, GNSS, GPS, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, Leica, Leica, News, Surveying Software
Professional Land Surveyor News
(Heerbrugg, 16 August 2010) Leica Geosystems is pleased to announce Leica SpiderQC v4.0 as part of the new reference station software update that also includes Leica GNSS Spider and Leica SpiderWeb. SpiderQC (previously known as GNSS QC) adds a range of advanced features for multi-frequency, multi-GNSS data analysis, visualization, and numerous other new features, improvements, and optimizations.
SpiderQC provides a suite of tools to help select the best location for reference stations, perform quality control of the reference station data, detect site movements and visualize and monitor the integrity of single base and network RTK corrections in real time.
Galileo and multi-frequency data processing Read the rest of this entry →
by EricColburn
August 13, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, GPS, Hemisphere GPS, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, News
Professional Land Surveyor News
Professional Land Surveyor News-Hemisphere GPS Announces New Earthworks(R) Dealers
Yesterday, in Scottsdale, AZ, Hemisphere GPS (TSX: HEM) announced the addition of three new Earthworks dealers to the company’s distribution network. These three channel partners cover the territory including mid-Atlantic and Western States and represent the Hemisphere GPS Earthworks product portfolio, including the X200 excavator machine guidance system.
John Bohlke, General Manager of Earthworks at Hemisphere GPS said:
“We are excited to partner with these successful and very capable dealers and look forward to expanding our business,” and “The new dealers will provide added value to our customers through the installation, support, service and sale of our Earthworks products.”
by EricColburn
June 28, 2010 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Business, Land Surveying, Links, News, Surveying Software
Professional Land Surveyor News
Autodesk has announced an update / hotfix for it’s AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 product line. According to Autodesk, this update / hotfix address the following:
In a continued effort to improve, we are releasing this hotfix for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 that addresses a number of survey, and some addition non-survey related issues.
by EricColburn
June 9, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, Carlson, GNSS, GPS, Land Surveying, News, Surveying Software
Professional Land Surveyor News
Here’s an interesting press release that I originally found interesting, but thought at the time that it was not overly relevant to professional land surveyors. Since then, however, with the catastrophic BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, fire, and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this may now be very topical and newsworthy.
I don’t know if the 3D GNSS drilling solutions detailed below are even applicable to the type of deep water drilling being used to drill the two relief wells adjacent to the former location of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig? If anyone knows, please give us an update below in this posts comments section. Either way, the technology detailed below, and I’m sure the technology being used to drill the two BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig relief wells, is very impressive and shows again how integrated GPS is becoming in all aspects of our lives and businesses. I think this also another example of how machine control is changing our industry and is here to stay.
MAYSVILLE, Ky., U.S.A., & KÖPING, Sweden – Carlson Software Inc. and Transtronic AB recently reached an agreement for international distribution of Carlson’s Drill Grade 4.0 software with Transtronic’s hardware and sensor technology.
Working together, Carlson’s Drill Grade software and Transtronic AB hardware, which includes sensors for length, angle and azimuth measurement, provide a complete 3D Drill solution for all types of drill rigs for OEM considerations or retrofit.
by EricColburn
May 15, 2010 in Associate Membership, Books, Business, Land Surveying, News, Professional Land Surveyor Practice
For the next week I’m offering a Special Reduced Price 20% OFF the regular price if you purchase the Traverse Control Sheet before the end of the day, Midnight, Friday, May 21, 2010!
You can also learn more about this professional land surveyor productivity tool digital download at this link:
Get My Traverse Control Sheet Professional Land Surveyor Productivity Tool
by EricColburn
April 24, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, News, Topcon
Professional Land Surveyor News
Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) announced this week that they’ve released their new DL-500 digital levels series, which uses digital ‘Wave-and-Read’ Technology for the very first time. Of course we’ve had optical ‘Wave-and-Read’ technology for eons – it’s called an instrument person looking through the level while reading the rod and having the rod person “rock” the rod slowly towards and then away from the instrument to obtain the lowest, and accurate, reading. Much along these same time-honored lines, where the rod reading becomes the minimum value when vertically, the DL-500 tracks the waved rod and automatically reads the least value.
by EricColburn
March 25, 2010 in Associate Membership, Books, Business, Land Surveying, News, Professional Land Surveyor Practice
Buy Now! Traverse Control Sheet
Traverse Control Sheet Professional Land Surveyor Productivity Tool
Today I’m excited to announce the first publication of my Professional Land Surveyor Tools series I’ve been working on, called the Traverse Control Sheet.
To kick things off, I’m also having a promotional price which is 60% off of the regular price if you purchase the Traverse Control Sheet before the end of the day, Midnight, Friday, March 26, 2010.
After Friday, the promotional 60% off price of only $1.99 will go back up to the regular price of $4.99. I am offering this promotion because I want all of you to benefit from using it like I have over the years.
This Digital Download is one of the many self-made forms and tools I’ve created and used over the years in my own professional land surveying business solving my day to day problems and frustrations.
by EricColburn
March 19, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, Carlson, GIS, GNSS, GPS, Land Surveying, News, Surveying Software
Professional Land Surveyor News
MAYSVILLE, Ky. — The newest version of Carlson Software’s popular data collection software – Carlson SurvCE 2.5 – has just been released. Two years in production, with incremental updates along the way, Carlson SurvCE 2.5 is a free upgrade for Carlson customers already using SurvCE 2.0 and newer.
Featuring hundreds of additions and improvements, Carlson SurvCE 2.5 works with more brands of Total Stations and GPS receivers than any other data collection software on the market. New instrument drivers added for Total Stations and GPS receivers include: CST Berger, Foif, GeoMax, Hemisphere Crescent and Eclipse, Javad receivers, Leica Flexline, NavCom 2110, Ashtech ProMark 500 and ProFlex 500, Sokkia GRX1 and Stonex S9 GNSS and Orion.
by EricColburn
March 10, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, GNSS, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, News, Sokkia, Topcon
Professional Land Surveyor News
LIVERMORE, Calif. – March 4, 2010 – Fraser Smith, a geomatics engineer with extensive experience in GNSS product research and development (R&D), has been named director of GNSS product management for Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS).
Smith, former R&D manager for Point, Inc., will report to Mark Hornstra, senior vice president, marketing and product management.
About Smith’s appointment, Hornstra said he “will take the leadership role in defining the product line strategies for GNSS products for Topcon and Sokkia.”
by EricColburn
January 27, 2010 in Associate Membership, Business, GPS, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, News, Surveying Software, Trimble, Trimble
Professional Land Surveyor News
Monitor Movement in Real Time with New Trimble 4D Control Software
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 26, 2010 — Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) introduced today a new version of its Trimble® 4D Control software, the core of Trimble monitoring solutions, that combines Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and optical technologies for real-time deformation monitoring applications. The software is ideal for monitoring dams, bridges, buildings, pipeline support piers, large-scale construction and excavation sites, underground and open pit mines, landslides, tunnels, and other structures.
“With heightened safety concerns about aging infrastructure, deformation monitoring is a growing market,” said Chris Gibson, vice president for Trimble’s Surveying Division. “The new software allows users to leverage the optimal combination of sensor technologies to control, manage and analyze deformation measurements for a wide variety of engineering projects and alert project staff of potentially unsafe conditions requiring action.”
Trimble 4D Control software is a comprehensive solution for both real-time and postprocessed monitoring. The fully scalable and versatile approach of the system makes it easy for surveying organizations to get started in monitoring. By leveraging surveying instruments and tools they already have, Trimble enables surveyors to customize a monitoring solution to meet the needs of even the most demanding applications.
by EricColburn
December 28, 2009 in Associate Membership, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, Leica, Pictures
This Professional Land Surveyor Survey Party is brought to you by EricColburn.com – Professional Land Surveyor Source – showing a few pictures I snapped while carrying out land surveying field work somewhat recently.
Most of these pictures were taken within the last few weeks, which you might be able to tell by the snow and/or stark cold looking locales, but a couple are from a few months ago when the climate was a little warmer (and greener). Right after the most recent pictures were taken we got hit with that blizzard most of you along the eastern seaboard got hit with too, getting 18-20 inches of snow. The good news is that today, most of that snow is gone!
GPS Base Station
Did I Mention It's In A Cemetery
NGS Control Disk Chepachet 1968
GPS Rover Station
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