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Professional Land Surveyor Product Review: Magellan Triton 2000 Handheld Navigation System

April 30, 2009 in 3 RODS, Associate Membership, Business, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, Magellan, Product Reviews, Rated As

Magellan Triton 2000

Magellan Triton 2000

While not necessarily thought of as a tool for Professional Land Surveyors, the , none the less, is a very handy tool for Professional Land Surveyors and outdoor enthusiast, alike. The Magellan Triton 2000 has proved to be a good tool to have in any Professional Land Surveyor’s tool box.

What I liked about the Magellan Triton 2000 is:

  1. The full-color display. It was easy to read and the touch-screen worked well. While it was easy to read in full sun light, the real strength is using the Magellan Triton 2000 in low-light conditions, like under heavy tree canopy. In the woods, the screen is very readable, I think even better than out in the brighter locations.
  2. The Magellan Triton 2000 takes 2 megapixel photos with geographic locations in the field. This can be a great way to take photos of the monuments you find in the field, and then be able to distinguish between them geographically back at the office. With a regular digital camera, if you’re not careful, it can be hard to tell what the photos you took in the field actually represent. With the Magellan Triton 2000 you now have a way to incorporate these photos into your project GIS.
  3. The Magellan Triton 2000 comes Read the rest of this entry →

Professional Land Surveyor Product Review of EcoStakes

April 7, 2009 in 4 RODS, Associate Membership, Berntsen, Business, Land Surveying, Land Surveying Equipment, Product Reviews, Rated As

What value would you give to your survey monuments if they could provide longevity, be easily found and are environmentally friendly, too? One solution that provides all of these benefits is the EcoStake, available exclusively from Berntsen.

Berntsen was kind enough to provide me with a small sample of the EcoStake in the different sizes, markings and colored tops to try out. I was interested in seeing if the EcoStake made a good survey control point, being easy to set yet solid, and be easy to relocate. The fact that the EcoStake is a product made from recycled plastics and is a “green” product appealed to me, also.EcoStake with Orange TopEcoStake with Pink Top

EcoStake Facts:

Read the rest of this entry →

Watch Civil 3D 2009 Interactive Demo by Autodesk

September 5, 2008 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Business, Land Surveying, Links

Watch Civil 3D 2009 in Action

If you have questions about Autodesk/AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009, and how this can work for a professional land surveyor, the link above will display an interactive demo on the Autodesk website.

This is a good starting point to discover the potential of Civil 3D 2009 for land surveyors.

If you are ready to make the leap, Buy your Autodesk software from the Autodesk Store – today!

Permethrin Tick and Bug Spray

August 25, 2008 in 3 RODS, Associate Membership, Land Surveying, Product Reviews

Sawyer Permethrin Pump Spray - 6 Ounce

Sawyer Permethrin Pump Spray – 6 Ounce

Insect killer and repellent for your clothing is effective against ticks, chiggers, mites and mosquitoes for up to 6 weeks. Non-aerosol pump bottle contains 6-oz. of repellent, or enough to coat 2 full outfits; a full outfit consists of shirt, trousers and socks. Repellent should be applied outdoors and before clothing is worn; hang clothing and spray, let dry for 2 hours (4 hours in humid conditions). One treatment will last up to six washings or six weeks before clothing has to be treated again. Effective against ticks that carry Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Avoid contact with skin and eyes. Contains permethrin, the same active ingredient that is also used in Duranon™ and Permanone®.


I have used Sawyer Permethrin Pump Spray – 6 Ounce with very good results. Having had Lyme Disease, from deer ticks, a few times – protection from these pest is paramount to me. Another benefit is that it also keeps away most other insects you will encounter surveying in the field.

I rate this product 3 RODS out of a total possible 4 RODS.

Trimble Introduces Scalable 5800 GPS Survey System

August 18, 2008 in Associate Membership, GPS, Land Surveying, News

Trimble Introduces Scalable 5800 GPS Survey System 

Trimble GPS 5800

System Offers Surveyors Even Greater Flexibility While on the Job

 SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 13, 2008 – Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) today introduced a scalable Trimble® 5800 GPS System. The scalable solution adds greater flexibility and versatility for a variety of survey, construction, civil engineering, and asset management applications.

Surveyors can begin with the L1, postprocessing-only configuration. Two upgrades are available for higher performance: L1/L2, postprocessing only and L1/L2, full Real Time Kinematic (RTK).

 ”An upgrade path is essential for growing businesses,” said Dr. Lucinda Coombe, portfolio manager at Trimble. “While many users will start with L1-only, the scalability options mean that the investment can provide lasting value as business needs change.”

The Trimble 5800 System combines a GPS receiver, antenna, UHF radio, Bluetooth wireless technology, and power source into a single compact unit weighing approximately 1.21 kilograms (2.67 pounds). The Trimble 5800 can be configured as a GPS base or rover, making it versatile for the surveyor’s project needs. As a rover, the cable-free GPS system is comprised of the lightweight pole, controller, holder, and batteries for a full day’s work that weighs only 3.5 kilograms (7.8 pounds). The receiver has 2 MB of internal memory, making data collection easy and efficient in both static and RTK surveying modes. Environmentally rated to IP67 and submersible to a depth of 1 meter, the Trimble 5800 is rugged and can withstand a drop of up to 2 meters on to a hard surface.

 The Trimble 5800 GPS system offers advanced Trimble GPS technology. It is a 24-channel dual-frequency GPS receiver, containing Trimble’s field proven MaxwellTM technology for robust tracking in difficult GPS environments.

Professional Land Surveyors using Trimble 5800 GPS

Two additional channels for Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and European Geostationary Overlay System (EGNOS) tracking allow surveyors to perform real-time differential surveys to Geographic Information System (GIS) grade without a base station.

 The dual-frequency Trimble antenna enhances the tracking capabilities of the Trimble 5800-the patented four-point antenna feed provides sub-millimeter phase center stability for precise results. The position of the UHF radio antenna mounting further increases accuracy by being out of the GPS line-of-sight, reducing multipath and avoiding interference with the GPS antenna.

 For rover communications, surveyors can use the built-in 450 MHz radio, or use an external radio, cell phone or wireless packet data modem. For base communications, they can select a radio from Trimble’s range of communication products.

For extended coverage and comprehensive error checking when roving, the Trimble 5800 system works with signals from multiple base stations transmitting on the same radio channel. For even larger area coverage, at highest accuracies, the Trimble 5800 works with Trimble VRSTM networks. Read the rest of this entry →

Blue Marble Desktop – Coming Soon!

August 7, 2008 in Associate Membership, Business, GIS, Land Surveying, Links, News, Surveying Software

The following news release is from BlueMarbleGeo.com:


Blue Marble Geographics is pleased to announce the upcoming release of Blue Marble Desktop, the all-in-one geospatial data conversion tool. Combining Geographic Calculator and Geographic Transformer in the same application, Blue Marble Desktop is the most powerful geospatial data transformation tool available.

Visit us at Booth 908 at the ESRI International User Conference in San Diego August 4-7, 2008 to preview this application before it’s released.

The Blue Marble Desktop

The Blue Marble Desktop

 

Some of the features which will be available are:


  • Support for over 50 Geospatial formats
  • Improved Administrative Settings tools to define workspaces for users
  • Data Source Audit Trail to track edits to the Geodetic Parameter data source
  • Import and export Geodetic definition tool to quickly share custom definitions with other users
  • Workspace Export tool makes workspaces more easily portable
  • Updated progress bars
  • Ability to use any datum as an intermediary for datum transformations
  • New Message window that monitors current projects
  • Improved process performance
  • ESRI GTF transformation file import

July 2008 wrapup

August 1, 2008 in Associate Membership, Business, Land Surveying, News, Product Reviews

THANK YOU!


I want to thank everyone who visited. I hope that you find the content interesting and useful to you. This is just a quick post to thank everyone who visited and to give a July 2008 wrapup detailing some successes and what I have in the works.

July really was the first month that I worked “full time” on the site. It has been a slower transition than I would have liked. However, I have been getting everything in order so that I can put my full efforts into creating and publishing useful, interesting and valuable content. Finding the right balance between blogging, running a professional land surveying business and family is challenging, but I am enjoying every minute of it.

In a perfect world you could spend the exact amount of time on what is important to you with perfect balance and harmony in your professional and family life. But as you all know, you sometimes get pulled in directions you might not otherwise have planned for, or need to place more emphasis in one area of your life over another area.

Proper life balance is never about getting every minute right, it’s about getting it right as a whole, with many ups and downs in between. Just remember, we all get the same amount of hours every day to work with-choose wisely.

YOU VISITED! Read the rest of this entry →

ADAPX – Capturx for Autodesk Design Review

July 15, 2008 in Associate Membership, AutoCAD, Business, Land Surveying, News, Surveying Software

ADAPX – Capturx for Autodesk Design Review

Check this out! This looks like a major technological improvement that we land surveyors need to investigate to use in our land surveying businesses. Check out the review in the July 2008 edition of The American Surveyor magazine.

If you have used this product, please let us know what you think by posting a comment below or send me an email at ecolburn@ericcolburn.com.

Play the following video to see how the Capturx can be used with Autodesk Design Review.

Autodesk Labs: Digital Pen Demo

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