.

Geoinformatics_06-2009
review user friendliness of data collection the software is easy to use. connections to the internet are made automatically and also the connection to the mount point is made automatically. this is a big improvement over my own set where i first need to make a connection to the internet on my phone, than make a connection to my phone, and then connect to the correction data supplier. during the automatic connection the software twice shows the message cannot connect to network , but if you just wait it always makes the connection. once you understand the coding system it can easily be used to create the map in the field, including different colors, symbols and line types. if a new code is entered, the software automatically asks if it is a point or line or area, which color, which symbol and line type are to be used, and in which layer it should be stored. for gis data collection the software has the option to add features to each point: if a pulldown menu with predefined names has to be shown, or if the value which has to be entered is a real or an integer, if it has a maximum and a minimum value etc. when the code is tree, the pull-down menu can show predefined species, another input field can be the height of the tree, which has to be between 2 and 99 meters, while a tree below 2 meters is not a tree. another input field can be the health of the tree etc. this is all user definable. you can also attach one or more pictures to a collected point. topcon also supplied the free software, topcon link. after installing the software it was just a matter of selecting the job you want to download. all the pictures were also automatically downloaded. clicking on a point in the map shows not only the coordinates, codes and dops but also the picture(s) of the point if available. pictures can be a strong feature in coding in cases where the situation is complex. summary several configurations, like configurations for ntrip and egnos, were already preloaded, which made it easy to get started. nowadays it is becoming more common to measure directly in the map. the software gives you the capacity to do so. lines can be surveyed in different colors and symbols can be assigned to points, so a proper map can be made in the field. in the case of two points very close together you can zoom in up to the millimeter level. figure 7: screen dump camera, google maps and compass (additional function): the unit has a built-in two megapixel camera. after playing with the brightness and contrast, the quality is sufficient to show clearly the object and the state of the object (sample picture). the chosen resolution can be between 160 x 120 and 1600 x 1200 pixels. the size of the biggest picture is around 300 kb so i always used the biggest size. this saved a few clicks to change the resolution, but you still need a lot of clicks. in order to add a picture to a point you want to survey, you need eight clicks. it takes more than 10 seconds to start up the camera. so, you are not tempted to take loads of pictures. storing the picture takes hardly any time. with the help of the macro option you can take pictures from very close range (see the picture of the fly). google maps is also available on the grs-1. when i heard this the first time, i hoped that it would be possible to measure points and/or lines inside google maps, but the google maps application is basically the same as on your computer. it can be useful in some cases because the combination with gnss makes it possible to immediately get the map of the area where you are at that moment. the unit has an integrated compass, already discussed above in connection with the stakeout. reaction of the manufacturer this article makes clear that the grs-1 is a new concept. it brings gis and rtk gnss together. you can upgrade your gis grs-1 to become a full gps+glonass rtk system. both of these positioning areas can be reached by this product, therefore it is unique. leon van der poel lpo@leop-bv.nl is a professional surveyor and educator. this article represents his own opinion. for more information, have a look at www.topcon.eu. many thanks to topcon for providing the reviewed instrument. software several configurations, like configurations for ntrip and egnos, were already preloaded, which made it easy to get started. nowadays it is becoming more common to measure directly in the map. the software gives you the capacity to do so. lines can be surveyed in different colors and symbols can be assigned to points, so a proper map can be made in the field. in the case of two points very close together you can zoom in up to the millimeter level. i rarely use the help in any software but since this instrument is new to me and i could not immediately find what i was looking for, i just gave it a try. file not loaded was the reply of the instrument. during the test the software crashed. it was not clear if this was caused by the application software or the os, but immediately after a soft reset everything worked again and no data or settings were lost. figure 6: all interface options (sd card, usb b mini, serial and charger connector) latest news? visit www.geoinformatics.com figure 8: easy to switch the battery. no screwdriver or anything needed. 21 september 2009
Powered by fluidbook tm