Point of Beginning articles from February 2006

Point of Beginning archives from February 2006

TDS ranger X-Series: more power, new wireless capabilities, tougher than ever.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2006... How do you improve surveyors' favorite data collector? Keep the features they depend on, like field-ready ruggedness, 30-hour battery and easy-to-use keypad. Then add functions surveyors have been asking for. That's what we did with the TDS...

Your equipment liability.(editor'spoints)
February 1, 2006... Our publisher brought up the topic of branding our laptops recently after reading an article about a man who's making bank off the concept. Our publisher's intent was to promote our publication's identity, but I think the noticeable imprint has...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... To All Fellow Professional Surveyors: I write this letter with an optimistic view of our "profession." This letter is not meant to be a venomous invective with nefarious intent. I have been in the surveying/civil industry since 1988. I...

Safe communities act could benefit surveyors.(newsline)
February 1, 2006... In November 2005, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) sent notice to its members about its support for the Safe Communities Act of 2005 (H.R. 3524) Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 28, 2005, the...

Surveyors urged to Aid FEMA Flood Map Modernization.(newsline)
February 1, 2006... The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently attempting to digitize flood maps for the entire country within a five-year period (2004-2008). Concerns have been raised about the quality of the maps being produced for this...

GPS.(GNSS Updates)
February 1, 2006... The Block IIR-M satellite launched on September 26, 2005, became usable on Dec. 16 at 22:30 UT. It is named PRN # 17 and is positioned in slot C4.

GLONASS.(GNSS Updates)
February 1, 2006... Russia launched three GLONASS satellites on Dec. 25, 2005. Two of the satellites are the new GLONASS-M models. The satellites were launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. When these three satellites are put into service, there will...

Galileo.(GNSS Updates)
February 1, 2006... The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC) launched the first Galileo demonstrator satellite on Dec. 28, 2005. Named GIOVE-A, this satellite was successfully launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

NOAA's UFCORS Server Delivers 2-millionth GPS Data Package.(newsline)
February 1, 2006... In November 2005, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) User-Friendly CORS (UFCORS) server delivered its 2-millionth GPS data package. Since it began operating in November 1998, local GPS users have been accessing blocks...

Calendar of events.(newsline)(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... FEBRUARY 1-3 NJSPLS 2006 New Jersey Society of Professional Land Surveyors Atlantic City, N.J. 800/853-5263 www.njspls.org 2-4 Wyoming Engineering Society 86th Annual Convention Professional...

Surveying on the fast track: Montana DOT surveyors establish control on a time-critical mountain highway rebuild.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2006... At roughly 3,000 square miles in total and rising to its highest height at 12,799 ft above sea level, the Beartooth Mountains in Montana are among the largest landmasses in North America. The Beartooth Plateau is located on the Montana/Wyoming...

Three men and a total station: a small crew and a single unit set a new construction record for an international swimming competition.(Swimming World Cup Championships)
February 1, 2006... There's a first and a last time for everything. In October 2004, the FINA Swimming World Cup Championships were held in North America for the first time. World-class swimmer Jenny Thompson swam her last swim during that competition, saying...

ProMark3 by Thales.: Answering the call for centimeter accuracy in static mode.(inreview)
February 1, 2006... It was, I suppose, inevitable that once the "marriage" between GPS and GIS technologies was consummated there would be an increasing demand for improvements in the quality of the products that supported them. Such is frequently the case in a...

In record time: Oklahoma surveying firm minimizes downtime and costs by using an online land records database.
February 1, 2006... For centuries, survey documents have been recorded, archived and retrieved through state and county recorders. This mechanism has served the surveying profession well throughout history, and surveyors have accepted the system's limitations...

GPS surveying made affordable. Productivity and precision in an easy-to-use L1 GPS System.(Global Positioning System)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Here's proof that GPS surveying doesn't have to be expensive or complicated. The new Spectra Precision[R] EPOCH[TM] 10 from Tripod Data Systems gives you a complete, easy-to-use L1 GPS system at an affordable price. The EPOCH 10 system includes...

Managing survey data in a GIS.(surveyinggis)
February 1, 2006... "They give me all kinds of advice, designed to enlighten me." --John Lennon Create, manage and share. These were the three activities associated with GIS data we discussed in the preceding installment of this series ("Getting Data Into...

The boundary surveyor's liability.(traversingthelaw)
February 1, 2006... As a follow-up to my recent articles on the surveyor's duty as it relates to boundary determinations, this month I want to explore the liability involved when the surveyor fails in this duty. We're going to do that by looking at our...

Buy/sell agreements.(selling his business)
February 1, 2006... This column is a continuation of my discussion on company planning. Not long ago I had a call from a woman whose husband had died; she wanted help in selling his business. The problem was that the business stopped operating the day he died--and...

Dealing with published positional accuracies.(National Geodetic Survey)(www.ngs.noaa.gov)
February 1, 2006... As I have reported in previous GPS Observer columns (POB November 2004, December 2005), the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is in the process of readjusting the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). This will be the first-ever...

2006 laser survey.(Illustration)(Illustration)
February 1, 2006... Electronic Levels (beam coverage greater than 1,000 feet) Manufacturer AGL AGL Model EAGL 1000 EAGL 100 Date of introduction 1996 2005 Beam type ...

Thales introduced GPSDifferential for ESRI ArcPad.(Global Positioning System)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... THALES introduced GPSDifferential for ESRI ArcPad, a software extension that adds post-processing to ESRI ArcPad software when used on the Thales MobileMapper CE. With the GPSDifferential for ArcPad software extension, submeter post-processed...

Microsurvey released FieldGenius 2006.(streamlining operation)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... MICROSURVEY released FieldGenius 2006. This release was created with the goal of streamlining operation on a minute-by-minute basis. Some of the highlights include: more power and flexibility in the automatic linework; a fully integrated RPN...

SECO introduced the Claw Series Quick-Release and Ball-and-Socket pole clamps and data collector/controller cradles.(new & notable)
February 1, 2006... SECO introduced the Claw Series Quick-Release and Ball-and-Socket pole clamps and data collector/controller cradles. The all-metal Claw series streamlines the design of the new cradles to fit the body of a collector/controller snugly with...

Topcon added the GPT-8203M to its 8200 series of long-range reflectorless total stations.(reflectorless measurements up to 1,200 meters)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... TOPCON added the GPT-8203M to its 8200 series of long-range reflectorless total stations. The GPT-8203M is specially designed to expedite layout of formwork, structural components and anchor bolts, as well as all other construction elements...

Surveying solutions.
February 1, 2006... Each month we present a surveying problem from the second edition of 1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems by Jan Van Sickle, PLS. As in the following example, the answer will appear below the problem, in a shaded box. We hope you enjoy...

Vintage ads.(funandgames)
February 1, 2006... Courtesy of The Museum of Surveying. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]