Point of Beginning articles from January 2003

Point of Beginning archives from January 2003

Reality check. (Editor's Note).(National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying's 2002 annual meeting discusses licensure and other issues)
January 1, 2003... At the 2002 annual meeting of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) last August, the top six most significant issues to meeting delegates included the value of licensure and exam issues. On the topic of "value...

On the level October 2002. (Letters to the Editor).
January 1, 2003... Editor's Note: The following is an exchange between Gary Kent, recent past president of ACSM. and Bob Foster, POB columnist and past president of ACSM, on the "New ACSM" plan. Bob, I read your article in the latest POB with interest. You...

Planning ahead November 2002. (Letters to the Editor).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A.C. Mulford hit the nail squarely on the head. His insight is as true today and reminded me of what we are and why we practice in this field. My acknowledgement of duty to my client and to the profession, when I believe the job at hand is...

GIS showcased around the world on GIS Day 2002. (The Latest News).
January 1, 2003... On Wednesday Nov. 20, 2002, National GIS Day, geography experts rallied their efforts toward educating people about mapping technology and the important contributions it makes in the fields of science, technology, information and the...

What's in a name? Venerable Ashtech brand retired in an effort to unify Thales Navigation's product offerings.
January 1, 2003... Last October, in a move that may have come as a surprise to some, Thales Navigation, Santa Clara, Calif., recent parent of Magellan Corporation, consolidated all of its professional GPS products, including its well-known Ashtech brand, under...

Mapping out professional maintenance: examining the state of continuing education for surveyors.(professional land surveyors)
January 1, 2003... In a poll conducted by POB in September 2002, 49 percent of 209 respondents said they are currently continuing their education or considering continuing their education. Perhaps they wish to keep up with the latest technology, practices and...

Competing for the Stars: how the NSPS Trig-Star program can benefit the profession.(National Society of Professional Surveyors offers Trig-Star program )
January 1, 2003... The Trig-Star program, a high school math skill award program sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS), is an excellent public relations tool for the surveying and mapping profession. High school students, their...

The Surveyors Yearbook 2003.(Class of 2002: Surveyor of the Year award winners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The Class of 2002: Surveyor of the Year award winners. In many states each year, one surveyor is honored by his or her peers for excellence and outstanding service in the surveying profession. We at POB thought it would be nice to recognize...

The changing business of surveying. (Views from the Field).
January 1, 2003... In 1990, Neal Kirkpatrick founded his survey business in Hagerstown, Maryland, to provide construction layout and mapping. Today, Kirkpatrick and Associates still provides accurate horizontal and vertical alignment to contractors. However,...

Bridging the technology gap: 3D scanning assists in Hoover Dam bypass project.
January 1, 2003... Over 14,000 cars and trucks travel the tiny two-lane crossing of the massive 726 ft high, 1,244 ft long Hoover Dam in Arizona each day, double the volume of 15 years ago. After conclusive research, a massive project of building a four-lane...

2003 3D Laser Scanner Survey.(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... 2003 3D Laser Scanner Survey PERFORMANCE MANUFACTURER 3rdTech PRODUCT DeltaSphere-3000 Laser Wavelength (in nm) 670 Laser Power (in...

MSCAD 2002 by MicroSurvey Software Inc: A program that makes it easy to complete the various phases of a survey job. (In Review).
January 1, 2003... I recently attended the Surveyors Historical Society annual Rendezvous in Gettysburg, Pa. I saw old surveying instruments and a few old calculators. I had the opportunity to browse through Mason and Dixon's journal that includes pages of...

Surveying solutions.(Problem: Hydrography: Flow Measurement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... 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 beside the problem, in a shaded box. We hope you enjoy...

Tool tips. (GIAA Mailbag).(Q&A includes discussion of 'right standard' of angle measuring instruments)
January 1, 2003... Q: What does the term "right standard" mean? I have come across statements such as "the instrument is out of adjustment (or calibration) to the right standard." A: The standards of an angle measuring instrument (transit, theodolite, total...

HARNs, CORS and OPUS. (The GPS Observer).(Differences between state High Accuracy Reference Networks and national Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) are discussed )
January 1, 2003... I classify this article as practical, the purpose to explain the differences between the state High Accuracy Reference Networks (HARNs) and the national Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). I will also cover the use of the Online...

String lines. (Back to Basics).(String methods still play large role in construction layout)
January 1, 2003... In past times of building structures, strings were essentially the only method used to maintain the control lines used to construct buildings, bridges, canals, tunnels or highways. String methods were obviously highly successful as indicated by...

Autodesk. (Turning Points).(Autodesk GIS division vice president resigns and accepts position at S1 Corp)
January 1, 2003... Larry Diamond, vice president of the GIS division, resigned from his post at Autodesk, San Rafael, Calif., after accepting a position at S1 Corporation, Atlanta, Ga. Rick Mascitti, senior director of engineering for GIS, is serving as interim...

LiDAR Services International (LSI). (Turning Points).(Opens corporate office and LiDAR data processing center in Calgary)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... LiDAR Services International (LSI), Calgary, Alberta, Canada, opened a new corporate office and LiDAR data processing center in Calgary. LSI is a privately owned LiDAR service provider that was created following the sale of TerraPoint LLC of...

Eagle Point. (Turning Points).(Eagle Point creates Client Communities on Web site)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Eagle Point, Dubuque, Iowa, created Client Communities on its website as an additional set of resources for its clients. Designed to assist in the implementation of Eagle Point technological solutions, the Client Community section of the Eagle...

NovaLIS Technologies. (Turning Points).(Creates technical support division)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... NovaLIS Technologies, Charlotte, N.C., created a technical support division, now the main point of contact for all support-related software inquiries from clients and business partners. The new division has a consolidated E-mail address,...

Blue Marble Geographics. (Turning Points).(Creates Blue Marble GIS Development)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Blue Marble Geographics, Gardiner, Maine, created Blue Marble GIS Development, a new software development division that will create custom GIS applications in the areas of image georeferencing, image reprojections, coordinate conversion,...

Leica Geosystems. (Turning Points).(Opens software development center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Leica Geosystems, Atlanta, Ga., opened a new software development center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to provide custom software solutions for customers in North and South America. Additional software development centers have also been...

Leica Geosystems GR LLC. (New & Notable).(Offers RUGBY 100LR, automatic self-leveling laser for general construction)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Leica Geosystems' GR LLC introduced the RUGBY 100LR, an automatic self-leveling laser for general construction. The RUGBY 100LR has a working range of up to 2,500' (770 m), an automatic elevation alert function and manual grade up to [+ or -]...

Leica Geosystems' GIS & Mapping Division. (New & Notable).(Will offer new Leica ALS50 Airborne Laser Scanner worldwide )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Leica Geosystems' GIS & Mapping Division will release the new Leica ALS50 Airborne Laser Scanner worldwide in February 2003. The ALS50 offers the power and aptitude of the ALS40 in a new, portable scanner design with scanning speeds 20-40...

Leica Geosystems. (New & Notable).(Offers two fifth-generation DISTO handheld laser distance measuring tools)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Also, Leica Geosystems introduced DISTO Lite (5) and DISTO Classic (5) fifth-generation DISTO handheld laser distance measuring tools. Both offer the ability to measure distances from 0.2 to 200 m with an accuracy of 3 mm using point-and-click...

Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions. (New & Notable).(Offers GeoMedia Parcel Manager 5.0)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions announced the availability of GeoMedia Parcel Manager 5.0. Based on GeoMedia Professional 5.0, GeoMedia Parcel Manager creates, manages and maintains land information in a nonproprietary database...

IntelliWhere. (New & Notable).(Offers IntelliWhere OnDemand 5.0, vector-based mobile workforce software for PDAs)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Also, IntelliWhere, a division of Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions, announced worldwide availability of IntelliWhere OnDemand 5.0, vector-based mobile workforce software for PDAs. Certified with GeoMedia 5.0 and GeoMedia Professional...

Eastman Kodak Company's Aerial and Industrial Materials group. (New & Notable).(Offers Aerographic MX Film 2407, black-and-white film)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Eastman Kodak Company's Aerial and Industrial Materials group introduced Aerographic MX Film 2407, a new black-and-white film that allows aerial photographers to capture low-, medium- and high-altitude mapping with a single film. The new film...

GeoSpatial. (New & Notable).(Offers GPS-Photo Link version 2.1)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... GeoSpatial released GPS-Photo Link version 2.1. In an ArcView 8.x extension, map points are hot-linked to photos and background maps are automatically loaded with the press of a button. Hover over a point and a thumbnail of the photo will pop...

Eagle Point. (New & Notable).(Eagle Point Software launches SMI Flex GPS, a hardware, software and services solution)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Eagle Point launched SMI Flex GPS, an RTK GPS solution that includes hardware, software and implementation services. The solution includes two RT-3010S pole-mount GPS receivers from NavCom Technologies, one iPAQ 3830 Pocket PC, SMI Construction...

USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED). (New & Notable).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) is available. Developed by merging the highest-resolution, best-quality elevation data available across the United States into a seamless raster format, NED is the result of the maturation of the USGS...

Advanced Orientation Systems (AOS). (New & Notable).(Offers EZ-CompassProbe, three axis Magnetometer-Compass )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Advanced Orientation Systems (AOS) released the EZ-CompassProbe, a three axis Magnetometer-Compass with tilt and temperature compensation. The 8.3" x 1.25" diameter waterproof probe transmits heading, pitch, roll, magnetic field and temperature...

Topcon. (New & Notable).(Releases GPS software PC-CDU and PC-CDU Lite versions 2.1.11)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Topcon released GPS software PC-CDU and PC-CDU Lite versions 2.1.11. Version 2.1.11 has improvements such as: direct USB and Ethernet connection features added; new ports Input mode, Omni, added for receivers equipped with OmniSTAR board; new...

Nikon Instruments Inc. (New & Notable).(Introduces DTM-502 Series for distance measurement)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Nikon Instruments Inc. has introduced the DTM-502 Series. The newly designed DTM-552, DTM-532 and DTM-522 replace the current DTM-501 Series. The DTM-502 Series allows for a faster, more accurate data collection process and boasts a new, more...

I-SiTE. (New & Notable).(Introduces I-SiTE Studio2.1 with improved multiple scan registration)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... I-SiTE released I-SiTE Studio2.1. New to this release is support for a wide range of data formats. I-SiTE Studio2.1 includes improved multiple scan registration. Automatic matching of scan datasets collected from different positions gives...

Crain Enterprises Inc: serving surveyors with the Mound City rod and more. (Product of the Month).
January 1, 2003... Serving surveyors with the Mound City rod and more. Since 1959 Crain Enterprises Inc. has served the surveying industry by introducing the first fiberglass telescopic leveling rod, known then and now throughout the world as the Mound City...