Category Archives: Surveying
A Fine Line
Notes from a visit to the new production facility for Topcon and Sokkia optical surveying instruments. I asked Tsutomu Ishibashi, a production line technician at Topcon’s Yamagata manufacturing facility, what message he would like to convey to the surveyors who use the products he helps produce. His answer was, “We are always trying to improve,...
I-Shoku-Ju
A joint interview with Topcon president and CEO, Satoshi “Steve” Hirano, and Topcon Positioning Systems president and CEO, Ray O’Connor. I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Satoshi “Steve” Hirano, president and CEO of Topcon Corporation, for a candid interview at the company’s global headquarters (THQ) in Tokyo. The timing of this visit...
CORS Map
A First for Africa Geospatial professionals don’t need an introduction to CORS. For everyone else, it’s an acronym that stands for continuously operating reference systems: geodetic receivers that log GNSS observables continuously which, when transmitted to users with survey-grade receivers, help them achieve centimeter-accuracy measurements. CORS stations have a range of about 70 kilometers (~43...
A Surveyor Looks at 40
Ask questions, seek advice, be a mentor, and set a great example as a leader in our profession. After 20 or so years in the land surveying industry, I find myself smack dab in the middle of my lifelong career as a surveyor. I’m no longer floundering at the beginning, searching for my way, and...
TheGeoDude on The UESI Conference
I’ve attended a lot of conferences over the years. They’ve primarily been either surveying-focused or technology- (GPS, laser scanning, reality capture, CAD) focused. The recent Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI) conference, held April 22 to 24 in Pomona, California, was my first conference with a strong mix of civil engineers and surveyors; a show...
It’s an Inverse, Jim
When I first started working in the survey profession, many new activities I quickly learned and others took years to perfect. The two pieces of advice I heard most often in the beginning of my training were: dig the hole a little wider and deeper, and hold the dumb end of the chain. The L.S....