4th Wave Archives
What Is South Surveying and Mapping Instrument Co.?
South Surveying and Mapping Instrument Co., LTD. holds a substantial share in the largest single market for such products. Until recently, it was not well known in the Americas; a sleeping giant may be awakening. Years ago, I started seeing South’s booths at trade shows like Intergeo and Conexpo, but in recent years I’ve begun […]
4th Wave
In the context of the history of surveying and mapping, the evolution from analog to digital occurred only in the latter half of the 20th century. Since then there have been several distinct “waves” in the development of tools and solutions. This is true of both optical solutions and GNSS, but it’s a bit more […]
MicroSurvey’s Ubiquity
The popular surveying software is evolving to support modern operating systems and dozens of field instrument platforms, and it’s making a lot of friends along the way. Some of the most ubiquitous and pervasive elements of our lives, like smart phones, the web, GPS, and even those omnipresent coffee chains, began as radical ideas. MicroSurvey’s […]
Flex! Bad Elf and Higher Precision
I took a new GPS mapping receiver out to the field for a test drive and found out that it is also a full GNSS survey rover. GNSS mapping peripheral-maker Bad Elf recently introduced a full survey-grade rover—and a unique pricing model. Surveyors might not be familiar with the name Bad Elf, but in the […]
What Is CHC Navigation?
One of the largest providers of surveying and geospatial solutions is a company you might have heard very little about. That is about to change. Above: Liao Kai (Leo), Ge Yang Chao, and the author test drive rovers on the CHCNAV roof. In September 2019, I visited the HQ of CHC Navigation (CHCNAV), a company […]