Tag Archives: gps
Quantum Navigation
Above: The Royal Navy submarine HMS Astute. Credit: LA(Phot) Paul Halliwell/MOD. Will freezing sub-atomic particles one day supplant GPS as the primary navigation technology? Many of the most accurate measurement devices, including atomic clocks, work by observing how atoms transfer between individual quantum states. The longer the atomic transition can be observed, the more precisely it...
Where Theory Meets Practice: Geodetic Observations: Part 1
Since the inception of GPS in the 1980s, surveyors have been presented with GPS baseline reduction results that list both geodetic azimuths and distances for the baseline vectors. In Part I of this article, I present the difference between the normal to the geoid and ellipsoid, which is known as deflection of the vertical, and...
Hardware Review: X90-OPUS GPS Receiver
I’ll make it short and sweet: we tried it, we like it, and we ended up buying it. I recently had the chance to test out the X90-OPUS GPS receiver. Essentially, the X90 receiver is designed for collecting static GPS occupations (when operating in real time is not available or needed) and easily submitting observations to...
Guest Editorial: Space-age Metamorphosis
It’s an exciting time to be a surveyor. When I consider where the profession is today, it is amazing how much we have evolved from where surveying was when I started 18 years ago. Things that seemed space-age back then are now the backbone of our industry, and we have barely scratched the surface. I...
Low-cost DIY GPS Data Logger
It wasn’t that long ago when the ability to create a functioning GPS device was reserved for the big companies, academics, and those with money to burn. Today, thanks to the ever-increasing demand for consumer-grade GPS electronics (such as those in every smart phone), the availability of GPS integrated circuits (chips) has dramatically increased, while...
What’s ROI?
In 2008 after a nine-year run selling GIS software, it was time for me to move on. I received an offer to head the western region sales team for a GPS company competing in the difficult fleet management market. This career move was based on my belief that GPS applications have a lot in common...
