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freitasm writes
"Geekzone is reporting on Ike, made by Surveylab. Ike is a handheld data capture device that integrates GPS, an electronic compass, a laser distance meter, an inclinometer, a digital camera, and a Pocket PC 2003 handheld in a single unit, ideal for GIS and other surveys."
Detail level (Score:2, Informative)
Thats only a little higher that 1MP. Don't the GIS surveys need more detail than that?
GPS not accurate enough (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Could be useful to golfers (Score:4, Informative)
The only problem with these that I've found is that you need some decent flat surface perpendicular to the laser to reflect it -- so trying to laze, say, a building works pretty well, but trying to laze the flag on the green would be problematic (and I've had issues trying to laze some mammals and such at longer distances when trying to set my sights).
Its not new (Score:2, Informative)
Re:GPS not accurate enough (Score:5, Informative)
Real neat but expensive! (Score:5, Informative)
BTW, the secret to finding prices on a web site for products that "don't list price" is to check the press releases - reporters tend to ignore press leads that don't have an estimated price. It would not look good with readers to present rave article for a product none of them can afford or budget for.
Re:Could be useful to golfers (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Real neat but expensive! (Score:3, Informative)
Real Estate maybe but not professional survey (Score:3, Informative)
The title of top survey data collector is still the HP-48GX [johann-sandra.com].
When we ran survey we would try to grab the tripod with the HP-48 bracketed on it. This little data collector would make our lives easier, reduce the overall time for the survey and increase the time in the pub. All very good things.
HP-48GX - Good data bucket and a good deal cheaper than the grand that Topcon and such want for their Data Collection handhelds.
Re:GPS not accurate enough (Score:2, Informative)
Wow, that's really an uninformed statement.
There are plenty of apps where low-res is appropriate.
In my line (wildlife biology/gis), it is rare to require anything higher than 1 m resolution. And really, the datasets we use most commonly are 28.5 m res.
one size doesnt fit all (Score:2, Informative)
Geological surveying
-Soil, large screen needed, can be done from cars, editing directly onto map.
-Bedrock or any large boulders what youre after you want good GPS accuray, easy data input (text) and a nice camera.
-Chemical/water surveying, data input device with nice GPS.
Economical
-dGPS or better is needed.
General factors
-Precision, dGPS is an bonus in many cases but a must in few, good GPS reception will do in most cases ( few handheld/gps combos has that)
-Price, most heavy duty, waterproof super handheld thingies cost 6x an ipaq with GPS...
-Another tool
Re:Detail level (Score:3, Informative)
This thing is mapping grade, but of dubious quality. The world leader (also in New Zealand), is Trimble [trimble.com]. They will run you about 6k for a submeter accurate unit, that is rugged and comes with a good warranty.
Re:Could be useful to golfers (Score:3, Informative)
Uses GPS to work out where you are and then calculates how far you are hitting the ball. Supposely there are a number of popular golf courses available for download so you can tell hole distance etc.
Must make sense for people who play this silly game. .
The $6 version (Score:2, Informative)
http://zedev.com/software/rangefinder/ [zedev.com]
It's an optical rangefinder program for the Pocket PC. The program has a database of images (person, tree, car, etc) of known heights. You hold the Pocket PC at arm's length and resize the image on the screen until it's the same height as the distant image. Based on all that, it calculates the distance to the image.
You can also specify values like the height of your Pocket PC screen, the length of your arm, or the height of the thing you're measuring (if you want to find the distance to Yao Ming, for instance).