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| GeoCommunity Mailing List |
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| Mailing List Archives |
| Subject: | Re: GISList: RFI: Getting creative in the field |
| Date: |
11/21/2001 09:57:03 AM |
| From: |
Wunneburger, Douglas F. |
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Dimitri,
In reading your description, the image of Flick in "A Bug's Life" came to
mind.
I suppose you could use a donkey. However, a Grad Ass is probably much
cheaper than a real one.
Yours,
Doug
>
> David,
>
> I get the feeling this is one of those "you can have any two of three" out
> of a) light/small b)affordable and c) highly functional.
>
> Since you are a graduate student I'll relate my favorite "creative" field
> solution. A geology professor wanted to do pretty much what you describe,
> but his non-negotiable requirements were killer software, a good display
and
> low cost. He had a board bolted to a backpack frame that holds a laptop
> computer. The laptop is wired to a WAAS enabled Garmin GPS unit taped to
the
> shoulder strap. A graduate student wears the rig.
>
> The grad student walks along in front of the professor with the laptop
open
> so the professor can see where they are on the moving map at all times. A
> small bungee cord keeps the lid open and prevents it from flopping about
> should the grad student forget his instructions not to be clumsy. The grad
> student carries two folding stools as well. This leaves the professor
> unburdened so he can take refreshment as desired or admire the view.
>
> Whenever the prof wants to make notes, the grad student stops and the
> professor works at his stand-up desk using a real keyboard. If the
> professor requires a more contemplative session, the grad student sits on
> one stool and the professor sits on the other stool and takes notes at his
> leisure. When it's time to move on the prof says "mush" and away they go.
>
> The software they run is (of course) Manifold so they can see images and
> terrains as well as vector layers, etc. Manifold has a GPS console for
> moving map and direct data acquisition and reads/writes shapefiles. For
what
> they save compared to an ArcView license (they have an academic license
for
> Manifold so Manifold is free for them) they not only get more capability,
> they also can afford superb hardware. For what he wants to do it's a lot
> better than peering at a tiny screen and pecking at a limited user
> interface. At about $170 the WAAS enabled Garmin gives them about 2 meter
> resolution.
>
> I admit that's not as lightweight as doing everything on a Palm pilot, but
> modern laptops are very light. If you can get someone [an undergraduate
> intern? :-)\ to hike with you the convenience of an undiminished user
> interface and display cannot be beat if you want to do real GIS.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Dimitri
>
>
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>
>
>
>
>
>
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