Using Ashtech Locus units....so nice and easy to carry around...so easy to use...such great results...

Spent the day today GPSing down in the bottoms along the Mississippi River at Crystal City,,,they had aqquired an old water intake well from PPG that is right on the edge of the river....we had a copy (unreadable) of a survey from 1973 and a description based on the survey,,,it called out the center of the well as a tie to the boundary,,,city wants us to mark out the existing easement and prepare a new easement through a different piece of ground ( parcel to you gis'ers) . Now, this area has been flooded big time 4 times since the survey and many annual high water events since then.,..I tell the water guy that I need to tie in the well...he tells me it is quite a hike...I say lets start walking....drive some..walk about a mile....this well is a 16' diameter concrete stucture 30' high on the bank side and 60' to the water.,,,,with this teenien einssy (little bitty) steel ladder up the side....up we go carrying the receiver and a bipod...determine the center, set up an anchor the 'GPS unit,,,look at a bald eagle, enjoy the view, climb back down and walk and drive and walk to the other part of the job,,,,set up more recievers, eventually walk back a different way up the river to get reciever # 1 on top of the well.,....it all processed well....you got to love GPS,,,,what a pain in the butt it would have been to do this job conventionally...still got some more corners to look for, but it is all good.

I started a small surveying business in June 01, lease-purchased 3 locus receivers in July, do all my surveys on state plane. It sure is a complement to conventional equipment, 'specially tying to section corners a mile or more away through swamps and sawbriers. I feel for the folks who are still gps-less.

i don't feel the least bit sorry for anyone who is gps-less...Locus doesn't cost that much, much less than a robot and less than a good quality total station..heck, you can get a couple of Locus receivers for less than LDD costs...

ain't no excuse in my book...