Proprietary formats and compatibility

Most of the questions I receive about map making have to do with proprietary software. That is, while some software seems “universal,” the truth is that files produced in one version are not compatible in a competing version. The success, therefore, is learning to minimize proprietary formats.
The obvious…
The simplest solution is to limit products [...]

Is ESRI the only way to go for field GIS?

No. However, the ESRI shape-file format with the multitude of files is the standard for most industries and academia. So when you collect your data, make sure you can output as standard shape files, composed of the minimum triad of .shp, .sbx, and .dbf files. (The .prj is valuable if you [...]

The Nomad goes on a fossil hunt!

Recently, three colleges converged in western Nevada for four days of field paleontology. Over thirty students participated in a series of field tasks that represented different kinds of field scientific work. The tasks ranged from classic description to modern collection techniques. For the latter, the students mapped a trilobite-rich area using a [...]

Quickie user guide to Windows Mobile

Your buddy / boyfriend / boss hands you a PDA for the first time and tells you to ‘figure it out.’ Where do you start? Can you understand your way around the computer? This short blog is meant to be a sort of triage to get you through a Windows Mobile device, like the Recon [...]

Why can’t my Tablet-PC read my USB-connected GPS receiver?

I’ve written several times about COM ports and GPS receivers. Interestingly, in the last two days, I have spoken with four different folks about how this works, particular in regards to setting up a GPS receiver through a USB port on a tablet computer. It is valuable to understand how this works to [...]

The “Mystery of the Shifting COM Port”

I had an interesting case this past week that while unique, might shed light on some problems. A researcher has been using a CompactFlash GPS card in a Recon handheld computer without problems for nearly a year now. He e-mailed me that the GPS was working, but was coming in on a different [...]

Comment on ABC News: How accurate is your GPS?

Recently, ABC put out a news snippet about the “child killing” inaccuracies of GPS vehicle navigation units. Glossing over the semantically misleading title, the report did a decent job of quickly summarizing the obvious—navigational software is prone to errors. It is not that the receivers are inaccurate, but rather the GIS programming behind [...]

Great free software for calculating your GPS accuracy (DOP)!

In the last blog, I gave an introduction to dilution of precision or DOP and explained when you need to know it and when you don’t. This time, I want to show you a very cool, free program to calculate your DOP values throughout the day. All you need to know is your [...]

The costs and benefits of using field computers and GPS receivers

Recently, I ran into an old professor of mine and we chatted about the use of computers in field geology. Both of us were trained using little more than compasses, 1:24,000 topographic maps and aerial photo interpretation. And we both agreed that students need to be trained in these methods. “So,” he [...]

Free GPS software for the rugged handheld PDA

When you buy a Garmin or a Magellan, you are getting a computer + GPS receiver + software. Ready to go! However, if you choose to use a rugged PDA and attach a GPS receiver, you will need some sort of software to read the data and / or store the data and [...]