GPS, Laser Rangefinders, and Rugged Handhelds in the Pacific NW

New MobileMapper 100 GPS Unit - Jon is first to test in US

2010-08-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I was able to test the new MobileMapper 100 GPS unit from Ashtech last week. That unit was the only one in the US; and I was the first to get to test it! Not wanting to baby it, I took it straight to the Clackamas GPS test course east of Portland, Oregon. The course is a tough one, with big, tall timber.

The MobileMapper 100 performed flawlessly. I have not summarized accuracy tests yet, although it definitely beat every other unit I have ever tested at Clackamas. Boy does it track satellites! It tracks both US and GLONASS satellites which means it never had less than 10 satellites even on the toughest points. PDOP was almost always below 2.0 and sometimes as low as 1.6

The picture above shows me with the MobileMapper 100 and the external antenna. I did the Clackamas test course twice with the external antenna and twice with the internal antenna. the internal antenna is a precision unit and it did as well as the much larger and heavier external unit.

I have ordered my own MobileMapper 100 and hopefully it will arrive by mid September. The production units will be available in September or October.

All for now! Call me at 503-521-0888 if you have questions on the MobileMapper 100.

Jon Aschenbach

2010-05-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

Inland Empire SAF meeting May 20-22, 2010

Hi everyone,

I will be exhibiting at the Inland Empire SAF meeting in Wallace, Idaho this Thursday and Friday. The meeting is centered around discussions of the 1910 Idaho fires that burned 3.1 million acres. The fires were devastating, killing dozens of fire fighters and local people. This year is the 100th anniversary of the fires.

This meeting will be a good one, with a great agenda and excellent attendance. I hope to see some of you at the meeting.

Jon Aschenbach

Important News on the WAAS satellites

2010-04-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

We just learned last week that one of our two WAAS satellites is going to be turned off in a couple of weeks. The problem is that the people on the ground who control the satellite have lost the ability to keep the satellite in it's precise orbit path. Once it strays too far out of its orbit path, it will just be shut down.

Hawaii and western Alaska are the states that will suffer the most from the lost WAAS satellite, because the remaining healthy WAAS satellite is the one further east.

Luckily, we still have one WAAS satellite available to us in the continental US. It is high above the horizon and will continue to provide excellent service to anyone using an SXBlue GPS unit or other GPS that utilizes WAAS.

Jon Aschenbach
Resource Supply, LLC

All of Oregon Covered in 2009 NAIP Imagery

2010-02-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

I finally received the rest of the 2009 NAIP imagery for the final 14 counties in Oregon. More information can be viewed on my website at www.resourcesupplyllc.com The imagery is available for immediate shipment in the Original version or in the Pocket PC version.

Next week I will be at the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference in Redding, California. I have been exhibiting at this conference for most of the past 20 years. If any of you will be attending, please stop by the Laser Technology Booth. I will be in their booth, helping with the TruPulse Lasers, RD1000 BAF scope, and other Laser Technology equipment. I will also have some of my Magellan, (now Ashtech) equipment on display.

After the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference, you can find me at the Oregon Logging conference in Eugene, Oregon. Dates are February 25-27 at the Lane County Fairgrounds. I'll be in my own booth, which will be next to the Laser Technology booth.

Have Fun!

Jon

2009 NAIP Imagery Available Now

2009-12-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

The 2009 NAIP imagery is available for all of Washington and 22 counties in Oregon. The imagery is one meter resolution, color, orthorectified, and available in the CCM (compressed county mosaic) format. That basically means you can bring up an entire county on your laptop, desktop, or pocket PC in ArcPad or ArcGIS.

The imagery is beautiful, having better colors and better resolution than the previous 2005 and 2006 imagery. File sizes are a bit larger, with some of the really big counties being broken into three pieces instead of two. Douglas county in Oregon is an example.

The imagery is available in the original UTM format or enhanced to run on a Pocket PC in state plane coordinates.

Call me at 503-521-0888 if you have questions about the NAIP imagery.

The cold weather has been interesting. I love the bright days. I heat with firewood and it has been a bit of a strugle to keep the fireplace insert filled with wood. It sure is nice to have a nice warm fire going.

Jon

New Method to Hold GPS Antenna

2009-09-20T22:37:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I have been working with Doug Allen to make a better antenna mount for GPS antennas. Doug is a professional timber cruiser with many years of field experience. He uses ArcPad on a Nomad Pocket PC, with an SXBlue II GPS unit providing the sub meter GPS positions. Doug and I have been talking about how to set up an antenna mast in the best possible position, to make it easily accessable for raising and lowering the antenna. Most people put the antenna mast in a narrow pocket on the back of their vest. This makes it hard to reach and the antenna mast catches on everything in the woods.

Doug has been setting up his new vest, an army surplus model. I suggested that the antenna mast be positioned in the front of the vest, making it easier to adjust for height. That's what Doug did, and it works perfect.

The mast can be raised with a simple tug on the top of the mast. It does not have to be locked into any one position, as friction will hold it up in the air. The antenna cable is just twirled around the mast so it goes up an down with ease.

When Doug bends over to go under a branch or some brush, the antenna is below his head and he goes right through. With an antenna mast on your back, you invariably get it caught up on something; not this one!

All for tonight. Let me know what you think of this design for an antenna mast.

By the way, the antenna mast is a Seco mast which extends from 16 inches to 36 inches. The actual antenna mounts on a 1/2 inch thick piece of plastic that I made. The plastic is totally indestructible and it is drilled and tapped for the 5/8 x 11 thread mount on the end of the antenna mast.

trivia question: Who invented Basketball? Hint, it wasn't the US.

Jon Aschenbach 503-521-0888

NAIP Imagery for Oregon and Washington in 2009

2009-09-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I just confirmed that Oregon and Washington are both being flown this year for a new set of 1 meter color orthorectified NAIP imagery. More information will be posted as it becomes available. It appears that the imagery will be available in a couple of months, rather than at the end of the year.

The NAIP imagery is wonderful for use on pocket PCs when entire counties need to be brought up. I will re-compress the imagery to allow use on commonly used pocket PCs such as the Nomad, Recon, Mobile Mapper 6 and others.

The imagery will probably be in JPEG 2000 format, rather than MrSID format. This does not have any real impact on the user. I re-compress the imagery in JPEG 2000 format anyway.

For anyone needing better resolution, the imagery from Eagle Digital Imaging is a great option. If you want your tree farm flown this year, contact them as soon as possible to make sure the imagery is collected before shadows get too long. Eagle Digital imagery is 2 foot resolution and the horizontal placement accuracy is 4 meters or better.

Last weeks trivia questions answer: The US uses 10 percent of the world's salt production for winter time salting of roads. (Fortunately, not in Oregon and Washington)

Have fun! Call me at 503-707-6236 if you have any questions.

Jon Aschenbach

New Videos on www.ruggedready.com

2009-09-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I had my son download three more videos onto my www.ruggedready.com web site. One is on the ProMark 500 survey grade GPS unit. The ProMark 500 gives centimeter accuracy using a real time network such as the one in Oregon or Washington. It's fun to use because you can be collecting centimeter accurate points within minutes of turning it on.

The other two new videos are 1) Using OPUS and 2) What is WGS84? Both of these videos are by Joe Sass and Phil Stevenson with Magellan Professional. They really provide a lot of information in a couple of short videos. Click here to go to www.ruggedready.com Then click on the Survey Grade GPS tab.

Speaking of my son, he just left for a trip to Japan and Taiwan this morning. He'll be gone a month, resulting in my video production coming to a temporary halt. Adam does the filming, video production, and then posts the videos on the web site. I have lots more videos that I want to make, but it will have to wait.

Upcoming conferences include the NW ESRI GIS conference in Sunriver the week of October 13 - 16. I will be exhibiting there, plus I might be a presenter. My presentation, if accepted, will be on using ArcPad to map pond-lilies in Cheadle Lake using a TruPulse 360B. It's an example of a mapping project that would have been difficult, if not impossible, without the TruPulse 360B and ArcPad.

Trivia question: How does the US use 10% of the worlds salt production every year? Answer next week! (It's not "on french fries"!

All for now!

Jon Aschenbach

Jon Aschenbach Cutting Firewood

2009-08-19T20:16:00.001-07:00

I've been heating my house with wood for the past 5 years. I love having wood heat and I have been very fortunate to be able to acquire wood for free or nearly free. The picture at the left is me at my tree farm last Sunday, using a Husqvarna 181 chainsaw. The 181 is over 20 years old, but has tons of power. It cut through the red alder logs with ease.

Several people have been asking me about the TruPulse laser rangefinders lately. The TruPulse is a great instrument for taking offset GPS shots. A friend of mine borrowed my TruPulse 360B and teamed it up with his MobileMapper 6 and ArcPad. He used the equipment to plot the location of some type of lily that grows in lakes. The TruPulse worked perfectly and hopefully, I can put together another video covering the use of the TruPulse and ArcPad for mapping non-native weed species in lakes.

All for now. Jon

ESRI User Conference July 2009

2009-07-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'm at the ESRI User Conference in San Diego this week. I'm helping Jean-Yves Lauture with the Geneq booth. The primary product that we are promoting is the SXBlue II GPS unit. Jean-Yves is the design engineer who developed the SXBlue. His knowledge of this GPS unit is phenomenal. He is also very good at selling it; because he knows so much about the SXBlue and the competition.

Jean-Yves was asked what the next really big breakthrough will be in GPS. His answer... the new satellites with the L5 code. The L5 code will allow us to get 15 centimeter accuracy with the SXBlue and WAAS. Unfortunately, it will be 4 or 5 years before enough L5 satellites are in orbit.

The ESRI User Conference is down in attendance about 30% this year. There are still 10,000 people here, so we have been very busy. Last night I went to a dinner sponsored by Laser Technology. It was a grand event and a lot of fun. The president of Laser Technology, David Williams, was there as was most of the senior management. What a great bunch of people!

Last week's trivia question: What rhymes with the words "Month" and "Purple"? Answer: Nothing. No normal word rhymes with either one.

All for now!

Jon Aschenbach

BIA Log Scaling/Timber Cruising Conference

2009-07-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. I'm in Lincoln City at the BIA Log Scaling/Timber Cruising Conference. It's a great group of scalers and timber cruisers from all over the Northwest and Alaska. Attendance is down, but enthusiasm is up! Everyone is committed to learning as much as they can over this 3 day meeting.

Chamile, a master log scaler from the USFS gave a great presentation on the difference between board foot log rules and Cubic Feet. She did a great job of showing how bad board foot rules like Scribner, Doyle, 1/4 inch are and how good Cubic feet is. Guess what the USFS uses? Scribner. They were going to switch to Cubic and local industry people complained so much they went back to Scribner. Too bad because cubic feet is so much better.

Next week, I will be at the ESRI User Conference in San Diego. This conference has several thousand attendees. I'm helping with the Geneq Booth, promoting the SXBlue II GPS unit.

Trivia Question.... What real words rhyme with the word Month? With the word Purple? Answer next week.

Have fun!

Jon Aschenbach

Rugged Ready - a New Group on YouTube

2009-04-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

I just posted 6 videos on YouTube. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RuggedReady

The videos cover the MobileMapper 6, SXBlue II GPS Unit, Nomad Pocket PC, Recon Pocket PC, and the TruPulse 360B laser rangefinder.

I've been wanting to make some how-to videos on a variety of forestry equipment. My son just graduated from OSU in Mechanical Engineering and he has been helping me with the video production. All of the videos will be listed under the RuggedReady Group on YouTube.

My goal is the have 20 or more videos on a variety of subjects and equipment.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Jon
jon@resourcesupplyllc.com

Oregon SAF Meeting at 7 Feathers Casino

2009-04-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

I'm exhibiting at the 7 Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Oregon. It's the Oregon SAF meeting which has about 150 attendees. The Forest Products industry is in the dumps with log prices being very low. Still, everyone that I have talked to is pretty up-beat about the future.

Some consultants have told me that log prices are so low, it would cost more to deliver logs to the mill than the mill was paying. Timberland owners who can wait to harvest are better off holding off until log prices go up again.

The picture to the left is Lori Rasor and me at the Oregon SAF exhibit hall. Lori is the editor of the Western Forester magazine. She does a great job, publishing a magazine full of useful content.

No... I haven't spent a nickel gambling. About 10 years ago, I stopped in at 7 Feathers and put a dollar in a slot machine. I won two bucks and immediately cashed out. I can honestly say that I am ahead in my gambling at 7 Feathers. I plan to keep it that way.

Have fun!

Jon

Jon Aschenbach at the Intertribal Timber Council Meeting

2009-04-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

I'm in Lewiston, Idaho at the Intertribal Timber Council meeting. There are over 325 participants attending, from a variety of tribes across the US. Everyone is upbeat and seem to be enthusiastic about the timber industry, even with a crummy economy.

This group is well known in the forest products industry as one that manages a huge amount of timberland. They are especially good at working together for the common good of all tribal forestry programs.

Yesterday, instead of going on the Forestry Tour that is a normal part of the conference, I opted to play hooky and I went turkey hunting with a friend of mine. I carried a camera, so all turkeys were certainly safe from me. We saw some of the most amazing country in Southeast Washington/Northeast Oregon that I have seen in a long time. We met a cowboy who manages a ranch of a few thousand acres. It is some of the most rugged cattle grazing country in the US. The cattle never get any hormones, antibiotics, or anything else to compromise the quality of the meat. It is sold as organic, range free beef and it certainly lives up to that quality. If anyone in the Oregon/Washington area wants to buy a quarter or half a beef, the price is very reasonable. Email me if you want info. I don't make a dime on the sale, it's just to help a very deserving cowboy who lives the life a lot of us dream about. He puts 3,000 miles a year on horses, in country that is steeper than steep.

Next week, I'll be at the Oregon SAF meeting at 7 Feathers casino in southern Oregon. I'll report back on the latest developments for the Oregon Forest Products industry. The CEO of Roseburg Forest Products will give the keynote address.

ArcPad 8.0 has officially released

2009-04-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

ESRI has officially released ArcPad 8.0. It is available on the ESRI website at www.esri.com Just click on Mobile Mapping and ArcPad. The evaluation version is about 105 megabytes in size if you want to download it.

So what's different between 8.0 and the previous version 7.1.1? The opening screen is totally different, and I think much improved. You can easily switch between the different various tool bars. This capability reduces the amount of area taken away from the view area for shape files and imagery. There is also a little tool icon that combines zoom in, zoom out, pan, and zoom to extents. It barely takes up any room and really makes it fast to activate any of those four features.

The really big difference between 7.1.1 and 8.0 is price. The new 8.0 includes a mandatory maintenance and support fee, bringing the price up a bit. It is still a bargain with all of ArcPad's capability.

I'll report more on ArcPad 8.0 as I get more experience with working with it. So far, it looks very, very good.

Jon - www.resourcesupplyllc.com email: jon@resourcesupplyllc.com

Magellan Professional to Use Ashtech Name

2009-04-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I'm in Las Vegas at a Magellan Professional Dealer training. Magellan has just announced that they will be going back to their original Ashtech name. This is the result of Magellan selling off the Magellan consumer line. All of the dealers are very pleased with the announcement.

One of the agenda items for today's training is the ProFlex 500 GPS system by Magellan Professional. It's a great dual frequency GPS system capable of centimeter accuracy. It is even capable of better than centimeter accuracy in some situations.

The picture is of me holding the ProFlex 500 with Joe Sass, one of the senior support specialists for Magellan Professional.

So far, I haven't spent a single quarter gambling. I'm having way too much fun learning about Magellan GPS equipment. More information will follow.

Jon

2009-03-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested in buying ArcPad, the new version 8.0 is coming out soon. If you buy version 7.1.1, you will receive a free copy of 8.0 and it is much less expensive than version 8.0. You can't wait until 8.0 releases, as 7.1.1 will be pulled from sale.

I'm an ESRI business partner and I will be receiving a copy of the new ArcPad 8.0 very soon. As soon as it arrives, I'll list it's new features.

New Blog From Resource Supply

2009-03-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

My new blog will include news about GPS, laser rangefinders, rugged pocket PCs, and much more.

I just had a chance to briefly review the new Yuma Tablet PC by Tripod Data Systems. It has a beautiful screen with touch screen capability. Weight is a bit more than most Pocket PC's, although the big screen will more than make up for that. Screen resolution is awesome.

The Yuma runs Windows Vista and the reported battery life is very good. I can't remember the exact figure, but it's way more than most tablet PCs. I'll report on more of the Yuma's features in a future blog.

Have Fun!

Jon