permaculture

["E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>]

The Native Plant nerds around here use GPS to record locations of native 
prairie segments and other stands of rare native plants.  Nice to know some 
technology is being put to good use.

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: neshura 
  To: permaculture 
  Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 9:29 AM
  Subject: Re: [permaculture] Map making using GPS


  Technobot alert received and acknowledged. The GPS receiver
  triangulates against four satellites. It works quite poorly under tree
  cover and indoors, for this reason. The system depends on incredibly
  precise timing -- hence, you can set your watch by your GPS. I believe
  the amount of time it takes to receive the signals is also used to
  calculate elevation. I'm not sure of its accuracy.

  All you have to do is walk around, stand still on your desired spot,
  and take a reading. The cheaper GPS receivers are not much use for
  this (I have one), but better ones will let you download the waypoint
  into a laptop or PDA. As a note, it is standard practice in geocaching
  to take multiple readings and combine them (http://www.geocaching.com)

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
  At the end of this page are abundant links to software, including free
  and open source packages.


  On 3/24/06, darren <darren@permaculture.biz> wrote:
  > G'day Frank,
  >
  > All is well. As flat as a lizard drinking!!!
  >
  > The Garmin Etrex Vista C GPS I have is USD$321. Mapinfo is PC only
  > unfortunately. It is perhaps the easiest of the GIS packages to use - 
hence
  > my use of it. I can teach people to use it for farm planning in 1/2 a day.
  >
  > One of the technobots out there will be able to provide us with a erudite
  > explanation as to the workings of a GPS. I just concern myself with the
  > "visibles" and therefore the operation side of things. The GPS is
  > breathtakingly easy to use and when used in conjunction with software like
  > mapinfo is especially functional for all sorts of things. They are 
certainly
  > as easy to use as a digital camera. Bit of a toy really....
  >
  > Hope the farm is going well. We had a good day yesterday: milled our first
  > trees that we planted back in 1998 on the farm. We used a Lucas mill and
  > then a Logosol M7 chainsaw mill to turn into timber 1.5m3 of Acacia
  > dealbata. Very exciting. Ended up buying a Logosol mill by the the end of 
it
  > 'cause we have another 20 ha of forestry left on the farm and lots of
  > thinning to do.
  >
  > If you need any more help drop us a line.
  >
  > Ciao Daz
  >
  > FranksFarm@aol.com writes:
  >
  > > g'day darren,
  > >
  > > Good to hear from you too.
  > >
  > > Hope all is well. Wow, that GPS you have sounds real handy for land 
mapping
  > > etc.
  > >
  > > How much did it cost? Is Map Info a commercial package? Or does it come 
with
  > > the GPS system? Does it work on a Macintosh?
  > >
  > > How do you actually DO all those things? Point it at different spots 
and the
  > > GPS somehow gives you coordinates where you are by triangulation? How 
does it
  > > tell your elevation?
  > >
  > > Like I said I'm a bit in awe of these things. If it seems too complex it
  > > sits. I have a new digital camera I hardly used because I'm not exactly 
sure how
  > > to use all the controls! Probably take an experienced user just a few 
minutes
  > > to show me how it works:)
  > >
  > > All the best. Frank
  > > _______________________________________________
  > > permaculture mailing list
  > > permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  > > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
  >
  >
  > _______________________________________________
  > permaculture mailing list
  > permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
  >
  _______________________________________________
  permaculture mailing list
  permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture