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Hand-held Receiver Offers Plenty of "Firsts"
According to Topcon Positioning Systems, its GMS-2 GIS hand-held mobile GPS receiver is the first GIS-GPS product to provide dual-constellation tracking; an integrated digital camera linking photos to feature locations; an electronic compass for bearing and direction information; and the functionality to be used as a GIS mapping system, an L1 static survey grade receiver or a field controller.

Using a Windows CE operating system, the GMS-2 is equipped with a vivid, color touch-screen, powerful Intel processor, internal wireless Bluetooth connectivity, removable lithium ion battery, SD memory slot and USB port. Also available are options such as a beacon receiver, Topcon Tools GIS post-processing office software and various TopSURV field software programs.

With the GMS-2, digital images, GPS coordinates, compass bearings and attribute information can all be obtained with integrated imaging technology in a single trip to the field. Available accuracy levels range from sub-meter to centimeter range.

Arne Hultgren, planning manager, Roseburg Forest Products, California Division, has found the GMS-2 highly suited for his operations. "With the GMS-2, I'm able to easily get a fix in some of the worst conditions — in many cases, to within a foot due to the use of additional satellites," he states. "The GMS-2 allows us to accurately get positions not only in the open, but also under heavy tree canopy. In addition to that, it allows us to code those points with actual text or numeric attributes. And we can record images to those points and record not only the position, but also the visual features of the jobsite."

Hultgren has found the GMS-2 to be much more than a GPS data collector. "Quite frankly, I keep thinking of new ways to use it every day," he comments. "It's been something that we needed for a long time."