Top 3 Mistakes When Gathering GPS

It will save you a lot of time and money if the surveyors are well trained as compared to re-gather the points. Surveyors are usually interested in this technology and willing to learn. Thus, better to supply information as much as possible while the attentions are still there. Take note to use simple terms when explaining how the GPS works.

Top 3 mistakes that are common in gathering GPS because the instructor misses to orient surveyors about these details:

1. Stand to close to the property / unit of interest.

During the field gathering, surveyors tend to find shadow to avoid hot sunlight. They will stand close to the property to get shadow. The surveyors forget that by standing too close to the property, most satellite signals are also blocked from one direction. Thus, the GPS coordinates obtained are not as accurate as needed because the satellites detected is coming only from other side of direction (one sided). Standing back a little bit can greatly improve the accuracy.

2. Ignoring PDOP Value.

Some data gathering application is only showing number of satellites to warn surveyor if they have enough satellite to gather correct GPS. As a rule of thumb, the device needs more than 4 satellites to gather accurate GPS. However, number of satellites alone is not enough! There are many satellites out there giving a weak signal, thus, deceiving the device in giving correct GPS coordinates. Another measure to warn surveyors to gather accurate GPS is by displaying PDOP in your application.

What is PDOP?

3. Not Paying Attention on Stuck Application!