GPS to create a map of my property???

[EddieWalker]

I'm drawing up maps of my place using a compass and measuring wheel from landmarks on my surveys. A couple degrees and a few extra feet one way or another has everything out of alignment. I go back over it and get it closer, but what I'm really doing is wasting my time and goofing off.

The thread about measuring a pond with a GPS got me wondering if I coudl buy a GPS to make my own maps.

I'd want to be able to mark my corners then download that into my computer and create a map. Then I'd want to mark the features of my land. Things like roads, buildings, ponds and even special trees.

Then I'd like to download that information onto the map and be able to label it and know exactly were everything is and how far apart they are from each other.

The benifits of this would be huge just for figuring out how much gravel I need for roads or the size of a pasture.

I tried a few websites suggested in other posts, but haven't seen anything that does what I'm looking for. I've also contacted a few online dealers for suggestions on models that would do what I want.

I'm not after legal surveyor accuracy, but within a few feet every hundred would be extremely accurate for my needs.

All thoughts and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Eddie, I'm doing exactly that right now. However, I'm just a beginner on how to use my unit. Find "murph" (user name "thcri") he has been VERY helpful via PM and regular email and can help you out.

 

[slowzuki]

I did a map of our property using GPS and used a bunch of software to make a basemap to load into my gps. So now I can go out and see the field boundaries and roads and paths etc.

It was a pain in the butt getting it back into the gps basemap but just making a map on the computer to print out was easy.
Ken

 

[chucko]

GPS the G General to Global like everone thinks
The one on my boat has a display to shows the amount it might be off...Most of the time it is 50 foot +-....The ones they use to do land cost big bucks and I think they have a transmitter that is placed at the Bench Mark to account for the GPS error
If you have one what says it is WAAS it will be a lot colser than normal GPS

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> If you have one what says it is WAAS it will be a lot colser than normal GPS </font>

Good point. The WAAS enabled units are accurate to within 3 meters. I spent $318 for my Magellin Meridian Color unit (including shipping). The Sport Trac Color units are almost $100 less. Both are WAAS enabled. Garmin has very nice units, many in color, prices seem to be slightly higher than Magellin. I picked the Meridian because it accepts SD memory cards.

I'm finding out that I can set a waypoint at my corners and use the compass to determine my property line where I can't see the corners.

 

[Bird]

And I assume you want to have a good map showing the location of all the underground utility lines some day, along with the depth at which to find them.

 

[cowboydoc]

Just go to the county or the FSA office and they can copy you a very nice aerial view of your property complete with everything you mentioned. No reason to a $300-$500 GPS and do it all by hand. Five minutes at either office will get you what you want.

 

[SkyPup]

Be sure that you select the correct Map Datum for the particular USGS topo quad map that you are referencing by using your GPS.

The map scale and the map datum are very important and selecting the wrong one will result in many large errors.

The proper Position Format is also very important , i.e. latitude-longitude, military grid, universal transverse mercator, etc.

 

[EddieWalker]

Bird,

You hit it exactly.

Being able to locate everything ten years from now is extremely important to me.

I'm working on creating a master map with all my points in black and white. Then I will make copies of it at Kinkos and add the various features to each map in a grouping.

One map will feature color coded utilities. It will have distance from landmarks and depth along with exactly what is down there, such as size of pipe or wire guage and type of wire.

I can get it pretty close the way I'm going about it with compass and measuring wheel. But if I could have it on the computer, then I could also have it on disk or be able to send the information digitally. There's some real advantages to being able to do it this way.

Any brands or model numbers that might work?

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> Five minutes at either office will get you what you want. </font>

5 minutes at any government office in the state of Indiana is what it takes to get up the the point where you can "take a number" to go stand in line somewhere else! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif However, there are electric lines on my property that are not on any county document, ditto with at least 1 gas line. My goal is to end up with an 11x17 map of my property that shows all the stuff I've done, and simply by keeping it in digital format it allows me to add to it as I change things around on my lot.

I actually wanted the little GPS unit for other uses, but am finding all sorts of things to play with.