So my dad just told me that he had a couple of Magellan (Thales) professional GPS systems to sell, which have just come off demo. To be honest, all of this technology is still quite new to me, yet I actually find it to be pretty exciting to learn about. Nevertheless, one must admit that all of the technical distinctions between instruments, software and uses can be quite a load to swallow all at once, to say the least. As I mentioned once before, the most important reason for doing any of this in the first place is to spend a little bit of well needed time with my dad and (hopefully) help his business get online. The first part has been a little tough to do, as the Skipper is a VERY busy guy and so I end up kinda teaching myself a lot in between our meetings. The second part is coming together a little at a time, but starting to look (apparently) quite nice- if not, at least interesting. I suppose my dad has a lot of faith in me...it makes me want all the more to get it right. All in all, I'm finding my recent engagement with the people of the surveying and construction world to be quite pleasant so far (for the most part) and the feedback has been quite positive overall. I just go about it as I do most everything else- as an artist. Sure, I mess up every now and again on distinctions, jargon and whos-it-whats-it, but i learn fast and i'm getting the job done...or so it seems, anyway.
One of the most difficult hurdles involved in that which i am attempting to do is the fact that there are old surveyors and new surveyors out there. While the old surveyors refer to something as one thing, the new surveyors call it something completely different, abbreviate it until the terms practically disappear and at times, just happen to be too damn new to understand what the heck the old timers are talking about. But thats ok! They've already got something ten times faster and more precise to work with anyway. In either case, I'm finding that its nearly impossible to wing it on my end and just take a bunch of specs and throw them on some images and call it good. Both the news and the olds know when you don't know wha the hell you are talking about. I even worked as a surveyor for a while at one time in my life, after finishing high school and I still can't get over how fast this technology changes. About 10 yrs ago, I ran with a surveying company and worked as an instrument man and rod guy. Playing around with this new stuff kind of makes me actually feel like an old surveyor who just hasn't kept up. I suppose in a way, thats kind of good, considering many of my father's best customers and friends are the old guys. They are set in their ways and know exactly what they need to get the job done. If they have no idea, they ask the Skipper.
So what about those demos, you might ask? [well...i was getting to that, i just felt the need to explain myself a bit before I mess something up and you all find out that I don't entirely know what i am doing]. Let me first show you the magnificent ARTertisement that I made for the demo special. Then I'll tell you what I learned while researching these Magellan-Ashtech-Thales-Zmax.net things.

This is a great time to scoop up a terrific deal on this Magellan-Ashtech/ Zmax.net Survey Grade GPS System with RTK. You can buy a 2 unit base and rover with UHF radios and GSM Module attachment [list price: $42,400]
These units are DEMOS and will sale complete with 2 controllers for $36,595
or a single unit with UHF/GSM and controller for $16,500
[list price: $21,200]

and I quote:
"or we will swap for two medium age horses and a new carriage....just kidding. We already have enough horses to feed."
-Skipper

As you might imagine, some of this made very little sense before I began looking stuff up. For example, how can one single product be known by (at least) 3 different names? The Magellan Survey Grade GPS system in recent times has been referred to as the Thales setup and even just tonight, the Skipper let me in on a little secret when he told me that older surveyors in the field refer to it as an Ashtech instrument. I had been reading up on it for days and had never come across this info. Needless to say, I didn't know what the hell I was talking about. So, I went digging again. I somewhere along the line came to the conclusion that I should perhaps just start cluing you guys into the info that I found, so the next time you are in my position..well at least you know you weren't the first.
So, if you wanna fake it, you should first start by going to check out this time-line on the About us page of the Magellan site (duh). Then when you feel completely stupid (being the research guru that you are) for having not done this to begin with, you might want to read up a bit on some of the history behind all of the zillions of features that this uberproduct packs. You can start with RTK (aka Real Time Kinematic)- I needed to look it up on wikipedia too. shhh Next, why not figure out why a GSM network (which by the way, isn't in the Magellan Glossary) is so special or why a UHF radio is so top notch. We're not talking strings and cans here, folks! The guys over at Professional Surveyor Magazine sure know the difference between Magellan and Ashtech- maybe you and I should to, huh?

Of course, all of you guys reading this blog are probably completely blown away at how ignorant I seem right now, but that's ok! Its a challenge and so is everything that you guys use this stuff for, but everyone has to start somewhere, right? I'm just going to keep plugging away at it and helping my dad catch up to the Web 2.0 way of doing things. Its what I;m supposed to be doing this very moment in my life, i feel. So...down to business. If you are interested in one of these uberitems, you should write me or just give ole Skipper a call. You can find all of our contact info one this other page I made. Lemme know if i messed anything up!

MAGELLAN AND ASHTECH TO BECOME A NEW $125 MILLION SATELLITE NAVIGATION, POSITIONING AND COMMUNICATIONS PRODUCTS COMPANY [link]
About Us [Magellan Timeline]



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