Week 11 = 11/02/07

Today for class we had a activity day, so to speak. We got to play with some GPS units that AB Tech has managed to acquire. Before we got play with the GPS units we discussed some topics like what GPS system OnStar uses for commerical use. We also discussed more and more about the GIS day which is going to be next class period. After the discussion we took the GPS units and went outside. We acquired the satellites and then marked a wave point at the light pole that is facing the Balsam building. Then we decided to mark another wave point at the oak tree that is at the beginning of the drive for the nursing building and the balsam building when you are coming down Victoria Rd. After a couple of passes going back and forth between those points we decided to make another wave point. This wave point was located at a light pole in the parking lot for the Birch building. When we got finished with the wave points we went back inside and saw how to download the data from the GPS unit to ArcMap, Google Earth, and ArcCatalog. We were shown how to make several different maps and reports from those three wave points. We were also exposed to several different web sites that contain all kinds of maps and reports about GIS. Some of the sites allowed us to convert data to a .kml file for goggle earth. While we were outside there were talks about setting up a booth for dudes to take a GPS unit and try to navigate to some points around AB Tech. I kinda am looking foward to being outside and help some people learn how to use a GPS unit. I am going to have get with the instructor sometime next week so I can learn more about the software and the GPS unit.