In 2004, Thales Navigation announced a significant enhancement to its single-frequency survey system, ProMark2. Now customers could get MapSend Worldwide Basemap for convenient navigation virtually anywhere in the world. Surveyors can easily extend their basemap coverage to any region around the globe by adding a MapSend WorldWide Basemap. The system is the only one on the market to combine precise positioning and navigation in one compact solution.
Additionally, the system now includes 50 control points, as opposed to the previous 16. Surveyors in the field know what a difference those control points make when re-initialization is necessary. Instead of spending critical time walking back to the last distant control point, surveyors can set up control points much closer together and spend more time surveying and less time walking between control points.
Ashtech Solutions, sold in conjunction, now also let customers change the pre-defined coordinate system parameters quickly and easily, and by themselves. No need to wait for software upgrades or technical support - the parameters are fully editable so surveyors can be in control and save time. To change the parameters, surveyors only need to highlight the pre-defined parameter and edit it in the software.
"ProMark2 continues to be a perfect example of how surveyors are finding it easier and more cost-effective to adopt Thales Navigation GPS for their surveying needs," said Francois Erceau, business director of survey for Thales Navigation. "The overwhelmingly positive response we have received to this product illustrates the great need in the market for value-based solutions, and with the addition of MapSend Worldwide Basemap Thales Navigation continues to set the bar for flexibility and value."
MapSend Worldwide Basemap software enables surveyors to create a basemap for any region of the world and upload it to their GPS receiver. Adding Worldwide basemaps does not erase the built-in basemap -- it enables surveyors to have map coverage for areas not covered by the built-in map. New basemaps can be loaded and saved via a PC to GPS cable from a PC to the unit.
Each basemap region, defined by the customer, contains the essential basic map features such as cities, highways, waterways, railroads, national boundaries and shorelines. Worldwide Basemap also includes basic topography contours, which can help surveyors stay oriented in their environment and find points-of-interest. In addition to the visual map presentation, the map features can be located using tabular search functions - on the GPS as well as in the PC application.
The system delivers productivity and efficiency not previously available to surveyors. With kinematic data collection 100 times faster than static GPS surveying systems, one-person operation and no line-of-sight requirement between points, it can have a dramatic impact on the profitability of any survey project.
Thales Navigation provides positioning, navigation, and guidance equipment.