• precision coordinates

    From bad sector@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jun 23 09:39:55 2024
    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred
    readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a LOT
    of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there an
    fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? Any
    other ideas?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From knuttle@21:1/5 to bad sector on Sun Jun 23 10:18:27 2024
    On 06/23/2024 9:39 AM, bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a LOT
    of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there an
    fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? Any
    other ideas?

    I don't know about the android version, but on the PC version you can
    add pins to identify a specific location.

    On the PC version of Google Earth Pro, you can determine the longitude
    and latitude to six decimal places or get good numbers for location
    about 300 feet apart. This 300 feet was calculated by zooming Google
    Earth to its maximum and reading the coordinates of each location.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to knuttle on Sun Jun 23 10:46:17 2024
    On 6/23/24 10:18, knuttle wrote:
    On 06/23/2024 9:39 AM, bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred
    readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a
    LOT of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there
    an fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)?
    Any other ideas?

    I don't know about the  android version, but on the PC version you can
    add pins to identify a specific location.

    On the PC version of Google Earth Pro, you can determine the longitude
    and latitude to six decimal places or get good numbers for location
    about 300 feet apart.  This 300 feet was calculated by zooming Google
    Earth to its maximum and reading the coordinates of each location.

    About 1/3 of the trees are now just big enough to show on GE but the
    rest are not visible yet. It is to place THESE that I need the
    lat-longs. And I'm looking for about one foot of precision :-) which is
    not easy with the imagery resolution provided out here in the sticks. If
    I were living in the densely populated areas a six inch seedling would
    show but all I get is about a 1.5-2.0 foot circle to show.

    During a drinking marathon I once bet with the owner of a hotel I was
    staying at that I could measure the width of his hotel with a
    bubble-sextant to within a foot. So I took like a hundred readings on
    two corners, plotted them and marked the center of each 'blob'. Won the
    $200 bet which today would be like $2000. If I were a codepuncher I'd
    try to write an app that plots for maybe 30 minutes and then coughs up
    the centerpoint of the same sort of blob as the position.

    I'll be planting another hundred or so in the next three months so I'd
    like to refine my mapping. 220 of the trees are yellow-cedars not native
    here and many fans are watching to see how they will survive. I want to
    map them on GE and update the pictures from time to time.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to Andy Burns on Sun Jun 23 10:54:08 2024
    On 6/23/24 10:41, Andy Burns wrote:
    bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred
    readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a
    LOT of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there
    an fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)?
    Any other ideas?

    Surveying like that probably requires either differential GPS or
    real-time kinematics GPS.

    Imaging from a drone would cost less but I don't even wanna spend that
    much, the tree shoots cost around $10ea by the time I plant them and
    that's where the money is going.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Andy Burns@21:1/5 to bad sector on Sun Jun 23 15:41:18 2024
    bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a LOT
    of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there an
    fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? Any
    other ideas?

    Surveying like that probably requires either differential GPS or
    real-time kinematics GPS.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to bad sector on Sun Jun 23 15:34:49 2024
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 10:18, knuttle wrote:
    On 06/23/2024 9:39 AM, bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred
    readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a
    LOT of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there
    an fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)?
    Any other ideas?

    I don't know about the� android version, but on the PC version you can
    add pins to identify a specific location.

    On the PC version of Google Earth Pro, you can determine the longitude
    and latitude to six decimal places or get good numbers for location
    about 300 feet apart.� This 300 feet was calculated by zooming Google
    Earth to its maximum and reading the coordinates of each location.

    About 1/3 of the trees are now just big enough to show on GE but the
    rest are not visible yet. It is to place THESE that I need the
    lat-longs. And I'm looking for about one foot of precision :-) which is
    not easy with the imagery resolution provided out here in the sticks. If
    I were living in the densely populated areas a six inch seedling would
    show but all I get is about a 1.5-2.0 foot circle to show.

    During a drinking marathon I once bet with the owner of a hotel I was
    staying at that I could measure the width of his hotel with a
    bubble-sextant to within a foot. So I took like a hundred readings on
    two corners, plotted them and marked the center of each 'blob'. Won the
    $200 bet which today would be like $2000. If I were a codepuncher I'd
    try to write an app that plots for maybe 30 minutes and then coughs up
    the centerpoint of the same sort of blob as the position.

    I'll be planting another hundred or so in the next three months so I'd
    like to refine my mapping. 220 of the trees are yellow-cedars not native
    here and many fans are watching to see how they will survive. I want to
    map them on GE and update the pictures from time to time.

    I would think GPS would work to record the locations of the trees.
    While different GPS receivers have varying levels of accuracy, even your phone's GPS radio should suffice. After all, the trees have to be
    planted far enough apart to account for their canopies.

    https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/crecifasufledu/extension/plant-pathology-/greening/pdf/GPSAccuracyforTreeScouting.pdf
    https://fruitgrowersnews.com/article/precise-gps-systems-increase-planting-efficiency/

    Since you are at site when planting the trees, use GPS to record where
    you planted. Then use the GPS coordinates, or convert to long-lat, to
    position in a map.

    GPS radios in smart phones are accurate to within 3 to 5 meters (1o to
    16 feet). Don't know far apart you are planting the seedling to account
    for their canopy sizes later in life. If a smart phone's GPS isn't
    accurate enough, you can buy GPS receivers that are more accurate.

    I figure if a hand-held GPS navigator is good for recording trails that
    it is probably sufficient to record tree locations.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Chris on Sun Jun 23 17:46:29 2024
    Chris <[email protected]> wrote:

    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred
    readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a LOT
    of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there an
    fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? Any
    other ideas?

    What three words?
    https://what3words.com/

    Trees have postal addresses?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Andy Burns on Sun Jun 23 19:18:25 2024
    Andy Burns <[email protected]> wrote:

    bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred
    readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a LOT
    of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there an
    fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? Any
    other ideas?

    Surveying like that probably requires either differential GPS or
    real-time kinematics GPS.

    DGPS stations don't provide 100% coverage of the USA. See:

    https://gssc.esa.int/navipedia/index.php/Differential_GPS

    The light blue is single station coverage. Dark blue is overlapping
    coverage. There are still some uncovered areas. Coverage also requires line-of-site, so if you're in a tree dense valley you might not be able
    to get the DPGS signal. DPGS stations are land based.

    GPS III satellites eliminate the need for DPGS. They are 3 times more accurate. Instead of an average accuracy of 5 to 10 meters, they have a
    range of 1 to 3 meters. I don't know if smart phone makers can access
    the GPS III satellites, though. Might be accessible only by gov't or
    military agencies, so you'd have to resort to the land-based DGPS
    stations if reachable.

    https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/gps.html

    As for the OP's request to add coordinates to [online] maps, well, how
    old are the maps? A pic of an area could be 3 years old, so what others
    would see with the given coordinates could be before the trees were
    planted, or when they were still seedlings and not visible on the map.
    I've seen aerial maps that were lacking the buildings that I knew were
    there. With Google Earth, you can zoom in to see the capture date in
    the status bar, or use the "Historical Imagery" feature to see the date
    stamp.

    The GE pic of my house is dated 5/23/2023, or just over a year ago.
    Still shows the massive oak in the backyard that was cut down a month
    ago, and the zoomed-in image looks like a blocky cartoon. No way it'll
    show seedlings or saplings. Insufficient detail. I can see the
    handicap ramp at the front of the house, but no one else would know what
    that elongated blob represented.

    I haven't played with Google Maps/Earth to know if you can request
    access to higher detailed satellite images to see something like
    saplings, or make out the brand and model of car on the street. It's
    not like what you see in the movies where a spy satellite focuses down
    to a pack of cigarettes.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Andy Burns@21:1/5 to Chris on Mon Jun 24 08:00:34 2024
    Chris wrote:

    VanguardLH wrote:

    Chris wrote:

    https://what3words.com/

    Trees have postal addresses?

    It's not a postal address. It's a global grid of unique, human
    interpretable, coordinates.

    It has its issues, but as long as the trees are about 3m or more apart it could work well for the OP's needs.

    ... if the O/P already knew the GPS co-ordinates of each tree.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Mon Jun 24 06:51:30 2024
    On 6/23/24 16:34, VanguardLH wrote:
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 10:18, knuttle wrote:
    On 06/23/2024 9:39 AM, bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred >>>> readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a
    LOT of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there >>>> an fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? >>>> Any other ideas?

    I don't know about the  android version, but on the PC version you can
    add pins to identify a specific location.

    On the PC version of Google Earth Pro, you can determine the longitude
    and latitude to six decimal places or get good numbers for location
    about 300 feet apart.  This 300 feet was calculated by zooming Google
    Earth to its maximum and reading the coordinates of each location.

    About 1/3 of the trees are now just big enough to show on GE but the
    rest are not visible yet. It is to place THESE that I need the
    lat-longs. And I'm looking for about one foot of precision :-) which is
    not easy with the imagery resolution provided out here in the sticks. If
    I were living in the densely populated areas a six inch seedling would
    show but all I get is about a 1.5-2.0 foot circle to show.

    During a drinking marathon I once bet with the owner of a hotel I was
    staying at that I could measure the width of his hotel with a
    bubble-sextant to within a foot. So I took like a hundred readings on
    two corners, plotted them and marked the center of each 'blob'. Won the
    $200 bet which today would be like $2000. If I were a codepuncher I'd
    try to write an app that plots for maybe 30 minutes and then coughs up
    the centerpoint of the same sort of blob as the position.

    I'll be planting another hundred or so in the next three months so I'd
    like to refine my mapping. 220 of the trees are yellow-cedars not native
    here and many fans are watching to see how they will survive. I want to
    map them on GE and update the pictures from time to time.

    I would think GPS would work to record the locations of the trees.
    While different GPS receivers have varying levels of accuracy, even your phone's GPS radio should suffice. After all, the trees have to be
    planted far enough apart to account for their canopies.

    https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/crecifasufledu/extension/plant-pathology-/greening/pdf/GPSAccuracyforTreeScouting.pdf
    https://fruitgrowersnews.com/article/precise-gps-systems-increase-planting-efficiency/

    Since you are at site when planting the trees, use GPS to record where
    you planted. Then use the GPS coordinates, or convert to long-lat, to position in a map.

    GPS radios in smart phones are accurate to within 3 to 5 meters (1o to
    16 feet). Don't know far apart you are planting the seedling to account
    for their canopy sizes later in life. If a smart phone's GPS isn't
    accurate enough, you can buy GPS receivers that are more accurate.

    I figure if a hand-held GPS navigator is good for recording trails that
    it is probably sufficient to record tree locations.

    thanks for the time to respond

    I once bought a garmin gps camera attachment for my slr camera but it
    too was wishy washy; never even tried composing blobs with it. With 900
    trees (and growing) the only 'involvement' I have time for is putting
    the smart-phone down and leaving it there to collect its wanderings over
    maybe fifteen minutes or less. The trees are at different distances but
    what I want is 1-foot accuracy not so much because it's indispensible
    but because I'm a sucker for at least a semblance of reality.
    Google-Earth placemarks is one tool I use giving the trees icons
    representing the tree species. Ideally I'd like to attach an actual
    photo of the tree to appear in a popup on click or something along those
    lines and all of it uploaded instead of locally stored.

    Not sure if math averaging would give the same result as hitting the
    center of plotted coordinates but with the processing utility in a phone
    an APP could ideally produce the ultimately VERY accurate result ...just
    like I once did with a bubble sextant meant to produce plots in terms of
    miles at the center of triangles of probabilty. That stunt took half an
    hour per reading and I did maybe fifty on each of two corners, I forget
    the actual number, it was a royal pissing contest :-)



    --
    "Only in pursuit of impossible perfection can we achieve excellence"
    ..many sources, I heard something like this from Greg Wooldridge, the
    only 3-times lead pilot of the Blue Angels.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Mon Jun 24 07:15:08 2024
    On 6/23/24 16:34, VanguardLH wrote:

    https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/crecifasufledu/extension/plant-pathology-/greening/pdf/GPSAccuracyforTreeScouting.pdf
    https://fruitgrowersnews.com/article/precise-gps-systems-increase-planting-efficiency/


    Forgot to include: I'm only too aware of very accurate and even more
    than very expensive gps toys, my surveyor uses them and has to charge
    $1000 per marker to pay for them :-)))

    My efforts are DIY and on a zero extra-cost basis, any savings got to
    buy shoots (plugs).

    -------
    In 10,000 years we have consumed 3/4 of the trees since coming out of
    the last ice age, going from some 30 trillion huge trees to 15 trillion toothpicks good only to cut 2x4's! This gives some sense of the dioxide absorbing greenery and capacity-destruction but if we look for the
    actual amount of wood and branches then we find 4 and 6 inch trunks
    where 4 FOOTERS once were! I suspect that in terms of board-feet or
    foliage we have destroyed over 80%. No need to look at Brazil for
    examples of the devastation, see here

    https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47679859072_c59d2aef84_z.jpg

    https://mashable-evaporation-wordpress.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/12/lumber-10.jpg

    http://www.ancientforest.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/I00279241-451x600.jpg

    http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-574/Saving_the_American_White_Pine.html

    for an idea of what north american forests were like before our race of
    locusts robbed it from the care of first-nations. Harvesting on public
    (crown i.e. people's) land should require a % of very large trunk sizes harvested, thus effectively limiting the cut when those have been over-rarified. In addition every human being should be charged with the planting of 1 tree per month throughout his or her life (say 1000 trees
    per person), such being the TRUE SCOPE of what we have allowed
    bean-counters and money-changers to do to our spaceship home.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to Chris on Mon Jun 24 07:02:28 2024
    On 6/24/24 02:53, Chris wrote:
    VanguardLH <[email protected]> wrote:
    Chris <[email protected]> wrote:

    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred >>>> readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a LOT >>>> of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there an
    fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? Any >>>> other ideas?

    What three words?
    https://what3words.com/

    Trees have postal addresses?

    It's not a postal address. It's a global grid of unique, human
    interpretable, coordinates.

    It has its issues, but as long as the trees are about 3m or more apart it could work well for the OP's needs.


    Thanks for the ref. but GE also gives me the additional base imagery as
    the underlay

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to bad sector on Mon Jun 24 12:27:26 2024
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 16:34, VanguardLH wrote:
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 10:18, knuttle wrote:
    On 06/23/2024 9:39 AM, bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred >>>>> readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a >>>>> LOT of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there >>>>> an fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? >>>>> Any other ideas?

    I don't know about the� android version, but on the PC version you can >>>> add pins to identify a specific location.

    On the PC version of Google Earth Pro, you can determine the longitude >>>> and latitude to six decimal places or get good numbers for location
    about 300 feet apart.� This 300 feet was calculated by zooming Google
    Earth to its maximum and reading the coordinates of each location.

    About 1/3 of the trees are now just big enough to show on GE but the
    rest are not visible yet. It is to place THESE that I need the
    lat-longs. And I'm looking for about one foot of precision :-) which is
    not easy with the imagery resolution provided out here in the sticks. If >>> I were living in the densely populated areas a six inch seedling would
    show but all I get is about a 1.5-2.0 foot circle to show.

    During a drinking marathon I once bet with the owner of a hotel I was
    staying at that I could measure the width of his hotel with a
    bubble-sextant to within a foot. So I took like a hundred readings on
    two corners, plotted them and marked the center of each 'blob'. Won the
    $200 bet which today would be like $2000. If I were a codepuncher I'd
    try to write an app that plots for maybe 30 minutes and then coughs up
    the centerpoint of the same sort of blob as the position.

    I'll be planting another hundred or so in the next three months so I'd
    like to refine my mapping. 220 of the trees are yellow-cedars not native >>> here and many fans are watching to see how they will survive. I want to
    map them on GE and update the pictures from time to time.

    I would think GPS would work to record the locations of the trees.
    While different GPS receivers have varying levels of accuracy, even your
    phone's GPS radio should suffice. After all, the trees have to be
    planted far enough apart to account for their canopies.

    https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/crecifasufledu/extension/plant-pathology-/greening/pdf/GPSAccuracyforTreeScouting.pdf
    https://fruitgrowersnews.com/article/precise-gps-systems-increase-planting-efficiency/

    Since you are at site when planting the trees, use GPS to record where
    you planted. Then use the GPS coordinates, or convert to long-lat, to
    position in a map.

    GPS radios in smart phones are accurate to within 3 to 5 meters (1o to
    16 feet). Don't know far apart you are planting the seedling to account
    for their canopy sizes later in life. If a smart phone's GPS isn't
    accurate enough, you can buy GPS receivers that are more accurate.

    I figure if a hand-held GPS navigator is good for recording trails that
    it is probably sufficient to record tree locations.

    thanks for the time to respond

    I once bought a garmin gps camera attachment for my slr camera but it
    too was wishy washy; never even tried composing blobs with it. With 900
    trees (and growing) the only 'involvement' I have time for is putting
    the smart-phone down and leaving it there to collect its wanderings over maybe fifteen minutes or less. The trees are at different distances but
    what I want is 1-foot accuracy not so much because it's indispensible
    but because I'm a sucker for at least a semblance of reality.
    Google-Earth placemarks is one tool I use giving the trees icons
    representing the tree species. Ideally I'd like to attach an actual
    photo of the tree to appear in a popup on click or something along those lines and all of it uploaded instead of locally stored.

    Not sure if math averaging would give the same result as hitting the
    center of plotted coordinates but with the processing utility in a phone
    an APP could ideally produce the ultimately VERY accurate result ...just
    like I once did with a bubble sextant meant to produce plots in terms of miles at the center of triangles of probabilty. That stunt took half an
    hour per reading and I did maybe fifty on each of two corners, I forget
    the actual number, it was a royal pissing contest :-)

    I think averaging would only work well if you managed to get the GPS
    device connected to different GPS satellites within reach. Then repeat
    by using another different set of 3 GPS satellites. I would think
    reusing the same 3 GPS satellites to get multiple readings from them
    would result in the same offset (inaccuracy) in each reading. However,
    maybe walking around in a circle around the focus point to take multiple readings might work to average the multiple readings from the same set
    of 3 satellites.

    Someone here mentioned DGPS (differential GPS) which uses ground-based positioning stations. Those have a 200-mile range if there are no
    blocks to the signal (mountains, trees, buildings). Never got around to
    using those, so no experience with them. Don't remember seeing a smart
    phone stating it can use DGPS, so you'll likely have to find a GPS
    receiver that can find DGPS stations.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Andy Burns@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Mon Jun 24 18:32:58 2024
    VanguardLH wrote:

    Don't remember seeing a smart
    phone stating it can use DGPS, so you'll likely have to find a GPS
    receiver that can find DGPS stations.

    Build your own RTK GPS
    <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc1LBFDj2MA>

    (yes, I know the O/P wants to spend on trees, not tech toys).

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Andy Burns on Mon Jun 24 17:39:51 2024
    Andy Burns <[email protected]> wrote:

    VanguardLH wrote:

    Don't remember seeing a smart
    phone stating it can use DGPS, so you'll likely have to find a GPS
    receiver that can find DGPS stations.

    Build your own RTK GPS
    <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc1LBFDj2MA>

    (yes, I know the O/P wants to spend on trees, not tech toys).

    The video author mention RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) positioning which
    sounds very much like DGPS (Differential GPS) where land-based stations
    knowing their exact position relay that to the roving GPS receiver to
    add to the positioning it gets from the satellites.

    The author said the range of the RTK land station is 20 km (12 miles).
    I thought it was 200 miles for DPGS, but then that couldn't get around
    the Earth's curvature.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From =?UTF-8?B?YmFk8J+SvXNlY3Rvcg==?=@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Tue Jun 25 19:59:15 2024
    On 6/24/24 13:27, VanguardLH wrote:
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 16:34, VanguardLH wrote:
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 10:18, knuttle wrote:
    On 06/23/2024 9:39 AM, bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a hundred >>>>>> readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a >>>>>> LOT of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is there >>>>>> an fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in signupware)? >>>>>> Any other ideas?

    I don't know about the  android version, but on the PC version you can >>>>> add pins to identify a specific location.

    On the PC version of Google Earth Pro, you can determine the longitude >>>>> and latitude to six decimal places or get good numbers for location
    about 300 feet apart.  This 300 feet was calculated by zooming Google >>>>> Earth to its maximum and reading the coordinates of each location.

    About 1/3 of the trees are now just big enough to show on GE but the
    rest are not visible yet. It is to place THESE that I need the
    lat-longs. And I'm looking for about one foot of precision :-) which is >>>> not easy with the imagery resolution provided out here in the sticks. If >>>> I were living in the densely populated areas a six inch seedling would >>>> show but all I get is about a 1.5-2.0 foot circle to show.

    During a drinking marathon I once bet with the owner of a hotel I was
    staying at that I could measure the width of his hotel with a
    bubble-sextant to within a foot. So I took like a hundred readings on
    two corners, plotted them and marked the center of each 'blob'. Won the >>>> $200 bet which today would be like $2000. If I were a codepuncher I'd
    try to write an app that plots for maybe 30 minutes and then coughs up >>>> the centerpoint of the same sort of blob as the position.

    I'll be planting another hundred or so in the next three months so I'd >>>> like to refine my mapping. 220 of the trees are yellow-cedars not native >>>> here and many fans are watching to see how they will survive. I want to >>>> map them on GE and update the pictures from time to time.

    I would think GPS would work to record the locations of the trees.
    While different GPS receivers have varying levels of accuracy, even your >>> phone's GPS radio should suffice. After all, the trees have to be
    planted far enough apart to account for their canopies.

    https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/crecifasufledu/extension/plant-pathology-/greening/pdf/GPSAccuracyforTreeScouting.pdf
    https://fruitgrowersnews.com/article/precise-gps-systems-increase-planting-efficiency/

    Since you are at site when planting the trees, use GPS to record where
    you planted. Then use the GPS coordinates, or convert to long-lat, to
    position in a map.

    GPS radios in smart phones are accurate to within 3 to 5 meters (1o to
    16 feet). Don't know far apart you are planting the seedling to account >>> for their canopy sizes later in life. If a smart phone's GPS isn't
    accurate enough, you can buy GPS receivers that are more accurate.

    I figure if a hand-held GPS navigator is good for recording trails that
    it is probably sufficient to record tree locations.

    thanks for the time to respond

    I once bought a garmin gps camera attachment for my slr camera but it
    too was wishy washy; never even tried composing blobs with it. With 900
    trees (and growing) the only 'involvement' I have time for is putting
    the smart-phone down and leaving it there to collect its wanderings over
    maybe fifteen minutes or less. The trees are at different distances but
    what I want is 1-foot accuracy not so much because it's indispensible
    but because I'm a sucker for at least a semblance of reality.
    Google-Earth placemarks is one tool I use giving the trees icons
    representing the tree species. Ideally I'd like to attach an actual
    photo of the tree to appear in a popup on click or something along those
    lines and all of it uploaded instead of locally stored.

    Not sure if math averaging would give the same result as hitting the
    center of plotted coordinates but with the processing utility in a phone
    an APP could ideally produce the ultimately VERY accurate result ...just
    like I once did with a bubble sextant meant to produce plots in terms of
    miles at the center of triangles of probabilty. That stunt took half an
    hour per reading and I did maybe fifty on each of two corners, I forget
    the actual number, it was a royal pissing contest :-)

    I think averaging would only work well if you managed to get the GPS
    device connected to different GPS satellites within reach. Then repeat
    by using another different set of 3 GPS satellites. I would think
    reusing the same 3 GPS satellites to get multiple readings from them
    would result in the same offset (inaccuracy) in each reading. However,
    maybe walking around in a circle around the focus point to take multiple readings might work to average the multiple readings from the same set
    of 3 satellites.

    Someone here mentioned DGPS (differential GPS) which uses ground-based positioning stations. Those have a 200-mile range if there are no
    blocks to the signal (mountains, trees, buildings). Never got around to using those, so no experience with them. Don't remember seeing a smart
    phone stating it can use DGPS, so you'll likely have to find a GPS
    receiver that can find DGPS stations.

    I launch the F-Droid app *GPSTest* which tunes in a long list of satellites.

    https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.android.gpstest.osmdroid/


    I have no idea how it arrives at the annunciated Lat-Long but it's
    changing continuously and what I have in mind is an automated way of
    virtually plotting these positions over a few minutes and picking the plot-centerpoint as THE position. I haven't tried any of the math yet to
    get a feel for those 7 decimal readouts and what they mean in terms of
    feet but I figure that there must be some added precision to squeeze out
    of THEM as opposed to just any ONE of them.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From =?UTF-8?B?YmFk8J+SvXNlY3Rvcg==?=@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jun 25 21:33:06 2024
    On 6/25/24 19:59, bad💽sector wrote:
    On 6/24/24 13:27, VanguardLH wrote:
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 16:34, VanguardLH wrote:
    bad sector <forgetski@_INVALID.net> wrote:

    On 6/23/24 10:18, knuttle wrote:
    On 06/23/2024 9:39 AM, bad sector wrote:

    How would I map with precision about 900 planted trees on
    google-earth-pro? As a manual method I would think of taking a
    hundred
    readings on each with my phone and averaging them out, but that is a >>>>>>> LOT of work (did it once with a bubble-sextant to win a bet). Is >>>>>>> there
    an fdroid app to do this sort of thing (not interested in
    signupware)?
    Any other ideas?

    I don't know about the  android version, but on the PC version you >>>>>> can
    add pins to identify a specific location.

    On the PC version of Google Earth Pro, you can determine the
    longitude
    and latitude to six decimal places or get good numbers for location >>>>>> about 300 feet apart.  This 300 feet was calculated by zooming Google >>>>>> Earth to its maximum and reading the coordinates of each location.

    About 1/3 of the trees are now just big enough to show on GE but the >>>>> rest are not visible yet. It is to place THESE that I need the
    lat-longs. And I'm looking for about one foot of precision :-)
    which is
    not easy with the imagery resolution provided out here in the
    sticks. If
    I were living in the densely populated areas a six inch seedling would >>>>> show but all I get is about a 1.5-2.0 foot circle to show.

    During a drinking marathon I once bet with the owner of a hotel I was >>>>> staying at that I could measure the width of his hotel with a
    bubble-sextant to within a foot. So I took like a hundred readings on >>>>> two corners, plotted them and marked the center of each 'blob'. Won
    the
    $200 bet which today would be like $2000. If I were a codepuncher I'd >>>>> try to write an app that plots for maybe 30 minutes and then coughs up >>>>> the centerpoint of the same sort of blob as the position.

    I'll be planting another hundred or so in the next three months so I'd >>>>> like to refine my mapping. 220 of the trees are yellow-cedars not
    native
    here and many fans are watching to see how they will survive. I
    want to
    map them on GE and update the pictures from time to time.

    I would think GPS would work to record the locations of the trees.
    While different GPS receivers have varying levels of accuracy, even
    your
    phone's GPS radio should suffice.  After all, the trees have to be
    planted far enough apart to account for their canopies.

    https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/crecifasufledu/extension/plant-pathology-/greening/pdf/GPSAccuracyforTreeScouting.pdf
    https://fruitgrowersnews.com/article/precise-gps-systems-increase-planting-efficiency/

    Since you are at site when planting the trees, use GPS to record where >>>> you planted.  Then use the GPS coordinates, or convert to long-lat, to >>>> position in a map.

    GPS radios in smart phones are accurate to within 3 to 5 meters (1o to >>>> 16 feet).  Don't know far apart you are planting the seedling to
    account
    for their canopy sizes later in life.  If a smart phone's GPS isn't
    accurate enough, you can buy GPS receivers that are more accurate.

    I figure if a hand-held GPS navigator is good for recording trails that >>>> it is probably sufficient to record tree locations.

    thanks for the time to respond

    I once bought a garmin gps camera attachment for my slr camera but it
    too was wishy washy; never even tried composing blobs with it. With 900
    trees (and growing) the only 'involvement' I have time for is putting
    the smart-phone down and leaving it there to collect its wanderings over >>> maybe fifteen minutes or less. The trees are at different distances but
    what I want is 1-foot accuracy not so much because it's indispensible
    but because I'm a sucker for at least a semblance of reality.
    Google-Earth placemarks is one tool I use giving the trees icons
    representing the tree species. Ideally I'd like to attach an actual
    photo of the tree to appear in a popup on click or something along those >>> lines and all of it uploaded instead of locally stored.

    Not sure if math averaging would give the same result as hitting the
    center of plotted coordinates but with the processing utility in a phone >>> an APP could ideally produce the ultimately VERY accurate result ...just >>> like I once did with a bubble sextant meant to produce plots in terms of >>> miles at the center of triangles of probabilty. That stunt took half an
    hour per reading and I did maybe fifty on each of two corners, I forget
    the actual number, it was a royal pissing contest :-)

    I think averaging would only work well if you managed to get the GPS
    device connected to different GPS satellites within reach.  Then repeat
    by using another different set of 3 GPS satellites.  I would think
    reusing the same 3 GPS satellites to get multiple readings from them
    would result in the same offset (inaccuracy) in each reading.  However,
    maybe walking around in a circle around the focus point to take multiple
    readings might work to average the multiple readings from the same set
    of 3 satellites.

    Someone here mentioned DGPS (differential GPS) which uses ground-based
    positioning stations.  Those have a 200-mile range if there are no
    blocks to the signal (mountains, trees, buildings).  Never got around to
    using those, so no experience with them.  Don't remember seeing a smart
    phone stating it can use DGPS, so you'll likely have to find a GPS
    receiver that can find DGPS stations.

    I launch the F-Droid app *GPSTest* which tunes in a long list of
    satellites.

    https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.android.gpstest.osmdroid/


    I have no idea how it arrives at the annunciated Lat-Long but it's
    changing continuously and what I have in mind is an automated way of virtually plotting these positions over a few minutes and picking the plot-centerpoint as THE position. I haven't tried any of the math yet to
    get a feel for those 7 decimal readouts and what they mean in terms of
    feet but I figure that there must be some added precision to squeeze out
    of THEM as opposed to just any ONE of them.


    Not to confuse precision with accuracy, the 6th decimal Lat is good for
    10cm precision and the 7th for 1cm (both the the 6th and 7th are
    wondering up to 3 units so that 3 on the 6th counter is a variation of
    30cm or about a good foot). *Accuracy* could come from averaging out the time-lapse plot maybe. The good news is that I'm no GPS guru and as far
    as smart-phones go I haven't even come up for air yet.

    And out of courtesy to those trying to help out here's a screenshot of
    what I'm trying to do (in this case using GE 'placemarks').

    https://imgur.com/7VQlUul.png

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Andy Burns@21:1/5 to bad sector on Wed Jun 26 06:41:24 2024
    bad sector wrote:

    I launch the F-Droid app GPSTest which tunes in a long list of satellites.

    I tried the GPSaverage app, it's very basic, plots a position on a
    circular grid every second, you might expect a perfect Gaussian cloud
    where the centre was the average, but it gives linear streaks which are probably due to the flyover paths of the satellites?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to Andy Burns on Wed Jun 26 06:49:35 2024
    On 6/26/24 01:41, Andy Burns wrote:
    bad sector wrote:

    I launch the F-Droid app GPSTest which tunes in a long list of
    satellites.

    I tried the GPSaverage app, it's very basic, plots a position on a
    circular grid every second, you might expect a perfect Gaussian cloud
    where the centre was the average, but it gives linear streaks which are probably due to the flyover paths of the satellites?


    That looks like exactly what I had in mind, thanks. Would be nice if the
    method could be incorporated as an optional 'surveying' feature into all
    gps readings, especially fdroids which I try to stick to.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to Andy Burns on Wed Jun 26 11:10:12 2024
    On 6/26/24 01:41, Andy Burns wrote:
    bad sector wrote:

    I launch the F-Droid app GPSTest which tunes in a long list of
    satellites.

    I tried the GPSaverage app, it's very basic, plots a position on a
    circular grid every second, you might expect a perfect Gaussian cloud
    where the centre was the average, but it gives linear streaks which are probably due to the flyover paths of the satellites?


    I'll get my wife to install GPSaverage on her iPhone, meanwhile I did
    some tests manually at two known surveyor pins by putting the phone down
    for 3-4 minutes at each and noted starting/ending readings (which showed
    steady unidirectional drifting). The two readings drifted south at both
    pins by 1.0-1.5 meters but all readings remained 3-4 meters in error
    overall throughout. I've noticed that surveyors leave some equipment out overnight or waiting for specific time windows. Maybe a much longer
    exposure interval is required.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Andy Burns@21:1/5 to bad sector on Wed Jun 26 20:40:08 2024
    bad sector wrote:

    I'll get my wife to install GPSaverage on her iPhone

    I used it on Android, is it available on Apple too?

    meanwhile I did
    some tests manually at two known surveyor pins by putting the phone down
    for 3-4 minutes at each and noted starting/ending readings (which showed steady unidirectional drifting).

    Actually yes, I've got a few survey nails around my plot which I could
    test out.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From bad sector@21:1/5 to Andy Burns on Wed Jun 26 16:15:40 2024
    On 6/26/24 15:40, Andy Burns wrote:
    bad sector wrote:

    I'll get my wife to install GPSaverage on her iPhone

    I used it on Android, is it available on Apple too?

    https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gps-averaging/id841885774

    the problem is that when 'husband' suggests it, it ain't gonna happen
    for two years!

    meanwhile I did some tests manually at two known surveyor pins by
    putting the phone down for 3-4 minutes at each and noted
    starting/ending readings (which showed steady unidirectional drifting).

    Actually yes, I've got a few survey nails around my plot which I could
    test out.

    I had put 4 2-foot cement tiles around the pins and painted them white.
    They show up very nicely on GE but I have no way of knowing their real positions. The pucking surveyor charged me 6 grand to put down 7 pins
    but when I asked him if he'd give me the coordinates he said "oh, we
    don't do that". The placemarkers with the readouts put the LatLongs with
    quite an offset.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)