Mapping drains

[quattro]

Is there anything you can get to walk or drive over the top of a new or existing drain to be able to map it and go back in the future to find it
Don't know if this right place to put this or explained very clearly!

 

[JimWilson]

Is there anything you can get to walk or drive over the top of a new or existing drain to be able to map it and go back in the future to find it
Don't know if this right place to put this or explained very clearly!

Lots of different options...
1. Guidance or autosteer system. For example an EZ guide 250 / 750 / FMX can map lines, points and polygons that can be downloaded and displayed on a map. Accuracy depends on the system, but a for example a CFX 750 on rangepoint would be half a meter approx. Got any neighbours with one?
2. Handheld GPS systems. These can usually map lines, but they tend to be much less accurate than the systems above, but perhaps easier to get over the drains. We have a survey grade ( RTK) handheld for measuring IACS areas and drains, which is ideal, but a 1 to 2 meter one isn't too bad. Again, the lines can be properly mapped out with dimensions etc on a plan or used to guide you back.
3. This is one of the things a survey grade UAV is genuinely useful for.. The images need to be properly georeferenced, orthorectified and mosaiced by someone who knows what they are doing but the crop is the best sensor of where drains are working, and where they are not.

 

[T C]

Connected farm scout app - Free app and loads into farmworks.
I always have my phone and rarely is it too wet to walk along one.

 

[quattro]

Thanks I will look into these options I have a 750 already for basic guidance but app on phone sounds handy to have.

 

[Brisel]

To get you back to the right spot you really need a good correction signal like RTK. Every thing else will drift, especially a smart phone with no correction signal (except 3G??)

 

[JimWilson]

Thanks I will look into these options I have a 750 already for basic guidance but app on phone sounds handy to have.

750 with rangepoint will be around 50cm static accuracy, so close enough I think. EGNOS @ 1 to 2 meters perhaps OK. Get you close enough to see the change in soil?

To get you back to the right spot you really need a good correction signal like RTK. Every thing else will drift, especially a smart phone with no correction signal (except 3G??)

RTK would be ideal. Phones are better than nothing, and can be surprisingly good. Sometimes.. ;-)

Jim

 

[Mean Green]

How would you map lines on a 750 then? Just keep creating new ab lines in the same field?

Matt

 

[JimWilson]

Matt,
On the main screen, halfway down the right is a "mapping" icon. In there you can record lines. These lines can be exported from the display as shape files and imported into other mapping software or saved for the future.

 

[Northern farmer]

I guess the 750 too can output NMEA data to a serial port. What about just saving the NMEA position data string on a file on a PC while driving on top of each drain? This would give a universal, easy to have safely stored and future proof data file, independent of the brand and device that might not be known at the time the information is needed.

 

[JimWilson]

I guess the 750 too can output NMEA data to a serial port. What about just saving the NMEA position data string on a file on a PC while driving on top of each drain? This would give a universal, easy to have safely stored and future proof data file, independent of the brand and device that might not be known at the time the information is needed.

Could do, but not many people would be happy set this up? You could also just write the co-ords down as well.
SHP files are the industry standard since the 90's, and I think they will continue to be the main open standard for decades yet. Lots of converters from shp to txt available as well.