tomvassie Posted February 5, 2017 Report Share Posted February 5, 2017 Hello everyone, Hopefully I am creating this topic in the correct place. I am totally new to GPS and GIS, but (hopefully) a quick learner! Our family run business is a natural burial ground, the ground is currently mapped out by means of a map, created in CAD, from a scanned image, when in CAD, a grid was added to the areas, and then this was measured out on the land. (I can picture people reading this and shaking heads!) This has worked, and still works, but we want to get more accurate data, and be able to 'go to a certain point' by using GPS, and when at the point be able to have information about the point on our GPS unit. I have a Trimble Geo7X, capeable of 10cm accuracy which is absolutely fine for our needs, currently I need to post process the data to achieve this but when I have the 'mapping' done, we are going to look at RTK, Trimble VRS now or similar to achieve the same accuracy going back to points. I can operate the Geo, collect good data and process it, but that's where I stop. I would like to know the easiest way to take the data collected and turn it into a usable 'map' where I can add points to on the computer at home, and then import this back into the Geo, go back out to the field and be able to go to that point, and also be able to colllect data and update the same map? I hope that makes sense?? To me, it sounds like it should be quite simple, but actually doing it hasn't been! I have looked/tried QGIS, but got a little lost! If this is the way to go, I will revisit and try again. All suggestions and advice welcome, and thank you for reading my topic. Regards Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted February 6, 2017 Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 you go in right direction when you already make post proc on your GPS data (Trimble, RTK or any kind of GPS) the next step would be export it to any of GIS software personally for me, I use arcgis, but this will be applicable with all GIS Software, in your case, QGIS in your GPS post proc software, you can export those data (point data) to popular GIS format such as .shp this format will be easily open in QGIS or ArcGIS, here we come the GIS part, after you open the data id GIS software, you can start to add another data, like point, line (road or river) and polygon, or edit the existing data. GIS using layer stack to combine different data , just like in cad, so if you familiar with CAD then you will find this pretty familiar for you. after you satisfied you can export it back to GPS using plugin or internal function of the software, in my case I use ArcGIS, Garmin and MxGPS plugin. If you dont have a budget to get paid software, QGIS would be the best option for you there are tons of QGIS tutorial, in youtube or ebook, like this : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNCPalajQvg7wQvzf3fM8fOZ5lMKl86Q4 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=QGIS+gps good luck and happy learning, dont hesitate to share and ask question here, we happy to help you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomvassie Posted February 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2017 Thank you for this reply, It looks like I need to get my head around QGIS then, unfortunately I don't think we have the budget for ARCgis at the moment! I will have a go over the next couple of weeks and see how I get on. Thank you again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahmansunbeam Posted February 7, 2017 Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 QGIS should be fine. I would recommend two more software for you. You may want to learn some CAD functionalities in order to manage the reference points and engineering drawings. Try AutoCAD Map (free student version should suffice) or similar products for that. You may also like to bring up quick maps, use them for your business or share them online. Give Mapbox a try. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomvassie Posted February 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thanks again for your info. I have Autocad for Mac, but will look at the other software you have suggested. At the moment, I am stuck on coordinate reference systems.. I understand (basically) what they are for, and what they do, but as for what to use and where... I'm lost! The data I have collected was using British National Grid CRS I assume, I need to set Pathfinder Office the same, when I export .shp from PFO it should be the same? And should QGIS project be the same as well? This is where I gave up last time, it had me confused! And still does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 coordinate reference should be intact when you export or import it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabersan Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Before loading your data in QGIS, from the "Browser Panel" or directly with QGIS Browser, you can control the metadata and check the coordinate system of the layer. darksabersan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahmansunbeam Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Try this solution http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/76562/points-warped-when-exporting-to-shapefile-position-off-in-qgis-when-imported Edited February 8, 2017 by rahmansunbeam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazzle Posted February 8, 2017 Report Share Posted February 8, 2017 Hi Tomvassie If you plan to use QGis, then this may be helpful? https://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/209424229-QGIS-Setting-the-CRS-to-British-National-Grid- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomvassie Posted February 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2017 Thank you for all the suggestions! I have qgis set up as per the last link, I've georeferenced a scanned image of an OS map, and use the grid lines as ref points. if I then add google map image from openlayers plugin, it all lines up well but in the bottom right corner it says the CRS of the openlayers map with OTF (on the fly) next to it, is this correct? Because if I then select my OSmap layer, it stays the same? This isn't too much of a problem as I don't really want the google map, I was just checking my georeferencing. My other big problem I have is I wish to import my existing CAD map, this was originally created in TurboCad and has no geographical reference, other than it was created using a scanned map image and then that was drawn over on another layer. This map has a grid layer and I need to get this into qgis to be able to reference positions that are already on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazzle Posted February 9, 2017 Report Share Posted February 9, 2017 (edited) Hi Tomvassie You are not too far away from completing your task, see below Re "My other big problem I have is I wish to import my existing CAD map, this was originally created in TurboCad and has no geographical reference, other than it was created using a scanned map image and then that was drawn over on another layer. This map has a grid layer and I need to get this into qgis to be able to reference positions that are already on the ground." Check these links, it may be helpful?. You need to get some known coordinates (eastings and northings) from your cad map so you can match them as you step through the procedures. The links describe how one may go about getting a scanned map georeferenced using QGIS procedures, http://qgis.spatialthoughts.com/2012/02/tutorial-georeferencing-topo-sheets.html http://www.digital-geography.com/qgis-tutorial-i-how-to-georeference-a-map/ Edited February 9, 2017 by spazzle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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