I have a client that wants me to map his property which is about 350 acres. Not a big deal about the size. I’ve done twice that much without any issues.
My issue is that the elevation changes dramatically (1000 ft or so) going up and down a mountain. I have plotted everything out via DD and plan on using the “terrain feature”.
I am getting some feedback from other operators who are telling me that the terrain feature won’t work out in the boonies due to signal issues. Which is something I need to know for sure before I get out to the job site. Can anyone help me with some definite answers?
The attachment is from google maps and just shows you the elevation changes and the rough size of the mapping area.
Unfortunately this still hasn’t happened. Please chime on on this thread and I will follow you. This needs to happen. I can assure everyone that if there is more than 50ft variation in the site then TA will improve the quality of the maps.
Thank you for chiming in on this, Michael.
The location I’m having this issue with definitely has very spotty cell service on a good day. The size of the property, and the fact that I can’t physically get to some areas of the property makes this whole thing impossible. Having terrain awareness for properties like this, without the need for cell service, would give many of us a huge boost in sales and therefore make a lot more money for DD.
Hopefully, they can get this figured out somehow, and soon.
You could try to use a cell phone signal booster at the site. The booster uses a high gain external antenna which is easily 10X more sensitive for picking up the signal. If there is spotty cell phone service somewhere on site, this would make it much more reliable.
See link below for one example.
If you need more power to run the booster anywhere on site, I suggest looking at one of the Ecoflow products:
Fortunately we have very good service in Central Texas but we have had some projects where I need to put an antenna and/or Verizon booster on the outside of the trailer. I will also say don’t be intimidated by PPK. It is a little daunting up front but once you have the 3-4 steps that it takes and slight adjustments to compensate for dirty satellites you can complete 200 acres in about 15 minutes and you are guaranteed that the data is good. We fly with RTK but we collect the logs every time in case we see unacceptable values on the processing report. If we do we PPK it and reprocess.
Thank you, Terry! This may be exactly what I need.
I was able to find a cell tower close to where this job will be. I’m waiting on the client to confirm that it is still working. And now, thanks to you, I know that I can get a booster for my SUV that will give me a stronger signal. I can’t thank you enough.
