GPS mapping comes of age; Global Positioning System (GPS) data collection technology has changed...

For many years, backpack-based systems such as the Trimble Pathfinder series, Ashtech Reliance and Leica GS-50 were the industry norm for meter-level GPS data collection. Differential GPS was accomplished via post-processing corrections or real-time via U.S. Coast Guard radio beacons or a subscription-service satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) such as Omnistar.

Such solutions meant either extra hardware (beacon/SBAS receiver, antenna) or software (post-processing). Data collectors typically were based on a DOS or DOS-like operating system. PC mapping/processing