No GPS inside! No problem
FC-X has location sorted - but is Die Hard a Christmas movie?
Back in the days long before Google and GPS, we all used to try to navigate our way using traditional maps or some sort of telepathic attempt at “sensing the right direction”. There were our parents, rolling out the AA paper route map across the bonnet of the car like FBI agents studying the internal blueprint floorplans of the Nakatomi Plaza (I maintain this IS a Christmas movie). Fortunately today we have access to our very location at the touch of a button – no more battle of wills as to who could decipher the best route to take.
The RF Surveyor, whilst doing a drive survey, will of course have their route recorded for them using GPS and also accurate GPS timing. All well and good. However, many RF surveys will require indoor surveys – think attribution of a handset etc.
What does this mean for the RF Surveyor?
No GPS?
Does that mean we are back to the AA maps?
Not quite, however we do need to be able to accurately record where we were indoors when we don’t have GPS. If we simply run a continuous survey then it will be incredibly difficult to account for the data and where we recorded this inside the property – "what room was I standing in at exactly at 3mins 15 secs into the survey?" We also need to consider how RF kit handles loss of GPS on a drive survey – think entering a tunnel or underground carpark. How does it source its time?
We have a solution - FC-X allows the RF Surveyor to set location “tags” for the indoor survey data. This means you can easily differentiate between indoor points in your survey. It will also handle intermittent loss of GPS on your drive survey and accurately set the time. We have also updated the GPS information being recorded to allow for an easier reading of the GPS precision. Because FC-X is based on a smartphone you will be able to take visual images of your internal location if required – for example, building floorplans etc.
Hopefully you’ll not get caught up in the Nakatomi Plaza though.
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