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GPS Road mapping car?

D

David L. Jones

This morning I saw a car come down our street, turn around and head
back out.
Nothing usual there, except that this car (a small Civic type thing I
guess) had an unusual custom roof-rack with what was clearly a large
commercial GPS antenna on it's roof in the center towards the rear,
along with a 1m high center pole with what looked like a flashing
strobe light case on top (it wasn't flashing). It could very well have
been a secondary GPS antenna though, I didn't get that good a look.

Now my street is a very private cul-de-sac with a hidden entrance, and
no one ever comes down there by accident, so this car was there on a
mission - a GPS road mapping service perhaps?
My street has already been mapped though, and has been for a long
time.

Anyone seen something similar?
Any other ideas as to it's purpose?

It certainly wasn't the Google van.

Dave.
 
D

Den

David L. Jones said:
This morning I saw a car come down our street, turn around and head
back out.
Nothing usual there, except that this car (a small Civic type thing I
guess) had an unusual custom roof-rack with what was clearly a large
commercial GPS antenna on it's roof in the center towards the rear,
along with a 1m high center pole with what looked like a flashing
strobe light case on top (it wasn't flashing). It could very well have
been a secondary GPS antenna though, I didn't get that good a look.

Now my street is a very private cul-de-sac with a hidden entrance, and
no one ever comes down there by accident, so this car was there on a
mission - a GPS road mapping service perhaps?
My street has already been mapped though, and has been for a long
time.

Anyone seen something similar?
Any other ideas as to it's purpose?

It certainly wasn't the Google van.

Dave.
Click to expand...

years ago (& probably now) Telecom now Telstra had vehicles survey mobile
network signal strength / quality in new areas and in areas where problems
were reported or being fixed. Maybe it was something like that. I guess
other network providers do similar these days.
 
T

terryc

Any other ideas as to it's purpose?
Click to expand...

1) Basically, to get a map of te road networkin this country costs a
motza, not to mention an accurrate one, so if you run a fleet of vehicles,
fitting them with something to gps track where they have been allows you
to graduallybuiild up your own map for your purposes and for resale.

It would just occassionally require a vehicle to drive down
uncommonly travelled streets to add them to the map.

2) As already sugested, telephone, wireless or satellite coverage testing.



....piles of other TFB and similar ideas....
 
B

bassett

David L. Jones said:
This morning I saw a car come down our street, turn around and head
back out.
Nothing usual there, except that this car (a small Civic type thing I
guess) had an unusual custom roof-rack with what was clearly a large
commercial GPS antenna on it's roof in the center towards the rear,
along with a 1m high center pole with what looked like a flashing
strobe light case on top (it wasn't flashing). It could very well have
been a secondary GPS antenna though, I didn't get that good a look.

Now my street is a very private cul-de-sac with a hidden entrance, and
no one ever comes down there by accident, so this car was there on a
mission - a GPS road mapping service perhaps?
My street has already been mapped though, and has been for a long
time.

Anyone seen something similar?
Any other ideas as to it's purpose?

It certainly wasn't the Google van.

Dave.
Click to expand...

Now the conspiracy theories start. Was it or wasn't it, did it, or didn't
it. Blah,blah,blah
 
D

Davo

David said:
This morning I saw a car come down our street, turn around and head
back out.
Nothing usual there, except that this car (a small Civic type thing I
guess) had an unusual custom roof-rack with what was clearly a large
commercial GPS antenna on it's roof in the center towards the rear,
along with a 1m high center pole with what looked like a flashing
strobe light case on top (it wasn't flashing). It could very well have
been a secondary GPS antenna though, I didn't get that good a look.

Now my street is a very private cul-de-sac with a hidden entrance, and
no one ever comes down there by accident, so this car was there on a
mission - a GPS road mapping service perhaps?
My street has already been mapped though, and has been for a long
time.

Anyone seen something similar?
Any other ideas as to it's purpose?

It certainly wasn't the Google van.

Dave.
Click to expand...

You're probably under surveillance by the FBI.
Were they wearing dark suits?
 
D

David L. Jones

You're probably under surveillance by the FBI.
Were they wearing dark suits?
Click to expand...

I don't recall, all I remember was this red flash... :->

Dave.
 
T

terryc

2) As already sugested, telephone, wireless or satellite coverage testing.
Click to expand...

3) Mobile, differential GPS base station. The GPS antenna records the
signal, averages it and rebroadcasts a differential signal to someome
wanting a more accurate position at their gps device.
 
D

Don McKenzie

T

The Real Andy

This morning I saw a car come down our street, turn around and head
back out.
Nothing usual there, except that this car (a small Civic type thing I
guess) had an unusual custom roof-rack with what was clearly a large
commercial GPS antenna on it's roof in the center towards the rear,
along with a 1m high center pole with what looked like a flashing
strobe light case on top (it wasn't flashing). It could very well have
been a secondary GPS antenna though, I didn't get that good a look.

Now my street is a very private cul-de-sac with a hidden entrance, and
no one ever comes down there by accident, so this car was there on a
mission - a GPS road mapping service perhaps?
My street has already been mapped though, and has been for a long
time.

Anyone seen something similar?
Any other ideas as to it's purpose?

It certainly wasn't the Google van.

Dave.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a google street view car to me.
 
D

David L. Jones

Sounds like a google street view car to me.
Click to expand...

Actually, on second thought you might be right.
The 1m high pole on top with a small enclosure might just be it. I
just wish I'd got a better look at what was on the top of the pole
rather than staring at the GPS antenna on the roof.

This is the mob that makes the street view cam:
http://www.immersivemedia.com

Here is the US car:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/31/check-out-the-immersive-media-street-scanning-car/
and
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4232286.html

The pole on top of the car I saw was taller than that one in the
photo, and it wasn't a tripod like bottom.

My street was conveniently missed out on in the major street view
mapping just released, as were many other in my surrounding streets,
so they could be "filling in the holes".

Dave.
 
J

Jasen Betts

1) Basically, to get a map of te road networkin this country costs a
motza, not to mention an accurrate one, so if you run a fleet of vehicles,
fitting them with something to gps track where they have been allows you
to graduallybuiild up your own map for your purposes and for resale.
Click to expand...

suppose your city has a fleet of 30 rubbish trucks, fit such a device to one
and with careful rostering you'll have a map of the city in 30 weeks.

Bye.
Jasen
 
D

Den

Jasen Betts said:
suppose your city has a fleet of 30 rubbish trucks, fit such a device to
one
and with careful rostering you'll have a map of the city in 30 weeks.

Bye.
Jasen
Click to expand...


add a load cell & data logger you could map who recycles the most etc!
 
T

terryc

They only pick up your trash every 30 weeks? How about areas with no
trash to pick up, like large industrial areas?
Click to expand...

err, there are none. Most have offices and office, lunch room, etc trash,
not to mention industrial "waste" that may or may otbe recyclable.
 
J

Jasen Betts

They only pick up your trash every 30 weeks?
Click to expand...

here (and everwhere else I've lived) it's weekly.
If there's 30 trucks there's no more than 30 routes done each day.
if there's only one truck with mapping equipment then then it'll take
30 mondays to cover all the monday routes.
How about areas with no
trash to pick up, like large industrial areas?
Click to expand...

Hmm, maybe do the street sweeper instead :)

Bye.
Jasen
 
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