Latest Contributions by SteveCole

The Sentinel Explorer App is an outstanding web app tool for monitoring natural resources, almost in real time. I personally use it to keep tabs on logging operations in the watershed I am interested in. While it's a pretty solid application "as is", I can't help but think it could use a few enhancements that won't happen unless it becomes an officially supported application. The application has the ability to overlay content from ArcGIS Online but that content inherits the default symbology of the service.This becomes a problem with polygon overlays which obscure the imagery with no way to alter it. A second issue is that at some zoom levels (or some acquisition dates) the Sentinel imagery is too dark. It would be great if there was an ability to adjust the imagery's gamma or brightness/contrast. Once again, this won't happen without ESRI's official support.  ... View more

It would be handy for debugging and data entry purposes if there was a button to quickly reset or clear a group of questions in a Survey123 survey. I'm currently developing a survey which replicates a paper Wetland Data Form and I am debugging the form by entering in information of a previously completed paper form to double check the math & calculations. Currently, I have to manually delete each entered response to "reset" the survey to enter new information. Here's where a simple button to "Clear Section" would be handy. It also seems to me that it would also be handy for situations where you want to copy a previously submitted survey because it largely contains identical information for some sections of the survey but has new information for a specific section of the story. An example of this might be a plant monitoring survey on a given property. The basic information about the given property won't change but as you undertake a new transect or sample on the property, that portion of the survey would need to be cleared and start from scratch. ... View more

I recently decided that one of my AGOL hosted feature layers needed an additional text field. I added the field within AGOL by going to Data tab of the hosted feater layer item, switching to the fields view, and then clicking the plus symbol to add the field. The field is added and shows up in the table view for the AGOL item page. The problem is that I am unable to see that field in the hosted layer view representation of my hosted layer. I don't see the field within AGOL on the hosted feature layer view item page or from Arcmap using the "Create Local Copy for Editing" workflow method. Saved edits show up instantly in AGOL so I'm at a loss to explain why a new field wouldn't show up as well. Is there something I'm missing? Do I have to delete my original layer view and create a new one? Thanks! Steve ... View more

Shot in the dark but I'm hoping for some advice as I move forward with purchases. I'll be doing data collection in forests and under canopy. I have a GeoXh 6000 with the Floodlight option as my capture device and I'm electing to add an external antenna in order to avoid having my body potentially block any signal. From what I have been able to gather, my choice comes down to the Tornado vs Zephyr Model 2 antenna. On paper, they seem to be identically spec'd: both are L1/L2 and SBAS capable. One person has already recommended the Zephyr Model 2 over the Tornado. Any thoughts? Also- regarding the Zephyr Model 2...I will be buying used and I've seen two different model #s which I can't figure out why they both exist: 57970-00 vs 55970-00. I've seen many more 57970 so I'm assuming that was a later batch or...? Thanks! Steve ... View more

I'm struggling with this topic as I get more familiar with Collector. I've read the docs about offline maps and how all layers must be enabled for offline use and to a large degree, I understand what's being said and definitely see how sync'd data would be critical for things such as emergency response, etc.  However. It's really frustrating that one isn't able to bundle data that has been published as a REST service and is just needed for read only reference. If our organization has published layers such as parcels, wetlands, etc as a REST services for web maps, we can't consume them for Collector reference unless they have the Query/Sync options enabled. With our own data, it's not impossible to have those Query/Sync options enabled but what about other REST layers *publicly* available from other organizations? I'd really like the ability to include those layers as well. Our state's Fish & Wildlife agency has an extensive fish distribution dataset that they've published as part of a web map application and my field staff would like to have that content available for reference while they're out in the (offline) field. We're not editing that data nor is that data getting frequent updates. The only way we can include that information is to obtain a copy, re-publish it for the sole purpose of the ability to include it in an offline package. How is this efficient? What's the guidance here? Are there any changes/developments for Collector down the line to be more consumption friendly? ... View more