Leica GPS 500
The Leica Global Positioning System (GPS) 500 is the GPS survey equipment currently in use by 
Control Surveys and is the principal method of capturing survey information in the field. The main components of the system are the Base Station and Rover which allows a position to be calculated anywhere on the earths surface.
While optical instruments require a direct line of sight form the survey instrument to the target, GPS does not and as a result a surveyor can move more freely throughout a large site up to several kilometres away from the Base Station without having to set up again and again like a conventional optical instrument. This allows large open tracts of land to be surveyed in a fraction of the time and thus a saving can be passed onto the client. GPS also allows the surveyor to work under a broader range of weather conditions such as fog.
Leica GEO Office, Grid Inquest and Carlson Survey are PC based software programmes, which are also used in conjunction with the hardware for post processing data, for downloading co-ordinates recorded in the field, for converting these co-ordinates to Irish National Grid (whether it be IG 1975 or ITM) and for drawing the final map on a autocad platform.