Customer Spotlight: David Johnson Powers Electric Utility Precision with Skadi GNSS Receivers

At Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC), GIS Analyst David Johnson uses high-accuracy mapping to modernize utility data and strengthen service delivery across southeastern Arizona. David’s journey into GIS began with a love of geography, cartography, and technology: a combination that quickly evolved into a career in the utility sector.

A curious Google search led David to Eos Positioning Systems^® (Eos) GNSS receivers — and he hasn’t looked back since. Today, he uses both Arrow Gold^® and Skadi 300^™ receivers to support asset inventories, audits, and routine field verifications of SSVEC’s electric infrastructure. Whether completing a system-wide asset inventory ahead of schedule or beta-testing the latest features of the Skadi Series^™, David remains at the forefront of innovation.

See how he’s boosting data accuracy and operational efficiency for SSVEC and the community that relies on his team!

1. Why are you passionate about your job?

After changing majors a few times in college, I settled on geography, which required me to take an introductory geographic information systems (GIS) class. Soon after, most of my courses became GIS-centric. During my last semester, I needed an internship to graduate and was lucky to get one at a transmission utility in the Midwest.

Within a week of starting my internship, I knew that I was in the right spot. GIS and the utility industry allow me to combine my personal interests of geography and cartography with my love of technology and the ability to do something different every day, all while making my community a better place to live.

2. How did you first find out about Eos Positioning Systems’ GNSS products?

In late 2016, SSVEC needed to complete an extensive inventory of our distribution equipment from a specific substation, down to the nuts and bolts, after an audit indicated missing or inaccurate data. The easiest way to do this in the timeframe that we were given was to use multiple (and at the time, new) high-accuracy global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers along with Esri’s Collector for ArcGIS^® (now ArcGIS Field Maps).

Although my supervisor shared a few high-accuracy, Bluetooth^® GNSS receiver options with me, I wanted to find something better. I did a quick Google search, but the first page showed me products we had already researched. So, I did the unthinkable thing and went to the second page, where I found Eos and the Arrow Gold. (I would like to mention that at the time of writing this, Eos is no longer buried on the second page.)

3. What do you use Eos GNSS products for?

Our Arrow Gold has been used for the inventory project I previously mentioned, as well as staking out work orders and various updates and verifications of field assets.

More recently, we’ve adopted the Skadi 300 GNSS receiver, which we use for the same types of work, but now we’re integrating the Skadi Smart Handle^™ into our workflow, especially with our substation mapping.

4. Do you have a favorite experience or memory from your projects with Eos hardware?

The first one that comes to mind must be completing that initial inventory project in only 32 working days. Thanks to the Arrow Gold’s repeatable accuracy, seamless integration with Esri mobile applications, and the efficiency of that integration, we were able to pass along the collected data to other departments much sooner than expected. That helped them finalize the inventory ahead of schedule.

The second and more recent memory is being lucky and trusted enough by Eos to be part of the Skadi Series beta testing program for the iOS^® and Windows^® versions of Eos Tools Pro. As part of this program, SSVEC was one of the first Eos customers to acquire a Skadi RTK receiver along with a Skadi Smart Handle and Skadi Tilt Compensation^™. We played a small part in the improved functionality of various hardware components, including the Skadi Smart Handle, and in the software functionality around both the tilt compensation as well as the Extensible Virtual Range Pole^™ and Invisible Range Pole^™.

5. Do you have a favorite feature of Eos GNSS receivers?

The seamless Bluetooth connectivity and ease of integration with other software platforms are also the first features that come to mind!

The Skadi Series also introduces some great new features. Skadi Tilt Compensation and the Skadi Smart Handle have greatly improved our ability to accurately, safely, and quickly collect points and lines in areas that would have been impossible before. For example, sometimes I have a piece of equipment inside a fence that cannot be accessed, or there’s an asset under an overhang. This might have been impossible to map before. But now, if it’s within a few feet, I can reach a range pole over the asset and accurately locate it with Skadi Tilt Compensation. If it is further away, I can use the Skadi Smart Handle.

6. Is there anything we didn’t ask you that you’d like to share with us?

When I first discovered Eos on the second page of my Google search in 2016, I was pretty skeptical. After reaching out to Eos, though, it didn’t take long for my skepticism to disappear. We have always been pleased with the quality of their technical support and customer service. Our Arrow Gold and Skadi units have been exceptional investments that continue to provide results that cannot be found with any other GNSS receiver.