Marking apparatus and methods for creating an electronic record of marking apparatus operations

A marking apparatus to mark a presence or an absence of an underground facility in a dig area, the marking apparatus comprising:

• a housing including a handle, the housing configured to enable dispensing of a marker onto the ground for marking the presence or the absence of the underground facility in the dig area;
• a marker dispenser holder affixed to the housing to hold a replaceable marker dispenser;
• an actuator coupled to the housing, the actuator configured to enable a user to cause dispensing of the marker from the marking dispenser onto the ground to mark the presence or absence of an underground facility in the dig area;
• and
• a processing device coupled to the housing, the processing device configured to log one or more data elements associated with operation of the marking apparatus in an electronic record of marking apparatus operation;
• a clock generator to generate a current date and time;
• a tag reader to read tag information from a tag associated with the marker dispenser;
• and
• a location tracking system to determine geographical coordinates of the marker,
• wherein the processing device logs the current date and time, the tag information and the geographical coordinates of the marker in the electronic record of marking apparatus operation.