Subject: Re: Trimble 4600LS GPS Receiver
From: kato@qnet.com (Perry Chamberlain)
Date: 26 Sep 1996 05:12:25 GMT
In article <01bba0b5$446dec80$9634e184@cp3187.crl.aecl.ca>,
raglinp@aecl.ca says...
>
>Greetings
>
>I am looking for any information, sites, etc. for the Trimble 4600LS GPS
>Receiver. I have already read the article in the July/August 1996 issue
of
>Professional Surveyor.
>
>Also, has anyone had any experience using this instrument? Any help
would
>be appreciated.
>
>Thanks
>Perry Raglin.
I'm probably being redundant , but http://www.trimble.com has great stuff.
no flames please
Subject: Re: REI Civil Software
From: Gary Brickley <75554.2517@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 25 Sep 1996 03:23:40 GMT
You may want to try Eagle Points Civil Engineering Advantage
Series. It all works under one menu system in AutoCad or
Microstation. I have been using it since they were selling it
out of a basement (as the legend goes). The software does it
all, COGO, drafting, hydrology, storm and sanitary sewers, etc.
We have Softdesk, Boss Corp software, and Haestad Methods. Eagle
Point lets us go field to finish and back on one platform. We
have double our productivity with their software.
If you have questions email me 75554.2517@compuserve.com (gary
brickley)
--
Gary Brickley
75554.2517@compuserve.com
Subject: Re: Surveyors Right to Enter
From: "Shelby H. Griggs"
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 1996 21:55:53 -0700
Kenneth Russell wrote:
>
> I know that this is not uncommon,
>
> You are in the field performing a retracement of
> a tract that has several adjoiners;
>
> You and your crew have to traverse around trees,
> over ditches, through swamps and avoid cattle;
>
> Your best visibility may not be on the parcel that
> you are surveying, so you set up on adjoining land.
>
> Suddenly, the owner of the adjoining property appears
> and tells you to get off his land, and that he doesn't
> care if you are only surveying, and have taken care
> not to disturb crops, fences or anything.
>
> This owner is being real obnoxious (it is no wonder
> that the client has decided to move !).
>
> Of course IF he is armed, we always leave !
>
> But my questions are these . . .
>
> What do other surveyors do ?
>
> What is the Law regarding this situation:
>
> In Indiana, Ohio and Michigan
>
> and in other States.
>
> Thanks for your comments and suggestions.Being very nice and spending the time to contact all adjoiners does
wonders (Not to mention the fact that many times this PR creates
additional clients/work). In 15 years of surveying, I have only been
involved once where we needed a law enforcement officer to go along. This
was where 2 neighbors where fighting and bringing suit. Otherwise I have
had no problem. The key I believe is approaching the adjoiner before you
are already in a tresspass situation. I live in Oregon, and the
surveyor's did get a right of entry law passed last year, which I will
post below.
672.047 Right of entry; compensation for damages caused; notice. (1)
Subject to subsection (4) of this section, a registered professional
land surveyor, or any employee or agent of the surveyor, may enter on
foot, where practicable, upon any land for the purpose of surveying or
performing any survey work and may establish permanent survey
monuments as allowed by rule of the State Board of Examiners for
Engineering and Land Surveying.
(2) Any person exercising the right of entry granted under
subsection (1) of this section shall do so with no unnecessary damage
to the land entered upon. The surveyor shall compensate the landowner
for any actual monetary damages caused by the entry.
(3) If a request is made in writing in a timely manner, a copy of
the survey shall be provided in a timely manner to any landowner who
owns property that is outside an urban growth boundary and is affected
by subsection (4) of this section.
(4) A registered professional land surveyor, or any employee or
agent of the surveyor, shall not enter upon or establish any permanent
survey monument upon any land without first attempting to provide
notice to the landowner or occupant of the property in person. When
the landowner or occupant is not available, written notice shall be
posted in a conspicuous place where it is most likely to be seen. The
posted notice shall give the professional land surveyor's name,
address, telephone number, purpose and availability of the survey.
(5) A registered professional land surveyor, or any employee or
agent of the surveyor, who enters land as allowed under this section
is owed no greater duty of care than that owed by a landowner to a
trespasser.
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this
section, a registered professional land surveyor, or any employee or
agent of the surveyor, may use a vehicle to enter upon land provided
that the vehicle remains on existing roadways where practicable.
<1995 c.382 s13>
Subject: Re: Does anyone know where CORPSCON is?
From: "Daniel A. Renton"
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 03:57:36 -0700
Robert Burris wrote:
>
> I'm looking all over the Web, Archie and FTP for
> the CORPSCON package. A friend of mine had his copy corrupted by his
> son, who likes to experiment with electro-magnets. :-)
>
> Any URLs would be greatly appreciated.
>
> I've already checked COGS, USACE, and BLM, but I didn't find it. My
> friend needs to perfom geodetic conversions, among other things.
>
> Robert Burris
> Moonlight Cyber
> fossil204@netins.net
Robert!
Go to the NGS homepage!
Subject: Measure and record surface path coordinates
From: "Mark Kiner"
Date: 26 Sep 1996 22:08:05 GMT
To All:
I'm looking for economical hardware solutions, software programs and
programming expertise that can be used and/or adapted to measuring and
recording the x,y,z coordinates of the ground surface of a path walked
across varying terrain. Path length traveled may exceed 1,000 feet (300
m). Vertical accuracy relative to one or more local feature benchmarks
must be within ±4 inches (±10 cm). Other data and attributes collected
during the individual's walk will have to be merged with the spatial data
file at particular locations. Once the data file is collected, but while
still on site, it is necessary to display elevation and plan views in the
field.
Any information or contacts are appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Mark Kiner
please reply by e-mail to mkiner@cowboy.net
Subject: Re: Amateur wants to map-out trees and slope
From: dhalliwell@nofc.forestry.ca (Dave Halliwell)
Date: 26 Sep 1996 17:36:13 -0600
gcary@src.honeywell.com (Greg Cary) writes:
>I've purchased 3 acres of land on which I plan to build a house next
>spring.
First of all, congratulations on the purchase, and good luck with the
home project.
>The lot has a gentle slope of maybe 5 feet, with many trees
>on it spaced every 3-10 feet apart from each other. I'm only
>concerned about 1 acre of it because even though the other 2 acres
>have a lot of nice trees, the land is considered wetland and I can't
>build there. I would like to get an idea of where the trees are
>located on the lot and how the land slopes.
Second of all, keep in mind that you do not need the same solution to
both these questions. Mapping the trees can be done without the slope
survey.
>I have never used any
>surveying equipment before, but I'm guessing I should be able to
>achieve what I want without too much trouble. Of course the
>professional surveyors will do the professional job when the final
>plans are drawn up. I just want to gather some data before winter so
>I can get my ideas together on where the house should sit. If I make
>a mistake I'll find out then...
>My question is this: Recognizing I'm on a limited budget, what is the
>best way to map-out the lot?
Low-tech solution: a plane table. The principle is triangulation, done
on a table with a sheet of paper. The steps are as follows:
1) establish a baseline on the property. The two end points are all
that matters. Measure the distance between the two points.
2) set up a level table over one point. Mark a point on a piece of
paper (on the table) directly over the point. Draw a line on the paper,
through this point, in the direction of your other baseline point. Mark a
spot for the other baseline point some distance along this line. (This
establishes the scale: e.g. 10 inches on the paper may match 100 feet on
the ground. Exact value doesn't matter: make it as big as you can and
still get all the lot on the paper.) At this point (pun intended), you
have a sheet of paper with a line connecting two points on it which
represent the two ground points, and one of the paper points is directly
over its ground point.
3) without moving the paper, draw lines from the current point in the
direction of any feature you want to map. Label the line somehow.
4) Move the table to the other baseline point, and set it up so that
the other baseline point on the map is over the point on the ground, and
the baseline on the map points towards the other baseline point (on the
ground).
5) repeat step 3 from the new position. All you need to do is draw the
line where it intersects the line previously drawn from the other
position. (If that point on the line is off the paper, you needed a bigger
sheet to begin with.)
You now have a sheet of paper where lines intersect, marking the
locations of all objects of interest.
The trick is when you have a lot of points, or if trees start to block
each other out and restrict vision. You need a clear way of identifying
different trees, and having someone else walk around and identify stuff
will help. If vision is a problem, you can do different parts of the lot
from different baselines, as long as you can see the baselines from each
other (to map them in together). You might just want to map clumps of
trees together, if there are a lot (which sounds like the case).
Numbering the trees would help.
Basically, a plane table is a direct graphical equivalent to doing an
angular survey using a transit and drawing the intersections
mathematically.
>It would be nice to rent a fancy laser
>range finder with a data logger or something, but I'll have to stick
>to a transit that I can rent for $19 a day at the local Rent-All. (I
>never checked the price of something fancy, I just assumed it would
>be too expensive to rent).
With the map out of the way, all you need is a level and a stadia rod
for the slope. (The stadia rod is a pole with height marked in big
letters.) From one point, site through the level and read off the height
at a series of points. (Grid, or the points on your map, whatever you
like.) As long as the points you read heights for can be identified on
the map, you don't need a transit for positioning.
At the extreme, you could put up a couple of poles and stretch a
string between them (level), then measure from the string to ground level
at equally-spaced points along the line. Repeat for a number of lines.
All this takes is string, a string level, and a tape measure. As long as
you tie in one point on one line with another (e.g. run the string along
the end points of all the lines), you can work everything out.
>I went to the library and checked-out a few books on surveying.
>After a cursory examination, it looks like "stadia" is the method to
>use. The book says this method has an accuracy of 1:400 which I
>interpret to mean plus or minus 3 inches at 100 feet or plus or minus
>1 foot at 400 feet. Is this readily achieved?
>I would appreciate any words of advice from the experts.
An expert I ain't. The methods I suggest won't do for a legal survey,
but they are simple (and cheap). Thousands of geography students do
similar exercises each year....
--
Dave Halliwell I don't speak for my employers, and you
Edmonton, Alberta shouldn't expect them to speak for me.
Subject: Pitch & Roll compensated mouse
From: Ted Read
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 10:00:12 +0100
The survey started badly! We opened the new PC to find that those
cunning folk at Tosh had done away with nice little clip on rodents and
replaced the mouse with a red rubber wart in the middle of the keyboard,
sensitive to criticism they had also kindly supplied an interchangeable
green rubber verruca. Not deterred by this obstacle we set about
mastering the art of using the beast, a combination of skills involving
deep understanding of trajectories and the laws of probability.
All was well until we put to sea, the combination of Windows 95
software, Wart driven interface and the ship's motion was a cocktail of
activity worthy of inclusion in a Japanese 'Endurance' game show. The
frustration was only calmed by the software retaining the legacy
keyboard commands from its older DOS version, at least these were easy
to select when the whole world was moving from side to side.
If these computing components are going to be part of the new world of
hydrography then there are two urgent requests...
1) A mouse driver with input from the ships heave and pitch
compensator to give the device a real world 'g' effect.
2) A safety zone behind Windows menus so that when you overshoot the
target option you don't always land in onerous options like 'Exit' or
'Close'.
On a more serious note the use of GUI type interfaces in boats and
aircraft is a problem not concidered by the designers of products like
Windows when they are specified. Are there any original ideas for
keyboard/pointer devices for use in these situations ?
--
Ted Read
Turnpike evaluation. For Turnpike information, mailto:info@turnpike.com
Subject: Navstar GPS Constellation Status (96-09-25)
From: Richard Langley
Date: 27 Sep 1996 08:54:41 -0700
Navstar GPS Constellation Status
(96-09-25)
Blk NORAD Orbit Launch
II PRN Internat. Catalog Plane Date
Seq SVN Code ID Number Pos'n (UT) Clock Available/Decommissioned
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Block I
01 04 1978-020A 10684 78-02-22 78-03-29 85-07-17
02 07 1978-047A 10893 78-05-13 78-07-14 81-07-16
03 06 1978-093A 11054 78-10-06 78-11-13 92-05-18
04 08 1978-112A 11141 78-12-10 79-01-08 89-10-14
05 05 1980-011A 11690 80-02-09 80-02-27 83-11-28
06 09 1980-032A 11783 80-04-26 80-05-16 91-03-06
07 81-12-18 Launch failure
08 11 1983-072A 14189 83-07-14 83-08-10 93-05-04
09 13 1984-059A 15039 84-06-13 84-07-19 94-06-20
10 12 1984-097A 15271 84-09-08 84-10-03 95-11-18
11 03 1985-093A 16129 85-10-09 85-10-30 94-04-13
Block II
II-1 14 14 1989-013A 19802 E-1 89-02-14 Cs 89-04-15 05:02 UT
II-2 13 02 1989-044A 20061 B-3 89-06-10 Cs 89-08-10 20:46 UT
II-3 16 16 1989-064A 20185 E-5 89-08-18 Cs 89-10-14 20:21 UT
II-4 19 19 1989-085A 20302 A-4 89-10-21 Rb 89-11-23 03:13 UT
II-5 17 17 1989-097A 20361 D-3 89-12-11 Cs 90-01-06 03:30 UT
II-6 18 18 1990-008A 20452 F-3 90-01-24 Cs 90-02-14 22:26 UT
II-7 20 20 1990-025A 20533 90-03-26 90-04-18 96-05-10
II-8 21 21 1990-068A 20724 E-2 90-08-02 Cs 90-08-22 15:00 UT
II-9 15 15 1990-088A 20830 D-2 90-10-01 Cs 90-10-15 00:39 UT
Block IIA
II-10 23 23 1990-103A 20959 E-4 90-11-26 Cs 90-12-10 23:45 UT
II-11 24 24 1991-047A 21552 D-1 91-07-04 Rb 91-08-30 04:44 UT
II-12 25 25 1992-009A 21890 A-2 92-02-23 Cs 92-03-24 11:00 UT
II-13 28 28 1992-019A 21930 C-5 92-04-10 Cs 92-04-25 20:32 UT
II-14 26 26 1992-039A 22014 F-2 92-07-07 Cs 92-07-23 19:43 UT
II-15 27 27 1992-058A 22108 A-3 92-09-09 Cs 92-09-30 20:08 UT
II-16 32 01 1992-079A 22231 F-1 92-11-22 Cs 92-12-11 14:49 UT
II-17 29 29 1992-089A 22275 F-4 92-12-18 Cs 93-01-05 16:39 UT
II-18 22 22 1993-007A 22446 B-1 93-02-03 Cs 93-04-04 05:20 UT
II-19 31 31 1993-017A 22581 C-3 93-03-30 Rb 93-04-13 20:53 UT
II-20 37 07 1993-032A 22657 C-4 93-05-13 Cs 93-06-12 16:15 UT
II-21 39 09 1993-042A 22700 A-1 93-06-26 Cs 93-07-20 12:54 UT
II-22 35 05 1993-054A 22779 B-4 93-08-30 Cs 93-09-28 19:29 UT
II-23 34 04 1993-068A 22877 D-4 93-10-26 Cs 93-11-22 18:20 UT
II-24 36 06 1994-016A 23027 C-1 94-03-10 Cs 94-03-28 14:20 UT
II-25 33 03 1996-019A 23833 C-2 96-03-28 Cs 96-04-09 21:17 UT
II-26 40 10 1996-041A 23953 E-3 96-07-16 Rb 96-08-15 15:05 UT
II-27 30 30 1996-056A 24320 B-2 96-09-12
Notes
-----
1. NORAD Catalog Number is also known as U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM)
object number and NASA catalog number.
2. No orbital plane position = satellite no longer operational.
3. Clock: Rb = Rubidium; Cs = Cesium.
4. Selective Availability (S/A) had been enabled on Block II satellites during
part of 1990; S/A off between about 10 August 1990 and 1 July 1991 due to
Gulf crisis; standard level re-implemented on 15 November 1991;
occasionally off for test and other purposes. Currently, PRN15 and PRN28
appear to have little or no S/A imposed.
5. Anti-spoofing (A-S) was activated on 94-01-31 at 00:00 UT on all Block II
satellites (ref. NANU 050-94042); occasionally off for test and other
purposes. A-S was turned off on all satellites at 20:00 UT on 95-04-19 and
back on on 95-05-10; off again between 95-06-19 and 95-07-10; and between
95-10-10 and 95-10-31. A-S has been off on PRN28 since 95-02-21.
6. PRN number of SVN32 was changed from 32 to 01 on 93-01-28.
7. The active clock on PRN01 was switched from a Rb to a Cs between 96-08-16
and 96-08-22 (ref. USNO and NANUs 134-96229 and 141-96234).
8. PRN05 and PRN06 are equipped with corner-cube reflectors for satellite
laser ranging (SLR). SLR tracking of the satellites will permit onboard
clock errors and satellite ephemeris errors in GPS tracking to be
differentiated.
9. The decommissioning date for PRN06/SVN03 is the date of termination of
operations of this satellite (ref. USNO) and is about 3 weeks later than
other published dates for "deactivation".
10. PRN16 will be moved from the E-3 slot to the E-5 slot to make room for
PRN10. An orbit maneouvre was carried out on 96-08-19 (ref. NANUs
120-96204, 137-96232).
11. PRN20 hs been unusable since 15:18 UT on 96-05-10 and will not return to
service (ref. NANU 118-96204). Cause of failure: loss of 3-axis
stabilisation. PRN20 was moved out of the B-2 slot to make room for PRN30
(ref. NANU 162-96256).
12. PRN28 has been moved from the C-2 slot to the C-5 slot, about 40 degrees
away. This move, which was initiated on 96-03-06 by lowering the orbit of
PRN28 by about 6 km, made way for PRN03. PRN03 is a backup for PRN28 which
has some undisclosed equipment problem. PRN28 will remain on the air, with
some subsystems shut down to conserve power (ref. NANUs 045-96066, NANU
068-96100, and GPS World Newsletter). The move was completed on 96-08-23
(ref. NANUs 127-96236 and 144-96236).
13. PRN30 (SVN30) was launched on 96-09-12 at 08:49 UT.
14. Announced date of next scheduled launch: 97-01-13 (first Block IIR
satellite).
15. Compiled by Richard B. Langley, Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering,
University of New Brunswick.
===============================================================================
Richard B. Langley Internet: LANG@UNB.CA or SE@UNB.CA
Geodetic Research Laboratory BITnet: LANG@UNB or SE@UNB
Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Phone: (506) 453-5142
University of New Brunswick FAX: (506) 453-4943
Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5A3 Telex: 014-46202
Fredericton? Where's that? See: http://degaulle.hil.unb.ca/NB/fredericton.html
===============================================================================
Subject: Re: Amateur wants to map-out trees and slope
From: uy205@freenet.Victoria.BC.CA (Roy A. Fletcher)
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 17:07:46 GMT
In a previous article, gcary@src.honeywell.com (Greg Cary) says:
with editing...
>
>My question is this: Recognizing I'm on a limited budget, what is the
>best way to map-out the lot? It would be nice to rent a fancy laser
>range finder with a data logger or something, but I'll have to stick
>to a transit that I can rent for $19 a day at the local Rent-All. (I
>never checked the price of something fancy, I just assumed it would
>be too expensive to rent).
>
>I went to the library and checked-out a few books on surveying.
>After a cursory examination, it looks like "stadia" is the method to
>use. The book says this method has an accuracy of 1:400 which I
>interpret to mean plus or minus 3 inches at 100 feet or plus or minus
>1 foot at 400 feet. Is this readily achieved?
>
>I would appreciate any words of advice from the experts.
You need two 3 metre pieces of rope, a clear garden hose and a strong
measuring rod.
The two pieces of rope lay out a grid. Make sure they are kept level while
laying out the grid.
Assume that the highest point has an elevation of 100 metres el, or
whatever will guarantee a minimun el of 0 or greater for the whole lot.
The hose partially filled with water is the level. Hold one end at one
of the grid points with known elevation. At an unknown point, raise the
garden hose til the water level is exactly level with the ground at the
known elevation. Measure the height of water at the unknown point.
Subtract this value from the known el to obtain the el of the second
point. Proceed til the whole lot is mapped, adding features between the
grid as you move over the property. You can do three acres a day with
this method.
Your second choice is a level on a grid. It is slower than the first. Do
not use a transit with stadia measurement. But, if you really must mess
with technology, plot it right in the field. You'll see instantly where
the missing values and can add them immediately. If you've never used a
data recorder, don't let anyone convince you they are easy.
Regards. RAF
Subject: Re: County Surveyors Office
From: papabear@roadrunner.com (Jerry Anderson)
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 96 00:08:09 GMT
In article <52e9p1$bn4@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, copls@aol.com
(CoPLS) wrote:
>I would like feed back from other surveyors, concerning County
>Surveyors. Should a County Surveyor be allowed to practice in
the private sector?
Why shouldn't s/he? Of course there should be no use of County
equipment/time/personel, but othrewise, sure.
>
>Does your state or county have a position for county surveyors?
>If so, do they also have a private practice?
Yes, some do, some don't
>Are there a conflicts of interest in such cases?
Depends on the individual case & person
>Do you feel a County Surveyor has an unfair advantage in the
>private sector? If so, why?
No unfair advantage - the only problem I've seen in that area is
that the "moonlighting" surveyor may undercut your price, (If so
he's a cheap whore, and there's always a market for them) or he
may not take time to do the job right, in which case I hope you
do every thing in your power to yank their license!
>
>
>Ron PLS Colorado
"it's time to throw all their damn tea in the harbor again!"
Subject: Re: County Surveyors Office
From: psarcich@delnet.com
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 05:30:23 GMT
copls@aol.com (CoPLS) wrote:
>I would like feed back from other surveyors, concerning County
>Surveyors. Should a County Surveyor be allowed to practice in the
>private sector?
>Does your state or county have a position for county surveyors?
>If so, do they also have a private practice?
>Are there a conflicts of interest in such cases?
>Do you feel a County Surveyor has an unfair advantage in the
>private sector? If so, why?
>Ron PLS Colorado
Hi,
I did work for an engineering company that was hired as a town
engineer and for the most part they just could not take on work in
that town. I guess it would be the same for surveying.
As for any advantage, If any they might have more contact, but after
being in buisness you get contacts, and know how to talk to.
Paul Sarcich
Merestone Consultants, Inc.
Wilmington DE
Subject: Re: Does anyone know where CORPSCON is?
From: dmulcar@ibm.net (Donald M. Mulcare)
Date: 28 Sep 1996 16:11:16 GMT
In <3249f4e1.6290845@news.netins.net>, fossil204@netins.net (Robert Burris) writes:
>I'm looking all over the Web, Archie and FTP for
>the CORPSCON package. A friend of mine had his copy corrupted by his
>son, who likes to experiment with electro-magnets. :-)
>
>Any URLs would be greatly appreciated.
>
>I've already checked COGS, USACE, and BLM, but I didn't find it. My
>friend needs to perfom geodetic conversions, among other things.
>
>Robert Burris
>Moonlight Cyber
>fossil204@netins.net
It is available from the National Geodetic Survey (it is based on NGS
algorithms after all). The WWW URL is http://www.ngs.noaa.gov; the
NGS ftp site is ftp.ngs.noaa.gov
CORPSCON still does *NOT* include grids for conversions to state-wide
High Accuracy Reference Networks. A new version is in the works; an
earlier beta version had problems.
<====================================================>
<== Donald M. Mulcare email:dmulcar@ibm.net ==>
<== NGS Advisor to Maryland 410.333.1240 (voice) ==>
<====================================================>
Subject: Eagle Point
From: reverett@usit.net
Date: Sun, 29 Sep 1996 04:48:19 GMT
As long time readers know, from time to time we play verbal soccer
with Eagle Point software around here. In the interest of fairness I
submit the following.
I bought EP Prosurveyor Plus a year ago. I have yet to do a project in
it and am not going to address its functionality (at least not yet).
The reason I've yet to actually use it is a function of the learning
curve and my own shortage of free time to tackle it. A couple of weeks
ago I posted here offering it for sale at one-third list price. The
response I received is the reason for this posting.
Within twelve hours of posting I received a phone call from Jim White
of EP tech support. Since I was unable to return his call that day he
followed up with a fax. Essentially he was asking that I reconsider
selling the software and offering to personally help me with any
problems. When I did call him back he was very solicitous and seemed
to sincerely want to help. He told me he had an update he could send
that fixed the problems with PS. It was at my door within 24 hours. I
was impressed. He also said that they are currently reworking the
online help system (badly needed).
In light of the above I would like to offer the following opinions re:
EP and PS. First of all, I suspect that EP rushed PS to market.
Softdesk and EP released competing products within about three weeks
of each other last year. Those familiar with the software world (or
the Dilbert comic strip) know that this happens all too frequently and
it probably isn't fair to single out EP, especially if they clean up
after themselves. They appear to be making a sincere attempt to do so.
Pros and Cons of PS+:
Cons: Biggest one is the learning curve combined with terrible online
help and mind numbing manuals (again maybe unfair to single out EP).
Although PS is a standalone it is built around an Acad engine. The
docs assume that you understand Acad basics (want to check Help to
find out how to select objects? Tough.). This combination is a killer
if you don't have the time to climb the curve. This is the one that
Jim White says they are actively addressing.
Cons: It needs a lot of elbow room (about 50 MB). In these days of
monster hard disks this isn't really a problem. But the purist in me
says that the least amount of code is the most elegant solution. But
again, the Acad engine takes up a certain amount of space and may
account for much of it.
Cons: It's a bit slow compared to others I've tried. It's slow to load
and as you invoke various commands within the program you have to wait
for what I assume are modules to load. Again in their defense, Acad LT
needs about as much time to load so the engine may be a choke point.
Also, I'm running a P5-60. Look, it *used* to be a fast machine .
Cons?: Having not used the program yet I don't know if the bugs are
out or not. The fact that it has been updated gives me hope that they
have. I will report back on this later.
Pros: The doc problem was partially fixed with release of their
tutorial. It is one of the best I've seen. If they had had the same
team do the manuals and the online help it would have been wonderful.
Hint, hint.
Pros: They've recognized that they had some problems and seem to be
trying to deal with them. The fact that they are monitoring this group
and trying to address individual problems is a big point in their
favor. They seem sincere. They'd better be since cyber-griping carries
a long way .
Pros: If PS does indeed do what its menus indicate, it's everything
I'll ever need. And true Acad compatibility is great.
Pros: It's not copy-protected! After hardware locks and weird
protection schemes it is refreashing to have a company trust me. It's
also reassuring to know that my software investment is not intimately
tied to the existence of its creator.
I am going to roll up my sleeves and wade into this puppy now. Honest.
I will report back from time to time on the functionality of PS+ and
the support I get. Oh, another Pro: Continuing tech support is just
$150 per year, a very reasonable figure.
--
Rick Everett
reverett@usit.net
Subject: GIS/Mapping Coordinator
From: gob@bayarea.net (GeoWeb )
Date: 28 Sep 1996 22:13:13 GMT
==============================================================
Check http://www.ggrweb.com for more job news
===============================================================
Job Type: GIS, Mapping Coordinator
Company Name: Synergist Technology Group, Inc.
Contact: Tony Pinto
Title: Executive Vice President
Address: Route 6, Scranton Carbondale Hwy., Blakely, PA, 18447
Country: USA
Phone: 717-383-7826 Fax: 717-383-9515
Email: synrgst@epix.net URL:
---------------------------------------------------------
Job description: GiS, Mapping Coordinator
Immediate position available for the right candidate. Scranton Area firm is
looking for someone with 2 or more years experience in GIS, GPS,
Photgrammetry and related mapping sciences. Positions will consist
of the coordination of computerized mapping services and implementation of
a GIS based system for the Utility industry, primarily gas and water.
Candidate will supervise GIS staff as well as interface with Clients so
must possess excellent verbal and written skills. BS Degree with major
course work in GIS, geography, computer database administration required.
Resume's or inquires can be E-Mailed to synrgst@epix.net to the attention
of Tony Pinto
================================================================
GeoWeb Interactive - Online Resources for GIS/GPS/Remote Sensing
email: geoweb@ggrweb.com
url: http://www.ggrweb.com
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