2007 May

Ain’t Technology Grand?

On May 31, 2007, in civil3d.com, by Jason Hickey

Back in October, I posted a cry for help – one for all the geeks out there to see if an idea could be conceived that would allow me to have broadband internet access at my rather rural home. Nick and I had talked a lot about WIMAX, and I think it may have been possible, but was scared due to ground cover. Charter wanted over $30,000 to run cable to my house (just over 2 miles) – I think they should be arrested for that…

So, the answer was satellite internet. I just got my Wildblue dish installed this week and am up and running. I actually get download speeds greater than I do at my office with a shared T1, but upload speeds aren’t anything to write home about. What’s more, I’m on the office VPN working just like I was sitting at my desk, without spending 3+ hours per day sitting in my car. Amazing.

So yeah, for the few people who read and answered my geek cry for help, thanks for the encouragement and hints. And thanks to Mark for welcoming me to 1999

Adjusting a Survey Traverse in Civil 3D

On May 31, 2007, in Points, Surveying, by Jason Hickey

For the surveyors out there who want to go a bit deeper into the Survey Database, today we’ll talk about traverse analysis and adjustments. Why do we need to adjust our traverses? Because they’re not perfect! Human error (that guy running the rod isn’t holding it perfectly plumb, or has the shakes, or just doesn’t put the tip of the pole in the same spot every time, or “heat monkeys” wreaking havoc with the guy in the scope) or mechanical error (the optical plummet isn’t exactly right, the instrument got dropped one too many times, the rod got ran over by the crew truck, etc) will introduce error into any traverse loop, and over great distances, that error can add up to the point that your data is outside acceptable parameters. So how do you adjust a traverse in Civil 3D? You’ll find out after the jump…

(more…)

Civil 3D 2008 CAD Clinics Begin Monday! (And they’re free!)

On May 31, 2007, in Events, civil3d.com, by Dana Breig Probert, EIT

The Cadapult Civil 3D 2008 CAD Clinics are coming!Â If you live in PA, NJ, MD, or DE, mark your calendars.

I’ll be doing the Civil 3D presentations. (That’s me, Dana Probert)

Agenda

8:30-9:00 Breakfast

9:00-9:45 What’s new with AutoCAD 2008 (Annotative Objects and more)

9:45-10:30 Civil 3D Overview: A refresher for those who have seen Civil 3D before, a chance for new folks to get caught up. Business reasonsÂ for Civil 3D plus a quick lesson.Â Surfaces, parcels, road design, corridor modeling in a nutshell with some new twists.

10:30-10:45 Break (and stump the chump with me as the chump)

10:45-12:00 New features for Civil 3D 2008: Points, Lines/Curves; Google Earth; Surface tools; Corridors: boundaries, hatching, rendering; Pipe tables; PLAN PRODUCTION and automated sheet creation

Should be fun!Â Hope to see you there!Â Please preregister at the link at the bottom of this post.

June 4: Wayne PA

June 6: Lancaster PA

June 19: Dover Downs

July 10: Wilmington, DE

August 1: Atlantic City, NJ

August 2: Timonium, MD

These free workshops include breakfast.Â For more information, complete agenda and to sign up visit:

http://www.cadapult.net/company/events.htm

Kudos to the Grading Best Practices Paper

On May 31, 2007, in 2007, 2008, Best Practices, Grading, by Dana Breig Probert, EIT

So a few other bloggers have already announced the release of this paper, but I wanted to put in my two cents.

I downloaded both the pdf and the complied HTML help file versions, and spent about 3 hours with it last night and this morning.

The paper is very easy to follow.Â The premise is simple- the author explains how to get the best results out of your feature lines and grading objects by giving you a peek inside how grading is programmed and why it behaves the way it does.Â As I try to explain in posts such asÂ Parcel Rules Â the author works out what task feature lines and grading objects do well, what task they struggle with and how to approach a project to deal with that. (Keeping in mind that the author of this paper actually knows how the tools are programmed and therefore can better explain why things behave the way they do.Â I just use a dartboard and a blindfold)

The paper is broken into Feature Line Grading and Projection Grading sections.

Ideas covered include: When to use feature lines, when to use grading objects, best ways to make edits to each, best types of projections, managing site geometry, why certain things don’t work, and much more. The HTML version has neat DWFs embedded in it.

If you haven’t downloaded the Grading Best Practices white paper DO IT NOW. Read it today and see if the lightbulb appears over your head like it did over mine.

The Dan and Dave Show blog has the download here:

Civil 3D Grading Best Practices Whitepaper

Carlson SurvCE 2.0 Released

On May 30, 2007, in Downloads, Points, Surveying, by Jason Hickey

Today marks the release of Carlson SurvCE 2.0 – so my initial review is a bit out of date now. It’s a bit more visually appealing (they made things less monochromatic than it used to be) and things are easier to get to in general. I’ve played with it for about 5 minutes earlier today with an existing CRD file created from a PNEZD file with codes, and it seems to have a more intuitive layout than the older versions.

If you’d like information on upgrading your SurvCE to the newest version, email me. If you’d like to download a fully functioining demo, a link can be found at the bottom of the website linked above. If you have any trouble, email me – I’ll be glad to help.

So what’s new? Click more to find out….

(more…)

civil3d.com

Home of Raider Consulting

Ain’t Technology Grand?

Adjusting a Survey Traverse in Civil 3D

Civil 3D 2008 CAD Clinics Begin Monday! (And they’re free!)

Kudos to the Grading Best Practices Paper

Carlson SurvCE 2.0 Released

Talk Back

Categories

Archives

Buy the Books

Inbox Subscription

Meta