October 2018 - Therion

Re: [Therion] overlaying maps
by Martin KERN 29 Oct '18

29 Oct '18

Thanks Bruce for the answer. Now it is attached. Martin

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DistoX2 zero distance reference points and end piece extension
by Bruce Mutton 28 Oct '18

28 Oct '18

OK, I figured it out. My mistake, to set the end piece extension, two actions are required. 1. Set the end piece zero offset using the FUNC button. 2. Toggle the 'back' reference from 'back of case' to 'back of end piece offset', using REF + FUNC (hold 2 seconds) The new distoX2 now works as expected, although I still need to calibrate it. This IS mentioned in the user manual. Bruce From: Therion <therion-bounces(a)speleo.sk> On Behalf Of Bruce Mutton via Therion Sent: Sunday, 28 October 2018 10:19 To: 'List for Therion users' <therion(a)speleo.sk> Cc: Bruce Mutton <bruce(a)tomo.co.nz> Subject: [Therion] DistoX2 zero distance reference points and end piece extension I have an older distoX2 and a new distoX2, and came to thinking about building a protective case. Naturally the topics of zero reference points and end piece extensions has come to mind. Rather belatedly I thought I would run a rudimentary test over a short ~250mm distance that I could measure with a steel ruler, just to check my understanding of the behaviour. It was not as I expected, and I have not found an explanation in any of the documentation. Maybe someone has similar experiences. The newer distoX2 is not yet calibrated, and they both have differing hardware and firmware versions, so either or both may be the cause of the differences. Perhaps a table is the best way to document what I have found. Disto Old New Hardware 1.0 1.1 Firmware 2.4 2.5 ID 2973 4036 End piece setting 0.012 m 0.060 m Reference toggle cycle End piece-front-tripod Back-front-tripod Comment End piece extension reference option is available End piece extension reference option is NOT available End piece disto - ruler comparison 267 - 265 mm works as expected N/A Back disto - ruler comparison N/A 253 - 312 mm end piece setting ignored, does not work as expected Front disto - ruler comparison 132 - 131 mm 131 - 131 mm Tripod disto - ruler comparison 245 - 243 mm 244 - 243 mm Calibrated Yes Not yet Apparent accuracy 1-2 mm 1 mm except with end piece One explanation could be that the end piece zero reference is not available and any end piece setting will be ignored until the distoX2 has been calibrated. I am hoping that is what the situation is, and it will be easy enough to test, once I get around to it. It does seem a bit odd however, as I assume the calibration is all about directions, and not distances. Thoughts? Bruce

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DistoX2 zero distance reference points and end piece extension
by Bruce Mutton 27 Oct '18

27 Oct '18

I have an older distoX2 and a new distoX2, and came to thinking about building a protective case. Naturally the topics of zero reference points and end piece extensions has come to mind. Rather belatedly I thought I would run a rudimentary test over a short ~250mm distance that I could measure with a steel ruler, just to check my understanding of the behaviour. It was not as I expected, and I have not found an explanation in any of the documentation. Maybe someone has similar experiences. The newer distoX2 is not yet calibrated, and they both have differing hardware and firmware versions, so either or both may be the cause of the differences. Perhaps a table is the best way to document what I have found. Disto Old New Hardware 1.0 1.1 Firmware 2.4 2.5 ID 2973 4036 End piece setting 0.012 m 0.060 m Reference toggle cycle End piece-front-tripod Back-front-tripod Comment End piece extension reference option is available End piece extension reference option is NOT available End piece disto - ruler comparison 267 - 265 mm works as expected N/A Back disto - ruler comparison N/A 253 - 312 mm end piece setting ignored, does not work as expected Front disto - ruler comparison 132 - 131 mm 131 - 131 mm Tripod disto - ruler comparison 245 - 243 mm 244 - 243 mm Calibrated Yes Not yet Apparent accuracy 1-2 mm 1 mm except with end piece One explanation could be that the end piece zero reference is not available and any end piece setting will be ignored until the distoX2 has been calibrated. I am hoping that is what the situation is, and it will be easy enough to test, once I get around to it. It does seem a bit odd however, as I assume the calibration is all about directions, and not distances. Thoughts? Bruce

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How to create Compass files
by Bill Gee 14 Oct '18

14 Oct '18

Hello everyone - Suggestions please! As a Linux user I have never tried using Compass. A week ago I discovered that Therion can create output files in Compass "PLT" format. I created a file and sent it to a friend who is a big Compass user. He reports that it will not import. To test, I created a Windows computer in VirtualBox and then installed Compass (version 5.10.1.23.267) on it. I confirmed my friend's observation. When I try to open the PLT file in the Compass viewer, it gives an error: "Invalid numeric input" When I try to open the file in the Compass editor, it give a different error: "1916543.04 is not a valid integer value" Looking at the PLT file with a Linux text editor shows no obvious problems. It appears to be a collection of GPS coordinates associated with survey stations. It is not a large file - about 36K bytes, which seems a bit small for a cave with almost 800 survey stations and about 15,000 feet (4.5 km) of passage. The line I used to generate the file is: export model -fmt compass -o BigCavernRanch.plt I tried adding "-enable all -wall-source all" to the compile line, but it made no difference. It did not even change the size of the file. I am using Therion version 5.4.1 on 64-bit Fedora 28. Thanks! -- Bill Gee

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Height numbers in square boxes
by Bill Gee 04 Oct '18

04 Oct '18

Hello everyone - A common convention around Missouri cave mapping is to indicate the height change of a floor step by enclosing the value in a square box. This is not the same as ceiling height which is enclosed in a circle or oval. I have been using the object "point height" for this. It works except there is nothing around the value. It just hangs out in space, so to speak. I used the "-d" option to dump all the MetaPost and TeX code. I find no references in any of the files to objects of type height or passage-height, which implies that these two objects are not generated by MetaPost. Is it possible to redefine the "point height" symbol so it draws a square box around the value? Thanks! -- Bill Gee

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