You may recall that 6 to 9 months ago I was having difficulty with our new DistoX http://paperless.bheeb.ch/. It would not calibrate properly. 

This is just to let you know that it would seem that all the problems are resolved, and it is now our preferred surveying device.  It took us a while, but we did our first completely paperless cave survey a couple of weeks ago (after a few above ground practice runs).  The finished map was done by lunchtime the next day, with minimal effort compared to an equivalent ‘paper survey’.  A bit more time is spent sketching in the cave, but much more detail tends to be collected, and it would appear to be more accurate.

There are a few rough edges to the software, so it pays to practice the whole process before doing a real survey.  With luck these will be ironed out in due course.

The problem with the distoX calibration was resolved by replacing the circuit board (Beat provided this service free of charge).

There was a short term problem after this, because the compass behaviour was erratic – increasing counter-clockwise etc.  This was due to the calibration being carried out in Switzerland where the earth’s magnetic field is weaker than where we were using the device in New Zealand.  So even though in theory a calibration is valid for use anywhere on earth, in practice this is only the case if the magnetic field is weaker than where the device was calibrated.

Cheers

Bruce