This idea of paperless caving has been around for quite a
while. In addition to the Swiss site cited below, there was a
detailed article by Mark Passerby in the final issue of the now
defunct Caves.com Magazine (issue 9, circa 2004) about using it in a
caving project in WV. See
<http://www.cavediggers.com/magazine/9th.pdf> under Raders Valley
Project, p. 4. Of course a lot of the technology discussed there is
obsolete as better devices and software are now available.
Mark
At 09:12 PM 8/24/2012, Bennett Lee wrote:
I've heard about azimuth/inclination mods to distos, but I didn't know
there was a Bluetooth addition with software that imports the data and
lets you sketch on a PDA.
From the pics, it looks like you can get more accurate sketches because
you can quickly shoot to every key wall and feature in the room and draw
your sketch around the survey points (more or less real-time) right on
the PDA screen. That's freaking sweet! Screw paper sketches, those
awful high-angle measurements, erasure marks, and ANNOYING EDGES OF
PAPER that get in the way of a great sketch, followed by manually
entering all the data points, scanning in all the paper, and the long,
tedious process of drawing everything a second time in Illustrator
(sometimes by someone who has never even been in the cave), then
months/years later you finally have a printable map. Seems like with
this setup you have a complete map the moment you walk out of the cave.
Holy crap! Why haven't we all switched to this?
--Bennett
-----Original Message-----
From: Fofo [mailto:f...@gzluna.com]
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 7:18 PM
To: texascavers@texascavers.com
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] DistoX X2 Whatever.
Hey Bennett.
Sorry if there is some confusion, and maybe Serur was asking about the
Disto just as a distance measuring tool and in that case, yeah, the
D210XT is great.
But there are some aftermarket modifications that can be made to the
(now obsolete) Disto A3 that make it measure azimuth and inclination as
well as distance, so it becomes an "all in one" survey tool (and if you
couple it via Bluetooth with a PDA running PocketTopo or Auriga, it's a
"paperless survey": http://paperless.bheeb.ch/ ).
There is an effort to be able to modify the newer Distos, but it
apparently has been much more challenging, that's what I was talking
about.
Take care,
- Fofo
On 24/08/12 17:07, Bennett Lee wrote:
> I've been using the replacement model, the Disto D210XT, for several
> months. I've been happy with it. Not waterproof, but dust/water
> resistant enough to handle muddy caves, brief drops in water, and
> cleaning off in my sink at home. More features than we need cave
> surveying, but the ones we do need (units, single shot, max/min
> distance) are accessible and easy to use. Plus the 3-line display
> lets you quickly pop off 3 shots and average. Nice rubber grip. Runs
> on 2 AAA batteries, which most of us cavers have on hand in the cave.
>
> Haven't heard about the issues Fofo mentioned--mine has been working
> great. My only complaint is that the large screen is easily
> scratched, but so far mine has been surviving cave abuse quite well.
> I'm so pleased that I've been considering buying a second so I have a
> backup that I can use while sketching. The D210XT runs $219 online.
>
> --Bennett
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fofo [mailto:f...@gzluna.com]
> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 10:09 AM
> To: texascavers
> Subject: Re: [Texascavers] DistoX X2 Whatever.
>
> Yeah. Kevin Dixon made a batch of Disto X boards last year, and it was
> probably the last one since some of the parts are obsolete and hard to
> find (and the Leica A3 which this board fits is also pretty hard to
> find now).
>
> I'm excited about the Disto DXT (the newer version), apparently there
> have been several issues, but I hope that they figure them out soon.
>
> So, Serur, at this point it sounds like your best bet would be to find
> someone who owns a Disto X and hopefully you can borrow it.
>
> - Fofo
>
> Mark Minton wrote, on 24/8/12 6:55 :
>> The Disto X is no longer being made. However a newer version is under
>> development. See
>>
<http://www.karstworlds.com/2011/01/digital-surveying-disto-x-replacement.html>,
>> <http://paperless.bheeb.ch/>.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> At 03:07 AM 8/24/2012, S S wrote:
>>> Does anyone know where you can get a DistoX or whatever the latest
>>> revision is. And any feedback on these.
>>>
>>> Serur
Please reply to mmin...@caver.net
Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org
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