ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Any software for electricians, inspectors, and designers?

Moderator Scott—that's a thorough, well thought out list.

One or three other comments—fixed or mobile, it's virtually impossible {and a big waste of time} to do much of anything with numbers or lists without a spreadsheet application. [One example is Excel.] They usually come with fairly useful examples and templates that are easily modified for the job at hand. They are so versatile that if you are having problems grasping the concept and tasks, a community-college evening class is worth the time and effort.

It is energy well spent many times over learning to effectively use one. Formulas, formatting and macros are simple but powerful features. As a <<Copied! Not Overwritten!!>> file is initially configured and then improved, it is trivial to reuse {modified or unmodified} as fits the occasion. I use a couple daily—as a scratchpad for contact info and phone-conversation notes, and a catchall file for calculator-type functions—chances are that cut-and-paste will work well for repeat functions, but using new numbers.

Also, as cheap and as common as they are—there’s no excuse for not regularly backing up [700MB of] data on a 36-cent CD-R! Along the way you’ll make some silly mistakes—hopefully not expensive ones—but they will be a valuable part of learning PC use. For fixed and mobile, get the largest, brightest display you can afford, and if necessary for the laptop, while at the computer store, take it out in the parking lot and use it on your pickup hood at high noon to prove that the display is still easily readable. [Remember too—heat is one expensive enemy of laptops in vehicle cabs and construction trailers. A good, padded case and a cigar-lighter power brick may be good investments.]

After spreadsheet mastery—you can graduate to a database management application [like Access, etc.] They have the capability to run a massive corporation.


[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 09-26-2002).]

Joe, etal:
Further thoughts:
We use "Quickbooks Pro 2002" for invoicing, payroll, bookeeping, etc. It's excellent, does a lot, and is moderatley priced.
We run Excel, and the rest of MS Office.
The laptop came with the Lotus Suite.

As to the comments about heat being an enemy of the laptop, that's a fact. It was a "hot" summer here this year (NJ), and I had to remember not to leave it in my truck for too long. Luckly, the job trailers have AC, and the "jobs" were confortable. The other option is to run the truck w/ the AC on.

John

PS 66WV, you should get on this thread so it "grows". HA

Just can't seem to find any controversy in this thread...




Actually, Quickbooks Pro is as far as I've gotten with anything professional. I've been using MS Works for my billing, accounting and estimates for the last two years!

Then I discovered that it would be so much easier if my materials database was actually linked with my invoices... No more "CTRL-F", Find X, Copy-Paste, Alt-Tab, etc. etc.

Just start typing a catalogue # and it fills in the rest!

Neat!

Move along folks, nothing to see here...

I just found this at www.handango.com. Do a search for estimating, and then palm os. It is callEstimaker.

I will download it tomorrow and post my comments later.

Here is a description:
EstiMaker is designed to help electrical professionals with the estimating/bidding process, letting an estimator create a take-off estimate in, generally, at least a third of the usual time.

Includes database of over 4600 electrical parts, with pricing and labor data for each part. Just select the parts required for a job, indicate the quantity of each part, enter amount for extras like special equipment and rentals, and EstiMaker will calculate all the factors and create a job estimate.

Create unlimited number of jobs, keep them for future reference or delete them as desired.

Includes Windows companion version that looks and works just like the handheld version. No need to learn two different programs. Learn the handheld version, and you know the Windows version! It shares the handheld version's data files, with 2-way synchronization via the HotSync conduit. Add jobs/make changes on the desktop, HotSync, and the handheld version reflects the changes. Add jobs/make changes on the handheld, HotSync, and the desktop version reflects the changes.

Edit and add to the parts database as needed.

Generates job reports in DOC format (that can be opened/manipulated/printed from any word processor) and exports job reports in CSV format (that can be opened/manipulated/printed from most spreadsheet and database programs).

Beam/Print quick estimate reports in the field, directly from the handheld computer, if you have an IR-capable printer and PalmPrint or SCSPrint software installed in the handheld (free trial copy of SCSPrint included with EstiMaker).

Program setup screen gives the user full control over all the percentages and multipliers used to create estimates, so you can "tinker" with the controls to customize the results and make them match or beat the results you get by your current estimating process. For users outside USA, currency multiplier lets you adjust output for local currency rate changes vs. default U.S. dollar. Once you get EstiMaker to produce estimates that match your old process, you can count on EstiMaker to produce consistent, accurate, and FAST estimates.

Also check out LectriCalc, number one handheld computer calculator for the electrical industry.
Click the [Trial] button above to get the ZIP file download that includes the handheld and windows software as a 10-day free trial. Click the [Add to Cart] button above to get the registration codes that convert the trial version to the unlimited registered version.
If you have a MAC and don't need the Windows software, contact sales@arkansoft.com to get the handheld version file only, in SIT format.

Requirements:Palm OS 3 and up, 460 kb RAM

Compatible Devices/Operating System: Handera 330, Handspring Platinum™, Handspring Prism™, Handspring Treo, Handspring Visor, Handspring Visor Deluxe, Handspring Visor Edge, Handspring Visor Pro, Kyocera Smartphone QCP 6035, Palm III, Palm IIIc, Palm IIIe, Palm IIIx, Palm IIIxe, Palm M100, Palm M105, Palm M125, Palm M130, Palm M500, Palm M505, Palm M515, Palm V, Palm VII, Palm VIIx, Palm Vx, Samsung Smartphone SPH-I300, Sony Clie, TRGpro

Great Sites Here!
www.handango.com
http://www.soft-toolz.com/eecalcz.htm

http://www.soft-toolz.com/epnltrz.htm



[This message has been edited by Joe Tedesco (edited 10-02-2002).]

Ron mentioned useful electrical and lighting software for voltage drop calculation, zonal cavity lighting calculations, cable ampacity, underground cable ampacity and basic electrical calculations

the new http address is: http://cygalski.net/mcgroup

have a look and see if you get hooked.

Is therre any basic calculator software out there for the Mac?

I bought Volts which can be found here- http://www.dolphins-software.com/ . I like it alot, I have not had much time to really play with it since I bought it but so far it is a nice program. What I liked about it was the free updates for each code cycle and the reports that it can make.