Mapping Programs

[cavemanjonny]

pressing the one-touch button, length, azimuth and slope are sent automatically to Auriga

That's truly beautiful . I have an old PDA that I picked up fully intending to try out Auriga. Haven't made the time yet :-/.

[cavemanjonny]

An article in The Canadian Caver #67 on Isla Madre de Dios mentions "the marriage betwen Auriga, a cave survey freeware for PDAs running under Palm OS, and Easytopo..."

Just out of curiosity, is there any way to obtain a copy of that article?

[ian mckenzie]

You can subscribe through their website http://www.cancaver.ca/pubs2/cc/index.htm . If you like I can send you the article, but it is really only a passing reference and doesn't give any further details on Auriga or Easytopo.

[cavemanjonny]

If you like I can send you the article, but it is really only a passing reference and doesn't give any further details on Auriga or Easytopo.

Ah, no worries . I was hoping it was more of a detailed tutorial.

[Komebeaux]

I would be more apt to take a PDA on a survey trip than a laptop . I have found that the price for a used Palm or Dell Axim has gotten very reasonable, almost to the point that I would take one underground. I recently bought an Axim X3 on ebay for $35 that I use for Geocaching. I know you can get a lot of different older Palm Pilots even cheaper than that.

[DBryce]

Ah, Espeycaver, as you can tell by the length of the thread, you touched on an important point.

I took a survey class from Paul Burger that covered all but digital, and thought to myself, how hard can it be? Those waters are far deeper than they first appear.

As Aaron Addison says, "Stop and ask yourself - "What is this map for?"":

What data do you need to imput (besides az, clino, and dist?). LRUD? Offsets?
How do you want to visualize your map? Plan? Profile (amazingly, many packages do not offer this), 3D? Color?
How do you plan to output your map? Paper? PNG? SVG?

After looking at what all is available, I came to the conclusion that all packages have their strengths and (unfortunately) weaknesses. The learning curve for some of them (especially the more powerful ones) can be attrocious. After scaling back my *grand* plans to "just give me a plan and profile I can publish", I wound up using Compass to input data and output a plan and profile backbone, and Inkscape to draw over my scanned sketches. I'm not done with my first map yet, but it is attached in its current state, for reference

Inkscape is a capable program, but I am frustrated by its limitations (which could just be limitations on my knowledge and skill in how to use it). My next map will be done in XaraX. Maybe its better, maybe not. I'll let you know what I find out. I initially chose Inkscape because in can export files in SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format, which seems like where the graphics world is headed. I hear XaraX will soon offer SVG as well.

To summarize, it's a learning experience. Plan to start small, just the basics, and go from there. And plan to spend a LOT of time learning. Keep good notes, as you will get confused with all the programs. Look for good documentation. Write to the authors, and see if they even respond.

The biggest thing I have learned is to make great field sketches...believe me, its MORE than half the battle...without it, the battle is already lost. My biggest error was not correcting for distance in my plan view, when surveying a largely vertical cave. That alone threw my sketches off so bad as to make them almost worthless. An easy way to make this correction is to draw a pure profile view of the survey leg line on a separate piece of graph paper, then physically measure it's horizontal and vertical extent (keep this paper with your survey notes!). Write these corrections with your survey notes, and use this measured horizontal extent in your plan view sketch. That way, your sketch requires very little morphing back home.

[pcassidy]

I've not done any cave drawing, but I have done drafting. What is the bottom line drawing in your pic?

[wyandottecaver]

It looks like a rough profile view. A cut-away version as though you were viewing the cave from the side rather than from the top.