Hi, I am trying to draw a circle in Magnet Field 5.1 from any 3 points on the circumference, can anyone help.
I can Topo a circle but I need to draw one retrospectively from any 3 points.
I have tried within Map and within Calculate, Enter Plan.
Thanks, for any help.
bell531,
To draw the circle you will need to create linework. From the home menu go to Edit. Then click Linework and click Add in the lower right corner. This will take you to the following screen.
1. Click Add Points. Select a method to add the points and add the three points you want to use. They will then appear in the points list. The line will start out looking like two lines of a triangle.
2. Select the first point in the list
3. Click the Control Codes button. These options work just like the control codes for drawing lines with codes in Topo. Select the icon for Circle Edge.
4. Enter a name for you linework. Typical linework names in MAGNET Field are the code of the points plus a string number.
5. Click the green check-mark to save the line.
Yay. Thanks so much for you help. I was nowhere near that solution.
I am gradually getting to like Magnet. Moving from Carlson SurvCE it is just different. I am optomistic that I will grow to really like it.
One thing i'm getting used to is the detail it shows in Map. If you zoom out and it is crowded with points, some of the point names go and the points change from crosses to dots. I would have liked to have been able to Toggle between all the names on screen, (even if its unreadable) and the current Magnet view, but I will probably get used to it!
The drawing tools in Magnet field suck big time. To create the smallest drawing takes ages and isn't intuitive.
I used to use carslson survce which has kind of a cad style drawing mode. Much better.?ÿ
I always use a laptop to draw stuff and upload to the fieldbook through an usb-stick. Never use magnet field for that.
I told topcon this but they seem not to care about this. I've cancelled my subscription because of this. they don't listen to the customer. The manual is bad as is the software Magnet Tools. No manual, no videos.
I agree with you about it not feeling intuitive but I can get used to that.
One example I am getting my head round is the Exchange From File To File etc why not just say Import and Export!
The CAD issue, sure I only do limited site calcs and do my main drawing on the Laptop.
As far as upload and download go I haven't had to use a stick yet. Mostly im using WiFi, and use google Drive. Ít works well although I am on the look out for better suggestions. My old TDS Ranger used to Plug in on Windows 7 and I saw it just as another drive, that was the Best. Blue tooth is too laborious.
I have a GT Topcon and FC5000 tablet. As the years go by I see Windows 10 as being the pain and week link, as with most computers the operating system may get bunged up with registry issues or something.
As far as support goes I have told Topcon they should have more videos available on Youtube which is so accessible. Also more Speaking in the Videos to supplement the cursor guide and delete the stupid MUSIC that is drizzled over everything. (My pet hate)
By "different" I think that Magnet sucks compared to SurvCE in almost every single way. And I have extensively used both. There are simply some insane things in Magnet. They claim Magnet is an all new software, but the help documents reference the same old Topcon software from a decade ago. The underlying philosophy is wrong on many levels (get into how it accumulates sets and reduces them).
The only solution is to simply forget that SurvCE ever existed. Forget what "should be" and accept your fate. Then you try to make Magnet work. And you can make it work. It works just fine for us, but it isn't as in tune with surveyors and their needs as Carlson (and none of the big software will ever be as in tune as Carlson).
Using WiFi, we have dedicated network drives that automatically mount on our Data Collectors, click and drag for downloads. The Windows upgrade from WindowsCE is huge.
I liked SurvCE when I was using it. Then I changed to a place that was running Trimble Survey Controller 12.
After that MAGNET isn't so bad. The code driven linework is really similar to Carlson and so is the roading with building horizontal and vertical alignments and templates separate then creating a road that combines them.
When it comes down to it, software is software. Just like some people love iPhones and others hate them and prefer Android.
I think topcon's videos have improved vastly over the last few years. They just host them on their website instead of youtube.
If you don't just want to watch the clicks, turn on the captions in the player. The text varies depending on language setting. Probably why there is not voice over.
One example I am getting my head round is the Exchange From File To File etc why not just say Import and Export!
One of the guys at work thinks the words import and export are copyrighted standard windows terminology, and Topcon couldn't use them. I think the programmer wanted something nonstandard, just to be different. I prefer?ÿTo Collector and?ÿFrom Collector.
Thanks for all your input, there's some interesting stuff for me to investigate there.
My preference for videos available on YouTube stems from my experience with two excellent pieces of software. Firstly Rapidplan by Invarion, and secondly Kubla cubed, check them out. Hosting them on a website is good too, as well, but there can be a bit of an exclusivity trap there. 'How to' videos are also an important guide in assessing a product before purchase. Navigating an unfamiliar website, registering or even purchasing are all barriers. Some products may still be good but are unsuitable for some companies.
I speak from personal experience of our company having invested in a piece of software that was hard to get a decent view of and I think is unsuitable for the company size, and my unqualified opinion is, its C**P!
?ÿ
