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Moderator-Vertical, Vodavi, 1A2, Outside Wire
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Moderator-Vertical, Vodavi, 1A2, Outside Wire
Joined: Jan 2005
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We just received a bid package with about a dozen floor plans, but all of them were ".DWG" and we can't seem to open them with any type of program. Does anybody know what kind of files these are and if so, can they be converted or should I just tell the customer that they need to send them as .DOC or .PDF?
Ed Vaughn, MBSWWYPBX
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 318
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A quick Google search produced this link to a set of free .DWG viewer applications. Perhaps worth a look. https://www.infograph.com/products/dwgviewer/
Sometimes you carpe diem, sometimes your diem gets carped.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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Moderator-Comdial
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Moderator-Comdial
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Ed, I feel your pain! I have some CE's and an architect or two as customers. Never have a problem in this regard!!
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 12,344 Likes: 3
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Yes, they are AutoCad files. You won't want to buy AutoCad (or spend a year learning how to use it) but there are free viewers that will let you look at the drawings and print them out if you have a large format printer. The link above has a pretty good one, or just go to Autodesk.
-Hal
CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Some comments made by me are known to the State of California to cause irreversible brain damage and serious mental disorders leading to confinement.
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Joined: May 2007
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Moderator-1A2, Cabling
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Moderator-1A2, Cabling
Joined: May 2007
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Ed -
If you have Visio, they will Open (and modify) Autocad files.
Hal is right. I started taking a class in Autocad years ago. After the first 8 hour session we had learned to (almost) draw a straight line. I asked how long it took to get proficient and was told that "basic" proficiency took 2,000 hours!
I dropped the class and went to visio.
Sam
"Where are we going and why are we in this hand basket?"
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,033
Moderator-Toshiba
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Moderator-Toshiba
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I originally went to college for CAD design (then dropped out after the first quarter... but that's a whole other story).
The teacher I had was amazing and I really loved to learn the info. We also learned BASIC programming, now that was a fun class! I never regret leaving, but I would have enjoyed staying for the fun of the class(es), especially since the teacher was so good.
----
Sam, did you take it as a college course or a "workshop" thing?
- Tony Ohio Data LLC Phone systems, data networks, firewalls and servers in Central Ohio. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 12,344 Likes: 3
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One of the first things I did with Basic was to write a program that would calculate CATV tap values. (CATV was what I was doing at the time.) All you had to do was input the type of cable and the length of each run between taps and it would print out the tap values, the levels at 55 and 300Mhz into, out of and through each tap and what levels you needed to supply that segment with.
Wish I remembered how to do it now, but now it's visual Basic which is a new ballgame anyway.
-Hal
CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Some comments made by me are known to the State of California to cause irreversible brain damage and serious mental disorders leading to confinement.
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Joined: May 2007
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Moderator-1A2, Cabling
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Moderator-1A2, Cabling
Joined: May 2007
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Tony -
I went to college in 1968. In those days a "digital computer" was someone who counted on their fingers. (only a small exaggeration).
My union offered the class. It was free, but it was an intensive class. It was 10 hours on a Saturday, Sunday you had off, then 4 hours a night Monday through Friday and then another 10 hours on the next Saturday. 40 hours in 8 days with a day off.
Back in 1985 I was promoted to be the Network Manager of the Irving Trust Company. Irving Trust got bought out by the Bank of NY and I was rolling. The Bank was using a program called "Dash" which was a software package originally conceived of for PC Board design. It would run on DOS 3.0 and you could put almost unlimited "icons" on a drawing.
We used it for network documentation. For example: I need to install two ringdown circuits from my network hub in Lower Manhattan to a backroom location in Utica NY. The Bank would not pay for copper to the distant end, but the Data group had a T-3 that went there. Unfortunately their equipment would only handle 4 Wire E&M circuits. No problem, I can engineer this.
The circuits originate on a couple of key sets, take station cable to an IDF, go on House cable to the MDF, go into the switch, come out of the switch as 2w ringdown lines, go back to the MDF, take station cable to a 2W loop to 4W E&M converter, go back to the MDF, take House cable to the Data Center, station cable to the T-3 Mux, come out of the Mux in Utica, take station cable to the IDF, take house cable to the switch room, station cable to the 4W E&M to 2W loop converter, back to the MDF, go into the switch, come out on station ports, back to the MDF, over on house cable to an IDF, over on station cable to some key sets.
Ta Da!
Now documenting that graphically makes it a whole lot easier to trace and troubleshoot. Especially if the picture names each and every cable and pair.
This wasn't the only bizarre circuit I had. I had lots of them that went to London, Delaware, South Dakota, the Cayman Islands, etc.
I couldn't find a software package that would do this kind of work till I found Dash. But Dash was slow and clumsy and you had to custom design all the shapes you wanted (it only came with a lot of semiconductor shapes). So I tried Autocad.
Like I said, if I could have afforded a draftsman, I would have stayed with it. But I was the draftsman AND I had another full time job or two so....
I found Visio and never looked back.
I'm out of the Bank 11 or 12 years and they're still using the Network documentation I set up (and the database I wrote for switch, station and cable info).
Sam
"Where are we going and why are we in this hand basket?"
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Joined: Dec 2007
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Moderator-Toshiba
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Moderator-Toshiba
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,033 |
Originally posted by Silversam:
Tony -
I went to college in 1968. In those days a "digital computer" was someone who counted on their fingers. (only a small exaggeration).
My union offered the class. It was free, but it was an intensive class. It was 10 hours on a Saturday, Sunday you had off, then 4 hours a night Monday through Friday and then another 10 hours on the next Saturday. 40 hours in 8 days with a day off.
Back in 1985 I was promoted to be the Network Manager of the Irving Trust Company. Irving Trust got bought out by the Bank of NY and I was rolling. The Bank was using a program called "Dash" which was a software package originally conceived of for PC Board design. It would run on DOS 3.0 and you could put almost unlimited "icons" on a drawing.
We used it for network documentation. For example: I need to install two ringdown circuits from my network hub in Lower Manhattan to a backroom location in Utica NY. The Bank would not pay for copper to the distant end, but the Data group had a T-3 that went there. Unfortunately their equipment would only handle 4 Wire E&M circuits. No problem, I can engineer this.
The circuits originate on a couple of key sets, take station cable to an IDF, go on House cable to the MDF, go into the switch, come out of the switch as 2w ringdown lines, go back to the MDF, take station cable to a 2W loop to 4W E&M converter, go back to the MDF, take House cable to the Data Center, station cable to the T-3 Mux, come out of the Mux in Utica, take station cable to the IDF, take house cable to the switch room, station cable to the 4W E&M to 2W loop converter, back to the MDF, go into the switch, come out on station ports, back to the MDF, over on house cable to an IDF, over on station cable to some key sets.
Ta Da!
Now documenting that graphically makes it a whole lot easier to trace and troubleshoot. Especially if the picture names each and every cable and pair.
This wasn't the only bizarre circuit I had. I had lots of them that went to London, Delaware, South Dakota, the Cayman Islands, etc.
I couldn't find a software package that would do this kind of work till I found Dash. But Dash was slow and clumsy and you had to custom design all the shapes you wanted (it only came with a lot of semiconductor shapes). So I tried Autocad.
Like I said, if I could have afforded a draftsman, I would have stayed with it. But I was the draftsman AND I had another full time job or two so....
I found Visio and never looked back.
I'm out of the Bank 11 or 12 years and they're still using the Network documentation I set up (and the database I wrote for switch, station and cable info).
Sam Darn cool story sir! I gather you have seen many changes in the Telecommunications industry. I will look into Visio, as I haven't ever delved in. The fact that they still use your docs and setup must be a satisfying feeling as the stature of your work!
- Tony Ohio Data LLC Phone systems, data networks, firewalls and servers in Central Ohio. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.
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Joined: May 2007
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Moderator-1A2, Cabling
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Moderator-1A2, Cabling
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Tony -
It would be more satisfying if they paid me royalties.
Sam
"Where are we going and why are we in this hand basket?"
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