jerhirsch

quote:Originally posted by Dave54:ArcMap and ArcView. EasyGPS & GPSTrackMaker thus far... I'll haul my GPS to work one day (or at least some processed data) and do something in ArcInfo/ArcMap. Nothing like turning a cheap hobby into an expensive hobby really quick. Know of any good utilities for ArcMap for converting eTrex data to shapefile? I found one for Av3.3, but I'd rather use something written for Arc 8+.

quote:Originally posted by Geo Quest: quote:Originally posted by jhirsch: Bikes don't change much year to year, just paint and style, I wasn't going to reply to this thread because it seems like all the bases have been covered. Then I read the above quote and felt the need to respond. If you look at the history of the mountain bike you will see that there have been significant changes over the years. Just trying to keep up with all the changes is mind boggling. I absolutely agree with you on the changes in mountain biking technology and lack of backwards compatibility. When I worked in a shop, I saw your story countless times, and 95% most of the time, a new bike was simply a cheaper and better option. That's exactly the prime reason I don't think buying a used bike is a good option, even if it hasn't been ridden much in the past 5 years, finding parts for it is going to be hard. My comment about how bikes don't change much year to year was based on the comment that followed about shopping last years models for a better deal. If you've ever assembled bikes on a multiple-year same-model basis, you'd know that bikes actually don't change all that much on a year to year basis. However, string a few of those single years together or about 6-8 in the case of your particular bike, and yes, you'll have plenty of trouble up-grading your bike (you wouldn't try upgrading a computer 6 years old!). It should be mentioned though, that technology advances have slowed down significantly since threadless stems, v-brakes (now disk brakes), decent front suspension, and 9-speed have all become commonplace on all but lowest prince-point bikes.

As a former bike mechanic of 3 years, I urge you to go to a bike shop and avoid buying a bike from a department store at all costs! Its as simple as buying a decent bike assembled by a bike mechanic, and not a pile of heavy junk put together by a cashier who's never fixed the mess he's created. In the long and short run, you will be much happier and have a much more enjoyable time riding even the cheapest bike from a bike shop, than any bike you purchase at X-mart. Any family bike shop should be willing to fit you to a correctly sized bike, as well as let you test ride a number of different types, styles, and price levels of bikes. Then you should assess the type or riding you want to do, and buy a bike that will meet your needs and budget, but above all, be comfortable and fun to ride! Bike shops are really slow in the winter and most will have some of last years models left over in the spring, those are the real deals to be found. Bikes don't change much year to year, just paint and style, but ask about any differences in components and how they will affect real riding conditions. Most importantly, make sure you buy a bike from a shop that is knowledgeable and friendly. High-end shops tend to be full of snobs, so make sure you find a place willing to greet you willingly and spend time finding you the right bike, not just selling you the most expensive one hanging in the window!

I've been using my eTrex Vista for caching and skiing for a couple months now. Primarily in the Denver metro, Ft. Collins, and Summit County areas. I've always had WAAS enabled, but I don't think the satellite status screen has never shown me actually picking up a WAAS signal. I'm just wondering if other people pick up WAAS in Colorado? Can anybody confirm that using battery-saver mode will not allow you to get a WAAS correction? This was asked about a year ago according to a search, I figured I'd test out my avatar and see if anybody has had any better luck recently.

"hmmmm... how did they get all the trees in this little bottle?" [This message was edited by jhirsch on February 18, 2003 at 11:15 PM.]

Ok, I looked at the help files for AutoCad 6 and it says it supports raster images in bmp, tif, and some other format I wasn't familiar with. Unfortunately, I couldn't get AutoCad to open it, probably because I have no clue what I am doing! (And I was working on of terminal server.) So here's what I can offer, I saved the image as a tif, and if you know more cad than I do, you might be able to import it into your cad drawing and save it as the dxf you need. Or something of the sorts. You can pick up the file here... http://ouray.cudenver.edu/~jwhirsch/geologo2.tif (you'll probably have to do a "save as" on the link) I hope this helps, because it sounds like you've got a pretty cool project going there. Good luck! ---- Edit: Looks like the guy above me actually knows what he is doing!

I've got the image open in Photoshop, if I save it as a tiff or bmp, can you import one of those file formats into your project? I think you would need a CAD program, to save as dfx... but I'm not sure. If you're using any time of GIS software, it should accept any type of jpeg, gif, tiff, or bmp without any trouble.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't dxf an AutoCad file?

I have two MULES and I have zero complaints (got the second updated version because I liked the slightly larger size, and style). I use mine primarily for skiing and mtn. biking and they have both held up very nicely. I worked for a retailer that carried them, and I never saw a single one come back with a defect or being broken. Cleaning them is actually pretty easy, just a few drops of dish washing liquid, shake it around and rinse. I think it is important to let it dry fully and I usually hang mine up so everything can dry, propping the bag open with a clothes pin. I've heard that if you do forget to clean it, and it gets a little scummy inside, just put in a bit of bleach and rinse well. The only time you notice a plasticy taste is at first use. It either goes away, or you become accustom to it. The price is steep, but if you've got the cash to burn, I think it's well worth it.

For some reason T. Rollins is a little too close to "trolling" so I am a bit skeptical about this complaint. I think the best way to resolve this would be to call up Parks Department head Gary Buffington and ask him if a T. Rollins works for him. http://larimer.org/parks/ If he does, polietly explain what a virtual cache is, and then ask why they're trying to dissuade people from meerly hiking in the park.