Discuss Electrical Testing in the field in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

F

Foxxinator

Hi all,

Before you read anymore I'd like to just say I'm currently a student doing computer science at Aberystwyth. What I want to do for my final year project is develop some software for laptops that you can use when doing your electrical testing so that it can send off templates straight away and mean you don't have to write everything down onto paper and copy it across later.


________________________________________________________________________


I know the rules of this forum are saying I must not be here for commercial purposes - I am not, I am here for educational purposes only.

If people are happy to help me out with talking to me about how you personally go about electrical testing, how you capture the data etc. Please let me know, I'm looking for a few volunteers to say how you do it currently.

I'd also like some input from people on this forum about what issues you have with electrical testing. What doesn't work for you? What's annoying? What could save time etc. I'm well aware that there are software packages out there already such as EasyCert - Does anyone currently use this? If you do and have problems with it or improvements I would be very interested in hearing back from you.

____________________________________________________________________


If you're interested in me contacting you, please leave a message here and I'll get back to you. I am located in Hampshire/Berkshire during the summer holidays but in Wales (Ceredigion) during term time, so it may have to be via phone/email conversation. When I have developed the software to do what I want, I would be willing to give it to the volunteers for free - no charge or catch with this. The only thing I would ask for back is some feedback so you could become my 'user testers' for my final year project.


_____________________________________________________________________



If anyone has any objections or questions don't hesitate to post a reply.

Many thanks for your time all

James




Note - Would it be possible to put down an email address or company name/contact info for you so when I write it up in my project it looks professional.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I personally record all testing results on a cert by hand, then once a week whilst back at home enter all the details into Easy cert. I suppose its a little extra work but looks neat.

There are for me a few things with the software I use that bug me. If you could develop a program though that had things that other didn't you make a mint mate.
 
David - what things bug you with Easy Cert? Is easycert not designed to be entered in directly? I guess you just write things down onto paper because it's easy there and then.

I know I could make money off of it, but I'm not really focusing on that part of it right now! I want to get a decent grade for it overall.




Also - I would look into developing the application to run on multiple platforms/computers. So say you had a tablet/iPad it could run on that too. It's just an idea across platforms right now but it's in the pipeline.

I wanted to create something useful and practical for my project rather than a 'game' which will never be used after my degree is completed




Cheers for the reply though
 
I record results on a work sheet and write up the certificate at home.

Implement it in Java and design/test for J2ME the we can all use it on our smartphone! Bit of xml schema for the data model, store it in xml, sorted!

Bit of research on interfacing with the testers. Megger 1553 uses bluetooth, for example.
 
Cheers topquark,

I haven't decided what language to implement it in yet. I have to analyse the pros/cons between using different ones.

The main two at the moment are Java and C# - but I have to argue my case in my project for what one I would use.



Java developing for Android is extremely easy, I'm not sure what the .NET frame work is looking like at present with compatibility that's all.

Thanks for your input I appreciate it
 
Also - would you be able to provide your email address or a bit more about your company so I can gather a bit more information for the 'users' section of my project? I'd need something like this:

Company name:
Company office address:
Email: (optional)

That way I can write up a page about how you individually use things at present - if you could go more in depth then that's great. But I do appreciate you may not wish to post your contact details online.


If you wouldn't mind - private message me with any of the details if you're up for helping.

Cheers again all.

James
 
I use an A4 pad, my handwriting is pretty bad so I get my wife to write out certs because I'm a tightwad
 
So would an application where you put it in the values directly on your laptop instead of writing things down - then generates the filled out template for you be a good idea?

Obviously the template would look professional - you could always edit it yourself to make it look better/style it yourself with your company logo.

I think what I'll end up doing is looking at Easy Certs trial and having a look at that.

If there is any little quirk you'd like to see in something like this, or something that would benefit you as strange as it might be. Please let me know.

If anyone is interested in me contacting them a bit more - email me at: [email protected] - I would offer up the program for free when it is completed. But this is limited to a few people as I can't cope with having too many for now.

Chers
 
If its domestic, i.e. clean i take my laptop and enter the details directly on site. If its commercial i may do the same unless i have limited time for access to circuits, in which case i use a simple clipboard and pen and key in the data at home. If its industrial i have a plastic bag over the tester and have to use pen and paper as any electronic device would get mullered with the *hit places i get myself into.
They say where theres muck theres brass....... mmmm
 
all i do is testing, i have a laptop where i can enter info in the field but i prefer to hand write everything first, i like to make little notes, draw little pictures etc. ive done it that way for 8 years and it works for me.
 
i just grab owt to hand...bit of paper...cardboard...owt....copy it down neat later...both my MFTs have the ability to download....never used it though...the download facility that is....
 
I use pen and paper onsite and enter the data at home.
I wouldn't want the worry of damaging a laptop for the sake of a few minutes at home in front of the pc with a coffee and a smoke.

Possibly I would consider using a small cheap and cheerful tablet but I think that it would be more hassle than its worth given the limitations of a small touchscreen device.

I've actually just bought one for storing my reference material on and using as a diary etc.
It hasn't arrived yet so I cant comment on how easy it would be to use with such software.
My intention is to try and use it for filling in certs with existing free software but I'm pretty sure the device will show it's limitations fairly quickly.
 
When testing,I capture the data with the Biro tool
The insertion method for the Biro tool is pretty good,although presentation quality is dependant, to a large extent,on the speed the biro tool is operated

It does not, however, have a back up,if the ink cartridges runs out,it means a completely new Biro tool

The Biro tool can also be easily and quickly stored on a computer (as long as there is a ledge to stop it falling off)
Many have tried to improve its function,but none have succeeded
 
Ease of use and simplicity should be the fundamental musts of any on-site testing software. It is the preoccupation of possible copyright and licensing infringements together with the obsession of dropdown lists, little warning boxes that pop up every time the software does not like a data entry which hampers most if not all testing software. We don’t need to know the life story of a particular item every time the curser hovers over it. It should be all about speed of data entry and the ease of transfer from the mobile device on site to the computer in the office. The mobile device does not need to validated the data since that should be done by another person anyway unless you’re a sole trader of course. The ability to copy and past entire lines of data would be extremely useful as a lot of information is repetitive. Into the circuit description box one should be able to enter several lines of information if required. Limiting the box to lets say 15 characters like in AMTEC is just hopeless.
You crack all the points raised above and I want to be your manager. This time next year we will be millionaires.
 
all i do is testing, i have a laptop where i can enter info in the field but i prefer to hand write everything first, i like to make little notes, draw little pictures etc. ive done it that way for 8 years and it works for me.

Yep I agree as I said I fill in my quick checksheet ie fill the boxes in then back home with a beer to do the docs. Also a lot of techies thinks that a laptop on site is the biz but to be honest you have enough gear to lug about with you the last thing you need is a laptop that you could drop and smash or get it stolen plus how long would it last exposed to site conditions ?
 
I might just be being daft here, certainly wouldn't be the first or last time, but what is preventing the use of existing office software and a lappy for this purpose?
Just an extension of des56's method.

Why the need for expensive 3rd party software in the first place?
 

Reply to Electrical Testing in the field in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock