Power Line Systems, Inc. Fall 2015 Newsletter

Fall 2015 Newsletter

In this issue:

Version 14.00 Released!

We are now shipping Version 14.00 of all our programs. A summary of the most significant changes is included below. A complete change log will be included with any upgrade and the changes are documented in the new version 14.00 manuals.

Top PLS-CADD v14.00 Improvements

XY Structures: Structures may now be located by specifying their XY coordinates instead of stations along an alignment. XY based structures can coexist with station/alignment based structures (watch the video demonstration).

Virtual Profiles can display a 3D view oriented and scaled to look like a profile view along a temporary virtual alignment. This enables working in a profile like view in XY based structure projects without alignments. It also works well on LiDAR projects enabling display of a profile like perspective that isn't along a predefined alignment.
Added Inset Report View feature for display of tabular output from reports or external spreadsheets on a plan & profile sheet. Inset Report Views tied to PLS-CADD reports can be set to update automatically when new reports are generated or they can be static snapshots that do not change (watch the video).

Major Improvements to PLS-POLE

Added the Framing Manager which bundles together structure elements and insulators into reusable components. These components are stored in a new Framing Library (.frm file) which you manage with Components/Framing Manager. Click on the Framing Manager to the right for a video introduction.

Added File/New/Framing Wizard to make creating a new structure from a pre-existing framing trivial (see the video).

Major Improvements to TOWER and PLS-POLE

Added a Drafting menu with functionality similar to PLS-CADD's for creation of title pages, notes pages, drawing pages and appendix pages. These pages can contain annotation, external DXF and image attachments, inset structure views and report output (watch the video).
Added Inset Report View feature for display of tabular output from reports or external spreadsheets. Inset Report Views tied to TOWER and PLS-POLE reports can be set to update automatically when new reports are generated or they can be static snapshots that do not change (watch the video).
Added inset structure views which can be at any orientation (front, side, isometric, plan, etc.), showing all or part of the structure (e.g. section cuts), with your choice of member and joint labeling options.
Automatic creation of loading trees on the new drafting sheets.

Added the "Report Navigator" toolbar which allows you to quickly Goto, Table View, XML Export and Create an Inset Report View of the various tables in a report.

You can use Help/Download Upgrade to upgrade to version 14.00 today.

Classes and Events

Our thanks to all of you who joined us at 2015 PLS-CADD Advanced Training and User Group (ATUG) Meeting and ASCE/SEI conferences this year. Handouts from the 2015 ATUG have been posted.

We have scheduled the following classes:

Design of Transmission Lines, Structures and Foundations (Organized by the University of Wisconsin) November 9-13, 2015 Madison, Wisconsin (Check availability)
Computerized Transmission Line Design: PLS-CADD Hands-On Training (Organized by the University of Wisconsin) December 7-11, 2015 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida (Check availability)
Design of Overhead Transmission Lines using PLS-CADD (includes 32 PDHs), January 25-29, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin (Space still available)
Analysis and Design of Transmission Towers Using TOWER (includes 28 PDHs), April 19 - 22, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin (Space still available)

Other authorized classes organized by PLS agents and consultants:

PLS-CADD, PLS-POLE & TOWER Training, November 9-13, 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa (by Trans-Africa Projects)
Diseño de Líneas Aéreas de Transmisión con PLS-CADD (Conducted in Spanish), November 16-19, 2015 in Panama by Custom Engineering Solutions
TOWER Training and Structure Design (Conducted in English), November 20-21, 2015 in Panama by Custom Engineering Solutions
Design and Optimization of Overhead Transmission Lines using PLS-CADD and TOWER, March 12-17, 2016 in Sharjah, UAE (by Elias Ghannoum)

New classes are added throughout the year based on demand. You may subscribe to a mailing list to be notified whenever a new class is scheduled.

Web Site Additions

PLS-CADD XY Structures (distribution modeling example) video
Structure Drafting demonstration video
Introduction to the PLS-POLE Framing Manager video
PLS-POLE Framing Wizard with PLS-CADD/LITE video
Build PLS-POLE Models from iPhone Photos video
PLS-CADD/LITE for creating Sag-Tension reports video
Inset Report Views in PLS-CADD, PLS-POLE and TOWER video
Transamerican Power Poles has provided a pre-engineered steel pole component library.
McFarland Cascade has updated their laminated wood pole component library.
Nello has made their pre-engineered steel pole component library available.

Current Versions

The current shipping versions of our software are listed below. These versions support Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10 (both 32 and 64 bit). We recommend you run a 64 bit edition of Windows so that you may take advantage of the enormous investment we have made in the x64 Edition.

PLS-CADD	14.00	32 bit and x64 Editions
PLS-POLE	14.00	32 bit and x64 Editions
TOWER	14.00	32 bit and x64 Editions
SAPS	14.00	32 bit and x64 Editions
CAISSON	14.00	32 bit Edition Only

We strongly encourage you to upgrade to the current release of all the applications you own. To do so please use the Help/Download Upgrade command built into your PLS software and select the option "I need to request an upgrade code". This would also be a good time to use the Help/Check for Updated Manual command to obtain the version 14.00 edition of the manuals. As always, we welcome your suggestions and comments on our software.

Staff of Power Line Systems, Inc.