To date, 1998 has been a successful and productive year here at Power Line Systems. Sales of PLS-CADD and our structure programs are strong. As always, we continually improve our software. So far this year, we have concentrated our efforts on PLS-CADD and SAPS. These efforts have resulted in hundreds of improvements, the most notable of which are discussed below.
PLS-CADD now has the capability to export its 3D line model to SAGSEC, our multi-span sag-tension program. This process takes only a few mouse clicks and results in a model that is immediately ready to run. SAGSEC does not use the ruling span approximation and thus can show the differences between actual sags and those that would be predicted by ruling span. In some cases these differences can be substantial. The integration of SAGSEC and PLS-CADD takes multi-span sag-tension from the realms of the PhD to your desk.
PLS-CADD can also export its 3D line model to SAPS, our general finite element analysis program. SAPS models a system of structures, insulators and conductors via finite element analysis. SAPS automatically uses the finite element model of the structures when it is available. With this model, you can analyze flexible structures, broken conductors and other situations. While a user of SAPS has always had this power, the link slashes the time required to create the model from days to seconds and reduces the chance of errors.
Another major improvement to PLS-CADD is that it now accepts both true station and equation station input. This particularly benefits clients digitizing scanned plan and profile sheets with numerous station equations.
Finally, we have created an interactive tour of PLS-CADD. This will be of interest to both potential and existing clients. Some of our most experienced users have admitted learning about features they never knew existed by viewing this tour. It will be particularly informative for clients who are still running the 16 bit versions of PLS-CADD (any version less than 4.x). The tour may be downloaded from our web site: http://www.powline.com/forms/cadddemo.html
The current shipping versions of our software are as follows:
If you are interested in obtaining an updated version, please send us email at info@powline.com.
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of our new clients to the PLS community. We look forward to working with you and as always, we welcome your comments and suggestions.
Best Regards,
Staff of Power Line Systems, Inc.
