5400 King James Way, Suite 300 Madison, WI 53719, U.S.A. Phone: (608) 238-2171, Fax: (608) 238-9241 Email: info@powerlinesystems.com
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Power Line Systems November 2005 Newsletter

In this issue:

1. Introduction
2. Recent Progress
3. Upcoming Training Sessions and Trade Shows
4. Web Site Additions and Revisions
5. Current Versions

Introduction

Major changes have taken place here at Power Line Systems recently. We have grown and moved. Many of you know Steven Weber, formerly of TranSource, and that we've had a long-time association with him for technical support, marketing and training.  He now joins us here in Madison as our new VP of Operations, leaving behind his engineering consulting business.  Steve will help us support an ever increasing number of clients as well as conduct classes in our new training center.  This leads to the second major announcement.  We have moved to a new office that features an attached training center. We plan on offering basic training as well as advanced classes here starting in the second half of 2006.  More announcements regarding classes will be made in a future newsletter. 

Our new address is:

     Power Line Systems, Inc.
     610 N. Whitney Way
     Suite 160
     Madison, WI 53705

The company phone and fax numbers have not changed.  Packages or other express items should be shipped to this new address.  You may continue addressing regular business correspondence to us at the 918 University Bay Dr. address.

Recent Progress

Version 7.50 of PLS-CADD, PLS-POLE, and TOWER has been released. Some of the improvements include:

• Added new graphical annotation commands and Annotation Toolbar to PLS-CADD, PLS-CADD/LITE, PLS-POLE and TOWER.
• Vastly improved graphical section selection for all section commands in PLS-CADD and improved graphical clearance commands that snap to wire.
• Criteria/Structure Loads support for Russia 7th Edition, Statnett (Norway) and ASCE 74-2006
• As promised in the August Newsletter, PLS-CADD now joins TOWER and PLS-POLE in having the View/Edit Customizations/Custom Toolbar command and the Project Repair Wizard.
• Terrain/Clearance Line now has the capability to display clearance lines for multiple weather cases and voltages.
• Added an additional metric unit system: SI (N force) to PLS-CADD.

We are considering several additions to PLS-POLE and TOWER including: laminated wood pole element, composite fiber pole element, Canadian S37 and BS8100 telecommunications codes. If you are interested in any of these topics please send email to info@powline.com with your comments, as strong user interest is what drives the development of new features.

Training Sessions and Trade Shows

The next class in the U.S. will be in Springfield, Missouri the week of January 9. This class will have an emphasis on working with LiDAR data in PLS-CADD.

A full list of upcoming classes and events is given below:

• Design and Optimization of Overhead Transmission Lines using PLS-CADD and TOWER, December 3-7, 2005 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• PLS-CADD Hands-On Training January 9-13, 2006 in Springfield, Missouri (Registration Form)
• Design of Transmission Line Structures and Foundations March 6-10, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Computerized Transmission Line Design: PLS-CADD Hands-On Training March 20-24, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada
• Please visit our booth (#2040) at the 2005-2006 IEEE/PES Transmission & Distribution Conference and Exposition in Dallas, May 21-26, 2005.
• Mark your calendar for the Structural Engineering Institute ASCE Electrical Transmission Conference October 15-19, 2006, in Birmingham, Alabama. You'll not want to miss this outstanding technical conference. Power Line Systems will be attending and exhibiting at this conference.
• As we have for the last fifteen years, we will have a booth at the CIGRE Exposition in Paris, France starting August 28, 2006

Web Site Revisions and Additions

Please note that during November we shifted to new Web servers and any bookmarks you may have had to files in our Online Library may have changed.

Other web site updates:

• Technical Note: Using ANSI/TIA 222-G in TOWER and PLS-POLE
• Technical Note: the TOWER crossing diagonal check has been updated to include additional codes and improved explanation of double angles.
• Valmont Newmark has updated their standard wood equivalent SW pole component file. New Steel Pole Property Label and Stock Number reflect the fact that multi-piece SW poles are not limited to galvanized poles. They can be either galvanized or weathering steel poles.
• Updated TOWER Spanish language user interface files are available for download with the Help/Download Alternate Language command.
• The October 2005 edition of the PLS-POLE manual can be downloaded using the Help/Check for Updated Manual command in PLS-POLE.

Current Versions

The current shipping versions of our software are listed below.

We strongly encourage you to upgrade to the current release of all the applications you own. To do so please send us email at info@powline.com or use the Help/Download Upgrade command. This would also be a good time to use the Help/Check for Updated Manual command to make sure you have the latest version of the manuals. As always, we welcome your suggestions and comments on our software.

Staff of Power Line Systems, Inc.