Make Your Work Faster and Easier with a Construction Calculator

If you are looking for a calculator to perform at top level in the industry the Construction Master Pro is the calculator for you! This construction calculator will help you in the field, in your office, or with school to complete many different tasks such as calculating estimates, bids, quotes, and plans. You can also use this construction calculator to perform all conventional math functions including fractions, decimals, area, and volume. This Advanced Construction-Math calculator will work in Feet, Inches and Fraction More great features include: a handy backspace key, memory storage keys, user set preferences, and paperless tape.

The Construction Master Pro Calculator was designed specifically for builders, general contractors, construction foremen or superintendents, carpenters, framing contractors, concrete/foundation contractors, remodelers and other construction pro's.

This construction calculator includes the following:
• Protective Hard Slide Cover
• Long-Life Batteries
• Easy-to-follow User's Guide
• Handy Pocket Reference Guide in English and Spanish
• English and Spanish CD-ROM with “How To” Video and User’s Guide
• Full One-Year Manufacturers Limited Warranty

If you are looking for a high quality, user friendly construction calculator the Construction Master Pro is the way to go!

National Surveyors Week 2009

Today marks the start of National Surveyor’s week 2009. This is a time for surveyors, schools and the general public to learn about surveying and the rich history behind this profession. Many people are unaware of how much surveying affects their life. Here in Virginia we have a rich history in land surveying including two famous surveyors you’re probably heard of before, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (pictured).

Here’s a few ideas for National Surveyor’s Week activities, help the boy scouts with their surveying merit badge, contact a local school and see if any teachers would be interested in a demonstration, host the viewing of a video about surveying… if you know of any other ideas please let me know.

Here at EngineerSupply.com every week is surveyor’s week, we keep learning more and more every week in order to better serve you. If you ever have questions about survey equipment and supplies please call us and we will help answer your questions.

For more information on what you can do this surveyor’s week visit: The National Society of Professional Surveyors.

Topo Maps in Google Earth?

It's true that Google Earth already contains high-resolution satellite data for many cities and even some non-urban areas. But, Google Earth doesn't have Topographic Overlays just yet. Don't worry! Topo Overlays in Google Earth are possible by using what are called "KML Overlays". What is a KML you ask? Read more about what KML files are on Google. Once you have an understanding of what a KML file is, try reading and downloading some free KML overlay files. One reference is The Map Room blog, and also the Google Earth Blog.

Once you have a KML file ready for use, launch Google Earth and "open" the KML file and it's fairly easy to get Topo overlay data. This works great for soil survey professionals, land surveyors, bankers, appraisers, or basically anyone that shops with us here at EngineerSupply.com that is wanting a quick USGS Topo Map type of topo to overlay on a Google Earth Map. Within minutes you should be viewing Topo Maps in Google Earth!

Rotary Laser Levels and Slope

When purchasing a Rotary Laser Level. One of the first questions you need to ask yourself is “Do I need a laser to do slope?” And if so, “Do I need it to do single slope or dual slope?”

First, Rotary Laser Levels have two different options for leveling the instrument before doing any work and they are: Manual or Automatic. Manual leveling is set by the operator with the help of bubble vials. Automatic leveling is preformed automatically by the laser unit itself. Most self-leveling lasers have a “self-leveling range” this is the range it can be out of level and still automatically adjust to level.

There are three different types of level that a laser level can do, level, single slope and dual slope. Level is pretty self-explanatory. Level can be used to put in anything like a drop ceiling, chair rail or concrete slab foundation. Single slope has one grade. Single slope is used for setting grade on things like stairs, landscapes, sidewalks and driveways. Dual slope is a little more complicated. Picture a drive way. Driveways are typically angled to allow water to run off the side. This prevents water from collecting on the driving surface. Now imagine that driveway is going down hill. So you have an angled drive way that is running down hill, that is “dual slope.” We have many different lasers, each can handle different slopes and specific criteria that customer’s need. Please feel free to browse our online selection and please contact EngineerSupply if you need any help selecting the best laser level to meet your needs.

Blueprint Storage Tube Boxes

The Manager 37 and Manager 25 are some of the best storage boxes we've seen for blueprint storage. The Manager 37, it's 37 inches deep which works great for drawings that are rolled up and are 36" long. This leaves one inch of extra space which is nice so you don't find yourself trying to push the top down and crinkle the ends of your rolled drawings. The Manager 25 is built the same way but is 25 inches deep, which works well with 24" long rolled drawings. Both the MGR37 and MGR25 both have a printed index grid on the lid so that you can write down which drawings are in which tubes, which saves time when looking for a stored drawing. All Managers are built using thick sturdy corrugated material (if you ever pick up a box and think "boy this sure is a heavy duty box", then this is what the Managers feel like). The interior partitions are removable so you can configure them any way you want to so that you can make the holes larger if you have rolls that are larger in diameter. AOS took customers feedback and then went onto start making two new products, the Manager 37-9 and Manager 25-9, both of which have 9 tubes which are larger (less tubes means larger holes). One more feature of the Manager is they can be easily stacked in a file storage closet or room.

Another GPS Idea for Saving Fuel

I know this is probably a far-fetched idea, but it's something I thought of that would also save fuel using GPS technology. If our automobiles had a way to send our vehicles location information while we're driving up to a system that records x, y, and z coordinates, it would only take a few weeks for our driving efforts to automatically and fully map the entire highway network in the USA. After the recording and mapping of all traveled highways x, y, and z coordinates (remember the z coordinate is the elevation), that information could then be used to help control our automobiles engines behavior. With a mapped system of coordinates and locations, the GPS system would be intelligent enough for our automobiles to "know" if a hill or stop was coming and allow for reduced number of cylinders and/or a rev limit on the engine that would help reduce speeds in anticipation of a stop or of a hill to climb. The system would help aid the automobile in saving fuel as well as avoiding accidents. Just think, your car would stop accelerating as you come to a stop light (you would still have control but your car would not allow you to accelerate towards a stop light. And, your car would start to decelerate longer than what most humans do as they wait to the last second to touch the brakes for a stop light). Increased safety and fuel savings, why not?

Saving Fuel using GPS-Controlled In-Car Stoplights

I have had an green idea that I think is maybe worth sharing with the world. With all the electricity our country wastes with stop lights at nearly every intersection, I had an idea of having GPS-controlled miniature stop lights that are on our automobiles dashboards. This would reduce the need for stoplights and the electricity they waste. Every car on the highway would have a miniature stop light on the dashboard. This miniature stop light would also have sound, voice or sound alerts such as "you're approaching an intersection, start slowing down now". Or, "The approaching stop light is now yellow". The in-car stop light would be controlled by GPS and mimic what our existing stop lights are now doing. Our highways would of course need to be mapped so the GPS maps would know where intersections exist. There's multiple benefits to this idea and a few kinks that would need to be worked out. Lights and sound would hopefully make more people alert and reduce accidents. Stop lights and the electricity needed to power them would no longer be necessary. Our automobiles electrical system would power the GPS stop light using DC current. The sensors that now sense our automobiles in an intersection would still be used, but maybe one day GPS units would also transmit our location to the traffic control system and software would control our in-car stoplights to help avoid any wasted fuel (how many times have you sat at a stop light and nobody was around!) with a more efficient means to control the flow of traffic using stop lights.