O-Calc© Pro 7.0.1
Release Version: 7.0.1.5
Release Date: September 17, 2024
Confidential Document – Copyright © 2024, Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. O-Calc® is a registered trademark of Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. All rights reserved.
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About Release Notes
This document is intended to present a summary of changes since the previously released version of O-Calc Pro (version 7.0.0). It identifies new features and functions as well as changes to existing features and functions. It alerts users to changes that may alter the use of the product and may require particular attention or specific actions.
For details about changed features and functions, users are referred to the O-Calc Pro User Guide and O-Calc Pro Line Design Guide within the Help menu and other documentation available at our O-Calc Pro Wiki and O-Calc Pro Video sites.
New/Updated Features
· Digital Measurement Technology
One of the unique aspects of the O-Calc Pro application is the fully integrated Digital Measurement Technology feature. The O-Calc Pro application allows for embedding a calibrated digital image into your pole model and making measurements directly from this image that get applied to the pole model directly. Besides being integrated into the O-Calc Pro software, there is also a standalone “DMT Tool” that enables making attachment height measurements. Both the embedded and standalone DMT Tool have three new features added:
1.) Ability to define and pre-load labels to the annotated images
2.) Configurable labels as they related to the units of measurements being used
3.) Ability to wholesale copy all the DMT labels and paste into other applications
· Option to Override Wind Drag Coefficient Values
The O-Calc Pro application closely matches various safety codes around the world, including the NESC, GO95, CSA, and AUS/NZ 7000 safety codes. Various parameters such as strength factors, load factors, and engineering coefficients are modeled based on these codes. Most of these parameters are locked so that standard O-Calc Pro users do not need to manager or update these values. It is strongly recommended that these values remain locked since it is not always easy for a standard O-Calc Pro user to understand the effects of making changes to these engineering values. Nonetheless, the O-Calc Pro application now has a new option “Override Auto Setting of Wind Drag Coefficient” that will enable the user to override wind drag coefficient values. By default, this override setting is off and the O-Calc Pro application will automatically adjust the Wind Drag Coefficient based on the shape of the equipment.
· Option to update Administrative Settings
There are three levels of O-Calc Pro users: Limited, Normal, Administrative. When in O-Calc Pro Administrative mode, there is a new option “Administrative Settings” that will enable an administrator user to make changes to various parameters associated with the underlying O-Calc Pro calculation. Currently there is a single parameter that can be adjusted within the “Administrative Settings”, the Default Pole Segment Length used for the Finite Element Analysis resolution. To learn more about how to set your user level to administrative mode, see the O-Calc Pro User Guide.
· Spacer Cable System Updates
Aerial Cable Systems (often referred to as ‘Hendrix Cabling’) has advantages over bare wire, tree wire, and underground primaries and continues to be a useful primary design of overhead covered conductors. O-Calc Pro has had the ability to model aerial spacer cabling systems for a number of years now. With this release of O-Calc Pro, we have enhanced the modeling of Spacer Cable Systems in the following two ways:
1.) The ability to model spacers on the Spacer Cable System, often spaced 30 ft apart.
2.) The ability to transition from an Aerial Cabling to traditional 3-phase crossarm construction.
· Ownership Setting Plugin
When performing a pole loading analysis, it is often necessary to identify who is the owner for each equipment, span, and anchor/guy component on the pole. This can be time consuming even for a
single pole, but very much so when modeling a Line Design of 10, 20, or more poles. The Bulk Owner Update plugin enables the user to populate the Owner field on just a few select pole model components, and the plugin will propagate the Owner field to all unset values within the assemble as well as other poles within a Line Design when the spans are properly linked. There is also a script that can be run on a single pole.
· Pole Validation Plugin
The Pole Validation plugin can be configured to run various validations on the pole models to ensure consistency. The types of validations that can be configured include: Groundline Circumference values based on length/class/species of pole, images are annotated, guy/anchor sharing between power and communication, general attribute value checking, among others. The plugin allows for the management of these various validations such as creating, naming, configuring, removing, and setting priority on the validations.
· Adjacent Pole Plugin
The Adjacent Pole plugin is a helpful plugin when working on a Line Design. The plugin creates a new window, called the Adjacent Pole window within the O-Calc Pro interface in which a pole can be loaded and displayed. The pole can be part of the existing Line Design that is currently being worked on or another pole from a PPLX file or a full pole template from a Catalog. Once the pole model is within the Adjacent Pole plugin’s window, the user has a dynamic 3D view of the pole, plus a list view of the elements and assemblies
· New Top and Schematic Report
A new standard O-Calc Pro report is available. This report will display both the O-Calc Pro ‘Top View’ and ‘Schematic View’ within a 1-page per pole report format. The report includes a header with information about the pole and when the report was generated. This report is useful for as part of a make ready engineering submission.
· O-Calc Pro Catalog Save Option
When modifying O-Calc Pro ‘User Catalogs’, there is now an option to save the changes directly at the request of the O-Calc Pro user. This Save button is found within the Main Items at the top of the Catalog window. O-Calc Pro will still automatically save the catalogs if they have been edited when the application is closed.
· Updated O-Calc Pro support website
The O-Calc Pro WIKI and Video pages have been an important part of the O-Calc Pro support for many years. The content of these pages has been updated and moved to a new location. The landing page for these two pages is located at: https://www.osmose.com/o-calc-pro
· Auto-Fix Span Rolls Option
The O-Calc Pro Line Design has a new option to Auto-Fix Span Rolls. When using the ‘Line Wizard’ or “Extend or Branch Line’ features within the Line Design, span rolls may be artificially introduced when as the line curves in one direction or another. There already exists a Line Design tool that a user can manually fix the span rolls by either fixing spans only or fixing spans and rotating crossarms. These manual tools can run on a single pole, the currently checked poles, or the entire Line Design. With the new ‘Auto-Fix Spans Rolls’ option checked; O-Calc Pro Line Design will attempt to automatically correct the spans rolls with proper crossarm rotations for all the new poles corrected in the network extension operation.
· Updated standard Master Catalog
The standard O-Calc Pro Master Catalog that ships with the software have been updated in several ways. The pre-built Assemblies folder has been rearranged and expanded. New types of spans (Tree Wire and Aerial Cable) have been included. And the Equipment folder has been expanded, among some other updates. If this is a new installation of the O-Calc Pro software, the new Master Catalog will be automatically installed. If you have an existing O-Calc Pro installation, as always, your Catalogs will not be updated. You can download the most up to date version of the Master Catalog at the following location: https://www.osmose.com/o-calc/catalogs
· Allow Pole Versioning within Line Design
The O-Calc Pro Line Design has an option called ‘Allow Pole Versions in Inventory’. When this option is checked, it will allow the user within the Inventory panel to select the Pole, right click, and New ‘Version of this Pole’. Just like in single pole modeling, it will create a “version” (copy) of the pole within the Inventory panel. The user can select the active version and make changes as necessary. Reports can be run on multiple versions and the calculations will be based on the active version. Note however, that the linking of spans between neighboring poles does not carry to the new pole version
Additional Features and Services
NOTE: The following new features are not part of the standard O-Calc Pro V7.0.1 release but is a separately purchased add-on to the application. This new product/service is directed towards electric/telecommunication utilities who currently have an O-Calc Pro system installation. To learn more about pricing for these additional features and services, please contact ocalc@osmose.com.
· LCI Plugin and PLDB
Osmose is proud to announce the O-Calc Pro option to store models within a Pole Loading Database (PLDB). This add-on to the O-Calc Pro system will enable utilities (electric and telecom) to effectively store their PPLX model files into a fully connected relational database and to view/edit these models either as a single pole or within an O-Calc Pro Line Design.
Storing your pole loading analysis models within a database has the benefit of keeping all the information within one place so that all your O-Calc Pro users have access to all models. The O-Calc Pro PLDB also stores the history of the pole models, so the utility knows who and when the model was last updated. This also gives the ability to revert to a previously saved model.
The O-Calc Pro PLDB also has a featured called the “Line Connectivity Index” (LCI). The LCI is a lightweight overview of the utilities network. It shows the geographic location of each pole and how these poles are interconnected within the utilities network system. This index of the full outside plant network enables users to quickly and accurately move the location within the network to start the work of pole loading analysis.
The features within the LCI Plugin enable the user to manage the index by adding/modifying poles and/or spans within the index. One also has the option to ‘lasso’ a subset of the index and load the Line Design within the O-Calc Pro interface for pole modeling. When loading a Line Design, the most recent version of each pole’s analysis will be loaded. Various types of pole information and layers can be displayed within the Line Connectivity Index view of the network.
· PLDB Utility
For those who purchase this optional component of the O-Calc Pro system, a database installation utility will be delivered that enables a SQL Server Database Administrator (DBA) to quickly install the PLDB with all the necessary SQL Server components used by the O-Calc Pro software. This utility will help the DBA to add/manage the authentication of the O-Calc Pro users who need access to the PLDB information without having to give explicit SQL credentials.
· PLDB Population Services
There are several different ways to have the Pole Loading Database (PLDB) initially populated with models of the service territory. These are services that can be contracted for the Osmose O-Calc Pro team to perform. This includes the import of existing PPLX single pole files and PPLLD Line Design files, fully connecting the models into the LCI view of the network. Another option is a Virtual Load Screen (VLS) in which information from a GIS and/or other systems are used to configure base-line pole models. The base-line pole models will be dependent on the information supplied as well as information based on the construction standards of the utility.
Defect Corrections
· Setting Depth Adjustment for Multipole Structures – span attachment heights as well as sag tension calculator display was not properly considering the setting depth of a pole that was part of Multipole Structure (H-Frame).
· Auto-Jumper not respecting True/False Flag – When creating a network extension within Line Design, the auto jumper feature was always creating the jumpers between insulators even if the create auto-jumper flag was set to ‘False’.
· Missing Insulator Summary Report – The Insulator summary report which is part of the ‘Insulator Tools’ plugin was missing from the pervious release.
· Multipole Structures not displaying Pole Conditions – The bending moment vs height chart was not properly displaying (removing capacity) when a Pole Condition was applied to one of the poles of a Multipole Structure.
Known Issues
· Standalone DMT Tool Application exception – When running the standalone DMT Tool application and the user attempts to Help -> About menu item, an unhandled exception occurs. Clicking the ‘Continue’ button will enable you to still use the standalone DMT Tool.