Poor man's cad

[g6udx]

I'm involved in an impoverished historical society that has a need for CAD. So far I've managed to gather the following items together (at minimal cost) to create a system.
A legit copy of Autocad 14, a Dell Dimension 3000 PC with 256M ram, an HP Designjet 650C HP A0 Plotter and a CTS Telepad A3 digitizer.
The prime purpose of this system will be to redraft/clean-up areas of old paper drawings that have been scanned (elsewhere) and raster to vector converted.
Can anyone give me any hints or tips on integrating these items.

 

[TCARPENTER1]

Hi g6udx,

Everything should be pretty straight forward, 14 plays fairly well with other kids - the only tricky part may be the OS, 14 is only certified through Windows2000 (I think) but post back with any specific troubles you may have and we'll try and help if you need it.

Good Luck
Todd

 

[g6udx]

Thanks for the feedback. Getting ACAD 14 working OK on top XP was a breeze. The next step is to sort out drivers etc. for the graphics tablet. Any suggestions?

Now looking for something to print the first restored drawings with. No need for color. I guess the trustees can find the cash for a cheapy Designjet on e-bay.

 

[TCARPENTER1]

Hi g6udx,

If CTS doesn't have a website where you can download drivers, you may have to use the generic drivers AutoCAD supplies. This can be hit or miss and you may find another manufacturer's drivers actually work for you.

Good luck, and if you can't find a printer/plotter - there's always Kinkos - most of them have an online plotting service if you need it.

HTH
Todd

 

[g6udx]

I think CTS disappeared years ago. I've got all the diagnostics which it passes just fine. According to the data i have it emulates a 18"x12" Summagraphics MM series tablet (alias SummaSketch-II Professional, 1812, MM1801).

Sadly the plotter we was originally promised turned out to be a real high milage clunker so the search goes on.

 

[atook]

I'll second Todd's recommendation for a plotting service. It may be cheaper than a plotter in the long and short run. Kinkos is an option of course; around here I actually send PDF or even PLT files to a local engineering reproduction shop. I found them much more reasonable than Kinkos. I'd recommend PDF files over PLT files because they are much more universal.