HP 50g for Seismic

[lawnrevenge]

I just signed up for the EET seismic review (on demand)  I used their books my last go round and didn't get in the study time I needed.  Kids, work, side work, home repairs and all sorts of excuses lead to that.  This way I am forcing myself to study and do assignments to practice.  Based on the reviews I've seen I should have no problem this time.

I used the HP 50 to pass the Survey Exam on the first try.  I used some free cogo software that I found online and finished the exam in 1.5 hrs,  I'd be absolutely amazed if I didn't get a perfect score on the exam.  I spent no time studying, I did some practice LSIT problems and felt very comfortable.  Survey is more background.  Once I get my PE I'll be taking my LS.  Seismic is a different story.  I've failed it 3 times now.  I thought this time I might squeak by.  But didn't feel confident.  I rarely feel great after an exam, but realize that I need to hit this thing hard.

My question is this:  Has anyone taken the time to program their HP 48,39 or 50 calculator for seismic?  Was it worth it?  What did you load/program?  I realize having failed the exam 3 times now that time management is a huge part of the exam.  If not, what other things did you do to help be successful?

 

[ptatohed]

I love Surveying and I struggled with Seismic, just like you.  I can tell you right now not to bother with any Seismic calculator programs (are there even any?).  Only basic calculations are needed on the exam.  You'd be better off spending the time you would have spent programing (hours!), studying.  With that said, I also would have told you the same thing about Surveying too (don't bother with the calculator programming), but you seem to have found the programmed calculator useful for Survey.  I did the whole hours and hours of programing my HP33s with Survey programs but never even used it during the exam (only basic operations are needed to pass the exam).  It helped with some HW practice problems (like calculating the area within a 4+ sided traverse of known coordinates) but all the questions on the exam were easily handled with basic calculator functions.  I would recommend to anyone to skip the programming for either exam.  So, with all that said, if there would be any benefit to programming at all, it'd be for Survey, not Seismic.  So, my advice is to skip it and just jump in my friend, study hard, learn how all the equations work, where to find them, how to use the tables, etc., etc.  Good luck.

 

[lawnrevenge]

Not needing software was my feeling before but after 3 fails I figure I need to shake up what I'm doing and start asking different questions.  First attempt was with bad references, borrowed out of date books.  Second attempt had the right books but focused more on 8 hr than Seismic and didn't do enough prep.  3rd attempt I didn't give it the time I needed for the excuses stated above, literally didn't start studying until a week or two before the exam.  So now, I take the review, do the homework, and get this thing done.

The software I used was called cogo50,  it was a free download.  I wouldn't recommend buying software for survey, or programming the 33 or 35.  I did that for the FE, agree it was a waste of time.  The cogo software saved me plenty of time and I'd recommend it to anyone who needs to pass survey since there is no programming involved.  Just make sure to use it enough to feel comfortable before the exam.

 

[ptatohed]

I respectfully disagree agree that a coordinate geometry calculator program is any faster than simply knowing how to use all useful Survey formulas.  But if it helped you, then cool. 

Regarding Seismic, I don't think you have done anything wrong other than not dedicated the required time.  I think you know what to do.  Hopefully this time you'll have the time to dedicate and I am confident you'll get it.  My last exam was the CA-Seismic too.  It will be a great feeling when you pass it.   

 

[JunZ]

I took EET seismic on Demand, and I passed the test on my first try.  don't waste your time to find a program for seismic, and I think there is no such thing.  EET cheat sheet is actually a good start, and I added more stuff on EET cheat sheet when I was reviewing seismic test.  In addition, The timed practice is also good, and I repeated twice as suggested. 

 

[lawnrevenge]

Thanks I've started to go through the book and my boss is letting me study in the office a few nights a week before I go home. I think that will be a huge help. Love my kids, but studying around a two and three year old is nearly impossible. Hated having to wait until after bed time to study.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[lawnrevenge]

I will begin the on demand webinars next week at the end of the day.

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[younggrasshopper]

I just signed up for the EET seismic review (on demand)  I used their books my last go round and didn't get in the study time I needed.  Kids, work, side work, home repairs and all sorts of excuses lead to that.  This way I am forcing myself to study and do assignments to practice.  Based on the reviews I've seen I should have no problem this time.

I used the HP 50 to pass the Survey Exam on the first try.  I used some free cogo software that I found online and finished the exam in 1.5 hrs,  I'd be absolutely amazed if I didn't get a perfect score on the exam.  I spent no time studying, I did some practice LSIT problems and felt very comfortable.  Survey is more background.  Once I get my PE I'll be taking my LS.  Seismic is a different story.  I've failed it 3 times now.  I thought this time I might squeak by.  But didn't feel confident.  I rarely feel great after an exam, but realize that I need to hit this thing hard.

My question is this:  Has anyone taken the time to program their HP 48,39 or 50 calculator for seismic?  Was it worth it?  What did you load/program?  I realize having failed the exam 3 times now that time management is a huge part of the exam.  If not, what other things did you do to help be successful?

What was the free cogo software that you used and where did you get it? I have an HP49g I'd like to use for the exam.

 

[younggrasshopper]

What was the free cogo software that you used and where did you get it? I have an HP49g I'd like to use for the exam.

My bad! Just read through the other messages. Good luck to all studying for the California exams!

 

[lawnrevenge]

No worries.  Good luck.  Just remember, if you're going to use the cogo software be well practiced in it or you will waste your time.  I used the software at work long before I took the exam so it came naturally to me.

 

[ptatohed]

So, lr, cogo aside, how is the HP-50g?  How do you like it?  How does it compare to, say, the TI-89?  And not to get into an RPN vs Algebraic debate, how is it in Algebraic mode?