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Michael Leavitt & Co Inspections, Inc. |
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MONDAY MORNING MESSENGER |
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Message prepared especially for Members of the American Institute of Inspectors® as well as Home Inspectors abroad |
July 1, 2002 GOOOOOD MORNING, A.I.I.....
It's a great day here in Orem, Utah! The international sports fan could hear my screams of joy as Brasil beat Germany in the World Cup yesterday morning in the early AM hours. Brasil is where I spent two years as a missionary back in the 80's and I have kept a fond place for them in my heart ever since. The photo is the shirt that I have been wearing for a couple of weeks now. Of course we were disappointed when the USA was knocked out, but it was nice to still have a good team to root for when the USA was ousted from the event. For the most part, the victory for Brasil will go unnoticed here in the states, but around the rest of the globe there will be 4 more years to think about it. The World Cup truly is a world event. Compare that with our World Series of which we don't let the rest of the world participate....... Odd huh?
I hope that all of you have a great day and are able to spend some good family time this Thursday for the 4th of July. We have our day planned starting with the 6am annual Freedom Festival Balloon Fest in Provo, Utah. Our kids love it and would not miss it for anything. It is one of the biggest gatherings of hot air balloons in the USA. Let me know what your 4th of July traditions include.
CANNON ELPH S200 UNDERWATER CASE REVIEW
Last week I promised you a test drive review of the luxury accessory for the Cannon Elph S200. 
The item is the underwater case that allows use either underwater or in dusty environments. I have to tell you that when it arrived I was ready to clear the schedule and take an immediate cruise to the Caribbean and test it out snorkeling on a reef. Since that was not possible, I took it along with the kids to the Pleasant Grove community pool. If it could hold up to the abuse of the heavily chlorinated water and the excitement of the water slide, then it could hold up to just about anything.
I read the directions and marveled at the technology employed in constructing the case. Not only does it have to be waterproof, but every button and feature has to have a corresponding oversized controller outside the case. Each of these also has to have special water tight fittings to prevent any moisture from entering the case. The small camera dropped into the housing and after silicone lubing the door seal ring, I latched the case tightly closed.
A fearful feeling came over me as I walked into the pool water with a very expensive electronic item that if any moisture entered would render it useless for photographic use. I set the camara on the surface of the water and then submerged it while crossing my fingers that it would come back up unharmed. I was relieved when no water entered the case. The camera works very well above the water and even when water is splashing on the case the action photos are perfect. There is no photo quality difference above the water with or without the case unless a water droplet remains on the lens covering.
I splashed in the water with the kids and took advantage of the large tether that secured it to my wrist. I experimented with lots of shots and then turned the camera to video mode. I was wondering whether or not the audio portion of the camera would work when the camera was inside the case. 
To 
test it I took it on the water slide with little Aaron on my lap and the camera held out facing us in my left hand. All the way down we were screaming and hooting. I was surprised to hear our voices clearly on the playback. Underwater the sound is mumbled, but above the water the sound is clear.
I was also intrigued by the flash. How well would this feature work underwater and what about the double lens prism effect that would occur with the plastic case covering the actual flash? Cannon devised a light diffuser on the case for use in close ups. In the photo it is the milky white plastic piece attached to the black cord on the right side of the photo. The flash worked great and I will take this unit into the next crawl space and see how it works there as well. Fortunately for me, I had no crawl spaces to inspect last week....... I can hear all of you saying in unison "What a shame!"
So is the underwater accessory worth the money? All that I can say is that I really have enjoyed taking pictures underwater. This item will come in handy wakeboarding, snorkeling, skiing or just walking down the street every time I visit Portland, Oregon. 
The drawback is that it makes the camera a much larger camera. This defeats the purpose of selecting the model that I did. It is also useless for any other model camera made. That makes me wonder what will happen a year from now when the unit dies and I go back to the store to take advantage of the extended warranty. 
When the man tells me that this model is not available anymore and that they will upgrade me to the next generation for free, instead of being overwhelmed with joy you will hear me moaning "BUMMER!" Since I have invested in all of the accessories I guess that I will be scouring Ebay as time goes on to pick up used models. Until then, I will be enjoying the water sports and snapping photos as I go. If you also love watersports, then write the check and get the underwater case for whichever model camera you are purchasing. Only a few manufacturers make them and only for a few of the models. Expect to invest between $150 and $400 for the case alone. The camera is not included.
SPIDER BITES
I have never been bitten by a spider in a crawl space that I know of but there are all of the good ones here in SC. We see Black Widows and Brown Recluse spiders on a fairly regular basis in certain parts of our city. Typically all of the spiders run for cover but I did have one that "threatened me" the other day! He was pretty small but was waving his legs at me as though he wanted to fight! I was going to let him live because of his toughness but my client killed him. We do have the Wolf spider here (the State spider) that is pretty aggressive but not poisonous. Keep your eyes peeled.....there everywhere!! Jim Maass - Columbia, SC
About 5 years ago, I was bitten by a spider, what probably was a brown recluse.
I had just finished a crawl space inspection and while under the house I did notice a slight prick on my chest. After I got home, I noticed that my left breast was swollen, and by dinner time it was distended and about 3 times it's normal size. Red and extremely tender, I had to retire to bed for the pain was extreme.
In the morning, it had subsided to a degree, but for about a week, the breast was enlarged, and to this day, I have a small scare in the "bite" area. Even as I am typing this, I can feel a discomfort in the area of the scar.
Never went to the doctor, but was giving some antihistamines by my wife for the discomfort, along with aspirin. Ken Ives - Sacramento, CA
PHOTO CHALLENGE #109 FEEDBACK
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It looks like the GFCI grounds are linked, I've never seen anything like that before. Jim Maass - Columbia, SC
It appears that a neutral wire is attached to the ground buss bar on the right hand side. Also the neutral buss on the left has no conductor connected to it going back to the main panel. Eric Smith - Corvallis OR
Looks like some double lugging on the right side, hot and neutral on the same breaker?! There are neutral wires on the bus at the left, is that actually attached to the neutral at top right?
Appears to be a ground wire attached to the grounding bus at the bottom right, but there are also neutral wires attached. Recommend Licensed Electrician inspect and evaluate panel configuration. Jim Archer - Florence, OR
No main disconnect, takes more that 6 moves to completely shut down electricity? Bob Eckert - Elburn, IL
It looks like the neutral from the two pole circuit breaker on the upper right side is on the grounding bar and not on the neutral bar. Roy Steffen - Willits, CA
If this is a sub the neutral and ground should not be bonded together. The 2 green bonding screws should be removed from the neutral bus. Also the white neutral wire should not be hooked to the ground bus. Richard C. Iverson - Newport, OR
Looks like the neutral wire for the top breaker is connected to the ground bar, and (it is difficult to see, but) it looks like the grounding wire for that line is balled up in the corner. JD Johnson - Decatur, GA
The 30amp/240volt circuit originating at the top right breaker includes an insulated "neutral" conductor that is connected to the equipment ground bar, rather than the neutral. The equipment ground for the circuit has been cut.
Next up, this appears to be a subpanel with its own grounding electrode conductor. The grounding electrode conductor shouldn't be originating here.
Looks like one of those jobs that Michael Leavitt must have wired up... Douglas Hansen - Perfect Palo Alto, CA
RESPONSE FROM LEAVITT - The abuse from Douglas is a regular occurrence. I can't wait to see him use me as his whipping boy during his A.I.I. Portland 2002 Annual Meeting electrical presentations. Maybe I'll just hide in my room with Shelly instead of taking my lashings like a man. The toughest part about disagreeing with Mr. Hansen is that the majority of the time he is right on the money with his electrical assessments.
DIGITAL CAMERAS - A NECESSITY CONTINUEDI take my camera with me everywhere in the home; although I lean when I walk as the batteries weigh me down terribly! I keep the camera on my belt and use it often.(Just joking Michael...no flaming arrows!) I am using the NiMH batteries instead of the nicad as they last longer. My camera is the Kodak DC-5000 which is designed for wet, dusty areas and is armor coated to protect the unit. It is heavy but I take mine in 2 crawl spaces a day and haven't had a problem yet! Jim Maass - Columbia, SC
I have been taking my digital elf in attics and crawlspaces. Yesterday I had to replace it because the lense bound up due to all the fine particles that collect in my pockets ( coverall pockets ). If you take your camera into those areas, you must somehow keep it sealed. The man at the camera store told me that there was no sure way, other than a baggie. Cannon has a all-weather cover that is good to 3 fathoms if you are inspecting ship wrecks or very wet crawlspaces. In any event, it is not an easy task to keep any digital free of fine particles, which is thier worst enemy. Reggie Ayres - Medford, OR
I now have mine surgically attached! Actually, 5 miles from a job that was 35 miles away, I realized it was in the office. So, I hit reverse, went back and was glad I did. There were lots of interesting and reportable items, and the visual aspect of the report was worth the additional gas. Mine is part of my "stuff", always with me and ready to go."
Thanks Michael for the timely article. My Sony "brick died and they want $135 plus S&H to send it in. I got a temporary and will look this information over before finally selecting a new one.
PS.Michael, since most of the critters I see in crawl spaces are dead, I may not need the audio/video feature. Is there a model that does everything without that? Jim Archer - Florence, OR
Jim: The intent of the article was not to get all of you to purchase the Cannon Elph S200. Instead, it should have made you stop and consider items that you may not have given any previous thought to before laying down the large amount of hard-earned green stuff. I would recommend that you visit a few different camera houses and test the units out. Ask the questions that I brought up last week. Then ask the AII Hotline readers before you buy to see if there are any opinions of praise or complaint. Then give them the moolah and move on down the road. Don't just pick up a camera because it is the cheapest or a close-out deal. Investing in a digital camera is a professional business decision and not a casual consumer decision. And remember that whatever model you purchase will be an item that you will be using hundreds of times a day for the next year or so. May you choose wisely, my friend. Michael Leavitt - Orem, Utah
My digital camera goes with me on all inspections and every place I inspect. A picture is worth a thousand words has proved itself many times in my inspection report. I document each inspection with about forty pictures although only an average of ten make the report the others are for my archive. John Rebenstorff - Orangevale, CA
Recently purchased Minolta Dimage. 2 meg pixel, 1.5" lcd, 3x opt zoom, metal case. It has no external moving lens, instead uses an internal mirror system to accomplish the 3x zoom. It is even a little smaller than the Cannon S200 which I also considered and easily fits in your shirt pocket (a little smaller than a pack of cards). The Minolta takes great pictures, has a built in electronic lens cap and battery life is good. The price is 399.00 Bob Wood - Oregon City, OR
I had heard of inspectors that take sixty or more shots on every inspection, so I thought I'd try it. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, probably because I have never taken more that five photos on any single inspection. It was a valuable experience for me and I recommend everyone that is not already doing this, Give It A Try!
Here is what I learned.
Steve Caldwell - Santa Cruz, CA
What a great challenge, Steve. I wonder how many inspectors reading this will have the fortitude to take you up on your challenge? Steve wants us to take 45 pictures of the home we inspect and see if it doesn't improve the thoroughness of our reports. Having done this many times myself, I can assure you that it will sharpen your skills. It changes the way you inspect. You will find yourself walking around the home taking a photo of each reportable condition. You will get to the point that you stop bothering with the data input for the exterior while you are standing in the heat or the rain. It will cut a half hour off your exterior time during the inspection, although you will use this time later as you complete the report. It can be a lifesaver when the outside weather is awful and you just want to get it over and safely inside the home. I also challenge you to take the "45 Picture Challenge" and look forward to your private e-mails relating your experiences with this challenge. If you take the challenge and respond, then we should have some excellent reading in the weeks to come!
I use a careful selected fanny pack that is the smallest that will easily carry my camera in its little black pouch. I carry the camera with me throughout the inspection. A little more trouble to use, but the comments from clients about the pictures in the reports make it worth while. As to any camera that you will use in a crawlspace (In my case about 75% of my inspections are crawlspaces, and 100% are dusty), I am suspicious of any camera that is not fitted with a lens dust cover. Secondly, are we not perhaps putting too much emphasis on a camera that will also work as a voice recorder? I see very little value in this myself. If you take a well positioned, comprehensive shot of the challenge, why do you need a "voice over"? Just wondering. Michael, would you share with us your routine from the time you insert your camera CF card into the main PC? I use the JASC "Aftershot" but have not fully mastered it. Ted Harris - Cove, Oregon
I will share my routine, Ted.
PHOTO EDITINGFirstly, I do not use the auto merging software and USB cable that come with my cameras. They are made for the casual user and we are professionals using professional equipment. I opt to remove the image file memory card and manually transfer my photos. I recommend this process to all of you. I remember a short time back trying to help an inspector on the phone transfer his files with the USB cable and included software. It was the tech support call from the dark side. The auto software would not allow it to do what he needed to do. It was more concerned with setting up a photo album on his computer. This was very frustrating because we are not creating family photo albums. We are creating inspection reports.
MEMORY CARD ADAPTOR - To do as I recommend you must first have a memory card reader for your computer that will work on your computer. Desktop users will opt for USB versions while laptop users may prefer PMCIA adaptor readers. 
Because I use multiple types of memory cards I could no longer use the simple PMCIA card reader. Instead, I have aquired a handy USB card adaptor called Dazzle. Dazzle runs $59.99 and I have found it to work flawlessly with all types of cards. It is the best of the best and more expensive than lesser models that work with only one or two types of memory cards. Dazzle is a 6-in-1 adaptor that allows me to use any of the 6 major memory cards. This was really important when I was using the CF cards as well as the Sony Memory Sticks. I no longer use the Sony since I upgraded my camera, but I now use the equally unique postage stamp size Secure Digital memory card with the 3800 series iPaq Pocket PC. If you invest in Dazzle, then you will not need to buy a second adaptor when you purchase a newer piece of technology.
With the card in the reader I open the File Explorer on my laptop. Next I open the folder with Explorer on the memory card and highlight all of the photos from one inspection. The concept that I use is to save all of the photos from each inspection in a separate folder on my hard drive. Then at the end of the month, I save the larger folder containing all of the folders from all of the inspections of the month onto a CD rom.
SETTING UP FOLDERS - So let's back up a bit. I first created a folder called "1 3D-PHOTOS" on my C drive. The reason that it has a one in front of it is so that it will be one of the first folders on my hard drive. This makes it easier to access. Then within this folder I create a folder called "OLD MONTHS" and another called "1 JANUARY 02." The number one makes it the first folder and the 02 distinguishes this years January from last. Next I create folders each day within the 1 JANUARY 02 folder. I name the inspection folder the same as the report name. For example, a report made today would be 70102A. The afternoon inspection would be 70102B. A late afternoon inspection would be 70102C.
CONFUSING FOLDER CONCEPT: Now let me confuse you just a bit more. As I first started creating the inspection folders it always bugged me that the folder I wanted was at the bottom of the list. Using the same concept of adding the 1 before the 1 JANUARY 02 folder I began using the alphabet in reverse to label my daily inspection report photo folders. Todays inspection folders will start with the letter Z. The folders Z70102A and Z70102B will then be followed with Y70202A and Y70202B. Since there are potentially 31 days in the month you could run out of letters unless you like to take weekends off. I have never had the challenge of using all of the 26 letters in a single month and I am grateful for it.
So to get back to the process, I cut and paste the photos from the memory card onto my hard drive in the appropriate folder. Within the same folder I create a final folder called USED. Let's review the hierarchy of this process.
C:\1-3D PHOTOS\JULY 02\Z70102A\USED
FIREHAND EMBER THUMBNAIL VIEWER - This sounds like a huge ordeal, but the process becomes second nature after the initial setup and with each new inspection I am really only creating 2 new folders. The cut and paste process from the memory card also clears it from the cards memory space.
Next comes the process that I believe you really wanted to understand, Ted. I think you want to know what I do as I am working within 3D. 3D will allow me to insert a photo and in the process click on a photo number and preview it before inserting it into the report.
What it does not allow me to do is look at a thumbnail sheet of all the photos that I took on the inspection. For this reason I use a second program in my reporting process called Firehand Ember. This gives me two running programs that I can easily toggle between from the lower taskbar on my screen.
Firehand Ember runs $34.95 and is available for download at http://www.firehand.com. You will want the extensions as well and that will set you back a total of about $70, but it is well worth it. I have reviewed Ember before here in the MMM and you can check the back issues for more details. It is the easiest program for what we do with photos and it works great as an editor and thumbnail viewer.
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So how many of these photos actually made it into the report? On this home about 30 of them were entered. Instead of using large 4"x6" images I insert little 2.5" wide images. On this home I also used a feature in 3D that allowed me to use image #s 111, 112, 113, and 119 all together at the same entry line because they all related with stucco water entry.
PHOTO EDITING - Using the 3D Inspection System Report Writing software it is easy to input photos into the reports. In the old days I used to use another software called PhotoDeluxe to modify my images. I used to have to do this before I put the pictures into the report. This took extra time. PhotoDeluxe is a brain dead version of the professional PhotoShop. Both products are from Adobe and both do a fine job. With the discovery of the Firehand Ember software I no longer need PhotoShop or PhotoDeluxe to produce inspection reports (although I still use them for producing advertising and website materials). Firehand Ember allows me the ability to crop, label, and resize photos for my reports.
3D DEFAULT PHOTO EDITOR SETTINGS - 3D installs into your machine using the Microsoft Paint as the default photo editor. This program is virtually worthless for our needs as inspectors, but it can do some fun stuff and every computer running Windows has it installed. This does not mean that you have to keep Paint as your default editor. To change it you must open the Report Writer. Next, open a report. Click on a text entry line and then go to import and image. Next click on the CONFIGURE and SET IMAGE IMPORT OPTIONS. When the selection screen comes up it will look like this.
From page 29 of the most recent 3D Report Writer Manual it says.......
Image Editor: If you have a preferred graphics editor program installed that you would prefer to use when using the “Edit Image” button, you may select it using the selection button to the right of this item. You will need to know the location of the executable file for that program, so you can navigate to it as needed.
The selection button that they are referring to is the button with 3 little dots to the right of the line that says c:\programfiles\accessories\mspaint. They conceal it to keep the rookie from getting in over their head. If you are going to change the photo image editing software you must first know where the .EXE file is located. Clicking on the 3 dot button will open a browser and you will need to search through to find your .EXE file. Since I use Firehand Ember I know that it is loaded into a folder in my Program Files Folder. So I sort through the C drive, find the Program Files Folder, then the Firehand folder, then the Ember folder and finally click on the .exe file. My photo editor link is this C:\Program Files\Firehand Technologies\Ember\Ember32.exe. Then I click okay and the settings are in place. NOTE: I also set my default photo size to 2.5 inches instead of the 2.0 that you see in the image above.
With Ember set as the default I now insert the desired image into the report. When I do this 3D takes the image file and adds it to its own folder. I reclick the insert image icon a second time while staying on the same line of the report. It now opens the 3D version of the image and not the original photo file on my hard drive. Next I click on the EDIT IMAGE button on the Import Image dialogue box. As a side note, you will notice that when you originally import a photo into 3D that this EDIT IMAGE button is grayed out and you cannot click on it with any results. The only time that this button is live is when you click the import image icon the second time on a line.
I would like for the 3D users to play with this feature of clicking the import image icon multiple times. You will see other options available to you on the second go round. Take for instance the grid feature. This allows you to place a lined grid over your image. You could then refer to the damage spot is grid 3A for example. The grid feature cannot be used when you first import the image because the first time around you are dealing with your original photo image file. The second time around you are dealing with the 3D version of the same image. Mess around with the grid density option using numbers 0 to 9. This changes the size of the grid from four boxes to hundreds of grid boxes. The second time around you can also click the REMOVE button to remove the image altogether. This is commonly used when you import the wrong image.
I strayed from my original thought (but hopefully the added thoughts were helpful), and that is to click on the EDIT IMAGE icon the second time around. This will take the image and open it up in whatever software you have set as your default image editor. With Firehand Ember I can easily crop, resize, and/or label right on the picture. Once it looks like I want it to, then I can save it into 3D right there. Please remember that these changes are being made to the 3D image and not the original. This also saves your hide if you botch the 3D image file. In the event of a mistake, you can delete the image and go through the process all over again. I like the fact that I am not messing with the original file because I am prone to occasionally botching the job.
USED FOLDER - I take a lot of photos and I used to have difficulty sorting through 60 photos and knowing which photos I had already either used or referred to in the report. From the Firehand Ember thumbnail view I easily take the used photo and drag it into the used folder that resides within the inspection image folder. When all of the photos in the original folder have been moved, then I know that I am done. On inspections with 6 to 10 photos I don't bother to move them to a USED folder, but when the number is greater it makes my life easier.
BIT-O-HUMORMy brother Jimi passed along this bit of internet humor. The creator is unknown.
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Why are Texans so tough? |
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CANNON POWER SHOT ELPH S200After listening to me rave on and on about the Cannon Elph S200 would it be a camera that you would consider purchasing? Why/Why not?
Yeah but did you REALLY test it out?
I just bought my new digital to replace the Mavica I've used for 6 years. I went with the Cannon 300 because I like it's style, shape, heft and download. But how many people put their new cameras through a scorch test? Apparently I do.
My wife turned on a burner without moving silly little things like papers and cameras. She left the room, and voila! Smoke detectors are blaring and the camera case is burned and so is the camera. Three day old camera is shot!
Well, not exactly, its mostly stainless steel so once I realized that its still functional, I cleaned it up, found the buttons that popped loose and started steel wool'ing the whole thing down. It works, but it ain't pretty. My wife says it looks 'seasoned' now, as though I had been a reporter in some war-torn country.
That'll scare the bejezus out of my clients when I come out of the next crawlspace.
Peter Drenan - Virginia
Great story Peter. I wanted to take a portable hot plate into the store and try the “scorch test” on several models, but Circuit City wouldn’t let me plug in….. Go figure! Don’t you wish that you had the CompUSA replacement warranty? You could put it back on the burner until the thing had really melted down and then take it back in for a new one. Their policy is that they will exchange it on the spot. The small size of the Cannon Elph camera is really quite impressive. Michael Leavitt - Orem, Utah
The small size is great, and it has some nice features, but I think I would rather have at least a 3x optical zoom. I have a 28-85 zoom range on my 35mm SLR, and have found that I often use the full range. Sometimes its difficult or impossible to move closer or further away from the subject. I doubt I would use the movie effect, but I can see that it would be a nice feature to have for capturing "moments" of the kids. No single camera seems to have it all, so I guess we have to pick and choose the features we think are the ones that will be the most useful. I appreciate your writing about the different camera features. I'm getting close to buying a digital camera, so the info is all helpful in making an informed choice. Gary Holzbauer - Junction City, OR
I just bought one of the Canon 110 Digital Elph's on eBay. $300 incl S&P. I love it. Great photos, totally acceptable resolution, tiny, light. Just what I wanted. BTW, these are no longer being made. Always sumpthin. Mike Sterling
I was taking my Elph into crawlspaces and the telescoping lens got stuck. I had the Best Buy warranty and they replaced the entire camera. Since they no longer made the 110 any more, they gave me a 200 model. The buttons are a lot more intuitive. It is much easier to delete photos, and to move around. Plus I now have a short time video mode also. I love the little Elph. Larry Cerro - FL
I'm kinda interested in one of these (not out yet): Logitech Pocket Digital lets you capture the action anywhere and in style. It´s as small as a credit card, but don´t let that fool you. It has all the features you want: high resolution, plenty of memory, and easy downloading. It holds 52 images at 1.3 megapixels each, and AutobriteT technology helps to captures the details in bright lighting, so pictures are crisp. $129 retail. Walter Jowers - Nashville, TN
Walter: But it has NO flash. You've got to have a flash for the kinds of shots that we regularly take. For $129 it will get you just the type of photo you would expect. Kind of like the potential client who opts to go with the $129 inspector.:) I see how this could be great for outdoor or well lit indoor shots, but in the depths of a crawl it would be worthless. Details can be found at http://www.logitech.com Michael Leavitt - Orem, Utah
PHOTO CHALLENGE #110
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QUOTABLE QUOTE: "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential.... these are the keys that will unlock the door of personal excellence." Eddie Robinson |
HAVE A GREAT WEEK! Michael Leavitt & Co Inspections, Inc. The Most Qualified Inspector in Northern Utah! |
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