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Scott's hydrant numbering challenge is fascinating. Considered quite
a few options and rejected them but found one with some initial
appeal: <br>
<b><br>
</b>(For all lat/lon labels I assumed 1 meter accuracy so 6 decimals
on the lat and long<b>)<br>
<br>
RFID</b><br>
Useless without reader. How to securely attach? Weatherproofing?
Overkill for fixed locations? If cable attached the iron hydrant may
block the RF?<br>
<b><br>
</b><b>QR bar code</b><br>
Could encode a very precise lat lon. However the bar code might need
to be fairly large? Fairly high resolution? Not readable by a human
without a QR equipped cell phone and none of the handset makers ship
them with QR recognition as a standard feature. Perhaps not a multi
decade technology winner? Could also print the URL on the label but
that would be large. <br>
<br>
<b>Unique key number, plus perhaps a check digit</b><br>
000-000-x<br>
x - perhaps a check digit<br>
<br>
However I wanted "the system" to work for any County. So estimated
the max at population of County / 3 people per hydrant for a
generous upper end estimate. Used Los Angles County as worse case,
so need a million hydrant capability. Perhaps overkill. <br>
<br>
Then thought, this isn't good at all<b> at County / State boundaries</b>
(potential confusion if the neighbors also have a "home brew"
hydrant number system)<br>
<br>
So...embed State and County:<br>
X12-345-000-000<br>
<br>
x - check digit<br>
12- FIPS state code<br>
345 - FIPS county code<br>
000-000 - a unique hydrant key number<br>
<br>
This might work, but would it be subject to drifting boundaries over
multi decade periods? Plus its long.<br>
<br>
<b>lat/lon with 6 decimals</b><br>
That's a lot for a label, plus its a lot to write down / communicate
over the phone. Reasonable font size? Curvature of hydrant?<br>
<br>
<b>lat/lon and somehow reduce the digits by assuming it's all in one
county<br>
</b>You mark the hydrant <i>xyz County</i> then reduce some digits
on the lat and lon that are fixed across the county and assumed.
Looked at San Bernadino County and basically you need all the digits
in lat and lon so no significant reduction. So, that was a dead end.
<br>
<br>
<b>Do nothing<br>
</b>no hydrant markings (continue to use prior system)<br>
<br>
No coding on hydrant but create a high accuracy ground survey
(lat/lon) and make the points .shp file public. Perhaps shoot for
Land Survey Marker accuracy. (Horizontal and Vertical Control
Benchmark level accuracy). This could be very handy to have as
hydrants are much easier to find vs. embedded markers. Standard
disclaimer -<i> not to be used for survey work.</i> (....but to the
center tip of the hydrant would in fact be quite accurate). <br>
<br>
Then use applications such as Open Street Map to create maps in real
time. <br>
<br>
Maintenance would need to use the full lat/lon "ID" on service
paperwork (long but not impossible if truncated to 6 decimals) Most
service people would have or would be moving to cell phones for data
entry, so they could see a map and just select the correct hydrant
(avoiding the need to key in the lat/lon digits)<br>
<br>
<b>lat/long and encode the digits <u>using also letters</u><br>
</b><br>
Using letters and numbers I think the lat/lon (at 6 decimals of
accuracy) can be expressed in just 8 characters!<br>
<br>
####-#### <br>
example 12BY-F89U<br>
Easy to label the hydrant, easy to read and communicate<br>
<br>
Here's how I envisioned it:<br>
<br>
26 letters to start, but need only 22<br>
ELIMINATE "O" (number 0), "L" (number 1), "Z" (number 2) <br>
ELIMINATE "Y" (don't need)<br>
01234567890ABCDEFGHIJK<strike>L</strike>MN<strike>O</strike>PQRSTUVWX<strike>YZ</strike>
(a total of 32 possibilities)<br>
number above 0-31; in binary 00000 to 11111 (5 bits per character)<br>
<br>
Convert lat long to binary as follows, use position to imply
decimal.<br>
sign of lat 1 bit<br>
lat integer (3) 8 bits (use 3 digits for consistency, yes it
could fit in 7 bits but not much savings) <br>
lat decimal (6) 10 bits<br>
sign of lon 1 bits<br>
lon integer (3) 8 bits <br>
lon decimal (6) 10 bits<br>
spares 2 bits <br>
Total 40 bits<br>
<br>
characters hold 5 bits<br>
characters needed 8 <br>
<br>
The conversion alog is simple and quick, can be expressed in Excel,
run on a cell phone, executed in any Javascript in a browser.<br>
<br>
Just one caution (easily checked and avoided during assignment) -
letters sometimes form words some words might best be avoided (very
rare but possible)<br>
<br>
Come to think of it, that coding would be a nice replacement to Zip
code. One meter accuracy could "hit the mail box")<br>
<br>
<b>Optional add on</b><br>
If you are going to the expense of marking each hydrant perhaps add
a bit more info:<br>
<br>
Report any issues <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="HTTP://hydrants.gov?xxxx-xxxx">HTTP://hydrants.gov?xxxx-xxxx</a><br>
If emergency call 911 with above 8 character code.<br>
<br>
Website instantly returns nearest cross street, standard precision
(6 decimals) and high precision coordinates (lat/long/altitude) of
that particular hydrant. Presents interactive web form for further
needs. Something like:<br>
<blockquote>
Emergency:<br>
<blockquote>
Fire<br>
Police<br>
Medical / Ambulance / EMT<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Mechanical issues:<br>
<blockquote>
Potentially life threatening<br>
Active leak - major<br>
Broken / not functional / missing parts<br>
</blockquote>
Active leak - minor (up to a 1-2 gallons per 24 hour day<br>
<blockquote>Needs paint<br>
</blockquote>
Other<br>
</blockquote>
Also thought hydrant codes that were really lat/lon could be very
helpful at coordinating "massive" emergent services, such as
food/medicine drops after an emergency that blocks roads. Having a
national/international system would be ideal. <br>
<br>
Rick<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/3/2016 5:10 PM, Scott Warner
wrote:<br>
</div>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Does anyone have any ideas or ways that
they have numbered their fire hydrants countywide that would
make sense to the fire fighters that inspect and use them as
well as make sense to a person that looks at it on a map?
We’ve talked about doing a grid but nothing seems to make
sense when brainstorming this idea. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We want to leave room for growth but yet
consider cities and hope they buy in to a countywide numbering
system. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Scott Warner, GISP, FPEM<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Public Safety GIS/ 9-1-1 Specialist/WebEOC
Administrator/<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Special Needs Registry Technical Specialist<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bay County, Florida Emergency Services<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">700 Highway 2300<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Panama City, FL 32409-5090<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Main: (850) 248-6040<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Direct: (850) 248-6041<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fax: (850) 248-6059<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">LAT: 30.2990648 LONG: -85.6622406<br>
USNG: 16RFU2864152683<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Past President- Florida Chapter of URISA<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <img id="Picture_x0020_1"
src="cid:part1.A3D0977F.377AE277@clbcm.com" height="102"
width="116"> <img id="Picture_x0020_2"
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Richard J. Labs, CFA, CPA
CL&B Capital Management, LLC
Phone: 315-637-0915
E-mail (preferred for efficiency): <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:rick@clbcm.com">rick@clbcm.com</a>
Mailing address: 8 Laureldale Dr., Pittsford, NY 14534-3508</pre>
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