Frequently Asked Questions
Certainly, we will be happy to refund payments made by Credit Card. However there will be 3% fee deducted from the refunded amount.
Georeferencing surveys within the UK is complicated by the range of possible datum systems that can be used. Most GPS systems will define positions in Latitude/Longitude or UTM values however UK maps will use one of the 3 Ordnance Survey standards: OSGB36, OSTN02 or OSTN15. TerraSurveyor can handle all these datums however it is up to the user to ensure that the right datum is selected. The default datum can be set set in Preferences, this will be used for the display of position information in the various views. However a datum will need to be specifically selected when importing data from a file.
The basic installation of TerraSurveyor can handle Lat/Long, UTM and OSGB36. However support for OSTN02 and OSTN15 is not. This must be added by the user. To do this, download the OSTN02/15 files from the website. These files provide the ‘correction factors’ needed to adjust the measured position to match the map position and visa-versa. Unzip the downloaded file and move the contents into the TerraSurveyor installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\DWC\TerraSurveyor or something similar). Once TerraSurveyor is run with the files in that folder the extra datums will be available for selection in Preferences and Import.
Some files, such as GPS based data will inherently have useable location data in it. Others may have none or could be ambiguous. Surfer files for example can have an X & Y position however there is no way to define what this X & Y are. It could be one of the OS datums or it could be UTM (without a UTM Zone number – which means the position could in theory be any one of 60 physical locations).
The difference between OSGB36 and OSTN02/15 differ over the whole of the UK and though they are usually just a few millimeters, in some locations can be as much as meters.
TerraSurveyor has a large selection of import processes that can handle most data types. However, the range of possible formats, and for some formats, the range of options, can be daunting when first attempting to import data.
If you are unable to import your data or it does not produce the expected results, please contact us. Send us the source data, the results you are getting (or a description of what you are not getting) and, if possible, location maps/info for georeferenced data. We will ensure your data can be imported and explain the exact steps and settings required for your data.
If necessary, TerraSurveyor will be upgraded to support any new or special situations seem in your data.
The situation is the same for TerraSurveyor3D however, due to the relatively limited range of 3D formats and sources, there is much greater chance that your data will have problems when first attempting to import it. If you can supply us with samples and some documentation on the format we will ensure that TerraSurveyor3D is upgraded to support your data.
If you are a university student then you need to start with your own department. Even if the department does not offer any courses or modules there is a good chance they have some equipment. It’s surprising (and dismaying) how many departments have equipment tucked away in a cupboard but no one knows how to use it! If you are interested, find out what you have available and start using it. Join the ISAP and someone there will be happy to put you in contact with someone to get you started.
If you are just interested in Geophysics find your local or national archaeology society. Again, the ISAP will probably be able to help get you some local contacts.
To see geophysics in action, get on YouTube and search for ‘Time Team’. These programmes are a few years old now but every program starts with some geophysics. Though beware, you are unlikely to get the kind of results they do very often!
There are a number of very good books available. A quick search of Amazon will turn up most of them. In particular you should consider these as a good start:
- Seeing beneath the soil. Anthony Clark, (1996) Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21440-8
- Revealing the Buried Past. Chris Gaffney & John Gater, (2003) Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2556-0
- Remote Sensing in Archaeology: An Explicitly North American Perspective. Jay K. Johnson (2006) University Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-5343-7
More advanced or specialized are:
- Geophysical Survey in Archaeological Field Evaluation. (2008) English Heritage.
- Magnetometry for Archaeologists. A. Aspinall, C. Gaffney, A. Schmidt. (2008) AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7591-1106-5
- Earth Resistance for Archaeologists. A. Schmidt AltaMira Press, ISBN 978-0759112049
- Eac Guidelines for the Use of Geophysics in Archaeology, Archaeolingua, ISBN 978-9639911734
- Research & Professional Guideline No 1 Geophysical survey in archaeological field evaluation. Andrew David, (1995) English Heritage.
- Geophysical Data in Archaeology: A Guide to Good Practice (AHDS Guides to Good Practice). A. Schmidt, Oxbow Books, B01LP74QJC
- Handbook of Geophysics in Archaeology. A. Witten (2006) Oxbow Books. ISBN 1-904768-60-1
There is a specialist organisation: the International Society for Archaeological Prospection They organise a conference every year, alternating between a one day event in London (early December) and a week long event in a different country (2019 is in Sligo, Ireland).
Membership of the society is very cheap and also gets you a reduced subscription to the Journal of Archaeological Prospection
All the programs (TerraSurveyor, TerraSurveyor Lite & TerraSurveyor3D) can be downloaded from the Product page of this website. Once you have downloaded the installer program, run it and the program will be installed on your PC. The installer will also install a few demo sites or files.
It can happen that your PC’s security may prevent the installer from copying some of the files to the correct locations. This seems to usually occur in locations that have a very strong security protocol in place. If this happens to you, you should contact your IT department to see if they can help. They should be able to re-install they program using increased admin rights or by temporarily disabling some security measures. We will of course do all we can to help but the whole point of security is to keep strangers out of your system so there will probably not be much we can do directly.
Once the program is installed it will run in Demo mode for 30 days. In this mode you will have full access to all functionality of the program including download, import, print and save functions. The only difference from a licensed version is that all graphics will be overprinted with the word ‘trial’. After 30 days the download, import print and save functions will be disabled. You will will still be able to open and process existing files but you will not be able to save or print changes.
Our products are licensed using either dongles or Machine Codes. Both have their advantages and disadvantages but most people prefer the dongle.
Dongles are USB plugs, looking similar to a USB thumbdrive (though there is no readable data or files on them). The program will check for the presence of a dongle every few seconds and if found, check the license encoded on it. This license is unique to the dongle and may include an expiration date. The advantage of a dongle is that it can be used on any PC. The program can be installed on as many PCs as you wish however only the PC with a dongle plugged in will run with the full license. Programs on PCs without the dongle will run but will not download, import or save data. The disadvantage is that they stick out the side of laptops and so are vulnerable to breakage or loss, especially in the field. They also have to be sent to you in the post which usually takes about a week (depending on your location).
If you have a time limited (monthly or yearly) license for a dongle, once you have received the dongle updates or extensions to that license can be sent via the internet (an FTP download) as well. It is only the initial order that will be delayed by waiting for the dongle to arrive in the post.
Machine Code licenses are tied to a single, specified computer. They are license codes generated from 2 unique codes extracted from the hardware of a PC. The disadvantage therefore is that they cannot be transferred to another PC (on a day-to-day basis, we can issue a new machine code if a PC is replaced, etc.). The advantage however is that there is no dongle to lose or break and the license can be issued almost immediately via email.
Yes, we do normally accept Purchase Orders for reputable firms or establishments. In this case the order should be made as normal (select ‘Bank Transfer’ as the payment method). There is a field for a PO number on the order screen. A scan or PDF of the PO should be attached to the order, there is a field for this as well. Ignore the messages about the order being shipped on receipt of payment. If we accept the PO we will contact you directly and ship the appropriate licences prior to payment.
Payment may be made by Credit Card or Bank Transfer. Checks are not accepted.
Credit Card payments are made via the PayPal system. You do not need to have a Paypal account to use this, they are simply used as the ‘payment portal’ by the website.
For Bank Transfer payments, the necessary bank details are shown on the order confirmation invoice and here below:
Beneficiary Bank: ABN-AMRO Bank Stadsring 115, 3817AX, Amersfoort The Netherlands Swift Code: ABNANL2A IBAN code NL75ABNA0527653020 (Account number) Name: DW Consulting Boekweitakker 28 3773 BX Barneveld The Netherlands
You may be entitled to and Educational Discount if your establishment will actively use the purchase in the training of students. Therefore this normally this applies to archaeology, anthropology or geoscience departments of universities and similar higher education establishments. If you think you qualify please contact DW Consulting by email and we will determine if that is the case. DO NOT place an order until you hear from us. To get the discount we will send you a ‘Promotion Code’ for use during the ordering process.
All prices are shown without VAT/Sales Tax.
If you are a European customer and have a VAT number, you can enter this number during the order process. If the number and the rest of your details are valid, the payment portal will not add VAT to your order.
For customers in other locations, Local, State or other forms of Sales Tax may be added depending on your location, the regulations for that location and the payment portal’s level of support for those regulations. Please note that the way in which Sales Tax is handled is controlled completely by the payment portal. DW Consulting has no control over this and cannot make any adjustments to it. Any problems or questions you may have will have to be taken up with the portal (PayPal).
If you are exempt from Local, State or other forms of sales tax but the payment portal insists on adding them, please consider payment by Bank Transfer. In this case the invoice will continue to show the tax but there will be no requirement to include the disputed tax in the transfer amount. In this case you must supply us with copies of the appropriate exemption documents so we can satisfy our tax authorities of your exemption status.