Strike and Dip FAQ
How are my notes ordered?
Your notes are in chronological order, with the most recent notes at the top of the list. This way, you don’t have to scroll to edit your most recently added note.
How can I get my notes through iTunes?
First, go to Notes in Strike and Dip. Press the button in the upper right (the one with the arrow on it), and choose “Save data to iTunes“. Next, connect your iPhone or iPad to iTunes, and sync the device. Select your device in the left column of iTunes, then select Apps at the top of the window on the right. At the bottom of the window, you should see a list called Apps. Scroll down within it and select Strike & Dip. To the right, you'll see a list of documents; select StrikeAndDipData.txt, and click the “Save to...” button to save the document where you would like it.
How are my emailed or saved notes formatted?
Your notes saved in a comma-delimited (.cvs) file. In order, the columns are for locality name, latitude, longitude, date, time, measurement, and notes. Comma-delimited files are plain text files that can be opened by most applications, including word processors, text editors, spreadsheets, and more sophisticated data analysis programs. Most will format these correctly, but if you have returns in your notes field, some programs (like some versions of Excel) will not correctly parse your notes, so you may have a minor amount of cleanup to do once you've imported your file.
Why do I sometimes get odd bearings or strikes?
Bearings and strike use the iPhone’s internal magnetometer, an electronic chip that measures the Earth's magnetic field. This magnetometer is very sensitive to magnetic objects, such as your hammer, a nearby metal pencil, or anything giving off an electrical field. When you make a measurement, be sure that all extraneous sources of magnetic fields are kept at a distance. I’ve found Strike and Dip to give generally accurate readings, but I also find I need to be mindful of metal objects like my hammer, clipboard, or mechanical pencil.
When my iPhone is on a flat and level surface, why isn’t the dip zero?
Sometimes the accelerometer chip in the iPhone is not mounted exactly level. If you’re sure your phone is laying flat on a level surface, you need to calibrate the level for your iPhone. Go to the settings page and press the Calibrate button, which will correct the leveling readings for your iPhone. In some cases, it may be necessary to calibrate your phone more than once to get a zero reading.
Can you explain the three strike formats?
Strike and Dip offers three ways to record direction when recording dip. The first, which used to be the only way Strike and Dip recorded it, is the right-hand rule. It works like this: if you’re right arm is extending and pointing in the dip direction, the direction you are facing is strike. In other words, the direction of dip is always 90° clockwise from strike. The north-half rule just uses whichever end of the compass is in the north half of the compass: in other words, strike will always be within 90° clockwise or counter-clockwise of north. In the north-half rule, strike will always be between 0° and 90° or 270° and 360°. The dip-direction rule is perhaps the easiest: instead of recording strike, both the direction downdip and the amount of dip are recorded.
Why is my GPS error so large, and why isn't my position or elevation turning yellow?
The iPhone uses a built-in GPS chip to determine its position. Like all GPS devices, the accuracy of the reading depends on having a clear and unobstructed view of the sky. If you're inside, next to a tall cliff, or in a forest, you may not get a good reading. GPS receivers also require the GPS satellites to be in a good configuration to triangulate your position. Sometimes, few satellites may be overhead, or all the satellites may be aligned. In cases like this, there’s not much you can do to get a better position than to wait for the configuration to change - and that’s true for all GPS devices.