Kent's Data Base

[Ralph Porter]

I'm an occassional visitor to this MB with a long time love for American pocket watches. Kent's data base was mentioned an a recent discussion about a Sangamo Special.

So Kent,
I have a detailed electronic inventory of my collection and wondered if the information might be useful to you. It includes the serial no. along with basic descriptions of the model, movement,dial,and case. The selection ranges from some common 17j. movements to more interesting stem-set 950 Hamiltons,and even a 60 hr.Sangamo Special. Just let me know.

[Ralph Porter]

I'm an occassional visitor to this MB with a long time love for American pocket watches. Kent's data base was mentioned an a recent discussion about a Sangamo Special.

So Kent,
I have a detailed electronic inventory of my collection and wondered if the information might be useful to you. It includes the serial no. along with basic descriptions of the model, movement,dial,and case. The selection ranges from some common 17j. movements to more interesting stem-set 950 Hamiltons,and even a 60 hr.Sangamo Special. Just let me know.

[terry hall]

In addition to kent singer's and ed uberall's database, there are others that are also researching this type of data..

myself for one,

fred hansen for another

russ snyder for even another

jon hanson on many early watches,

greg davis on lancaster/keystone..

and quite a few other individuals performing research..

I know that i would appreciate the information...

what i am working on is factory cased Hamilton examples in various grades

a friend of mine mike chamelin is also interested in data on factory cased Illinois watches

fred has interests in illinois private labels and other brands of watches

russ of course has a great interest in illinois watches and is the man behind the "illinois database cd", which is 'basically' the meggers book updated on a cd rom. this is a tremendous undertaking and is a great benefit to horology. russ depends on information volunteered like this, as we all do.

[Ralph Porter]

Terry, and others,

My data format is Microsoft Word tables, and I have files for Hamilton, Illinois, Elgin, American Waltham, and Keystone Howard. Each file includes Ball models as appropriate. Many of the Hamiltons are in various Hamilton cases by Wadsworth and Star, but I couldn't say for sure they're "original". Most are "as found", although I have upgraded a few. Anyone interested can email their wants to me at ralphlporter@yahoo.com and I'll respond to each one as I can.

Thanks,
Ralph

[Sheila Gilbert]

I have long considered a program that has this information in it, but never knew which one to buy. Can you guys tell me what you use, or is it a home model? I have seen many, but waited until I could find one that I knew would be the right one for me. You never know about these when the only place you see them is on ebay or another site that does watches and you don't know them.
It would make things so much easier.
Let me know what you think is a good program so I can look into it.
Suggestions please.
Thank you,
Sheila

[Kent]

Ralph:

Thanks for your consideration. I'll be emailing to on the subject. Ed Ueberall (who originated our data base and continues to participate in maintaining it) and I appreciate your sharing the information with us.


Sheila:

Ed started our data base about ten years ago (but our sources go back decades) in Microsoft Works and it remains there. I have my personal watches listed in an even older data base format, Symantec's Q&A. One of these days, I'll have to move it over, but as long as it continues to run in my operating system (I'm up to Windows 98 now), there's no real incentive to change.

If you were going to start a data base of your watches, I'd recommend Microsoft Excel. It looks like its going to be with us for a long time and so far, Microsoft has provided conversion routines to bring old files up to current levels. There are software programs being offered on eBay, and probably in other venues, that claim to be designed specifically for tracking watch collections. I've never tried these out so I cannot say whether they're worth their cost. It probably depends upon whether or not you already have a data base program and are familiar with using it. If you know how to set up files and create reports - great. If not, than maybe one of the packaged programs offers just what you need.

Good luck,
Kent

[HenryB]

Agree with Kent on the Excell.
I am going to start one in Excell, soon so I can get rid of all the buying emails I got.


Kent- Windows 98, spend the money for XP. :smile:
Guy honestly with all those pics you do I am amazed 98 has carried you thru far. The USB support for all these new add-ons and wireless support are pretty neat.

[Tom McIntyre]

It really depends on what you want to do with the database.

All relational databases that use Structured Query Language as the basic table manipulation mechanism can be easily converted from one to the other.

I prefer MS Access because it is widely supported with tools for web servers. However, the public domain database mySQL is very popular among the web and freeware community.

The Waltham Serial Number Database is maintained in Access. The contributors who transcribed the records used Excel and Word primarily as their tools for transcription.

[Kent]

Henry:

Windows 98 supports USB ports.

[Sheila Gilbert]

Oh My, now I am more confused than ever.

Lets try again, How can a real <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>, get a program that she can USE?

I would love to just go in and post everything on a screen that is Already there, is there anything like that out there?
Sheila

[Sheila Gilbert]

SEE I can't even post the words
"Computer Idiot" it should have said

HOW CAN A REAL COMPUTER IDIOT get a program that she can use? etc.
Sheila

[Tom McIntyre]

If you want to post a link to a web page you may just copy and paste it into a reply.

If you want to post a picture of some other document, the easiest tool to use is a pdf format print program. The "official" tool is Adobe's Acrobat. However, there are lots of other tools that are less expensive including some shareware applications that are free for occasional use.

These tools add another virtual printer to your system. You can then print using that printer to create a file that you can upload using the paperclip tool on this message board.

[Kent]

Sheila:

Does your computer have a "bundled software package" that may have come with it when it was purchased?

If so:

Does it have a data base program?

What's it called?

Look in the Data Base's "File" drop-down menu. Is there an "Import" choice?

Perhaps the files can be imported from the "File" ... "Open" box. Look for a drop-down menu with a title like "Files of type:"

If you can open a Microsoft Works data base file (*.wdb) or a Microsoft Excel file (*.xls), we can make up a simple data base file for you to use.

Kent

[Ralph Porter]

Sheila,
For my records I've set up a series of tables, one for each manufacturer,using the Microsoft Word program. It's very simple and when I aquire another watch I just add a line for it in the appropriate table. It's not a true data base and doesn't permit query searches, but it works well for my needs. If you'd like to see it I'd be pleased to send you an example.
Ralph

[bbwatch]

Kent,

I missed your earlier posts re your database. Are you looking for inputs?

BTW, I set mine up as an inventory using Microsoft Access to design a "front-end" form. It creates a chronological database. I can query, but what I normally do is to convert the database to an EXCEL spreadsheet. I can sort and filter the different columns to get only manufacturers, case types, collection/for sale/repair/etc. The Microsoft applications can be expensive, but if you get Microsoft Office with your computer, you at least get EXCEL (or a mini-version). I just like the "form" since it allows me to fill in the blanks and converts to a useable spreadsheet.

BarryB

[Kent]

BarryB:

Thanks for your thoughtfulness in replying. No, I'm not the one looking for inputs, Sheila is. I merely mentioned that Ed and I started our data base in Micosoft Works. We both have Microsoft Excel, but haven't found a need to move over to it.

When I add new data, I open it in the list view, sorted by make and then serial number. This way, to enter the data, I insert a row in serial number order and I can see what other watches with nearby serial numbers we have listed. I can also see right away if the watch was previously listed and if anything seems to have been changed.

I suppose one of these days we'll move it over to Excel.

Kent

[Sheila Gilbert]

I can't believe I missed the last posts on here.
Scatter Brained I guess. Thank you for these posts, I have since started to learn how to use the spreadsheet in Microsoft Works. Not gotten very far yet, but it's a start. I'm new to spreadsheets, but always wanted to learn it, now I have a good excuse to work on it.
Seems easier now that I have something I really want to use. Makes all the difference.
Again, Thank you all, for the great input.