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Dear Eliot,
Count me in on the same desire, although with all the problems I have
read about
TS2K, I have not been courageous enough to try that yet. I was a very,
very
happy TS3.5 user, but that is now dead with Y2K, resulting in my having
shifted
to TS4.0. After having been with BMI satellite since 1984, I recently
shifted
to Quote.com, as augmented with DynaStore. That seems to work more or
less
satisfactorily for me, although its major problem for me is that it is
limited
to collecting data for relatively few issues and even then, while using
it I get
occasional crashes (particularly during a fast market, at the open or
close or
after a major announcement. It appears that TS4's Signal dataserver was
written
for the slow tickrate that the Signal satellite provides (at 19.2),
which is no
longer sufficient in light of the substantially higher tickrate of
modern issues
(such as MSFT) and higher efficiency data transmitters (such as can be
realized
over the Internet).
As an alternative to TS4, I briefly tried Ensign for eSignal (using
Quote.com +
DynaStore). To me, Ensign seemed like a great improvement over TS4 (as
a
recipient of Quote.com data via the DynaStore program), and the price
was right
($30/month), but it had two major problems for me. While trading, I
rely among
other things on studies that use UpTicks and DownTicks, which TS can
measure
separately. Unfortunately, Ensign lacks the ability to differentiate
UpTicks
from DownTicks --- for volume, it only measures the sum UpTicks +
DownTicks, and
I was not willing to sacrifice the ability to make that
differentiation. In
addition, while Ensign does allow one to write one's own custom
indicators
(analogous to TS's PowerEditor), Ensign requires the use of a
programming
language, ESPL, that I found daunting and foreboding, and more than I
wanted to
tackle. I did write Ensign's developer, Howard Arrington, and asked if
he or
any of his staff would be willing for a fee to translate some very
simply TS
EasyLanguage indicators into ESPL and got nowhere.
Ron Dawes, the DynaStore rep, was the one who suggested Ensign to me,
and he
also suggested Equis MetaStock Pro, as another program that is
compatible with
DynaStore. I telephoned the MetaStock tech reps and asked them about
MetaStock's ability to measure UpTicks and DownTicks separately and was
told the
MetaStock measured only total volume, like Ensign. I didn't pursue
MetaStock
further.
I doubt that I would have a problem using QCharts as long as it allowed
me to
write some of my own studies for it, but it doesn't.
Consequently, for the forgoing reasons, I continue to use Quote.com +
DynaStore
+ TS4. I would prefer to return to both a satellite feed and TS3.5, but
that is
no longer possible re TS3.5 and undesirable to me at least as far as DBC
goes
(either Signal or BMI), and in that absence I continue to "make do" yet
simultaneously seek a more satisfactory alternative. I would be most
interested
in reading further responses to your note and engaging in further
discussion
about it. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Richard
Eliot Kaplan wrote:
> Anyone have suggestions for alternatives to Omega's software for trading the
> S&P on an intraday basis?
>
> I am at the point of giving up on TradeStation, in either form.
>
> TradeStation 2000 is such a disaster as a piece of software that I am left,
> after 3 weeks of TS4 to TS2K and data feed transition process, with an
> unusable (read, untradeable/unreliable) platform from which to trade.
>
> The transition I spoke of included moving from FutureSource to Quote.com
> via DynaStore over the holidays, and even though Quote.com has had
> difficulties, I still believe in it as a service, and DynaStore is behaving
> well.
>
> As a front end alternative, I have looked at Advanced GET, CQG & Aspen
> Graphics to date, and am partial to them in the same order.
>
> GET works with Quote.com, so that is good, requiring one less adjustment. It
> is also an elegantly written piece, it seems.
>
> CQG is also well written, and I could justify CQG's cost in that you get a
> high quality data feed along with the software. Anyone out there using it
> for S&P day trading?
>
> Aspen Graphics is also very strong as a package, but is such a non-standard
> interface, that I feel like a complete beginner software-wise. It also
> requires S&P Comstock (over the internet). Ironically, even their own sales
> people are not confident their internet based product is robust.
>
> Finally, I could use Quote.com's QCharts. I am assuming they will iron out
> the recent issues they have had.
>
> The key to all this is getting some custom indicators originally written for
> TradeStation 4 converted into one of the above. If the software vendors
> themselves don't provide this for me as an incentive to "lease" their
> products", I may need to pay someone to rewrite them. Anyone interested?
>
> What frustration. I've been in the computer consulting business for ten
> years, and have NEVER seen a more lame attempt at a "high" end piece of code
> as TradeStation. And all for a mere $2000+. Pure hucksterism!
>
> While I appreciate that alot of you are having similar problems, I have no
> intention of starting a flame Omega thread. So lets leave it unspoken,
> unless you have something real to add. I am sure the others on the list will
> appreciate it.
>
> For those who have answers to my questions, your reply's are eagerly
> anticipated!
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Eliot
>
> Eliot Kaplan
>
> email: eliot@xxxxxxx
> web: www.isu.com
>
> Voice: 310.455.3950
> Fax: 310.455.3085
>
> Integrated Solutions Unlimited, Inc.
> 20211 Croydon Lane
> Topanga, CA 90290
>
> Apple, HP, IBM, & Compaq Consulting Reseller
> Specializing in Architecture & Graphics Systems
> Apple Authorized Service Provider
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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