I use Andrews Pitchforks extensively and am looking for a new charting package with good support for them. The best I've used so far feature wise has been Ensign, but unfortunately Ensign software is unbelievably buggy. Charts not updating is a consistent headache, but the biggest problem I had with Ensign by far was the fact it would often lose drawings and notes on a chart. One time I spent 6 hours on a Sunday analyzing and noting about 20 charts and carefully saving everything. The next morning when I opened Ensign everything, and I mean everything, was gone. Howard (the owner of the company) consistently blames his customers for software bugs, and insisted I was "doing something wrong" even after his support staff had witnessed the disappearing drawings happening live while logged on to my computer. I'm currently using Think or Swim, and while the price is right, it's not a particularly great charting package, especially for Pitchforks. I haven't had a single instance of lost drawings or notes in 6 months though. Are any of you using package that has good support for Andrews Pitchforks that you can recommend?
I am not sure what you define as "good" support for pitchforks but you can easily test NinjaTrader and connect up to the free EOD Kinetick connection to see if it will work for your needs? See download links below. Here is a section of the Help Guide that deals with Drawing Tools although, nothing specific to the operations of pitchforks - http://www.ninjatrader.com/support/helpGuides/nt7/working_with_drawing_tools__ob.htm
I've used Ninjatrader and it has what I consider to be rudimentary support for pitchforks, mainly because of the few additional rays that can be added to each pitchfork. I'm looking for support for a total of 13 rays or more per pitchfork. Also origin point stability when switching chart time frames, easy changes between pitchfork types and a method to easily change the color of the entire pitchfork in one step.
Did you use Ensign 10 by the way? I have the same problems with Ensign 10, drawings dissapear etc. The "normal" Ensign doesn't have these problems i think.
I used Ensign 10 and Ensign Windows and had the same problem with both, but not as much with Ensign 10. Even so, drawing loss happened to some extent almost every day and the fact that I tend to jump between dozens of symbols made it worse. I really liked Ensign's features so I was willing to work with the company so they could resolve the problem. Unfortunately after a couple of tries at fixes Howard made it abundantly clear that he didn't believe there was a problem. After realizing that the problem wasn't going to get fixed it was time for me to try something else. Despite the significantly reduced feature set in Think or Swim, the stability of the software has made it much easier to work with. Now if I could just find a package with a decent feature set AND stability I'd be set.
ive been using ensign for years and years with very few issues - and found the support 1st rate. having said that i dont use pitchforks or note charts. having said that, you could always copy the chart to your machine after youve made notes, and then perhaps back it up if its that important to you.
I worked for a large technology company for many years and there was always a tendency to spend our time putting out fires rather than preventing them. The problem with that approach is that you never make any headway, there are always more fires to put out and you need more and more people to deal with them. I'd agree that Ensign's support is first rate when it comes to a quick workaround to problems. When those same problems occur multiple times every week a quick fix isn't the answer, and the root cause need to be found and in Ensign's case, it requires the programmers to find that cause. As with any problem, admitting that there IS a problem is the first step to fixing it.
I too am in the same boat. I use MLA / Pitchforks for most of my analysis and had moved over to Ensign due to comprehensive feature-set and fast workflow. In terms of markup, it's by far the quickest I've used so far but is so buggy that I'm about to give up with it - I'm just trying to find a viable alternative ATM. As much as the customer service are 'keen' to help - if they are unable to help then really they are just wasting your time. This is unfortunate, as I really do like *some* aspects of the design.
The phone support staff at Ensign is very good. I wish they could have actually fixed the problems instead of providing repeated workarounds to bugs that are never resolved. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been using Think or Swim and, the more I use it, the more I'm finding it reasonably usable for pitchfork analysis. As with any charting package there is a fairly big learning curve before becoming comfortable with it. There is no charge for the software with a brokerage account. Although I miss the multiple templates in Ensign, Think or Swim has been very stable and I've yet to lose any of my work or notes. Neither have I seen a chart stop updating or found gaps or missing bars in the data, both common problems in Ensign. Probably my favorite feature of Think or Swim is that it allows the saving of drawings and notes into named files that are automatically associated with the symbol of the currently displayed chart. If you open a new chart, you can simply and easily apply all your drawings and notes to it in a single step. If I come across any alternative packages that work as well I'll post my findings here.