Creating Voice Data Outlet Symbol in AutoCAD

In this video, we will work on the voice data outlet symbol. Let’s go to File, New, use our template, and then File, Save.

This will be voice-data, and I’ll hit Save. Let’s create our e-symbols layer: go to Layer Properties, click New Layer, name it e-syms, set the color to 61, and double-click to make this our active layer.

This symbol, as shown in your handout, is a triangle connected to a horizontal line. That horizontal line is part of the symbol, and typically it will be connected to the wall.

If we check, we see that this is one-quarter inch by one-quarter inch. In essence, this shape is a square.

Now, if we look at our absolute coordinates, I’m not exactly sure where 0,0 is, but I would guess it’s at the bottom of the triangle.

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Also, that means I’m not exactly sure where the corners of my square are, but to start, I know I can simply create a rectangle of that size.

Let’s do that together. I’ll go to my Rectangle tool. This might be hidden under the Polygon tool, so using the fly-out menu, I’ll make sure I can see the Rectangle tool, and I’ll select Rectangle.

In this case, we don’t know exactly where the rectangle will go, so I’ll click anywhere on the screen to start, knowing I can move it to the correct location in a moment.

To get an exact size of one-quarter inch by one-quarter inch, I can either use relative coordinates or the dimensions option.

Let’s use relative coordinates in this case.

I’ll type @0.25,0.25, press ENTER to lock it in, and then Zoom Extents.

To check the size of this rectangle, I’ll use the Measure Geometry tool, which can be found in the Home tab, Utilities panel, under Measure Geometry.

Now, this is the Quick Measure tool. Historically, we would use Distance and other options, but for now, let’s use Quick Measure.

Quick Measure turns our cursor into an orange highlight, and when we move inside the square, it automatically shows information about our geometry.

It tells me that this square is exactly one-quarter inch by one-quarter inch, and that all four angles are right angles.

The Quick Measure tool is a great way to quickly see distances and angles in your model.

Once I’ve confirmed that this is one-quarter inch by one-quarter inch, I’ll hit Escape. Now, I need to move this square relative to 0,0.

To place this in the right location, I need to move it from the midpoint of the bottom line to the real-world coordinate 0,0.

To do this, I’ll perform a point-to-point move from the midpoint to 0,0.

So, I’ll go to Move, select my square, press ENTER to lock it in, Shift-Right-Click the midpoint to find the bottom midpoint, and move it to 0,0.

I don’t know where that is relative, so I’ll use an absolute coordinate. Press ENTER to lock it in.

Now, it might look like your rectangle was deleted, but if I check the command prompt, it shows 0,0, indicating it’s moved.

Let’s do a Zoom Extents, and there it is.

Now, how do we know it’s at 0,0?

We can use another measure utility called IDPoint.

If I go to Utilities, I can see IDPoint, which lets me pick a single point and provides its data.

I’ll Shift-Right-Click the midpoint and choose right here.

By checking the command prompt, I can see that this point is at 0,0,0, which places it in the perfect location.

Now, I can see that we’ve started drawing the correct geometry, but we don’t need two of these lines.

We don’t need this vertical line or this vertical line.

So, I’d like to delete them.

However, if I use the Select tool, we see that this is a polyline, and I can’t simply hit Delete, or my whole polyline would be erased.

The same thing would happen with the Erase tool.

Instead, I need to explode this object, which converts the polyline into a series of lines.

The Explode tool is located between Erase and Offset. I’ll choose my rectangle, press ENTER to confirm I’m done selecting objects, and it will explode my geometry.

Now, when I select these two sides, they are individual objects.

Let’s do that again.

I’ll undo. I’ll select my Explode tool, choose my rectangle, and press ENTER to confirm I’m done selecting objects.

Now, I can select this line and this line, then press the Delete key.

To draw the next lines, we’ll use the Enter, Enter trick, which allows us to go back into a tool.

We’ll also turn on our Midpoint and Endpoint running object snaps.

First, let’s set our object snaps.

I’ll choose Midpoint and Endpoint, turn off Quadrant, ensure this is on, and then select the Line tool.

Now, my first point will be the midpoint at the bottom, and I’ll go to the endpoint at the top.

I’ll press ENTER to confirm I’m done, and press ENTER again to go back in.

Enter is similar to redoing your previous tool.

So, I’ll press ENTER, and you’ll notice I’m back in the Line tool.

I can click this midpoint again, or you might see the endpoint of the line we just drew.

I’ll select this midpoint, press ENTER to confirm I’m done, then press ENTER again to go back in.

I’ll select down here again, and pick this corner.

Press ENTER to confirm I’m done.

If you’re using a tool repeatedly, like Line, Fillet, or Offset, you can use the Enter, Enter trick to end your command and start it again.

The last thing we need to do for this project is add our hatch.

I’ll choose the Hatch tool, select Solid, pick points, and choose this right triangle.

Press ENTER to lock it in, Zoom Extents, and press Control+S to save.

In the next video, we’ll work on the television outlet.