Larry Scott, post: 362667, member: 8766 wrote: If you're really interested, and are familiar with Astro, I'd gladly share. In the interest of not embarrassing myself (if the spreadsheet isn't ripe for the general group) I'll let rfc be the first. Then we'll see if it's suitable. Like I said, I'm too familiar, and no one has looked at it. So ... I'll gin up a readme. It's visually very busy. But only input cells are unlocked, and, well you'll see, couple of days. I don't know who takes sun shots these days. So, if there's interest, rock on.
And Astro is as much art as math. As my sheet got better, so did my observation techniques.
Are you a stop watch, micrometer user?
Larry,
Not to disrespect RFC or yourself here. RFC is a newbie to surveying, and has learned all of his survey knowledge from this board over the past 1 year. He is a seasoned home owner on a limited budget, performing a topographic survey on his own property. So don't be surprised. We all try to help this grasshopper along his journey. Just saying this so you are not discourage on how your software may perform in this situation.
leegreen, post: 362673, member: 2332 wrote: Larry,
Not to disrespect RFC or yourself here. RFC is a newbie to surveying, and has learned all of his survey knowledge from this board over the past 1 year. He is a seasoned home owner on a limited budget, performing a topographic survey on his own property. So don't be surprised. We all try to help this grasshopper along his journey. Just saying this so you are not discourage on how your software may perform in this situation.
Like I said, the spreadsheet mat not be beginners tool. I don't want to see someone set up for failure.
Larry Scott, post: 362667, member: 8766 wrote: If you're really interested, and are familiar with Astro, I'd gladly share. In the interest of not embarrassing myself (if the spreadsheet isn't ripe for the general group) I'll let rfc be the first. Then we'll see if it's suitable. Like I said, I'm too familiar, and no one has looked at it. So ... I'll gin up a readme. It's visually very busy. But only input cells are unlocked, and, well you'll see, couple of days. I don't know who takes sun shots these days. So, if there's interest, rock on.
And Astro is as much art as math. As my sheet got better, so did my observation techniques.
Are you a stop watch, micrometer user?
Not sure what a micrometer user is (other than when I'm in the machine shop), but when I do astro, I'm using an iphone app called "Time stamp"
It's like a sophisticated lap timer. Everytime you press the big green button, it gives you the time in UTC. Then (once I get better at it), I'll worry about UTC to UT1 correction. Not sure I can hit the trailing edge within 500 ms. as it is though.
leegreen, post: 362673, member: 2332 wrote: Larry,
Not to disrespect RFC or yourself here. RFC is a newbie to surveying, and has learned all of his survey knowledge from this board over the past 1 year. He is a seasoned home owner on a limited budget, performing a topographic survey on his own property. So don't be surprised. We all try to help this grasshopper along his journey. Just saying this so you are not discourage on how your software may perform in this situation.
In my own defense, I may be a newbie to surveying, but I'm not a newbie to astronomical calculations. I've done them by hand hundreds, if not thousands of times during my 15 years sailing yachts around the world. I've probably taken more Sun, Moon, planet and star shots, and reduced them long hand, than 90% of the folks here have. Without spreadsheets. Without electronic ephemerides.
My current challenge isn't learning another spreadsheet, or even creating my own. It's confirming solid, reliable ephemeris data and developing a work flow using that data that's quick and easy to use (possibly even in the field). It might not even be a bad thing for those who know only how to push the buttons on the GPS boxes, to learn how to do. Just sayin'.
End of rant.:-)
Some years back I was asked if could locate some bolts high up on roof trusses of a very large potato storage shed.
I set up three sets legs with tribrachs and observed the bolts from 3 different locations.
I let the on board software crunch the numbers and was pleasantly surprised to find using 3 different sets they were all theoretically within a mm separation. I was amazed but pleased.
I still have that instrument. A Nikon 821. It's had a few services over its life and each time the Nikon bloke reiterates "what a very tight machine I have".
It demonstrated that with care and a good instrument we can achieve great things in the measurements department.
rfc, post: 362693, member: 8882 wrote: In my own defense, I may be a newbie to surveying, but I'm not a newbie to astronomical calculations.
Hey rfc, I don't think you need to defend yourself from anything. I highly doubt that many here have done what you have done in the way of teaching yourself and getting the help where you need it.
I became equally enthusiastic about figuring out bearings from solar observations when I first started. With the Hour-angle method I was able to get relatively precise bearings on my lines, which no one else in my company could manage. (they always went out @ night and got bearings off of the stars, ti was just the sun-shots they weren't adept @)
