Program to calculate sunrise/sunset based on gps position

rwsmith123 · #1 10-15-2003, 06:53 PM

I wanted to play around with doing some programming on my iQue, so for my first little project I wrote a program to calculate sunrise/sunset based on your current gps position (or last known position if the gps is off). It's pretty basic but gets the job done. You can post suggestions and comments about the program in this thread.

CougerofEQ · #2 10-15-2003, 07:26 PM

Looks great.

I am more of an am/pm type and would put the standard sunrise/sunset at the top of the list and bolder than the rest. But then again, Im an expressive personality type.

ssaibal · #3 10-16-2003, 02:46 PM

I downloaded the program. Very well done. I echo the response of CougerofEQ.

vectorman · #4 10-16-2003, 03:11 PM

Actually, I do not mind it the way it is and I really appreciate you spending the time on this and releasing it for free.

I work in the aviation industry and we use civil twilight as our definition of "night", so I'll get a lot of good use out of it. If you're looking for features to add, the only thing I'd suggest is a way to pick another date (like the calendar and the "goto" calendar feature) so you can get data from other days.

Again, well done and thanks!

rwsmith123 · #5 10-16-2003, 09:08 PM

I figured that no choice for am/pm would be the first complaint.

As for putting the standard sunrise/sunset at the top, I thought about doing that, but I think it makes more sense keeping it in order the events happen. I would have put it in bold or another color, but I don't know how to do that yet. I might add an option that would allow you to choose which items you're interested in though.

I was going to have the program take altitude into account as well, but I didn't have any data to verify my formula. I checked different places for the sunrise/sunset in denver, co but none of them take altitude into account. According to the formula I have being 1 mile above sea level would make the sunrise occur about 4 minutes earlier and the sunset about 4 minutes later. Does anyone know of a source that takes altitude into account so I can check my figures?

Stymyx · #6 10-16-2003, 10:48 PM

Pretty cool program!

For those who don't know (i.e., ME), could you please explain the differences between Astronomical, Nautical, Civil and Standard readings? Thanks!

hamburglar · #7 10-16-2003, 11:01 PM

Excellent program. Thanks. The various definitions are in the help file btw.

Stymyx · #8 10-16-2003, 11:05 PM

Thanks for the head's up. I didn't even know that menu was there!

All together now... DOH!!!

Kit · #9 01-07-2004, 01:29 AM

An elegant answer to my problem. Lovely picture, too. Thanks very much.

jonasolof · #10 01-07-2004, 02:02 AM

Also Bright-IQ gives the standard times for sunrise and sunset.

apersson850 · #11 01-07-2004, 02:35 AM

In a while (release 3), every iQue will have a sun/moonrise program, where you can select date and position.
No twilight calculations, though.

trekker · #12 01-07-2004, 04:14 AM

Thanks,

you rule. good deal. I would like to see an am/pm option, but I really appreciate the software.

Trekker

apersson850 · #13 01-07-2004, 06:15 AM

A popular explanation of the different twilights goes like this:

Civil: It gets dark.
Nautical: You can see some stars.
Astronomical: You can see all stars.

By the way, if you use the program Planetarium, it will do the same thing (and much more, of course). But it also consumes much more memory.

jimthompson · #14 01-08-2004, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stymyx
For those who don't know (i.e., ME), could you please explain the differences between Astronomical, Nautical, Civil and Standard readings?

http://jimthompson.net/boating/Celes...e.htm#Twilight

prjohnsonjr · #15 01-08-2004, 09:58 AM

Very nice program.
thanks

Paul