Celestial Navigation Plugin Redux

[hwecken]

Originally Posted by transformer

Then what better then to do it old way. Sextant, pen, paper, watch and here we go.

....who need/wont celestial plug ins

No one must download and use it

I like to have such a plugin

Hartmut

[bcn]

Originally Posted by transformer

Then what better then to do it old way. Sextant, pen, paper, watch and here we go.

....who need/wont celestial plug ins

and nobody needs a pleasure craft - but we like them.

BTW:
Nobody needs Trolls - and we dislike those

[rgleason]

Sean, Unfortunately it did not compile. Copied here are some of the output files. Will check back.

[seandepagnier]

__________________

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by transformer

who need celestial navigation "plug in".
that would be the same like someone shagging your wife and you are watching.

Who is doing the shagging here? The computer or the programmer?

Originally Posted by transformer

Then what better then to do it old way. Sextant, pen, paper, watch and here we go.

....who need/wont celestial plug ins

Using a watch is cheating. You might as well use a computer or gps. You should be computing lunars, and using a quadrant not a sextant because mirrors might be considered cheating as well.

Keep in mind a few things:
1. gps could go down any time, and with this plugin and a computer you could still navigate, and compute many more fixes faster and get better accuracy than on paper.
2. This plugin can teach you how to compute sights, and correct errors when you are learning how to work it out so you won't need the computer later
3. The plugin allows you to visualize much faster the positions of celestial bodies and give you a greater understanding of them. Shooting any 2 bodies to get a fix is not good, but choosing the right 2 at the right time gives much better accuracy.
4. The plugin computes the positions of the bodies, so no almanac is used. There is no chance of the almanac being outdated. You can cross check your almanac with the computed data, and print out your own almanac
5. The plugin allows for shooting azimuth sights even with magnetic azimuth which is virtually impossible to do on paper
6.. wait I have like 50 of these I'll stop now

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Sean, Unfortunately it did not compile. Copied here are some of the output files. Will check back.

Thanks for trying again. I think it's fixed now. Some of your errors are still related to installing the library when it's in use, so you have to exit opencpn before recompiling the plugin each time.. if you see the error "cannot open program database ...pdb" that is what it is about.

The other error is fixable, should work now, try newest git.

[transformer]

Originally Posted by boat_alexandra

Using a watch is cheating. You might as well use a computer or gps. You should be computing lunars, and using a quadrant not a sextant because mirrors might be considered cheating as well.

Those "astro plugs" are crap and no one need it apart few on 30 and 35 foot boats calling each other "CAPTAIN" over radio. same time they do not have licences even to paddle indian canoe but they are "captains".
Any way, why is using paper, pen and watch cheating. they used that method last two hundred years, even before electricity was invented. and how that can be cheating.

I have nautical college diploma (deck department), i can teach astro navigation in schools and I can do lunars, but you have to be real moron to do that.
this is from my sight book from last summer. i wonder how many cruisers out there have sight books...

celestial navigation plugins, ahahaaaaaaaa what a crap

that is like having sex with condom

[rgleason]

Transformer. Peace. Each to his own. You could help us by showing your prowess checking the plugin if you were so inclined. I sure would appreciate it and so would Sean and others, and with those neat calcs I think you''d do a great job. (I would still respect your talents and Sean's). And you'd be a very important part of the team. Tomorrow I'll try to the the dll uploaded, so please give it a try! Thanks.

Rick

[transformer]

.....enroute to islas canarias

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by transformer

Any way, why is using paper, pen and watch cheating. they used that method last two hundred years, even before electricity was invented. and how that can be cheating.

Using logic:

1. 200 years ago using a watch was cheating.
2. In 200 years using a computer won't be cheating.
3. In the present, you may use a watch, but using a computer is cheating

[rgleason]

Yes, Transformer and Sean, I have a sextant. Traded for it on Yankee Swapper with a Nikon years ago. Have taken sun sights using a tray of water for the horizon (before boat) and done some calcs years ago. I hope to learn now and any tool whatsoever to get me to that point is useful carbon or electron! (carbon being the low power choice) Transformer your use and thoughts about the plugin would be very helpful. Sean is an accomplished navigator and programmer but it certainly would be helpful to have some other experienced celestial navigator study how this works. ....I am not that person, unfortunately. I will however, enter your sights and start to learn how this is done.
Hope you'll help us! DLL coming next.

PS: Hope you'll give us some of your typical sights with a short description of what the body is, to enter!

[rgleason]

It compiled... Tested Debug version. Seems to break when apply second fix. Did this several times, but the first fix using sun works.. Maybe user error entering incorrect fix when it bombs. Don't know.

Attaching windows release version DLL below as doc. Please remove doc and see if it is user error or not when it bombs.

Adding screen shots and output file and break call stack file.

[transformer]

Originally Posted by rgleason

Transformer your use and thoughts about the plugin would be very helpful.

I think that you already red my "thoughts" about plugins. I am not using it, I do not even know how it works and I can not help you about particular plugin.

I can only help you if you post sextant altitude of your sights, sights time and DR. I will calculate it and you can then compare it to plugins "data" and results..

[rgleason]

That sounds like a good idea. Thank you very much. I need to get familiar with the plugin and make sure the second fix is not failing.

[xuanin]

Using a watch was never considered cheating, the most important thing is that you get safe from A to B using all means available.
I am a master mariner and sailing the last 20 years as captain on the Merchant Navy, at present the sextant is only used as hobby to teach cadets

Long live the ECDIS