Re: [find_orb] Fwd: Update observatory list

stevensallyra1@... Mar 14, 2018

Hi Bill,

Many thanks for the link, it works! 

It's always interesting to hear how these products start. Your good work and initiatives have certainly produced a useful program that many asteroid watcher's like me can appreciate. So thank you.

You mention height above sea level, and the two ways of getting a true one. Is this something all observatories should consider and use?

Thanks

Steve

On 13 Mar 2018 4:31 p.m., "Bill Gray pluto@... [find_orb]" <find_orb@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 

Hi Steve,

Aha! That code really ought to be in the list of actual,
authorized MPC codes. And it is, but I think it must have
been added in the last few days, along with four other new codes.

If you download this file to your Find_Orb directory :

https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/ObsCodes.html

you should be all set. Run the program, and your astrometry
shouldn't cause an error message to pop up.

The initial "funding" for Find_Orb started out somewhat
indirectly, through sales of my Guide desktop planetarium
software. That caused me to write code for most of the
underlying functions (planetary ephemerides, coordinate
and time systems, etc.) So when I decided that I was curious
about orbit determination, I had most of the bits and bobs
already sitting on my hard drive.

I posted the result, thinking it would mostly appeal to
others interested in orbit determination and using it for
educational purposes. That's happened, but it turned out
to be of greater interest to observers. That resulted in some
effort to make the program suitable for use by sleep-deprived
people at telescopes in the middle of the night, ideally
without too much frustration. (As with any software, it's
important to know your users!)

For some years, development of the program was based
solely on my adding things in which I was interested. That
eventually led to my getting some contracts to add still more
improvements, which has really pushed things along nicely
in the last few years.

-- Bill

On 2018-03-13 04:31, stevensallyra1@aol.com [find_orb] wrote:
>
>
> Hi Bill,
> Many thanks for your prompt reply. Much Appreciated.
> My MPC observatory code is Z34
> Coordinates  Long. 0 53 15.7 W,  Lat. 52 18 07.2 N  Alt..119 metres Google Earth   (as close as you can enter into Astrometrica  0.8877 W 52.3020 N.)
>  I take it that the rovers.txt file then just needs replacing with the file you are going to amend and send to me?
> Thanks and kind regards
> Steve
> PS What a great little program FindOrb is. Do you run by donations?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Gray pluto@projectpluto.com [find_orb] <find_orb@yahoogroups.com>
> To: find_orb <find_orb@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Mon, 12 Mar 2018 22:00
> Subject: Re: [find_orb] Fwd: Update observatory list
>
> Hi Steve,
>
> You should update 'rovers.txt', for several reasons.
>
> 'ObsCodes.htm' is the MPC's list of observatories :
>
> https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/ObsCodes.html
>
> 'rovers.txt' is Find_Orb's list of additional observatories.
> Unlike the MPC's file, you can specify your observatory in
> latitude and altitude instead of in parallax constants, and
> your coordinates can be in decimal degrees or in "traditional"
> base-60 degrees/minutes/seconds. Also, the file itself
> contains documentation on how to add new codes.
>
> Further comments at
>
> https://projectpluto.com/find_orb.htm#obs_codes
>
> Not mentioned there, but: you may want to send me your
> position. I'll add it to 'rovers.txt'. The advantage of this
> is that if you update Find_Orb, you won't lose the observatory
> code you've added.
>
> -- Bill
>
> On 2018-03-12 14:01, stevensallyra1@aol.com <mailto:stevensallyra1@aol.com> [find_orb] wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > Please advise the steps needed to update the observatory list on FindOrb.
> > There seem to be two files in the FindOrb directory that need updating. Why two ?
> >
> > I'm not too sharp on computers!
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Steve
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------
> > Posted by: stevensallyra1@aol.com <mailto:stevensallyra1@aol.com>
>
>
>