Re: MPC stations in Guide

David Higgins Jun 1, 2003

Hey Bill,

Moved the files to the main guide directory. Tried Settings
location and entering E14 but it still comes up with location not
found (It is in the MPC_STAT.DAT file). It's like it won't read
past 999 (ie it's not allowing for MPC observatories with Characters)

Cheers

David

--- In guide-user@yahoogroups.com, Bill J Gray <pluto@p...> wrote:
> Hi David,
>
> As Oliver indicated, "Go To... User-Added Dataset... MPC
> Observatories" has no real meaning except in geographic mode.
> That function does work in terms of "going to", i.e., recentering
> the chart, on a given part of the sky. I suppose extending it
> to include the idea of "reset my viewpoint to a given location"
> might be a sensible extension. Though as I'll explain, it's
> not really necessary; there are easier ways to go about it.
>
> You _can_, while in the usual "star charting" mode, use
> "Settings... Location", then "Enter Location Name", and
> enter (say) "E14" to reset your viewpoint to that of any MPC
> station. Or, when in geographic mode, you can click on
> "Go To... Enter Location Name", and again enter "E14"
> to have the chart recenter on that MPC station. (Note:
> this is case-sensitive.)
>
> I just checked, and the list you downloaded was last
> updated a couple of months ago; some new MPC stations
> have been added since then. Revisit
>
> http://www.projectpluto.com/extras.htm#MPC_stations
>
> and download that file again, and you'll be all set.
>
> Also, don't put these in the Text folder; all files for
> download from the Web site are intended to go directly into
> Guide's own folder. (After all, some people haven't installed
> Guide to the hard drive; they don't even _have_ a Text folder.)
>
> "...The zip file contains 4 files but Guide 8 seems to only
> need 2 (.TDF and .DAT files)." True. The .DDF ("Deutsche
> Definition File"; German speakers will please excuse the
> mixed "Deutlish") enables display of MPC stations in German.
> The .CPP file is the C++ source code used to convert the
> MPC locations, expressed in terms of parallax constants,
> into latitude/longitude/altitude form. Somebody asked me
> for this a long time ago... don't remember who it was. Most
> people can safely ignore both files.
>
> -- Bill