Wanted - Software clock - AEST, UT and LST

[Dennis]

Hi

Does anyone have a recommendation for a software clock that can be set to display Local Time (AEST), Universal Time (GMT) and Local Sidereal Time (LST)?

It would be nice if it was digital, resizable, moveable, had night vision, etc.

Thanks!

Dennis

[acropolite]

This link has heaps of clocks, you may be able to find something there. http://www.panaga.com/clocks/clocks.htm

[joe_smith]

Havent found one yet but found a web based one you can use. I might have a go and program one in visual basic need to brush up on my programming :)

http://www.csgnetwork.com/timelocuctlstgst4clk.html

[Dennis]

Thanks for your responses Phil and Joe - I'll have a look at the links tomorrow.

Cheers

Dennis

[joe_smith]

I did this last night it just displays local and GMT time for now. Just have to work out how to get the Sidereal Time :confuse3:have to find some code examples. I'll format it better once the code is sorted out. I checked the GMT time and it seems allright to me, can some one verify it. Cant belive how much i have forgotten last time i coded was about 10 years ago :rolleyes:

cheers Joe

[[1ponders]]

Cheers, thanks for that Joe. :2thumbs:

[Dennis]

Wow Joe, you're the man. Thanks! I'll let you know how I go once I have downloaded, installed and operated the app.

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders]]

Running sweet and ontime Joe. Is there anyway to switch to 24 hour clock rather than am/pm?

[joe_smith]

Here is a 24 hour version I fixed the date also so its in day,month,year format. Working on the sidereal time. I got a out my copy of Astronomical Algorithms and working through it............... :eyepop:

Cheers Joe

[[1ponders]]

You're a champion Joe. That's great.

[acropolite]

Here's one that does what you want and more, small download and runs in a dos window. It's a little cryptic to configure though, looks like you edit the .cfg file for your location. http://www.ginko.de/user/udomark/maxclock_main_e.html

[sheeny]

Joe,

Is this any help to you?

Just a little PDF file I collected from somewhere on the web...

Al.

[[1ponders]]

Thanks Phil.

I might find a use for all the other info one day :P Another DOS applicaton that is crying out for a GUI :lol:

[avandonk]

Does this look like what you want?

look here
http://users.zoominternet.net/~matto/

Bert

[joe_smith]

avandonk good find :)

[iceman]

Mojo and I are discussing implementing something like this into the site. Stay tuned!

[Dennis]

Excellent find Bert - thanks! I have just downloaded and installed it and everything looks good so far. There are several extras included, such as a stop watch, time zone map, shortcuts to Notepad, calculator, night vision mode, etc.

Thanks for hunting this one down and posting it. Must also say thanks again to Joe, for his coding skills in producing his version so quickly earlier in the thread.

Cheers

Dennis

[sheeny]

Good one Bert! It looks the business - especially the "Capture Event Time and Print" function!:thumbsup:

Al.

[[1ponders]]

I love this place. Ask for something and you get fantastic responses flying at you from everywhere. Unfortunately now with three clocks I've can hardly see my desktop :lol:

[avandonk]

I found it quite by accident.I was trawling through 'free' astro software and my part Irish brain immediately linked to a thread I had read so the link being made in my head I then made it real.

Bert

[h0ughy]

WHats the time Paul;) :lol:

[[1ponders]]

Hang on and I'll drop this window and I'll tell you :P

[sheeny]

That's a very good question hOughy!

I've just been checking the clock that Bert posted... it looks ideal...

but...

maybe I'm doing something wrong - that's not unheard of!:P ...

I have mine set up for 150 degees E and the AEST time zone which shows up +10hrs in the list, but on the time zone diplay is shows AEST +9... I assume that's due to daylight saving at Grenwich???? Is that kocha?

Also, the local sidereal time is 5hrs behind my palm software "sidereal". I have just checked this now with my planisphere and my palm software is correct.

Can anyone else confirm this?

Al.

[Dennis]

Hi Al

From memory, in the UK, it goes something like:

March 21 to Sept 21st = YES Daylight saving time = GMT+ 9 for AEST.
Sept 21st to March 21st = NO daylight Saving Time = GMT+10 for AEST

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders]]

I've just check for Coordinated UT and ADC is showing an hour in front. Greenwich SD is 22:34 (17:38 showing on ADC) and Local SD is (17:08 (ADC showing 03:50) Not sure what is going on there???? :shrug:

[sheeny]

Yeah thanks... have you checked the sidereal time? Mine's out by 5 hours!

Al.

PS Ooops I see you slipped a post in in front of me Paul! I'm a bit suss on the sidereal time...

[Dennis]

TheSky 6 Pro shows Local Sidereal Time = 08:49
Astronomers Digital Clock shows LST = 03:49

Hmm, wonder what's going on...

Cheers

Dennis

[[1ponders]]

Ah la screen shot

[sheeny]

Yeah I thought so... the sidereal time calc is 5 hours slow (at the moment?)...

Al.

[[1ponders]]

Here's Maxclock and it matches more what you have Dennis

[Dennis]

Hmm, for Brisbane:

Starry Night Pro V5 shows:
UT=3:42
Local=1:42pm
Sidereal=8:54

TheSky 6 Pro shows:
UT=3:42
Local=1:42pm
LST=8:54

ADC shows:
UT=4:42
Local=13:42
LST=3:54

So, yes, UT is 1 hour ahead and LST is 5 hours behind?

Oh well, it looked promising at the time. I’ll hunt down the author’s e-mail and post these results to him for his information.

Cheers

Dennis

[sheeny]

I see you got the simplified display version of Maxclock Paul... :lol: if you don't suffer from dyslexia, you soon will!:rofl: But the numbers on it seem more comforting to me!:thumbsup:

I like to layout and features on the one Bert posted... but it hardly compensates for a wrong time???

Al.

[sheeny]

Good on ya Dennis!

Let us know how you go. If you think a lobbying approach would be good I'm happy to contact as well. I like the program... just not the time it's telling me!:P

Al.

[[1ponders]]

There is a simplified version??? :P

Funnily enough, after spending some time just looking at it :screwy: it's actually starting to make sense :lol:

Maybe we should send it to Hitchhiker to put a GUI on it and attach it to the PCFE and RGBsplit combo. Then he can attach them to virtual dub and set that up as a plug in for either registax (though then we'd need to include a capture program) or K3 :D

[astroron]

Hi had that on my last computer for a couple of years till I got this one and had forgotten to download it to this one, am in the process now

[sheeny]

I decided to contact Matt O (author of ADC) anyway... I couldn't find his email address do I constructed one from his website username and domain... it hasn't bounced yet!:P

Al.

[[1ponders]]

matto@zoominternet.net

Under Info-About ADC

[Dennis]

Thanks Paul, you must be the one with the brains, as I couldn't find his e-mail on all the web sites I tried! :doh: :doh: :doh:

Cheers

Dennis

[Hitchhiker]

:rofl:

[[1ponders]]

:D good idea huh!:D

[sheeny]

Yup. That's what I got!:thumbsup: (But I got there more...:shrug: ... creatively!:rolleyes: )

Al.

[joe_smith]

Still working on it............ Should of paid more attention in school :gamer:

[sheeny]

Well, for what it's worth. Here's one I've written in Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition.

Now be warned! This is the first bit of real programming I have done in a good 25 years or so... :D Thanks for asking the question, Dennis! It made me download VB and learn to program again!:screwy: This is only the second program I've ever written in VB (the other one let me enter the radius, and it would calculate the area of a circle!! Woohoo!!:P )

I expect that when it installs, it will want to download files from Microsoft unless you are running the .NET framework. So unless you want to download those files, or install the .NET framework, I suggest you don't install it!

If anyone can walk me through how to publish the application so it doesn't do this, please let me know!

Solar and Sidereal Time looks good to me at the moment, but no guarantees! Sidereal time should be accurate to plus or minus a second only (I used the short equation!;) ).

I offer this on a where is as is basis! Feel free to use it if you like, but I can't accept any responsibility!:P

Thanks to Joe Smith too, for sending me some code and giving me a clue about timers!

Al.

[h0ughy]

can you get it to retain the longtitude entered instead of entering the data evertime it starts up? nice what you have done too. Any way of being able to make it full screen, large text?:thumbsup:

[sheeny]

Undoubtedly yes, HOughy. No doubt if I can't someone can!:P

As I said I'm 25 years out of practice and new to VB, so I'll have a go but I have no idea how long it will take. I'd like to a breather for a while, it's such hard work!:rofl:

I want to get rid of the windows border cause I can't figure out how to make that night vision colours (yet?:shrug: ), but I want to keep it so it can be movable around the screen. Resizable sounds great too, but as for how to do that (i.e. resizing text etc, not just the window size) well... let's just say resizable sounds great shall we???;)

I've tried to keep the text as large as possible with a small footprint on the screen so it doesn't block other apps.

If there are any other VB programmers out there who would like to collaborate, let me know. I'm happy to share the code!

Al.

[Dennis]

Thanks heaps Al - it all sounds like black magic to me, but I certainly can appreciate the efforts you have put into this whim of mine!

Cheers

Dennis

[iceman]

Looks nice, Al.

I'll have to pester mojo into getting LST into the timezones bar on the right column.. It will use your long/lat info in your profile to display it correct for your location.

[sheeny]

Hey don't forget Solar for those with PSTs!!!:lol: Solar's relatively easy anyway.

Al.

[sheeny]

OK Guys, here's a minor update.

Same as before except I've fixed a minor bug that saw the Sidereal Time drop behind gradually. I also fixed up a spelling error or 2!

I've also added a routine so if you double click on the main form outside the GroupBoxes, the border around the application will toggle. So if the border is upsetting your night vision, double click (just inside the border) will get rid of it. Then if you need to move the clock, double click will bring the border back so you can drag and drop via the caption bar, etc.

Remembering the longitude is next!

Al.

[iceman]

Mojo has added LST to the timezones (not yet live), and is doing solar time next.

Is there any other astronomical times that would be nice to have in the RHS column?

[mojo]

LMST
LAST
GMST
GAST
Julian

If someone gives me the definition of Solar Time, you can have that too. I'm a programmer, not an astronomer :shrug:

[sheeny]

Terry,

The guts of Solar time is how the position of the sun deviates from where our clocks say it should be due to the eccentricity of the earth's orbit. The formula for that deviation is called the "Equation of Time" and it can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_time

If you simply apply the equation of time adjustments to local (standard) time you will get the "rough" solar time based on the central meridian of the time zone.

To make it more accurate, start with UTC, apply the equation of time then adjust for the required longitude (i.e. add 1 hour for each 15 degrees east).

Hope this helps,

Al.

[iceman]

Why would anyone ever use that, Al?

[sheeny]

:lol: Sundial-a-holics would use it most!

It is also fundamental to calculating the position in the sky of the sun. If you are using a GOTO scope, all that is done for you; if not I guess you push and pull till the suns in view... so in reality it's probably not that important.

But I find it interesting to watch how the sun lags and overtakes us over time - especially in daylight saving time!

Al.

[iceman]

So it's only useful as a pursuit for the nerdy? :lol:

[sheeny]

Exactly!:lol: Until someone out-nerds me and comes up with a "valuable" use for it!

There's nothing wrong with that is there??:rofl:

Al.

[sheeny]

Actually there may be some use for solar observers if they want to be able to observe the sun at the same altitude each day, or when directly over head etc.

It may also be of use for some weather related phenomena... sun dogs, etc.

Just guessing...:shrug:

Al.

[sheeny]

OK Guys, here's version 1.3.

Very similar to earlier versions:

Written in VB 2005 Express Edition
Uses the .NET Framework so it will download additional .NET framework support files if you are not running the .NET framework. If you don't want to, or can't, download these files, I recommend you don't install the program.
Displays local, UTC, Solar and Sidereal Time.
If you don't enter a longitude, it will use the longitude of the central meridian of your time zone (less accurate).
You can enter your longitude, and the Solar and Sidereal time should be accurate to plus or minus 1 second for your longitude.
The longitude and the status of the application is saved to a file called Settings.dat each time the application is shutdown. So next time you run the clock it remembers the longitude, etc.
If the window border is too harsh for your dark adapted eyes, you can switch it off by double clicking just inside the window border (but outside the groupboxes). Double click again will switch the border back on so you can move the clock or shut it down.The three screen dumps attached show:

The clock when it runs the first time after installation. i.e. no longitude, using time zone only.
The clock running using a longitude.
The clock with the windows border turned off.Enjoy!

Al.

[h0ughy]

I graciously bow to your achievements, but one thing o great programming GOD - can I have it really big, you know like this:thumbsup: :thumbsup: so it is easily read while a little bit away from the screen:D

[Dennis]

Hi Al

Many, many thanks for this wonderful software utility. Your efforts in pursuing this task and coming up with such a fantastic solution are really, really appreciated - THANKS Big Al, you're the MAN. :2thumbs: :clap: :clap: :clap: :thanks:

Cheers

Dennis

[joe_smith]

Very nicely done Al, looks and works great :thumbsup:. might have to download that version of VB also and give it a try.

[sheeny]

Can't you squint harder, Houghy???:rofl:

OK, be patient... I'll do a version 1.3b (as in B for BIG)... but seriously what size font would you like? 36, 48, 72?

Al.

[h0ughy]

36 or the 48. Its squinting that made me like this in the first place:lol: :D :thumbsup:

[sheeny]

Cool. It's raining here today, so I'll see what I can come up with!

Al.

[sheeny]

Here ya go HOughy! A big version...

Sorry Guys, I renamed everything so VB would call it something other than AlsClock so we could install both versions and pick which one suits, but that didn't work...:doh:. I'll work on it...

In the meantime, if you want to use a bigger version, here it is (just for HOughy!;) )

Al.

[h0ughy]

;) thanks Al, you have done a brilliant job!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :D

[sheeny]

Thanks, HOughy! That's the good news!

The bad news is...

Because the big version and the normal version overwrite one another when installed, I set about trying to separate the two versions so I could name them differently...

I thought I had it right, but when I went back into VB and tried to open the project... nuh!:doh: Anyway, to cut a long story short... despite autobackups, etc it appears I have lost two critical files... I have been trying everything I can think of but can't recover them:mad2: . They are the files that define the appearance of the application. I'm pretty sure I have the guts of the program... so I'll just have to bite the bullet and reprogram/redesign from scratch and cut and paste if I want to do any more development work on it.

The trouble with being a novice! You know what you want to do, just no how to do it... and sometimes there's a risk that what you try will do some damage!:sadeyes:

I would like to re-write them both into the one application and use a button to toggle size... but it is not so simple, especially now!

So I hope you find the clock useful, and I hope you don't find too many bugs!!! ;)

Al.

[h0ughy]

Mate you're a legend, and the clock looks great to me and easy to read at a glance. I am sure that there will be a lot of IISers who will benefit from the hard work you have done Al!

[sheeny]

Thanks mate. It's all part of the learning experience!:lol:

The world is a relatively good and wholesome place again, I redesigned the application form, and cut and pasted my code into it... so here's the official version 2.0!;)

Slightly simplified (coding-wise), any a bit of a compromise between the large and small versions - the Siderial time at least is large (32 point font). So now you have a choice of three clocks, but this will be the only one supported in terms of bug fixes from here on...:P In all other respects its the same as version 1.3.

Al.

[h0ughy]

the size you made it for me was perfect 1.3big!:thumbsup: lets have a poll to see what the punters like!:D