Occult Watcher 2.5
| EVENTS | CONFIGURATION | EVENT DETAILS | OBSERVATION PLANNER | C2A ADD-IN | MORE ADD-INS | FAQ | DOWNLOAD | FEEDBACK |
Before you can use the Observation Planner you have to create an account. This can be done from the "Observation planner" tab in the configuration form.
If you already have an existing account and you want to use it on a new installation of Occult Watcher just check the "Use existing account" checkbox when entering your info.
After you have created your account you can update your display name or password.
Once you have configured your account when you click on an event in the details panel you will see extra information - how many stations have been announced so far, how many of them are yours, where on the path are those stations. There will be also a "View stations sorts" link.
On the top of the path you can see the small gray bars which indicate the location of the announced stations across the predicted path.
When you open the GoogleMap it will include a path schema similar to the path on the details panel. The site locations announced by all observers will be displayed as gray bars across the path. The actual sites locations will be also shown on the map with a telescope marker.
The small light gray telescopes indicate the sites announced by other observers. To keep the privacy of other observers their locations will be shown with degraded precision of +/- 2km. This also applies to how other observers will see your stations. The dark gray telescope markers show your previously announced stations. They are clickable and show a bubble with more options to edit or delete the site. The big dark blue telescope marker is the current site. It is used when you select a location for a new station or you move the position of a previously announced station.
The bars on the path are clickable and by clicking on them you can center the station. Because of the implementation technology used to draw the bars there is a site resolution which is shown on the right. The site resolution has the meaning of the minimal distance between two stations across the path which is required to draw the sites as two separate gray bars on the path. The site resolution depends on your screen resolution as well but it does not affect the precision of the announced station coordinates. It is only a display limitation in the software. If two stations are closer across the path than the current site resolution they will be drawn as one bar.
Announcing new station
To announce a new station you have to first select its position on the map by right clicking on it. If you haven't announced any positions yet the default position will be preselected when you open the map and will have the coordinates of your configured location (in the configuration form of Occult Watcher). While choosing location for your site its position across the path will be shown on the predicted path as a black bar marked with *
After you select your location you should press "Enter station info" and you will be able to give this site a name and also choose your observing and timing methods that are going to be used. To announce the site press "Submit as your location" button.
Modifying already announced station
Stations previously announced by you will be shown as dark gray telescope markers. To modify your station info you have to press on the telescope marker and then click on the link to edit this station.
Once you do this the marker will become a bigger dark blue telescope. Now you can move the station to a different location by right clicking on the new place. You can also modify the site name, observing and timing methods to be used. When ready press "Update this location" button.
Deleting a station
To delete a station click on the dark grey telescope marker and follow the link to delete this station. Confirm the deletion.
Station sorts
To see the station sorts click on the "View station sorts" link on the event details panel.
