[Chaos-l] Observing the Orionids with the "Perseids" Android App

Sun Oct 21 15:00:53 EDT 2012

I recommend using this keyboard, which I used last weekend on my
tablet with Sky Safari. It lets you have a red keyboard that keeps you
dark-adapted.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.pruss.android.inputmethod.latin&hl=en

Also, I set my tablet so that it does not lock at all. That way I can
let the screen turn off, and when I tap the power button, the screen
just comes back on with the app I left running. This avoids the unlock
screen completely.

Michael

On Sun, Oct 21, 2012 at 2:42 PM, Jon Stewart-Taylor
<joncst at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Hi all.  I now have an Android smart phone (with no phone contract, so it's
> really just a PDA).  One of the apps i installed is the "Perseids" app,
> written by Wolfgang Strickling:
>
>    http://www.strickling.net/android_en.htm#Perseids
>
> which has the interface shown in the attached image (there are two more
> images on the web page, so do visit it to see them).
>
>
>
>
> Basically, you tap on the top block on the screen for the main shower, tap
> the middle block for sporadics, and the bottom section has little blocks for
> appending details to the meteor recorded by a tap in one of the top two.
> So, if you saw a Perseid about 2nd magnitude which left a trail, you could
> tap "Perseid", "0..3 mag", and "Afterglow".  For an ordinary sporadic in the
> 3-4th mag range you could tap "Sporadic" and "less 3 mag".  If you can't (or
> just don't want to) guestimate magnitude, you can tap just shower or
> sporadic and ignore the rest.
>
> I used it for the first time for this year's Orionids, and found it pretty
> easy to use.  The basic function of tapping the appropriate type of meteor
> is doable without looking at the screen.  To add details such as magnitude
> or trail, i needed to look.  The display is in red, and not too bright, so
> it's not too hard on the dark adaptation.
>
> Pressing the standard Android "menu" button gives an options overlay of the
> bottom third of the screen (see the second image on the web page), offering
> among others "start", "stop", and "comment".  The most important is a button
> to set the shower you're observing.  Tap it to bring up the list of meteor
> showers then tap the shower you''ll be observing (see the third image).  The
> options are in white and do affect your dark adaptation but for the most
> part not that badly.  You should select the shower before starting, and you
> don't really need dark adapted eyes after stopping observing anyway.
>
> The exception to the "not hard on dark adaptation" is entering comments.
> Tapping "enter comment" brings up a standard Android enter-the-text dialog
> box.  If you open the hardware keyboard  it kicks in the keyboard backlight,
> which really does a number on your eyes,  Using the on-screen virtual
> keyboard is a little better, and taping the "microphone" icon on the
> keyboard lets you use the speech-to-text function enter your comment.
> However, it's not a quick, easy, or red-light-friendly.  First, tap the menu
> button, which gives the options overlay.  Then tap "enter comment", which
> gives the text box.  Double-tap in the text area to bring up the keyboard.
> Tap the microphone to get speech-to-text.  Say your piece, then wait for the
> input to be converted and entered in the box.  Tap OK to accept the comment,
> or edit/re-record it. You have to look at the screen throughout the process,
> which may mean missed meteors, and will mean diminished dark adaptation.
> Finally, you have to be "on-line", either via phone or wireless connection,
> for the speech-to-text conversion to work.  I probably won't be making many
> comments during observing.  Might make some during breaks, or before or
> after starting, though.
>
> The data is stored on the internal SD card, easily found under the "my
> files" icon.  It's not in a wonderful format, and will need to be massaged
> for use with PC software for recording meteor observations, or for
> submitting to the IMO.  However, it is simple, straightforward, and
> human-readable, which makes it easy to create the filter or even edit by
> hand.
>
> My record for 2.5 hours of observing the Orionids, after editing by-hand is
> appended.  A short excerpt from the beginning of the session:
>
> 2012-10-21  02:16:07; ;Start Observation
> 2012-10-21  02:16:10; Orionid; -4 .. 0 mag,
> 2012-10-21  02:18:13; Orionid;
> 2012-10-21  02:20:09; Orionid;
>
>
> A couple of things to note:
>
> Make sure to set the screen time-out (in the Android settings) to an
> interval longer than you expect between meteors.  Otherwise you'll have to
> unlock the screen for every meteor, and that will affect your dark
> adaptation.
>
> I was a little uncertain if i'd actually recorded a meteor sometimes,
> because i kept hitting the "ringer volume" button on the side of the unit,
> which made it vibrate.  The number of shower and sporadic meteors is shown
> after the label, but you have to look to see if it changes. Having the audio
> feedback turned on is good, so you get both the vibrate and the click.
>
> I said above that the number of meteors is counted and displayed on the
> screen, but if you exit the app, or even use the "stop/start" to record a
> break, the counters are reset.
>
> There is no option in the app to restart the log file.  To start anew, you
> have to delete or (probably better) rename the "Perseids.log" file.
> Otherwise it just keeps accumulating, which isn't wonderful if you want to
> store logs for different showers separately.
>
> Is it better than paper and pencil?  On the whole i'd say yes.  It's quick
> and easy to record a meteor.  There's no paper to get soggy in the dew (i
> kept the unit under my blanket, so it didn't get dew on it).  There's no
> pencil to break, lose, or get dull.  The time-stamps in the file are
> accurate to the nearest second,  There's no opportunity for transcription
> errors to creep in. The file can be e-mailed or BlueTooth'ed to a PC, where
> the data can be fed to a filter for automatic processing.  My only real
> concern would be battery life during a long session since i don't let it go
> to sleep.  Fortunately i have electricity in my observing field so i just
> run it with the charger plugged in all night.
>
> If you have an Android, and you observe meteors, i recommend trying it.
> It's free and works pretty well.
>
> Hope this was useful.
>
> J.
>
>
> --
> Jon Stewart-Taylor:  joncst at earthlink.net
> Chapel Hill Astronomy: http://www.rtpnet.org/chaos
> Cape Fear Astronomy: http://www.capefearastro.org/
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chaos-l mailing list
> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>