e-clipse (i-klips') n. The partial or complete obscuring, relative to a designated observer, of one celestial body by another.
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e-clipse (i-klips') n. The partial or complete obscuring, relative to a designated observer, of one celestial body by another.
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How Does Eclipse Timer Help You?
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Table of Contents - Basic
IntroductionThank you for your interest in Eclipse Timer™. The inspiration for the development of this program was our wonderful journey to experience a Total Eclipse of the Sun in Africa on June 21, 2001. The event was spectacular to behold. And we, like most people, also wanted to photograph it. We realized that, in addition to the photographic plan, one of the ingredients to successful eclipse photography is precise timing. Precise timing requires that you calculate the contact points for your observing location, your Local Circumstances. But in reality, having the precise contact times is not enough. What is really helpful is having ample warning, leading up to the contact times, so that you can be in position to execute your photographic plan. The celestial events at 2nd Contact and 3rd Contact occur quickly! The duration of Totality is short! Every second is crucial, time cannot be wasted; it is a high-pressure event! Eclipse Timer™ is a timing tool with voice reminders, voice countdowns and warning tones. It was developed to help eclipse chasers like us, enjoy the eclipse by warning us of impending events. Eclipse Timer™ provides us with spoken voice warnings leading up to interesting partial phase phenomenon. It provides us with spoken numeric countdowns to the contact times. Contact times and Max/Mid eclipse are also marked with warning tones. Eclipse Timer™ allows us to precisely choreograph the list of photography chores we must accomplish prior to and during the contact times. At Eclipse Timer™, we want you to enjoy the eclipse, so our motto is "Leave The Timing To Us." Back to Top
Operating Systems SupportedEclipse Timer ™ has been tested on the following operating systems. Laptops/Desktops: Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 Hand Held Devices: Pocket PC 2002 (Strong ARM Processor Only) Back to Top
The Eclipse Timer Interface (Overview)Time Label: The label above the time box can be changed to read either Universal Time or Local Time. By default the program opens displaying Universal Time. Change it to reflect the system of time that you are planning to use to time your event. The selection is made in the View Menu by selecting the label that you want displayed. This label has no function regarding the internal time set on the device. The label being changed serves only to remind you of what system of time you are using. The label selection is saved in the timing data (ETD file) when you save your programmed times. The appropriate label will be re-entered each time you open as previously saved file. There is a line in the Observation Data Sheet (See Data Menu) to enter the time label you are using for a particular set of timing data. Time Display: The 24-hour clock time shown in this box is a conversion of the 12-hour clock time that is set in your computer or handheld. Therefore, you must decide which system of 24-hour clock time is more intuitive to you, or that with which you feel more comfortable. Do you want to use Coordinated Universal Time or Local Military Time? If you decide to use Coordinated Universal Time you will set the internal clock in your computer or handheld device to Greenwich Meridian Time (the local time at Longitude 0). If you decide to use Local Military Time you will set the internal clock in your computer or handheld to the 12-hour local time. A word of caution using local time: depending on the season, when observing in foreign countries, you will have to research prior to your trip whether or not that country observes Daylight Savings Time. Totality Duration Display: The time duration shown in this box is calculated based on the length of time that will elapse between the programmed times for Time 2 and Time 3, i.e. 2nd Contact to 3rd Contact for eclipses and planet transits. After appropriate times are entered for 2nd Contact and 3rd Contact, the duration time will be calculated when the Enabled Timers button is activated and the timers are turned on. When 2nd Contact is reached this displayed time will begin to countdown to 3rd Contact, marking the end of totality or planet transit. 1st Through 4th Contact Labels: Directly beneath these labels are the times in 6-digit time format that mark the events. When a time is programmed, the digits will be black in color. Prior to programming, the digits will be light gray zeros. Max/Mid Label: Directly beneath this label is the time in 6-digit time format that will mark the Maximum eclipse or the Midpoint of a transit. When programmed, the digits will be black in color. Prior to programming, the digits will be light gray zeros. This time is NOT calculated automatically by Eclipse Timer™. The time must be calculated by the user and input manually just like the contact times. Time Programming Buttons: Time 1, Time 2, Max/Mid, Time 3 and Time 4 buttons, when activated allow the user to set the appropriate time in 6 digit time format. See section on Setting the Contact Times for more information on this subject. Enable Timers Button: This button toggles Eclipse Timer’s™ timer functions, voice warnings and tone warnings, between turned On and turned Off. When enabled, the Timers On label will blink to provide an additional visual clue that the timing functions are turned on and ready to function. The status of this button (On or OFF) is saved as part of the ETD file. Voice Option Label: Below this label is displayed the type of voice warnings to be played by Eclipse Timer™. The possible displays are Eclipse Voice, Planet Voice, Moon 1st, Shadow 1st, Tones Only. See section On the Tools Menu for more information on this subject. Totality Click Button: This button toggles the Totality Click function between turned On and Turned Off. With Totality Click turned on, Eclipse Timer will play an audible chirp during the Totality Duration period, beginning 10 seconds after 2nd Contact and then at every 10 second interval up to 3rd Contact. The status of this button (On or OFF) is saved as part of the ETD file. File Name: At the bottom of the interface, the file (EDT file) that is loaded into the program is displayed. If a new set of data is being input, then "New Doc" is displayed. Whenever you close Eclipse Timer™ you will always prompted to have the opportunity to save changes to your document. You can also save your document by using the Save As command in the File Menu. Back to Top
Setting Universal or Local TimeYou have to decide very early on in your preparation for the celestial event which system of time you are going to use to time the event. Astronomers use Universal Time and you will find that most published data regarding eclipses of celestial bodies will be published in Universal Time. The NASA Eclipse Bulletins publish all data on the Local Circumstances in Universal Time. The bulletins can be reviewed on line or can be ordered directly from NASA: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html. If you decide to use Universal Time you need to set the internal clock of your computer or handheld device to the 12-hour local time at the Greenwich Meridian. This is the time zone spanning Longitude zero (Time Zone Z). Eclipse Timer will automatically convert the internal time to 24-hour military time format. If you decide to use Universal Time, you will then set all of your Contact Times and your Max/Mid Time using 24-hour military time format based on Universal Time and Eclipse Timer™ will time the event correctly. Remember to choose the appropriate time label for the interface display and to enter your time label choice into the Observation Data Sheet. If you decide to use Local Military Time you will have to consider World Time Zones. All time zones around the world are an offset from Time Zone Z (GMT). You have to know the exact Time Zone for the geographical area that you are going to be observing from. Once you know your observing location’s Time Zone, you will add or subtract the offset time from the data published in Universal Time and you will have the correction for the timing of events in your location in Local Military Time. Be aware that you may have to account for Daylight Savings Time for your observing location. Not all countries practice Daylight Savings Time, therefore, you will have to do some research. If you decide to use Local Military Time, you will set the internal clock in your computer or handheld device to the correct 12-hour local time at your observing site. Eclipse Timer will automatically convert the internal time to 24-hour military time format. If you decide to use Local Time, you will then set all of your Contact Times and your Max/Mid Time using 24-hour military time format based on the Local Time and Eclipse Timer ™ will time the event correctly. Remember to choose the appropriate time label for the interface display and to enter your time label choice into the Observation Data Sheet.
Setting The Contact TimesThe Contact Times are entered into the program by using the buttons labeled Time 1, Time 2, Time 3 and Time 4. For example when setting Time 1; when the Time 1 button is activated you are presented with the Set Time 1 activity box. The present date will be displayed. If you are timing a daytime celestial event no date adjustment is needed. If you are timing a Lunar Eclipse or a Jupiter Moon transit that will cross midnight, you MUST adjust the date to the next day for the programmed times that occur in the next calendar day. Having the correct date for the contact times that cross midnight into the next calendar day is essential for Eclipse Timer™ to time the event correctly. The time is adjusted by placing the cursor in the field for hours or minutes or seconds and using the arrows (desktop version) or the plus or minus sign (mobile version) to adjust the time. In the mobile version the cursor can be placed before the numbers, in between the numbers or after the numbers, it does not matter. The field in which the cursor is located is the field that will respond to the adjustment. In the desktop version the two digits in the field will become highlighted. The fields adjust between 00 and 23 for the hour field and between 00 and 59 for the minutes and seconds fields. In the mobile device version the fields do not roll over to zeros after 23 or 59 are reached. In the desktop version the fields do roll over to zeros again. When you have input a six-digit time for Time 1 select OK and the time will be programmed as the 1st Contact Time. The six gray zeros beneath 1st Contact label will change to your programmed time and the color will change to black. This programmed time will be part of the EDT file if you choose to save the file and it will appear in the appropriate section of the Observation Data Sheet and will be saved in the Observation Data Sheet if you choose to save the file. You will use the same procedure for programming the remaining contact times using buttons Time 2, Time 3 and Time 4. The Max/Mid time is programmed exactly like the contact times using the Max/Mid button. This time is NOT calculated automatically by Eclipse Timer™. You have to calculate the maximum point of an eclipse or the middle of a transit yourself. You will do this by taking the full time duration of the totality or transit and dividing it in half. Take the value of time that you calculated (half the totality duration time) and add it to the 2nd Contact time and this will be the time that you enter for Maximum Eclipse or Mid Transit. Input the Max/Mid time just like the contact times. An alternate way to input the times is to highlight 2 digits at once (hours or minutes or seconds) and use your keyboard or on a mobile device, the letter recognizer to adjust the number. The program will not allow you to mistakenly enter characters other then digits; however, the logic to prevent all entry mistakes is not perfect, so please be careful. Note that Eclipse Timer™ WILL allow you enter contact times even if the programmed times are not correctly advancing in time. I repeat, Eclipse Timer™ WILL "enable" with incorrect and illogical times entered. The timer will continue to run and programmed times that do not make sense are ignored by the software and bypassed without initiating warning tones or warning voices, or incorrect times can make voice warnings and tones play out of order. Incorrect times can also disrupt the logic of the Totality Duration calculation and countdown. Therefore, you must check and double check your programmed times. It is for this reason that the timer interface has been designed to display the programmed times so you can quickly review the times you have programmed into the software and check that they are correct. In the mobile version, if when entering data you confuse the logic of Eclipse Timer™ and the program locks up, you will have to go to Settings/System/Memory/Running Programs and choose Eclipse Timer followed by Stop. Then, if asked if you wanted to End Task, you need to choose Yes to close the program. Back to Top
Enabling The TimersBy default the Eclipse Timer™ program opens ready for a New Document with the timers NOT enabled. Once all of the times are properly programmed, selecting the Enable Timers button will turn on the warning tones and which ever Voice Option you have chosen. The Totality Duration will also be calculated and displayed. The Timers On label will continually blink to provide a visual clue that the device is enabled. Having the Enable Timers in the On position turns on a 2 second long warning tone for the Contact times and a 4 second long warning tone for the Max/Mid time. It also turns On the Voice Option that is selected under the Tools menu (see Tools Menu below). By default the Eclipse Timer™ program opens with Eclipse Voice and Partial Phase Phenomenon voice enabled. If all Voice Options in the Tools Menu are de-selected, then no voice warnings will play, only the warning tones will play and the display beneath the Voice Option label will read Tones Only. The warning tones that play when the timers are enabled are as follows: 1st Contact: 2 second warning tone that begins at the programmed time. 2nd Contact: 2 second warning tone that begins at the programmed time. Max/Mid: 4 second warning tone that begins at the programmed time. 3rd Contact: 2 second warning tone that begins at the programmed time. 4th Contact: 2 second warning tone that begins at the programmed time. During the playing of the warning tones for 1st, 2nd and 4th Contact, the Universal/Local Time window will flash with the word Warning. During the playing of the warning tones for Max/Mid and 3rd Contact, the Universal/Local Time window and the Totality Duration window will flash with the word Warning. Back to Top
Eclipse Timer™ provides 5 choices for voice warnings. By default the Eclipse Timer™ program opens with Eclipse Voice and Partial Phase Phenomenon voice selected. The voices are selected in the Tools Menu in the menu bar. Eclipse Voice Plays voice warnings that are appropriate for Solar and Lunar eclipses. The display beneath the Voice Option label reads: "Eclipse Voice." Planet Transit Voice Plays voice warnings that are appropriate for Mercury and Venus transits or Lunar occultation’s of stars, planets or asteroids. The display beneath the Voice Option label reads: "Planet Voice." Galilean Moons-Moon 1st Plays voice warnings that are appropriate for Jupiter moon transits when the moon contacts Jupiter before the shadow. The display beneath the Voice Option label reads: "Moon 1st." Galilean Moons-Shadow 1st Plays voice warnings that are appropriate for Jupiter moon transits when the shadow contacts Jupiter before the moon. The display beneath the Voice Option label reads: "Shadow 1st." Partial Phase Phenomenon Plays voice warnings that appropriate for the natural phenomenon that occur during the partial phases of a solar eclipse prior to totality. There is no display to indicate this selection. Only one of the voice options can be selected at a time. Only when Eclipse Voice is selected can Partial Phase Phenomenon be selected because the Partial Phase Phenomenon voice warnings are only appropriate for a solar eclipse. Partial Phase Phenomenon should be de-selected when using Eclipse Voice for a Lunar Eclipse or if the user desires not to be warned about these phenomenon during a solar eclipse. When a voice option other than Eclipse Voice is selected, the Partial Phase Phenomenon selection becomes grayed out and not selectable. Be advised about some of the nuances of the audible warnings that were programmed into the software by design. For all of the spoken voice warnings, including the Partial Phase Phenomenon, the time is marked at the end of the statement. Therefore, for example, when Eclipse Timer™ says "First Contact In 60 Seconds", the statement actually begins to play at 63 seconds before the time programmed for 1st Contact time, so that the end of the statement is right at the 1st Contact time. For the warning tones, the tones begin at the count of zero, which is the actual programmed time and therefore play after the programmed time. The contact time warning tone plays for 2 seconds after the contact times and the Max/Mid warning tone plays for 4 seconds after the Max/Mid time. The sequence of audible warnings that Eclipse Timer™ will play is listed below. These sequences were given a great deal of thought. They were chosen to give enough warning about impending events to aid in a photographic plan, but yet not to have too many audible warnings which could be annoying and not actually helpful to the end user. Authors: Gordon Telepun and Angela Hartsfield
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