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Adding datum conversion to FizzyCalc


fizzymagic

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So I took another look at doing conversions between datums today and realized that it is very simple; I actually have everything I need already in my class library for FizzyCalc.

 

So here is the question: would it be worthwhile for me to put out a new version that can translate coordinates between datums? And, if so, which datums do people care about?

 

For me, I really only care about WGS84 and NAD27. Maybe NAD83, though it's pretty similar to WGS84.

 

Anybody else care about about these things? I would probably update the positions of the WAAS satellites and add the new one, too.

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So I took another look at doing conversions between datums today and realized that it is very simple; I actually have everything I need already in my class library for FizzyCalc.

 

So here is the question: would it be worthwhile for me to put out a new version that can translate coordinates between datums? And, if so, which datums do people care about?

 

For me, I really only care about WGS84 and NAD27. Maybe NAD83, though it's pretty similar to WGS84.

 

Anybody else care about about these things? I would probably update the positions of the WAAS satellites and add the new one, too.

As a U.S. based cacher my interest is also WGS84 and NAD27. I wonder if any non U.S. cachers will respond with additional requests. And if you did include NAD83, out of curiosity I would check some local coords to compare NAD83 and WGS84. I know my Garmin thinks they are identical, and I would be impressed to see FizzyCalc return more realistic data.

 

There is another issue I have with FizzyCalc, and hope that if you do tinker with it you will give this some thought. From the DISTANCE tab I get distance between coords and forward and reverse azimuth. The azimuth has a degree symbol tacked on to it. It I copy and past that azimuth (complete with degree symbol) into the PROJECTION Bearing it only produces "Error Parsing Angle". Is there any way you can make the PROJECTION Bearing accept the degree symbol?

 

In any case, thanks for a great tool I use and recommend quite often.

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There is another issue I have with FizzyCalc, and hope that if you do tinker with it you will give this some thought. From the DISTANCE tab I get distance between coords and forward and reverse azimuth. The azimuth has a degree symbol tacked on to it. It I copy and past that azimuth (complete with degree symbol) into the PROJECTION Bearing it only produces "Error Parsing Angle". Is there any way you can make the PROJECTION Bearing accept the degree symbol?

Oh, duh! Sure, that is easy. I'll just have it ignore any non-numeric characters in the azimuth.

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Hmm... not much interest. I'll include NAD27, British Ordnance Survey, and the older European, Australian, and New Zealand datums. And Pulkovo 1942.

 

I could put in lots and lots; it's no harder for me, but it makes the UI harder to use.

Not much interest? I guess there isn't any controversy in discussing FizzyCalc, thus no fun.

I have noticed your download site lists: Current Version: 1.01 11/5/2007

However the actual download lists itself as: 1.0.01

I thought I must have missed something and downloaded again this morning to check.

 

Thanks for your attention to my "Error Parsing Angle" post. Looking forward to the fix. Now I have a new question. Not a bug, just an inconsistency.

Was there a reason to use the degree symbol for DISTANCE azimuth but write out the word "degrees" for WAAS SATELLITES azimuth and elevation?

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Thanks for your attention to my "Error Parsing Angle" post.
Yes, that is fixed already. I'll put it out now so you can grab it. Should show as 1.1.02.

 

Now I have a new question. Not a bug, just an inconsistency.

Was there a reason to use the degree symbol for DISTANCE azimuth but write out the word "degrees" for WAAS SATELLITES azimuth and elevation?

 

No reason. Probably I should change it to be the same, though I am seriously considering leaving off the WAAS satellite page because the satellites move around enough that it will be stale..

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Based on my experience in GPSBabel, "not much interest" sums it up pretty well. I've supported some datum transformation, but I'm utterly convinced that they're useful to more than a few dozen of our zillions of users.

 

The huge majority of mapping products in the GPS age are WGS-84. NAD-27 and NAD-83 are of some historic interest in the States and there are a few European mapping products that store or reference local datums, but I have the strong sense that these are small in number. The number of times I've seen anything else even mentioned probably comes to once or twice a year over the life of the project.

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Hi Fizzy - thanks for the great program, I use it regularly. The datums I jump into and out of most regularly are the various State Plane NAD83ft systems. I use CorpsCon v6 which allows for batch processing of ASCII or .csv files. I also oftentimes just cut&paste data between FizzyCalc and CorpsCon.

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Thanks for your attention to my "Error Parsing Angle" post.

Yes, that is fixed already. I'll put it out now so you can grab it. Should show as 1.1.02.

 

Advertised fix on 1.1.02 is working perfectly. Thanks.

Note that the download site is still describing it as: Current Version: 1.01 11/5/2007

How will we know when the remaining upgrades have been completed?

 

I've looked at the "WAAS Satellite" tab but never actually had any use for it. If it's eliminated, I won't miss it.

I wonder how many users are making use of the "Checksums" tab? It looks like it could be used for coordinate verification on puzzle caches. How secure is it against being cracked for the solution?

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I wonder how many users are making use of the "Checksums" tab? It looks like it could be used for coordinate verification on puzzle caches. How secure is it against being cracked for the solution?

There's not much "cracking" required. It's simple math. If you've solved all but one digit, the checksum will let you figure it out. Of course, geochecker.com has the same flaw, but for a different reason.

 

A simple checksum will not catch accidental transpositions. If you switch the places of any two digits, it will give a false positive. There are checksum schemes, like that used for credit cards, which will catch transpositions. But even that has the same "solve for the missing digit" issue. Though I will say that once you learn how to do a double-add-double mod 10 calculation in your head, you can win quite a few bar bets, by telling a stranger what the missing digit is in their credit card number. <_<

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I'm still hoping for a more robust Fizzycalc with Datums added. But so much time has passed and Fizzy has indicated he is done with windows. Is this destined to always remain on my wish list? It's good to see that Fizzycalc has been ported to the Mac, but I don't think Jim can actually add new features.

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I LOVE FizzyCalc. I wish it could be used on a smart phone.

 

Thanks Fizzy!

Android phone users might want to take a look at GCC, GeoCache Calculator, a free app that does waypoint projection and a few dozen other GPS-related calculations. It also includes functions that help in solving all sorts of puzzles.

 

--Larry

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