Is it wrong that I'm more than a little bit excited by the idea of a spotlight plugin? 
Some very simple ham radio software for OS X - Can anyone help?
- Thread starter Feek
- Start date
I've not forgotten about this
I've got the distance working - I've used this as an excuse to get up to my eyeballs in maths. Oddly many algorithms for this are based on a perl script which as some numerical programming nasties in (such as comparing a real number to 0 which doesn't work too well in the world of computers). I opted for the Vincenty method - that works nicely.
The fun I'm having is with my bearing calculation using the law of cosines
I've got the distance working - I've used this as an excuse to get up to my eyeballs in maths. Oddly many algorithms for this are based on a perl script which as some numerical programming nasties in (such as comparing a real number to 0 which doesn't work too well in the world of computers). I opted for the Vincenty method - that works nicely.
The fun I'm having is with my bearing calculation using the law of cosines
/me looks at those pages and takes a step back!
Ok if you make a location in the centre, jj00ll then aj00ll then that should be halfway around the world in a westerly direction. The QTH Calculator shows the Azimuth rather than the bearing as 360deg. Now if a bearing is measured from north that means it's in a northerly direction. So in a bearing that should be 270ish?
My contest logging software shows it as 360 degrees and so does some random site which calculates distances and headings.
From exactly one side to the other it doesn't matter which way. The squares don't take into account that the earth isn't a perfect sphere.
Realistically these are going to be used within Continents - When it gets to significantly greater distances then you can get long/short paths and multiple atmospheric bounces so it's not so important.
From exactly one side to the other it doesn't matter which way. The squares don't take into account that the earth isn't a perfect sphere.
Realistically these are going to be used within Continents - When it gets to significantly greater distances then you can get long/short paths and multiple atmospheric bounces so it's not so important.
Did you get any further with the window size thing, Rob? I've been using the QTH Calc_Debug2 version and apart from being somewhat wide for your testing, it's all good
Soldato
I was making progress but I got dragged away from my computer over the past few days with other things and haven't had a chance to resolve the issues yet. I should have a chance to get it working tomorrow, I'll keep you updated.
Yup, same here. I have both the distance and bearing working with results consistent to other places.
Question is - do you want it a normal window on top .. or a HUD style dark semi transparent one
I just need to finish off the storage of user defaults, the ontop button and the fact that in the preferences you can type in the long/lat and will work out the home location for you (saves having to work out the home location by the user).
The same code can then be used for the iPhone and spotlight plugin!
Question is - do you want it a normal window on top .. or a HUD style dark semi transparent one
I just need to finish off the storage of user defaults, the ontop button and the fact that in the preferences you can type in the long/lat and will work out the home location for you (saves having to work out the home location by the user).
The same code can then be used for the iPhone and spotlight plugin!
An HUD style semi transparent window might be cool, it'd be interesting to see how it looks.
Not sure the lat/long entry is useful as 99.9% of radio people will already know their locator as opposed to their lat/long. I have no idea what my lat/long is and if I need to know then I have an app on my iPhone which will tell me (and show my maidenhead).
Not sure the lat/long entry is useful as 99.9% of radio people will already know their locator as opposed to their lat/long. I have no idea what my lat/long is and if I need to know then I have an app on my iPhone which will tell me (and show my maidenhead).
Oh very pretty. That reminds me of the film I have on my windscreen in the car that the speedo HUD reflects onto
Up to you which you prefer - the normal window is probably more readable.
For the spotlight, I'd need to write a system preference pane for the home location too. Then you'd set your home location under the system preferences. I could make the app and the spotlight plugin then use them.
For the spotlight, I'd need to write a system preference pane for the home location too. Then you'd set your home location under the system preferences. I could make the app and the spotlight plugin then use them.
Yes I think you're right. I have a dark background and the dark window will blend in too much. Go with the normal window.
Any more updates, Rob? And did you get my email, Nick?
Soldato
Sorry I took so long in getting back to you, I've managed to get hold of a Mac to do some testing and managed to resolve the issues with the interface. I have also added a transparency slider to the setting page so you can make the window transparent, this setting will also save across launches like the others.
You can get it from: http://www.rbrt.co.uk/QTH Calc OSX.jar
Let me know if it works okay, I can still make any changes you require.
Update: Some screenshots:
Tested on Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.3
You can get it from: http://www.rbrt.co.uk/QTH Calc OSX.jar
Let me know if it works okay, I can still make any changes you require.
Update: Some screenshots:
Tested on Snow Leopard OS X 10.6.3
Last edited:
Thanks Rob, that's working well. The only thing I'd pick up on is that it always starts in the top left corner of the screen and doesn't remember where I move it to but that's me being picky
Size is good, figures seem accurate and it does exactly what's needed.
Size is good, figures seem accurate and it does exactly what's needed.
Soldato
Done! Simple fix, just had to save the position whenever the window was moved. If you download it again it should be updated:
http://www.rbrt.co.uk/QTH Calc OSX.jar
I'm just pushing the enhancements back into the windows version in case you want to share it with any windows users. The OS X version works fine on windows but the interface is messed up.
Update: Both versions are now up at: http://www.rbrt.co.uk
Should you wish to clear any saved settings for whatever reason, they are stored under ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.java.util.prefs.plist on OS X and in the system registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JavaSoft\Prefs\qthcalc on Windows.
http://www.rbrt.co.uk/QTH Calc OSX.jar
I'm just pushing the enhancements back into the windows version in case you want to share it with any windows users. The OS X version works fine on windows but the interface is messed up.
Update: Both versions are now up at: http://www.rbrt.co.uk
Should you wish to clear any saved settings for whatever reason, they are stored under ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.java.util.prefs.plist on OS X and in the system registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JavaSoft\Prefs\qthcalc on Windows.
Last edited:
I couldn't be outdone 
here's the updated iHam application.
iHam Application: zipped here
Preference maidenhead location stored by OSX automatically under /User/<Your User name>/Library/Preferences/com.gaiasoftwaredevelopment.iHam.plist so it doesn't span user accounts.
I didn't implement the transparent window (I could implement one - even a circular window if you wanted but that would be overkill).
Known issues:
* when you delete right back to zero characters, it'll leave values in the distance and bearing fields.
* dock icon doesn't have a mask hence the white border
* no localisation currently
* no Help - although there are tooltips if you hover the mouse of the fields in the window.
* funky use of search field means that OSX puts it's own menu in there.. quite why you'd want to spellcheck a QTH.
here's the updated iHam application.iHam Application: zipped here
Preference maidenhead location stored by OSX automatically under /User/<Your User name>/Library/Preferences/com.gaiasoftwaredevelopment.iHam.plist so it doesn't span user accounts.
I didn't implement the transparent window (I could implement one - even a circular window if you wanted but that would be overkill).
Known issues:
* when you delete right back to zero characters, it'll leave values in the distance and bearing fields.
* dock icon doesn't have a mask hence the white border
* no localisation currently
* no Help - although there are tooltips if you hover the mouse of the fields in the window.
* funky use of search field means that OSX puts it's own menu in there.. quite why you'd want to spellcheck a QTH.
Last edited:
I'll grab that again tonight Rob and check it out, thanks.
Nick, I'm still getting the distance errors I emailed you about - Just dumped the current version in my apps folder, ran it and entered a locator.
This isn't quite right...
These figures are right...
Nick, I'm still getting the distance errors I emailed you about - Just dumped the current version in my apps folder, ran it and entered a locator.
This isn't quite right...
These figures are right...