(meteorobs) Meteor Observation Tracking Tool Beta

[Mikhail Maslov]

Hello, Al and all,

It's a great idea to create the online meteor observing base. I
appreciate it very much. I think, it could be developed to broad bank
of archive data useful for various studies.
I tried to do something with the page you linked, but could create no
login. I constantly have the message "The password you entered does
not match". Perhaps, it's one of bugs you mentioned.
Nevertheless, I have some considerations on this base.
First of all, the process of entering data should be easy. I think,
these is no necessity to restrict to AMS format. For example, I use
IMO format as the base of my reports. So I'd have to double my reports
in both formats. Probably, format of reports should be free, as on
Meteorobs. I have a version, how it could be done. (I didn't see the
form, reasons are above, so I don't know how close to my proposals it
is). The form should have several text fields, containing main
attributes of report - such as "Name", "Year", "Month", "Day",
"Begin/End Time". They would be used in the search. I think, ideally
the base should be able to give out observations during some time
intervals searcher is interested in. To search for the results of
individual observers (number of observing hours, meteors seen, etc.)
some attribute fields could be created, although, IMHO, this personal
information is less important, than overall data. And the second part
of the form - a large text field, in which reports could be copied or
written as they are compiled by observers. It would be nice to see not
only current reports, but also from previous years and, considering
large amounts of such reports, they should be entered quickly and
easily.

Best regards, Mikhail Maslov


AD> Hi All,

AD> I've thrown together an online tracking tool for meteor observations.
AD> It is still a beta version (i.e. still could have bugs). It is based
AD> on the basic meteor observing form of the AMS. It saves the
AD> observation data to an online database for future lookups. Currently,
AD> you can add and view observations. I still need to add things such as
AD> editing observations, the option to e-mail the observation report (for
AD> example to this list), create a PDF for better printing, a more
AD> complete summary section, add numerous reports, exporting the data,
AD> etc. Feature suggestions are welcome.

AD> The goal of the tool is to provide an online resource where I (and
AD> others) can easily record and track their observations over time (e.g.
AD> how many hours did I spend observing meteors last year, how many
AD> Perseids have I seen this year or last year or in all of my
AD> observations, etc).

AD> I invite you to give it a look and enter some observations (real or
AD> make believe). If you enter test or dummy information please note that
AD> in the Comments section so I can delete the test data later. I'd also
AD> appreciate feedback and bug reports since this is something I threw
AD> together in a week, so I'm sure there's some issues to fix and ways I
AD> can improve it.

AD> Meteor Observation Tracking Tool:
AD> http://skyinsight.net/meteorobs/

AD> Clear dark skies,
AD> Al Degutis
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