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Re: (meteorobs) Semi-automatic plotting

In a message dated 96-07-30 13:19:55 EDT, you write:

<< I was wondering if anyone has automated the plotting process to any
 extent.  What I was thinking of is a simple alt-az mounting with digital
 encoders on it.  The mounting would not hold a scope, but rather a simple
 stick with a zero-power finder on it.  The encoders are attached to a
 portable (luggable??) computer.
 
 When a meteor flies by you hit the enter key to begin a new observation. 
 The time is automatically recorded from the system clock.  You then point
 the zero-power finder at the start location and hit enter (or some key)
 again to record the starting position which is read off the encoders. 
 Repeat for the ending position.  Then you may enter other necessary info
 such as magnitude and velocity using the keyboard.
 
 The software could even keep track of your down time while you were
 recording the observation so you could have a more accurate Teff.
 
 Would this be a useful data gathering tool?  See any problems?  I would
 bet such a thing could be built pretty easily and cheaply.
 
 -- 
 Bill Tschumy
  >>
-----
Bill,
Welcome first of all.  Now to address your Semi-automatic plotting idea some.
I tried picturing the device in use as you described it to the things I would
have to do as I plot. Personally it seems like I might be overloading the
brain to do things that I will have to think about...namely hit various
buttons on the keyboard etc. A lot of the things I do extra in the dark to
record data is rather automatic...I don't really think about it..dot it's sorta
like breathing...you usually don't think about each breath...unless you can't
breathe. Things like grabbing the flashlite and starting my stop watch during
a fireball event etc is automatic.  I really feel that if I tried doing some
of the things you mentioned, I might be forgetting what I wanted to remember
before I have a chance to enter everything. This may just be because it's
something new and foreign to get use to.  But I personally don't think it is
usable in the field...perhaps at a limited level maybe...say for fireball
entries?  I find it now that I've just got accustomed to finding a pattern to
keep most of the immediate data intact until I write it down...any more extra
thought I'm afraid I might start to lose some details...namely thinking about
typing and looking at the keyboard with thought as to what key I want to hit
in the dark. As for any efficiency with data reduction...Well, normally data
reduction is done later...not out in the field while plotting. I'm sorry I'm
not able to be more specific than that, but it feels complicated for me to
think about using. Another thing that seems complicated to me for such a
system is questioning it's flexibility to line up on meteors that I see all
over the sky?  Maybe if I heard other input, my thoughts as to what makes
this seemingly complicated may arise to the surface? I do appreciate your
thinking though.
George Z.