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Title: Very stupid question?
#1
So I've downloaded Mr Tides 3, release 16. It works fine, except that it *only* appears to show currents, not tides. Am I missing something? I'm trying to look at Raccoon Straight, in the San Francisco bay area, but I've tried other stations, too, and I can never get tide data to show up, just currents.
 
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#2
There are a large number of current stations in S.F. Bay, but around Raccoon Point there is Angel Island which is a tide station, and Point Chauncey as well. It is a little hard to distinguish the two on the map, as I use the same dot for each - but I'm going to change this in the next release, which is currently in development (along with a lot more changes, all of which are taking a long time to gel together).

The list to the left of the map should list current stations in italics and tide stations in regular text. Are you seeing this? It would help if you could describe better what you're seeing.

Tanks!

August
 
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#3
Oh, I didn't realize that the various stations were /either/ current or water height. Oops! You might want to add a note in the documentation.

Great software--thanks!
 
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#4
it's a common misperception that stations that have tides can have currents as well. There's a page on the AyeTides website that describes the difference, I'll have to add a similar page to the Mr. Tides web site, and add a page to the Help file as well:

A reoccurring question is the difference between tide stations and tidal stream (current) stations. Tide stations do not show currents, and current stations do not show tides.

Think of the difference this way. Tide stations measure the depth of the water at a location, irrespective of how fast the water is moving past that point. All the tide station cares about is the depth. Meanwhile, a current station is only concerned with the speed and direction of moving water. Depth is irrelevant, and the current is only measured at the surface, or just below the surface.

You can have a tide station measuring a large change in the depth of the water, even while a current station next door measures no current at all. Alternatively, a tide station can have no change in depth while the nearby current is running hard. It all depends on where the water is coming from and where it's going to.
 
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#5
Among the many changes that may or may not be gelling, is it possible that some display on the MacENC screen is in the works? I've noticed that the tide and current stations have lat/long values. Of course I want the fancy current arrows just like the big boys get with Nobeltec, but perhaps the next best thing would be to have little symbols appearing on the screen at the appropriate locations, with the current value for the station appearing in the navigation window, just like when I click on any other screen object?
Edmund
 
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#6
You can do this:

1) Launch Mr. Tides from the "Applications" folder.

2) Select the Region on the Mr. Tides map where you want stations for. For example "California"

3) Select "Export to MacENC" from the "Maps" menu.

4) A GPX file will be created.

5) Launch MacENC or GPSNavX.

6) Select "From File.." on the "Waypoints" "Transfer" menu.

7) Select the GPX file created by Mr. Tides.

8) The Waypoints will be placed in the "Imported" group

9) Rename the "Imported" group to "Stations" or in this example "California Stations".

Now when the Mr. Tides Stations group is selected in MacENC or GPSNavX they will be plotted on the chart.
Scott Dillon
Sydney Australia
North Shore 38
CYCA
 
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#7
Quote:Among the many changes that may or may not be gelling, is it possible that some display on the MacENC screen is in the works? I've noticed that the tide and current stations have lat/long values. Of course I want the fancy current arrows just like the big boys get with Nobeltec, but perhaps the next best thing would be to have little symbols appearing on the screen at the appropriate locations, with the current value for the station appearing in the navigation window, just like when I click on any other screen object?

One change I'm working on is to have the stations show what's going on (tides will be rising/falling, currents will have their directions plotted) and then animate this for every 15 minutes over 8 or 12 hours. It's a little slow right now, but it is interesting to watch the currents change as time goes by.

The other thing I'm working on is to get rid of the satellite maps and go with a detailed vector chart. This will make zooms work better, but we'll lose the colors for land and water.

August
 
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