Tide predicter download

[peterbird]

Does anyone know of a site for downloading a FREE tide predicter for an Ipaq handheld. I have used the wx tide on my computer which is an excellent program, unfortunately it does not work on a pocket PC. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[jimbouy]

Not free but as cheap as chips .....

Belfield Tidal plotter.

 

[compie1]

this is nice if yo have GPRS mobile internet on yr pocket pc!

http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/locations/1629.html


regards

 

[peterbird]

The number of views on this subject has exceeded a lot that have been posted . From that I draw the conclusion that this is an important/interesting subject. Are there no boffins out there that can produce a predictor for the Ipaq pocket PC

 

[BrendanS]

why not download ctide then. It's a port of Xtide to PocketPC
http://airtaxi.net/ctide/

 

[Ships_Cat]

cTide is free (http://airtaxi.net/ctide/index.htm#files) and is based on WxTide32 and runs on Ipaq and Palm. However, while it covers the rest of the world well, for Europe it only covers the Netherlands as far as I am aware.

Given that it is based on WxTide it maybe that the cTide database is similar and data from that used to add to the cTide one. I have not explored that (cTide has excellent coverage in our own waters) but seem to recall some mention of doing that somewhere - full source code and the database file (text) is available with cTide.

Seems to do accurate predictions, but my experience of it is mainly as a backup to the tide calc's on the PC.

John

 

[Ships_Cat]

Snap! Great minds think alike (if you can bear being compared to a cat's /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif).

Regards

John

 

[BrendanS]

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gifJust been reading your ships cat post, good to see you back!

took me about 30 seconds to find with google. Never ceases to amaze me how difficult people seem to find searching when the tools are so easy to use these days.

 

[peterbird]

Thanks for the info. But as suspected the tides only cover the US Germany Netherlands and of course the UK unfortunately not Portugal

 

[BrendanS]

It's a port of xtide, so can you not use xtide harmonics available from many of the xtide site and input them manually? Haven't used cTide so can't say if this possible or not

 

[Ships_Cat]

It looks like the xtide files may not have harmonics for Portugal (I have not downloaded them off the xtide site to open them and check though - just gone by the single text list they give).

But I have had a quick look at the harmonics file for WxTide32 (which is a Windows port of xtide and a google will take you straight to it) and it appears to have harmonics for at least some Portuguese locations.

How easy it is to get these into the cTide database I have not checked, but the cTide databases are txt files also so it maybe possible and even straightforward. Obviously alot easier if someone can suggest another iPAQ program in which case I will be interested in it too.

Regards

John

 

[peterbird]

I found the following but it is way beyond my capabilities around a computer!

Getting New Data

As was mentioned in How Does This Work?, to update this program with newer data files you need to get your hands dirty. How to do this is not a drag and drop operation. If you are prepared to get your hands dirty read on. The original XTide program of David Flater, lots of excellent information on the prediction methods and links to new data files can be found at
www.flaterco.com/xtide/.
The harmonics files are maintained by Bob Kenney and can be found at his website:
bel-marduk.unh.edu/xtide/files.html
If you do download new data files, you will need to find the source files of cTide which are located in the file cTidesrc.zip. You should be able to find this file on your own PC under: C:\Program Files\Microsoft ActiveSync\cTide. At least this is where it lives by default on my win-pc. Read up on the readme.txt for harm2idx included in there. Then make sure to re-run the harm2idx program to create a more compact harmonics file and a corresponding new index file, otherwise you will not be able to load the new stations from them. You will then need to use ActiveSync to copy the new "harmonic" part files and "harmonic.idx" to your device.

My Location Is Not Listed

In a word, bummer. In "How Does This Work?" you can infer how the special data does not fall from the sky. At the time of release, this program includes the most recent data available. A more comprehensive discussion of this can be found at
www.flaterco.com/xtide/harmonics.html
Note that cTide does not directly support the XML format for offsets as described at David's site. For this you need to use the tools that come with cTide. See Getting New Data.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Yes I read that too, plus the information on the xtide, etc sites and decided I was not going to try to work it all out, it looking a bit too much like hard work /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Also had another google around plus check of the bigger PDA freeware sites trying to see if any free alternative to cTide for the iPAQ but have not found anything else.

Seems it is 2 years since cTide was updated (early 2003) so maybe there will be an update soon that also includes more ports for you.

Regards

John

 

[BrendanS]

Well, you didn't specify Portugese ports in your original question, so a bit unfair to expect us to guess that was your requirement. Are any of these ports of use?
VIANA DO CASTELO PORTO DE LEIXOES RIO DOURO ENTRANCE OPORTO BARRA DE AVEIRO FIGUEIRA DA FOZ PENICHE CASCAIS PACO DE ARCOS LISBON ALCOCHETE VILA FRANCA DE XIRA SESIMBRA SETUBAL PORTO DE SINES LAGOS CABO DE SANTA MARIA VILA REAL DE SANTO ANTONIO

If so, download this,http://www.neptune-navigation.com/pocket%20PC.htmIt costs £39.95 for 30 odd years, but you can download and use it free of charge with nag screens if you can put up with that


Otherwise, have a look at the ever popular Belfield software, it costs peanuts, and you get PC, pocket PC, and smartphone versions all included in the price (about £10.99 I think)but you can download a trial version to see what you think first

 

[peterbird]

Sorry Brendan, because my post location states Vilamoura Algarve, I assumed..........
have tried the neptune but does'nt seem to have the qualities of X tide. I will give the Belfield Software a look. By the way the port is Cabo de Santa Maria.

 

[Ningaloo]

try [url]www.navstation.co.uk[/url]

<quote> Are there no boffins out there that can produce a predictor for the Ipaq pocket PC

Yes there are - but it cannot be free as the UKHO want royalties for all the UK tidal data.
Contact me if the area / ports you required are not included.