Hi Brad, I tried your soda can dial today! The sun was out for about 12 minutes(qualifying it to be a "Sunny Day" here in Oregon) I see now that it would work with only a small piece of the top of a can, or a wooden disk, or even a metal ring to hold it in shape at the bottom. All the workings are up above the can itself. (Hiker/Campers with a Pepsi Can Stove take note. ) Yes, it does work well ( at least for the 7 minutes I tried it. <g> ) Your Java program has a lot of other aps in it that will take a while to figure out. But that is fun, so thanks for that too!
Thanks again! Edley McKnight. > > I've had some questions about the Soda Can Dial and how to read it. > Here's a diagram taken at > 3pm local time, 7 Nov 2006, which may help. The current time is read > at the intersection of the > vertical line corresponding to 7 Nov and the shadow cast by the top > of the dial. > The dial now includes the correction for refraction. > Brad > <<sodaCan (v2).png>> > _____________________________________________ > From: Lufkin, Brad (Mission Systems) > Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 4:08 PM > To: Sundial Mailing List > Subject: Portable Dial Adjusted for EOT and DST > Here's what I call a Soda Can Dial, designed for my location > (Washington, DC). To use, cut out > along top, left, and right edges. Wrap tightly around a soda can and > tape left and right edges > (but allow free movement around can). Photo-copy gnomon onto a sheet > of mylar. Wrap mylar > around same soda can and tape (but allow mylar to rotate). To use, > rotate mylar until one solid > line falls along today's date. Position soda can on horizontal > surface with today's date facing > you. Rotate soda can until shadow from back solid line falls along > front solid line. Read current > time where shadow from top of dial intersects front solid line and > timelines (timelines are for > standard and dst; and for babylonian/italian hours). > I've generated dials with 10-minute timeline intervals and, with > experience, these can be read to > the nearest 2-3 minutes. Only adjustment not made is for atmospheric > refraction, so time is off > by 4-5 minutes at sunset/sunrise. > Brad > << File: sodaCan.png >> << File: gnomon.png >> > > --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
