Diese Seite auf Deutsch |  Actions list scripting tutorial | Flight mode tutorial

There is also an augmented reality view available. By clicking on "sky" in the home screen you get a life camera picture with the positions of first and last contact and mid of eclipse in yellow, the rising and setting points. the ecliptic in blue, a compass scale and the positions of the bright planets. The menu button offers some fine adjustment options for the AR screen.

Now with version 5 all timing tasks will run in a service in background. This is indicated by a small eclipse symbol in your Android status bar in the upper left of your screen. Thy notification symbol will prevents EclipseDroid from being terminated by Android when running in background. You can switch off the notification via the settings screen, but this will also remove the protection against termination in background, so I do not recommend this!

The Settings screen

Pressing the Menu button of your device will pop up the settings screen. Try EclipseDroid running with different settings according to your requirements. To improve files and folder selection, I recommend installing "OI File Manager". EclipseDroid can use the browsing capabilities of the OI File manager.

This screen displays all local parameters of the eclipse, starting again with the location, showing some more details like the assumed value of delta T and the altitude above sea level.
The following lines present the contact times, the altitude and azimuth angle of the event. Azimuth 0° is north, 90° is east, 180° south etc..
The position angle to celestial north is given also, as well as the position angle to local zenith, given in an o'clock value. 12  o'clock is upward direction zenith, 3 o'clock right. If C1 has an o'clock position of 3, this means, that the moon will start the eclipse by touching the solar limb exactly from the right side.

Below are several other parameters, like rise and set times and general parameters of the eclipse, like duration, angle of shadow bands (only for total eclipses), the maximal eclipse magnitude, the umbral depth (100% is in th mid of path of totality)

At the bottom of the page you see a table at which time a certain magnitude (coverage  of solar diameter) occurs, possibly interesting for photographers. This feature can be deselected via the settings menu in the main screen.

Clicking your phone's  menu button enables to copy the text to the clipboard, e.g.. for saving or sending by email. You can also select to show a NASA map of the eclipse in your web browser.

However, this app can not change the system clock itself, as android protects system settings against change by apps.
EclipseDroid stores and applies internally the offset as a correction parameter.

In this screen you can select the offset (i. e. the error) of  the system clock and the time zone.
If GPS is active, you can also force a synchronization with GPS time. However, my desire has an average delay of about 1 second. The entered value of GPS delay is added to the displayed GPS time. If you have a mobile network connection, i recommend setting "Automatic" date and time in your phone's "Date & time" menu. It seems to be quite precise.

If you do not have a network connection, you can force a continuous synchronization of EclipseDroid's time to GPS time. For unstable GPS connections, deselect it and load a measured GPS offset into the offset input field.

A central item of EclipseDroid is the ability to use scripts, launching user defined actions depending on the actual contact times of your location.
To show user defined events, announcements or to take snapshots automatically you must select the "actions file" in the settings menu. This is a kind of CSV file with data rows and semicolon separated columns. Each actions file line consists of several rows, the first row is the contact you refer to, the second the time relative to the contact (minus sign "-" means before a contact, no sign or "+" means after a contact), the third row denotes the kind of action and the fourth specifies details or parameters of the action. For special actions like DSLR photos there may follow optional parameter rows. Once you have selected the file, you can edit it either using your favourite Computer or Android text editor or using EclipseDroid's simple text editor in the menu.

The file will look similar like this below. Please note that media files like "/sdcard/20seconds.mp3"are not provided by EclipseDroid, nor are they installed by default on your SD-card. It is just an example how to access audio files.

REM DEBUG

E;0;LOG;*** Loading EclipseDroid.csv ****
C2;-20;Play;mnt/sdcard/20seconds.mp3
C3;-20;SPEAK;20 seconds left;EN
c2;-55;Flash;300
c2;-45;Photo;45 mins before C2;picture-size=640x480;jpeg-quality=50
c2;-35;Show;Shadow Bands!
c2;-20;Show;Covers off!
c2;-10;Photo;Before Totality
c2;-3;TAKEPIC;Bailys Beads;EOS450D;1/1000;16;200;-1;MF
c2;-2;TAKEPIC;Bailys Beads;EOS450D;;;;;
c2;-1;TAKEPIC;Bailys Beads;EOS450D;0.01;8;400;-1;SN
c1;-1;IRSend;Nikon
c2;0;takepic;Bailys Beads;EOS450D;1/200;;200;;RAW
c0;0;Photo;Totality
P;+10;Show;Last Photo was 10 seconds ago
c3;35;Show;Shadow Bands!
C3;20;Show;Covers on!
C3;120;Show;Game over, serve Champaign
A;12:00:00;show;Noon @UTC, let's have lunch
A;17:00:00;show;Noon in New York
A;19:35:20;SHOW;Sunrise 5:35:20
A;2017-08-14 12:00:00;SHOW;Your flight NY -> Seattle one week before the US eclipse

REM this is a remark
# This is also a remark
// This is also a remark

E;0;LOG;*** Loading EclipseDroidEmergency.csv ****
E;0;takepic;T1;EOS450D;0.01;;100;;mf
E;2;takepic;T2;EOS450D;1/500;;200;;r
E;3;takepic;T3;EOS450D;0.02;;400;;s
E;3;LOG;Emergency script finished
C3;-5;RETURN

Do not finish the emergency script with a long time exposure, as the regular list will be loaded after execution!

Each line consists of a minimum of four rows, separated by a semicolon. The meaning of those entries are:

1. First row: The contact. Can be C1, C2, C3, C4 or Mid or MAX, relative to the calculated eclipse events, spelling is case insensitive. You may also write C0 instead of MID or MAX.
   To enter times relative to the proceeding command, you can use the P letter. P;2; indicates two seconds after the last one.
   There is also the possibility to select absolute times, indicated by the letter "A". A-times are UTC, not local time!!
   For the emergency list or logging entries you may choose the letter "E" like Emergency. These times are counted and logged from the moment when the list has been loaded.
   
   
2. Second row: The time. For relative events (MID, C1-C4) it is the time in seconds before ("-" sign) or after (no sign or "+") the contact. You may also use HH:MM:SS or MM:SS format.
   01:10:20 in HH:MM:SS format is the same as 70:20 in MM:SS or 4220 seconds.
   Absolute timings ("A" in the first row) are given in HH:MM:SS format in UTC (date = eclipse day), you may also enter other dates in the format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS in UTC.
   Do not enter local time zones!
   
   
3. Third row: The action. Actions can be:
   
   • SHOW (displaying a text on the main screen in classic layout).
     As the actions list will only be displayed in the classic menu, I recommend setting EclipseDroid in to classic layout just before your eclipse observation. Go to the preferences and select "Classic layout"
   • LOG will write a text into the EclipseDroid log file, for example indicating certain phases of your observation program or to protocol loading a script. Example:  E;0;LOG;Loading EclipseDroidEmergency.csv
     If you enter LOG;Parameters EclipseDroid will write the location, time zone and clock correction to the log file, LOG;Times will log the contact times
     
   • PLAY playing an audio file with Android's media player.
   • SPEAK will speak a written text, using the text-to-speech (TTS) engine of Android. You can specify a desired language by adding a language code parameter. 
     Examples: C1;-1;Speak;1;en  will say "one",  C1;-2;Speak;2;IT  will say "duo". The selected language is kept until the next change.
     
   • PHOTO, taking a snapshot with the internal camera.  Photos are generally made with the maximum resolution and the best JPEG quality (jpeg-quality=100) by default if no other parameter is defined.
   • TAKEPIC, taking a snapshot with an USB camera.
   • IRSend, transmits an infrared remote command, for example to a DSLR camera.
     Example: C1;-1;IRSend;Canon 
     Use as device names the same the same names as specified  in the .com.strickling/ircommands.csv file on your sd-card.
     For a documentation of the infrared setup details see my documentation for CameraTimer.
     Download sample ircommands.csv file with more codes for Canon and Sony.
     Click here to obtain commands for the Sony Alpha 7 camera (and perhaps other Sonys) and save it as .com.strickling/ircommands.csv on your sd card. Thanks to Brad Templeton!
   • FLASH, to release the camera flash, e. g. for launching external cameras like a DSLR. The following number is the flash duration in ms, try something in the range from 100 to 300 ms. My EOS 450D accepts 100 ms. You will find a description of an optical interface cable to use the flash light of your phone for releasing a camera in my description of the Android App CameraTimer.
   • LAUNCH, launching an external app.
     It searches first for the application label (case sensitive), then makes case insensitive search, if not found yet it searches for class name (sub string, case insensitive).
   • Still experimental: The USBCOMM Command. Accepts at present LifeViewOff and LifeViewOn, for some CANON cameras. It switches to LifeView mode, though does not display an image. But this works like the mirror lockup avoiding camera shake by the mirror.
   • NET: communication via WiFi network, especially for controlling Pentax cameras with FluCard.
     
   • CLEAR: deletes all events related to a special contact, example:  C3;-20;CLEAR;C2 will delete all commands starting with "C2" twenty seconds before C3. See tips below for usage.
     
   • RETURN: aborts an emergency script and and returns to normal script.
     Useful to avoid that a late launched totality emergency script extends into Baily's beads phase. Include something like "C3;-5;RETURN" in your emergency script to hand over to your normal actions file just in time before C3.
     
4. fourth row: The parameter.
   For SHOW it is the message to be displayed on the screen, otherwise the file to be played or to be launched.
   For internal photos you can select a file for storage. If nothing selected, the file name will be "EclipseDroid". The date and time will be added in every case. Chose the desired photo directory in the settings menu of the main screen!
   
   
5. For photos with internal cam you can enter a list of  additional camera parameters. The first (optional) parameter is always the filename, it will be extended by the date and the time. If not specified, "EclipseDroid" will be chosen by default. For devices with several cameras you can specify which camera will be used. Insert parameter camera_id=0; for the main camera, camera_id=1; will usually switch to the front camera. On the LG G5 camera_id=2; will select the wide angle camera.
   The other parameter settings are a bit tricky, so do extensive testing! Wrong parameters have no effect or can even crash the whole app!
   When a photo was taken, you will find all parameters of your camera in the CameraParameters.txt file in the .com.strickling folder on your sd card (available in EclipseDroid v. 7.1 or higher). You should have a look at this file before using custom parameters. A sample file of camera settings on my HTC Desire can be downloaded here.
   The commands are loaded one by one with the Camera.Parameters.Set method into the camera. Read the android documentation for further details.
   If coordinate acquisition is active (network or GPS), the photos will be geotagged.
   
   
6. For USB Cameras use the command TAKEPIC. There are more parameters recommended.
   The first parameter is a comment;
   second parameter the camera model as displayed on connect (at present it may be left empty, for future planned multi camera support required);
   third parameter: shutter speed in seconds. Examples: 2, 0.01, 1/100; Use standard values and avoid interim values 1.3 or similar!
   fourth parameter: fStop, like 8.0, 5.6; Usage of standard values is recommended, avoid interim values like 7.1 or similar
   fifth parameter: ISO speed, valid parameters: "a" for automatic, 100; 200 etc. Avoid non standard values like ISO 160 or similar!
   sixth parameter: +- exposure correction;
   seventh parameter: Image format. Valid values: "S", "M", "L", "R", "RAW", "R+L", "SF", "SmallFine", "SNormal", "Medium Fine", "MF", "S1", "S2", "S3"
   If no parameter change is desired, leave one or more fields empty.
   Keep in mind, that your camera has to be in the correct mode. For instance, shutter speed selection is usually not possible in full automatic mode, in full manual mode +- exposure correction will have no effect!
   
   For using USB functionality please set "USB Debugging" to On in Android Settings, Developer Settings, otherwise the app might crash on certain devices.
   
   
7. A new option in Version 6 is the Network capability, using the http protocol, especially to control Pentax cameras equipped with the WiFi FluCard and connected to your device.
   Syntax is like this:
   C2;+20;NET;http://pentax/cgi-bin/host_operation?action=shutter&af=0&seq=00000000 to release the shutter and save the image to SD-card.
   
   Further commands for controlling Pentax cameras with FluCard:
   http://pentax/cgi-bin/host_operation?action=set-camera-config&shutter-speed=1.500&seq=00000000 sets the shutter speed to 1/500 s.
       Example values for shutter speed:  1.1000 for 1/1000 second, 4.1 for 4 seconds
   http://pentax/cgi-bin/host_operation?action=set-camera-config&f-number=8&seq=00000000  This will change the f-number (aperture) of your lens.
   http://pentax/cgi-bin/host_operation?action=set-camera-config&exposure-index=400&seq=00000000   This command sets the camera to ISO 400.
   http://pentax/cgi-bin/host_operation?action=set-camera-config&exposure-bias-compensation=2.0&seq=00000000  This is the +- correction.
       Exposure bias (+/- correction) values range from -5.0 to 5.0. Examples:  -1.0, -0.7, -0.3, 0, 0.3, 0.7, 1.0 and so on.
   http://pentax/cgi-bin/host_operation?action=life-view-stop&seq=00000000
   http://pentax/cgi-bin/host_operation?action=set-camera-config&capture-reset-condition=0&seq=00000000
      This will set the auto correct exposure (same effect as pressing the  Pentax GREEN Button).
   Read this Pentax forum thread if you need more Pentax FluCard commands.
   
   The network commands are sent to a task queue, which waits for the response of the previous command before sending new commands.
   There are some commands controlling the network communication. Use them instead of an "http://..." request:
   
   • To clear the network queue send "CLEAR". It is recommended to call when loading an (emergency) script, Example: E;0;NET;CLEAR
   • The default network timeout is set to 2000 ms. After this time EclipseDroid will not longer wait for a missing response and will execute the next command in the network pipe.
     You can change the default value by using the command "timeout"  followed by the timeout time in ms instead of an "http://..." request.
     Example: set timeout to 1000 ms when starting the script: E;0;NET;TIMEOUT 1000
   • EclipseDroid will wait 100 ms between receiving a response and sending a new  command to the network device. You can change this waiting time by  sending the WAIT command
     example: E;0;NET;WAIT 50 will set the value to 50 ms, if you send  E;0;NET;WAIT 0 EclipseDroid will not wait any longer.
     The waiting time is needed, because sometimes the FluCard connection produces an EOF (End Of File) error, if the app does not wait until the next command.
     
     

The directive "REM DEBUG" in an actions or emergency script forces EclipseDroid to create a text file with the calculated times of your script for script debugging. It is located in the same folder like your actions file, its file name ends with "_Debug.txt". If you use an external editor for editing the csv files, the csv files should be stored in file format UTF8 with BOM! Otherwise the first character could be missing and causing errors.
It is highly recommended to test extensive observation programs carefully! Please do not expect that everything is perfect running like a clockwork if you start your tests just one week before the eclipse!

Tips & tricks for your scripting:

• Eclipsedroid ignores upper case or lower case typography the scripts as well as the "+" sign in times: "MID;+20;LOG;" is the same as "mid;20;log;" will do the same.
• You may write relative timings in several formats: 01:10:20 in HH:MM:SS format is the same as 70:20 in MM:SS or 4220 seconds.
• I recommend writing the times  around second and third contact as well as for totality as relative to C2  and  C3.
  Although for a 2 minutes eclipse "C2;0;" is the same as "MID;-60;"  a possible necessary location change may spoil your script. If you will get a shorter totality time at your location, "MID;-60;" will be in the partial phase whereas the times relative to C2 or C3 are corrected automatically for your location. Use C0 or MID only for events which are absolutely tied to the mid of the eclipse!
  For the same reason I introduced the CLEAR command. Imagine you wrote your script for a 2 minutes eclipse, but you have to change your location, so that there will be only one minute of totality left. Now times like C2;+90 will be after C3! to avoid this, insert something like C3;-20;CLEAR;C2 to delete all surplus commands tied to C2.
  
• You may plan a gap in your totality photographic program to pick up possible shortening of totality time, if you have to change your location. You may fill this gap easily by launching an emergency script.
  
• For sequences of the partial phases I recommend using times relative to C1 for the first half of the first partial phase, and times relative  to C2 (with "-" sign) for the second half of the first partial phase.
  This will also buffer changes in the timing in case of location changes. The same applies for the second partial phase.
  
• I do not recommend starting scripts for early partial phases with fixed exposure times. It is better to try the correct exposure manually according to atmospheric transparency.
• Test your scripts, use the debug option, rehearse your observation program and simulate the eclipse with the simulation function!
  

Since version 5 EclipseDroid supports an EFlight mode. During a flight, your position will change and with this your contact times will change as well. There will be different locations for each contact event and in higher altitudes above sea level there will be a noticeable shift of the centreline.

A classic eclipse observing flight will usually happen like this, see the map at the left:
The flight will start from a departure location at a given time and return to a destination location. Usually but not necessarily this will be the same airport. From the departure location the aircraft will cruise more or less directly to the centreline. In between, the first contact will occur. Once the centreline is reached, the aircraft will turn and fly more or less parallel to the centreline in the same direction as the Moon's shadow movement. This will provide a longer totality duration than an observer on the ground will observe.
The aircraft will keep this course for the whole totality and several minutes after totality, trying to give a good and stable view on the eclipse from one window side. This section of the flight is called the totality run.

Several minutes after totality the aircraft will turn to a course back to the destination airport. On this way, there will happen the fourth contact.

As you see on the map, the centreline in the stratosphere (short grey line) is not the same than the centreline at sea level (in blue).

In EclipseDroid you have the choice to enter the contact times either manually, if you get them from the flight operator, or to calculate them dynamically on the estimated locations and times for departure, start and end of totality run and arrival. You can also use GPS to calculate the actual times.

Download from my website: EclipseDroid.apk or from the Android Play Store. Get free Version from PlayStore.
System requirements: Android 2.0 or higher, for using USB support Android 3.1 or higher, a device supporting USB host mode and an adapter cable.
Download source code of eclipse routines here, an example actions file and the camera settings on the Desire as an example for camera settings