STAR*NET V6 - Circe

Observations
Chapter 5 Preparing Input Data
Next on the data line comes one or more measurements. A measurement might be a
distance, angle, direction, zenith angle, azimuth, bearing, elevation difference, or a
coordinate. By default, linear and angular observations are expected to be entered in
same units as set in the Project Options. When your data consists of a mixture of units
(for example feet and meters), there is a special “.UNITS” inline option you can use so
that your entered data will be automatically converted to the proper project units. For
details, see “Using Inline Options” later in this chapter.
Angular observations can be entered as DMS or GONS depending on the Angular Units
setting in the Project Options. When entering angular data in DMS, two formats, dashseparated
and packed, may be used which ever you prefer:
D-M-S format is entered like this: 123-44-55.66
Packed format is entered like this: 123.445566
Packed format is commonly used by calculators. The format is DDD.mmss where the
degrees are to the left of the decimal point, the first two characters to the right of the
decimal are minutes, the next two are seconds, and the remaining are decimals of
seconds. Leading zeros for values of minutes and seconds less than 10 are essential!
Below are examples of DMS data lines using both D-M-S and Packed formats:
M A3-A2-A4 123-23-45.6 500 91-00-55 #D-M-S format
M A3-A2-A4 123.23456 500 91.0055 #Packed format
M A3-A2-A6 123-20-00 500 89-00-00 #D-M-S format
M A3-A2-A6 123.2 500 89 #Packed format
B A5-A8 N55-1-23.4E ! #D-M-S format
B A5-A8 N55.01234E ! #Packed format
Many users prefer to use packed format for hand entering angles because less typing is
required, but the D-M-S format is easier to read. No special setting is required to use this
format. When STAR*NET reads an angle, if two “-” separators are present, it is decoded
as a D-M-S angle. Otherwise it is decoded as a packed angle. For consistency, examples
in this manual are illustrated using the D-M-S format.
Angular information entered in GONS is always entered in decimal format. A Bearing
line entered using GONS must contain an Azimuth. Bearings are not used with GONS.
Below are two data lines entered using GONS angular units:
M A3-A2-A4 155.66434 500 102.34255 #GONS Angles
B A5-A8 68.235824 ! #GONS Azimuth
A positive turned angle (123-23-46.6 or 155.66434) is clockwise and a negative turned
angle (-123-23-46.6 or -155.66434) is counterclockwise.
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