HelioStat for BlackBerry Smartphones

Find sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset and the location of the sun for any time and date

HelioStat, a program for the BlackBerry® Smartphone, allows you to determine the time and location of sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, and lunar phase on your BlackBerry for any date and location you specify. HelioStat includes the following features:

• Provides both the time, and azimuth of sunrise and sunset.
• Provides the time of civil, nautical and astronomical dawn and twilight.
• Provides the current location of the sun in azimuth and elevation.
• Provides the time and elevation of transit for sun and moon.
• Allows time shifting to predict or anticipate the location of the sun at any date and time.
• Provides the shadow length of an object illuminated by the sun.
• Provides both the time, and azimuth of moonrise and moonset.
• Allows the adjustment of azimuth readings for estimated magnetic declination.
• Provides the current location of the moon in azimuth and elevation.
• Provides the phase of the moon.
• A compiled list of nearly 250 North American and World Cities.
• When available, HelioStat use your smartphone's GPS location.
• Works with both internal GPS sensors, and external Bluetooth GPS devices such as the GlobalSat BT-359
• Keeps track of up to five coordinate locations, which you can name and describe in a notes field.
• Works independently of cellular data networks.

Version 1.10.2 provides an updated GeoMagnetic model for calculating magnetic declination, and faster GPS initialization. Also adds the ability to determine how timezone is set when using the GPS: either from the timezone of the device, or from an estimation based on longitude.

Version 1.9.5 provides a fix for a rare condition that would not allow HelioStat to exit/quit/close.

With Version 1.9.4, solar and lunar transit are calculated for each day, and a more accurate lunar phase algorithm has been incorporated. The menu organization has been updated to meet BlackBerry standards.

With Version 1.7.2, five freeform coordinate locations are available from the location menu: you can set the coordinates by hand, or using the GPS, you can name the locations, and you can add descriptive notes.
A geomagnetic model of the earth has also been integrated into HelioStat. This allows calclulating the approximate magnetic declination at your location and the reporting of azimuth relative to magnetic north: useful if you want to anticipate the rise or set of the sun or moon using HelioStat and a compass.

With Version 1.6.1, you can also track the location of the moon in azimuth and elevation.
Information on the shadow length of objects illuminated by the sun is also now available.

With Version 1.3, you can now use the horizontal motion of the trackball, touchscreen "swipe" gestures or the keyboard to timeshift through the day, showing the new location of the sun in azimuth and elevation.

Supported keyboard shortcuts: capital A, S, D make time shift backwards, while capital J, K, and L shift time forwards. Capital C, U, and R signal "Calculate", "GPS Update", and "Reset time" respectively. Lower case letters remain available to use search through the Location choice selector.

An options screen now allows you to customize what is displayed on the main screen, and control other aspects of the user interface.

Screen Shots:

Normal Operation

GPS Mode

Save Screen

Storm Screen Shots:

Portrait Mode

Landscape Mode

Options Screen:

HelioStat is currently at Version 1.10.2

For your convenience, there is an OTA download for the 8100, 8200, 8300, 8700, 8800, 8900, or 9000 series BlackBerry smartphones (Pearl, Kickstart, Curve, Electron, Crimson, Bold). A Desktop download is also available.

Smartphone System Requirements:

• OS 4.2.1 or higher
• 95kB of free memory.

There is also an OTA download specifically for the BlackBerry Storm, or Storm 2 and Desktop download for the Storm running device OS 4.7.x.x, or Storm 2 running 5.0.x.x (the 4.7 version will work with the 5.0 operating system).

For the Storm:

• OS 4.7 or higher
• 100kB of free memory.

Version 1.10.2:	Updated GeoMagnetic model, faster GPS initialization. User choice in determining timezone when using GPS (device, or longitude)
Version 1.9.5:	Bugfix for stopping GPS on exit.
Version 1.9.4:	Solar and lunar transit are calculated for each day, and a more accurate lunar phase algorithm have been incorporated. The menu organization has been updated to meet BlackBerry standards. GPS coordinates have been trimmed to four decimal digits. The title bar now keeps time, and will display a '+' when valid GPS coordinates are being received. There is an option to invert the altitude reported by internal GPS hardware/firmware. There is now an option to control the initialization of the DST setting. Bug fix: BlackBerry devices 8130, 8330, 8830, on Verizon with their GPS enabled sometimes caused HelioStat to spawn too many threads and/or throw an exception on startup.
Version 1.7.2:	Added geo magnetic model of the earth for calculating magnetic declination; adjusted city data and GPS information to include altitude. Added mechanisms to store and edit five coordinate locations (Landmarks).
Version 1.6.1:	Added shadow length; adjusted GPS code to use less power when possible; added diagnostic information about GPS status.
Version 1.5:	Equation normalization and reorganization for size and speed. (internal release).
Version 1.4:	Lunar location tracking. (internal release).
Version 1.3.1:	Minor changes to validation and registration process.
Version 1.3.0:	Added trackball, touchscreen and keyboard navigational controls.
Version 1.2.0:	Added civil, nautical and astronomical dawn/twilight events. Added current location of the sun, added moonrise, moonset and phase of the moon. Generalized and combined equations for sun and moon. Added options to control what is displayed on the main screen. Better calculation for when field wrap is required (internal release).
Version 1.1.0:	Fixed GPS exception issues, adjusted field layout for use with larger fonts, added help screen.
Version 1.0.0:	Initial Version.

The trial counts the number of sunrise/sunset calculations. If you want to continue using it past the trial period (five determinations of sunrise/sunset), buy the license key for only $6.99.
(Checking the operation of the GPS does not count against the trial use.)
Don't forget to provide the PIN number for your BlackBerry smartphone, an eight digit hexadecimal number, such as: 32b1f483.
Use Alt+Cap+H to find your PIN number if you don't already know it.

Buy it now via PayPal, only $6.99

Questions?

If you are interested in more information about the moon, including a graphical representation of the lunar phase, upcoming moon phase times, and equinox and solstice dates please take a look at another Tworoads Software product: MoonCal.

If you are interested in keeping notes regarding locations/landmarks using a GPS, please take a look at another Tworoads Software product: Location Notes.

Follow Tworoads Software on Facebook.