Old Weather Forum

Getting started

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Below are sample transcriptions of this ship with a few basic notes.
For setting up the transcribing system and detailed explanations see Transcribing guide.

Log books vary widely, but Sacramento's generally start off with a page giving the starting and ending dates and locations followed by pages describing the ship and it's crew.

For example:




In general, these can be ignored.
However, sometimes the Descriptions of instruments used for meteorological observations, ... (bottom part fourth page, above) is filled in. This information can be useful to the science team, so please transcribe it. See the instructions here.


If you are lucky, the first weather grid you get will look something like this:



On the other hand, it may look more like this:


You can adjust the grid alignment by changing column width, row height, and/or using the Adjust Angle button.
It does not have to be exact.



You will occasionally find blank pages or pages out of chronological order.
Blank pages can simply be ignored.
Pages are organized by date, so they will be automatically placed in chronological order when they are processed.


You may see pages that have additions in blue or red pencil. Here and here are an examples from a different ship.
These edits should generally be ignored. Philip Brohan, the founder of OW, calls them vandalism.


The Open In Browser button will allow you to open the page you are working on in your browser.
Once you have a page open, you can edit the link to give previous and subsequent pages.
If you have opened
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/96/29009674/content/hub/2016-05/USS_Sacramento_07011923_to_08311923/USS_Sacramento_07011923_to_08311923_071.jpg
You can look at the corresponding events page by editing the page number
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/96/29009674/content/hub/2016-05/USS_Sacramento_07011923_to_08311923/USS_Sacramento_07011923_to_08311923_072.jpg
You can look at the next day's weather page by editing the page number
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/96/29009674/content/hub/2016-05/USS_Sacramento_07011923_to_08311923/USS_Sacramento_07011923_to_08311923_073.jpg
When there are overflow or blank pages you may need to experiment a bit.

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Don't hesitate to ask questions!
You can post in the discussion topic for the ship-year, send me a Private message, or send an email to moderatorcaro@gmail.com.

In port

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Date

• Pages are indexed by the date, so transcribing it correctly is crucial.
• Caution. The order in the log is generally day, month, year.
  However, the order in the transcription should be year, month, day.
• If the date is incorrect or missing, enter the correct date and use the Event Input Wizard to
  create an event with type Transcriber Comment and subtype Date to explain the situation.
  Remember that you can only use the Event Input Wizard in one of the event areas outlined in blue.

Weather grid

• Sometimes you will see obvious errors in the data as with the 8am pressure value of 29.30.
  Type What You See (TWYS) and let the science team decide how to handle it.
• Sometimes you will see a number or letter that was over-typed or is otherwise illegible.
  In this case make your best guess at want the log keeper intended.
  The context is usually helpful.
• Sometimes you will see data clearly in the wrong column as with the 1am to 10am rows on this page where the Weather by Symbols and following columns have been shifted one column to the left. In this case, the data should be shifted to the correct columns.
  You will sometimes see wet bulb temperatures higher than dry bulb temperatures. This should not normally happen, and it probably indicates an equipment/user error. In this case, the columns not be swapped.
• For letters, the case does not matter. Type what you see, or use whichever case you prefer.
• Dittos can be transcribed as dittoes, but you can also copy down the value being dittoed.
• Sometimes, though not in this example, a dash is used to indicate no entry.
  Just leave the cell blank.
• When the ship is in port, the distance and course columns on the left will generally be blank.
  However, sometimes you will see MOORED or ANCHORED. That can be ignored.
  You may also see a number (or compass point) in the course column.
  In this case it is the orientation of the ship. That can also be ignored.
• For more information on wind direction and force, see Wind.
  Sometimes the force is expressed as a range of values (e.g., the 0-1 at 9am). Type what you see.
• Pressure can be written in variety of formats (29.98, 29:98, 29 98, 2998, ...).
  Use whichever format you prefer to transcribe it.
  Once you are comfortable with the system, you may want to enable Pressure Data Auto-Fill on the Setup sheet.
  With that, once you have entered a valid pressure, all you need to do is enter the last two digits.
• Weather by Symbol uses the Beaufort codes although there seem to be occasional variations.
• Log keepers are at their most creative with cloud types. Type what you see.
  For more information, see Clouds.
• The Sea column(s) do not need to be transcribed because they are not generated by the current weather.
  However, as in this example, sometimes ice is mentioned in one of those columns.
  Any mentions of sea ice in the grid should be transcribed.
• You will probably find the yellow Verify Data button very helpful.
  Just remember that it's purpose it to allow you to catch your errors.
  Leave the log keeper's errors to the science team.
• Another way to catch errors is to look at the plots of the pressure and temperature on the WR Plot sheet.
  They may show a sudden jump that is too small for Verify Data to catch.
  Again, leave the log keeper's errors to the science team.
• Once you are comfortable with all the above, you may want to look at the OW Calc SoftKeys.
  Love Alt-1

Location

• When the location is a place name (or bearing) it is entered using the Event Input Wizard.
  
• It does not matter exactly where you click provided that it is in one of the blue boxes.
• When the location is at the top of the page you can leave the time field blank, but then you get a warning message so it is probably simplest to enter 00 for the time (0 brings up 0800).
  Shanghai China can be shortened to Shanghai since the country is obvious in this case.
  
• In general, there is no need to transcribe the location at the top of the page.
  But in this case it is the only location information on the page.
  Michael has pointed out that he knows the location at the top of the page from the previous page,
  so it is optional. However, if no location is entered you will get a warning when you write the data.

Completed weather page

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Changing to the events page

Usually you will do the events page right after the weather page, so initially it will show the weather grid.



Check to be sure the date is correct and change it if necessary.
Then click on the blue arrow under Log | Events to shift to the events grid.



The date is displayed on the Events page (circled in the image above), but changing it will not change the date stored.
If the date is not correct, you will need to shift to the weather grid to correct it.


Entering events

When the ship is in port, and not moving, there are usually no events that need to be transcribed, so there is no need to upload the page.

However, if other US government ships (e.g., USS or USCGC) are present, their names should be transcribed.
All ships present on a given day can be listed in a single entry.
You can leave the time field blank, but then you get a warning message so it is probably simplest to enter 00 for the time (0 brings up 0800).
If the same ships are present for several days in a row, they don't need to be noted each time.
This is to allow the science team to compare instrument readings between ships.

Sailing (with distance)

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Date

• For help, see In port: Date

Weather grid

• For information about transcribing the weather data, see In port: Weather grid
• You only need to transcribe the Patent Log (magenta) column if the Nautical Miles and Tenths columns were not filled in.
  When transcribing the Patent Log column, Nautical miles and tenths are combined into a single, decimal number.
  For example, the value on the 7am line would be transcribed as 50.1.
• Average Revolutions and Tenths and Engine Counter never need to be transcribed.
• The 5 min. entry on the 11am line probably refers to the note on the events page that they got underway at 10:55.
  It does not need to be transcribed.
• The 8am and 11am courses probably do not need to be transcribed, but I chose to err on the side of caution.

Location

• When the location is a latitude and longitude, it is entered using the Lat/Long Wizard.
  
• This particular location is noted as obs, so it is entered as Observed.
  
• In general the type of measurement is not given.
  
  In this case it should be entered as Not Specified.
• In the Lat/Long Wizard the directions default to N and E.
  These values (Default Latitude, Default Longitude) can be changed in the Setup sheet.
• There is no need to transcribe the location at the top of the page because the noon location is given.
• For additional information, see In port: Location

Completed weather page

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A few basics:

• If the date displayed is incorrect, the data will be stored incorrectly.
  You need to shift to the weather grid to correct it.
  If you are not quite familiar with the process, see Changing to the events page.
• Time
  • Times can be entered using the am/pm system (always specify am or pm) or by converting them to the 24-hour clock.
    In this example I use the am/pm system, and in the following example I use the 24-hour clock.
  • Do not use midnight even if the log does.
    It is ambiguous.
    For the beginning of the day use 0000 and for the end use 2400.
  • The log keepers generally use the term meridian rather than noon on the events page,
    but you can use Noon from the Event Input Wizard time drop-down.
• Michael uses information from locations, courses, and distance to calculate the ship's hourly position.
  It is tedious to enter, but it is very important.
  For an example of his work, see Bear 1891.
  Calculating Locations gives a description of the process.
• You can simply transcribe locations as written.
  However, if you enjoy tracking them down, here are some resources:
  China Station, Japan, Pacific and Indian Ocean -- Reference lists the place names we have found to date and gives links to resources for tracking down place names.
  China Station, Japan, Pacific and Indian Ocean -- Discussion allows you to ask questions and contribute the results of your research.
  You may also find Matteo and Michael's graphical Find Place tool very useful!

Entering events for 6pm to end of day page

• There is no need to transcribe "Steaming as before" because it does not represent a change.
• When multiple Sailing Info events occur within the same hour, they can be combined into a single entry.
  You can put everything on the same line or you can use multiple lines.
• Changed course, course change, set course, etc. can all be transcribed as 'cc'.
  That not only saves you transcribing, it also makes the change easier for Michael to spot.
• Do not transcribe the degree symbol.
  In the rare cases where it is needed for clarity, write it as deg.
• Sometimes more than one value is given for the course (e.g., 247 T, 250 psc).
  You only need to transcribe one value.
  If the true course is given, that should be transcribed.
• It is useful to indicate if a course is true (T or t) or magnetic (M or m), but other abbreviations (psc, pstgc) can be omitted.
• For more on compasses, see the OWpedia.

• Since this is a mix of location and course information, the subtype Mixed was used.
• Bearing can be abbreviated as brg.
  Distance and distant can be abbreviated as dist.
  Mile and miles can be abbreviated as mi.
  North, South, East, and West can be abbreviated as N, S, E, and W or n, s, e, and w.
  You can find additional abbreviations here.
• Searching China Station, Japan, Pacific and Indian Ocean -- Reference gives you: http://www.geonames.org/12041527/anoris ... house.html

These are the only events on this page that need to be transcribed.
You can transcribe other events if they interest you and/or share them in the forum topic for your ship-year.


Entering events for Start of day to 6pm page

• It is not necessary to mention that they are on course 205 t because this is not a change.
  As you can see here, they were on course 205 t at the end of the previous day.
• You don't need to mention speed changes.
• Searching China Station, Japan, Pacific and Indian Ocean -- Reference for Tsurugi Saki Light gives you https://www.geonames.org/9973334/tsurug ... house.html

• 1 point = 11.25 degrees.
  For more information, see Relative bearings in OWpedia.

• According to Japanese Geographical Terms in China Station, Japan, Pacific and Indian Ocean -- Reference Ko means harbor.

• There is no need to record stops lasting less than an hour unless a location is mentioned,
  so the stop from 10:58 to 11:10 can be ignored.

• A numeric value of 1-1/2 tends to upset the delicate digestion of a spreadsheet,
  so please transcribe it as 1.5, 1 1/2, or even as 11/2.

These are the only events on this page that need to be transcribed.
You can transcribe or post other events if they interest you.

Sailing (NO distance)

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This case is very similar to the Sailing (with nautical miles and tenths) example, so you may want
to review that before reading this one.
The main differences are that there is no distance or course to transcribe on the weather page
and that consequently location data on the events page is even more crucial.



Date

• For help, see In port: Date

Weather grid

• For information about transcribing the weather data, see In port: Weather grid
• In this example I used the OW Calc SoftKeys to copy down dittoed values.
• The only thing entries in the Average Revolutions and Tenths and/or Engine Counter tell us is that the ship is moving.
  That information doesn't help with Michael's calculations so it doesn't need to be transcribed.
  You can see that the cells are not outlined.
• However, when Average Revolutions and Tenths and/or Engine Counter values are given, the course should be transcribed.
  While various and variable, which can both be abbreviated to var, are not particularly helpful, sometimes a course is specified as here.

Location

• For additional information, see In port: Location

Completed weather page

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No events are required for 4pm (continuation) to 2400 page

You can transcribe other events if they interest you and/or share them in the forum topic for your ship-year.


Entering events for 0000 to 4pm (start) page

• For additional information, see In port: Entering events

• This could have been included with the list of ships above, but I didn't see it in time.

• Chan Point sounds like a place, but here it is the name of a boat.

These are the only events on this page that need to be transcribed.
You can transcribe and/or post other events if they interest you.

Meteorological instruments

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This information can be very useful to the science team, so please transcribe it.




Check the first page of the log book to get the start date of the log.
In this case it is 1 April 1924.
Do not use the date from Tables of Deviation at the top of the page. It may cause the transcription to be filed incorrectly.

Use the Log page overlay to enter that date for the Tables of Deviation / Descriptions of instruments page.


Although you can use one of the blue boxes on the the Log page overlay to enter the instrument data,
you may find it easier to change to the Events page overlay.

Paste the template below into the Event Text box.

Enter the values that were typed in.
Don't worry about the alignment of the columns.
As long as the order is correct it can be deciphered.


You can save the completed entry to be used as the starting point for the next Descriptions of instruments page:
If you prefer, you can create your own system for transcribing this data.
As long as the data is there the exact format doesn't matter.

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HMS Tarantula found an ant's nest in their barometer!