If you own a Tuthill Polar Alignment finderscope then this free little utility written by Ray Porter is something you need. Thanks to this handy utility I have never even had to look at the Tuthill Polar Alignment scope’s rather complicated instructions. This is a more modern version of an an old QuickBasic program also available as freeware on the internet. Some important modifications have been made such as adjustment for longitude, daylight savings time, and time zone, but is still fast, light weight and very easy to use. The program asks you for your date, earliest setup time, latest setup time, your longitude and time zone and does all the calculations for you. The results can be read and discarded or the report can be copied to the clipboard. If you want a copy of TPACalc just send an e-mail to Ray Porter and he will e-mail you the program. |
May 22nd, 2012 on 01:45
Hi Ray,
Does your program is Mac/Apple compatible?
Yves
May 22nd, 2012 on 16:36
Hi Yves! The program is PC only but it is a very simple app and it should run without issues if you use some sort of emulator like https://www.virtualbox.org/
Also, I’m not Ray. 🙂 I don’t have his program available for download because he prefers I direct any requests I get to him. I’ll send you his address in a direct email.
June 3rd, 2012 on 06:04
Hello Luis,
Just saw your posting and Ray’s program sounds great!Would you pass along my request to Ray Porter for a copy of his TPACalc program, please? It sure would simplify setup in the field with the TPA for me.
Btw, I love your “Key West Sunset” and also your “Jump” pics! Are those butia capitata palms in the foreground of the sunset? Just beautiful! Also, the jumping boy is a super contrast in both color vs bw almost jumping out of the pic as well as the boy being seemingly invisible to the others in the picture. Where was this taken? Very nice! Added your site to my favorites. All the best, Carl
June 3rd, 2012 on 20:06
Hi Carl! Thanks for the post — it made my day. 🙂
Not sure what kind of palms those are in the sunset photo… The “jump” photo was taken in my home town — Lisbon, Portugal. It’s in a neighborhood called Bairro Alto which is a hopping bar/club/restaurant area by night but during the day is actually pretty quiet and residential.
I’ll shoot you an email directly with Ray’s address. If you don’t get a reply, let me know as I have a copy of TPACalc around here somewhere…
Take care,
Luis
August 20th, 2013 on 20:47
I would like a copy of this program, I still have my tuthill polar scope.
Thanks
March 10th, 2023 on 20:23
Hi Ray,
I am interesetd in having you email me the tpacalc software.
I do have one question though. Does it allow you to put in an angle offset manually that it can use going forward?
Seems I had a version of this software (awhile back) that would let you manually put in an angle offset.
Thanks
March 12th, 2023 on 12:40
Hi Richard! I’m not Ray, just a fan of his software. 🙂
Ray (the guy who wrote the app) asked me to direct requests for the software to him.
Ray’s email address is: dr****@*****.edu
If you don’t get a reply, let me know. I still have a copy of the software around here somewhere…