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What tide prediction program do you use on your computer and on your android phone?

I have been using WXTide32 for years. Very happy with it even though it has not been upgraded since 2010. Doesn't need upgrading as it works fine. Runs on my home computer and little 'netbook. It allows 'user stations' so I set one up for Fitzroy River Rockhampton Qld since that is where my boat is and this is no tidecharts. http://wxtide32.com/

Anyone have any favourite tide program on their computer?

I have wondering about android apps to do the same thing as WXTide32. Now I finally have a smart phone I think it would be handy. I am after an app that does not need internet connection and does not want to be upgrading itself every week. Or take up half the screen with advertisements. It would be good if it had the tide info as a graph. And, obviously it needs to have local Qld sites.

Anyone have any ideas?

troppo

I go for the low tech option....Printed tide tables.

When in Queensland I always buy that booklet on tides or the free one from whitworths in NSW.

Never had any problems with the printed stuff or the occasional internet look, usually on Willy Weather.

Hey Phillip, do you do part-tide depth calculations? With the tides here between 3 and 5 metres I like the computer program with a graph as I can easily see the depths across the tide cycle. With several shallow spots going down river, I use the data to work out my 'window' of time for safely crossing those spots.

I have done the calculations on paper before. The '12ths method' I think it was. Do you do that? Does anybody?

troppo

Troppo,

Usually its to calculate lowest or highest tide from the tables, but yes when I need that in between tide height I use
Willy or Seabreeze etc to get an 'idea' of what is happening.

One thing you will not find in any chart is the overrun and that is important when dealing with bars.

Then it comes down to experience.

We have been using Navionics for a few years now and it has tide graphs as well as printed data - sun, moon etc.
For the overrun (or slack water in Port Phillip!) we always referenced Alan Lucas 'Coast' publications when coming down the coast and found them pretty right.
As Phillip said though it does come down to experience. The tide numbers can look good but look out if there is a swell!
Cheers,
Tom

Mr Troppo,
I find the rule of twelfths works well.
I prefer to use another method where you draw a semicircle between the high and low tide heights, divide it into 6 segments, one for each hour and it will give you a pretty good idea of the tide height.
Once you get upriver a bit, does the tide still rise in a sine curve?
If you want more detail I'll scan in a pic.

Dolphin: Hehe, "Mr Troppo" indeed! Now I is all respectobull since I ain't just plain ol' troppo. : )

I find your idea of the semicircle interesting. I actually had some problems trying to visualise the tide at Rockhampton and the tide way down river as they are different by an hour or so and going down/ up river I need to understand both. So, after much head scratching, I drew a diagram of the two tides, one curve above the other set on a time line. This is how I use it. I pick the point on the tide I am leaving Rockhampton [top curve in diagram]. I am wanting to go down to the coast. That can take 6 hours with tide. I go right along the time line 6 hours and down to the bottom tide curve. Where the 6 hours touches the bottom curve that is what the level of tide will be when I get down there.

Basically, I could easily see that leaving several hours before high tide in Rockhampton gets me safely down to the river mouth before low tide. I found the diagram helped me heaps. Now I don't use the diagram as much as I can understand the tides better.



You can see from the diagram that Rockhampton has 7 hrs of fall and 5 hr of rise.

Maybe if I carry in the boat some paper with semicircles marked then I could easily do the tide calculations.

Tales: Navionics. I didn't know it had tide graphs. I know that there is an Android version. I guess if I buy that for my phone then the tide graphs might prove useful.

Thanks for your replies.

troppo