Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

Tue Sep 03, 2013 6:51 pm
I got a copy of Solar Fire. Having a learning curve here.

I have questions....

If I set the Preferences--> Settings--> Progs/Dirns--> Chart Angle Progression to Mean Quotidian and choose Standard (Q2) for the Progression Day Type, that's the SQ, right?

I don't find a way to get a list of dates when progressed planets contact the angles. Am I missing something?

If I choose Dynamic--> Animate Chart, does that show me the days one or another progressed planet contacts the quotidian angles as they progress through the year?
Or is that wishful thinking?

SteveS wrote:

Jupiter asked:

If I choose Dynamic--> Animate Chart, does that show me the days one or another progressed planet contacts the quotidian angles as they progress through the year?

Hi Jupiter,

You will need to set-up a ‘Quotidian Run’ file in the Dynamic Selection. This is somewhat tedious for me to write the specific instructions. However, I think I have the specific SF instructions somewhere that another siderealist sent me years ago. Give me some time and I will try to find these instructions to post for you.

SteveS wrote:

Jupiter, see if these instruction (Matthew Quellas) will get you started in the right direction: Let me know.

Solar Fire Dynamic Reports
On the main screen top bar, select Dynamic > dynamic transits & prog or click on the icon with the little green bars
This Takes you to the Dynamic Reports Selection window.
Select the chart in the upper center window; use a relocated chart for natal quotidians; this should be in the Dynamic Radix Chart box.
Select Dynamic Type = Progressions = Secondary
Period of Report = 1 month
Location = natal or Relocated for same location for Standard or Daylight Time (check the time zone)

Under Event Selection
Transits to Radix
Transit to Progs
Progs to Radix
Progs to Progs

Point Selection
Transits = Mars Out (you may have to create a file for any of these)
Progs: = Planets & Angles (only ASC and MC)
Radix = Planets and Angles

Aspect Selection
Transits = harm08
Progs = harm08

------------
Set all this stuff up then Save Selection and name it something simple like Quotidians

Then do a run. If you have Transit Times turned on (from the Main screen under Dynamic), you will get timed hits of transits. Pay attention to the coding of the lines, whether it is Tr-Sp, Sp-Sp, Tr-na or whatever.

Then, if you want to do a Solar Quotidian, go back and select the solar return chart, run the quotidians, then hit the New Report button and make the following changes:
in the Alternate Radix positions chart box, select the relocated natal, leaving the SSR selected in the main box.
Under Event Selection, use only Progs to Radix
Under Point Selection (transit box will be turned off)
Progs = Moon & Angles (create a file here)
Radix = Planets & Angles

Check the Merge with last report box in lower right, then view.
The progressions of SSR Moon and angles to natal planets and angles will be added to the existing hits on the SSR.

Make sure you go back and turn off the merge box and change things back to normal, or under Saved Selections, select something else, then go back to Quotidians in that box.

These quotidian runs will give you the ecliptic hits in 8th harmonic mode.

Jim Eshelman wrote:

Or, as an alternative... I was going to say...

Two passes. First pass, using your LOCALITY chart, check transits to natal, transits to progressed. Set transits to all planets except Moon, natal to all planets (remember to exclude angles), progressed to Asc / MC / EP only. Fourth harmonic. Run.

Then drop the two transit boxes, check prog to prong, change prog planets to all planets plus angles.

Net effect: Exact timing of conj / opp / sq of Q2 angles to all natal, transiting, and progressed planets. (Ignore or remove squares to EP.)

I always dump these into an Excel spreadsheet, so I can sort, combine, modify, rearrange, format, etc.

SteveS wrote:If you have Transit Times turned on (from the Main screen under Dynamic),

Got everything else so far, but can't find this.

Under Dynamic, the options are:
Transits and Progressions (the screen we just used)
Graphic Ephemeris
Eclipse Search
Electional Search
Ephemeris Generator
Calendar
----------------
Real Time Clock
Animate Chart
Animate Biwheel
Animate Triwheel
Animate Quadrawheel
Animate Page
-------------------
Full Transit Header Off
Maximum Accuracy On

Is it Real Time Clock? Or?

Also, the report is for the month of August, which is already over.

And...(getting a little ahead of myself here but) how do you save the report to merge it?

Jim Eshelman wrote:

The first one - transits & progressions.

The items in the drop-down (within Transits & Progressions) are premade templates, but you can manually pick whatever you want in each blank and build your win (and then save it if you want).

Jim I tried your two pass method, and got over 5000 hits for this month.

Not what I was expecting, and I think a bit more information than I can make use of at this point.

I shall figure this out tomorrow (when Saturn isn't sitting on my Ascendant, if I'm reading that list right. )

(Why does Excel insist on putting October before September, and the 4th after the 30th. There has to be a way to get it to stop treating date columns as text. )

DDonovanKinsolving wrote:

Jupiter Sets At Dawn wrote:(Why does Excel insist on putting October before September, and the 4th after the 30th. There has to be a way to get it to stop treating date columns as text. )

Because O comes before S and 4 comes after 3! You're right, it is text in that case.

It's been a while since I've done spreadsheet importing. There should be some way of defining the column as a date during the export/import process; did some kind of column definition wizard pop up? Or after export/import mark the column (click on the column letter: A, B or whatever) and define the Format. In the latter case, I think Excel will recognize the text and convert.

-Derek

Jim Eshelman wrote:

Select the column. Right click. Format cells. Pick date (and select the format you want.)

5,000 hits is clearly excessive. I'm not site even including the Moon would do that. Do you have it tracking house changes? That would be about right: 13 points x 12 houses x 30 days.

SteveS wrote:

Jupiter asked:

Is it Real Time Clock?

If you are interested in exact time of an exact transit hit, yes, it is real time clock. This is why you need to check if it is ‘daylight’ time or not and time zones.

Jupiter asked:

And...(getting a little ahead of myself here but) how do you save the report to merge it?

Jim answered this same question for me a few months ago but for now I have forgotten the answer. It takes some time to get use to the options you have with the Dynamic Reports but I think you will realize the astrological potentials SF offers. Enjoy.

Jim Eshelman wrote:

I wonder if this might be helpful. It's the way the report generator looks when I do part 1 (transit and natal planets to Q2 angles) that I mentioned above.

Jim Eshelman wrote:Select the column. Right click. Format cells. Pick date (and select the format you want.)

One would think that would do it, but Excel does not see the mmm dd yyyy format as a date, even when I set it up as a custom format.
Cut and paste to the rescue.

5,000 hits is clearly excessive. I'm not site even including the Moon would do that. Do you have it tracking house changes? That would be about right: 13 points x 12 houses x 30 days.

Upon looking again with fresh eyes this morning, in the first pass, setting transits to all but Moon, means I should not have chosen the file named Allbutmoon that Solar Fire offered, but should have edited it to also exclude the angles. A quick change out of a suddenly empty printer cartridge, (and some cut and paste to remedy the date field problem) and I have the list I hoped to get.

On to applying more or less the same techniques to the Solar Return.

Thanks Steve, Jim and Matthew by reference. I have been butting heads with SF for a week trying to get it to Do Something Useful instead of just sit there and look pretty.

Jim Eshelman wrote:I wonder if this might be helpful. It's the way the report generator looks when I do part 1 (transit and natal planets to Q2 angles) that I mentioned above.

Yes, that was very helpful. Thank you.

So you DO do progressions to your relocated natal. That's what I eventually settled on. I came up with some Good Reasons, which I can't remember now. (it was late and the dog wanted out)

Would love to see your edited points files, although I suspect I have that solved.

Jim Eshelman wrote:

Jupiter Sets At Dawn wrote:One would think that would do it, but Excel does not see the mmm dd yyyy format as a date, even when I set it up as a custom format.

this is under the broad category of "massaging" the data. Select the date column and globally change " 2013" to ", 2013" [without the quotes - used here just to make the point). In other words, you are changing the leading space to be a comma and space.

5,000 hits is clearly excessive. I'm not site even including the Moon would do that. Do you have it tracking house changes? That would be about right: 13 points x 12 houses x 30 days.

Upon looking again with fresh eyes this morning, in the first pass, setting transits to all but Moon, means I should not have chosen the file named Allbutmoon that Solar Fire offered

Mine is called "SUNOUT" (meaning, the everything from Sun outward). Yea, use and edit the ones provided, make your own, etc.

but should have edited it to also exclude the angles.

Oh, yeah, that would do it! <g> Gotta look inside those boxes to see what they have going on.

A quick change out of a suddenly empty printer cartridge, (and some cut and paste to remedy the date field problem) and I have the list I hoped to get.

Sweet. (BTW, I never print it. Personal preference, of course.)

On to applying more or less the same techniques to the Solar Return.

This is why I build a spread sheet, sort it, format it, etc. - to compile everything just the way I want it. FWIW, here is my instruction set (separate from the Quotidian issue) for compiling my daily transits list every month.

PASS 1 - Transits to natal and progressed (8th Harmonic). Directions to natal
PASS 2 - Repeat Pass 1 for Local Natal (incl progressed), only transits to angles (4th Harmonic)
PASS 3 - Transits to SSR (8th Harmonic)
PASS 4 - Progressed to natal and progressed (Standard aspects) (+ Sign ingresses & Stations)
PASS 5 - Repeat Pass 4 for Local Natal
PASS 6 - SSR progressions to natal and progressed (i.e., SQ), STANDARD aspects. Include also these progressions to the NATAL chart
PASS 7 - Transits to SQ Moon (8th Harmonic)
THEN SORT IT BY DATE AND TIME and clean it up

Jim Eshelman wrote:this is under the broad category of "massaging" the data.

That did it. I will have to make a template.

Oh, yeah, that would do it! <g> Gotta look inside those boxes to see what they have going on.

Helps to know what's supposed to be there. Trial and error learning curves are the worst because even when you think you have it, you can still be wrong if you have nothing to compare to.

I wonder if a thread on "How to Use Solar Fire for Common Sidereal Techniques" would be a good idea. It would be for me, I can tell you that.

(BTW, I never print it. Personal preference, of course.)

Oh rub it in. Just wait a few years. You'll get yours.

FWIW, here is my instruction set (separate from the Quotidian issue) for compiling my daily transits list every month.

Thank you!

Natal is birth place and Local Natal is relocated?

Jim Eshelman wrote:

Jupiter Sets At Dawn wrote:Natal is birth place and Local Natal is relocated?

Yes, that's what was meant. (These are notes to myself <g>.)

SteveS wrote:

Jupiter wrote:

I have been butting heads with SF for a week trying to get it to Do Something Useful instead of just sit there and look pretty.

I know exactly what you mean—been there –done that with SF, but when you get your customize files in place the way Jim has structured and organized his Dynamic files, SF becomes a tremendous tool.[/quote]

Are Natal Quotidians calculated in the same way as Solar Q's?

Yes. Exactly.

Jim,,
Why and how does the NQ (Susan Walker's) in Fagan's Primer example differ
from Solar Fire's calculated result? Fagan uses the BIJA correction which is
Q1 in Solar Fire and they don't match calculation either?

thanks,

staragewiz wrote: Sat Nov 17, 2018 1:45 pm Why and how does the NQ (Susan Walker's) in Fagan's Primer example differ from Solar Fire's calculated result? Fagan uses the BIJA correction which is Q1 in Solar Fire and they don't match calculation either?

I don't have my Primer handy. Weren't F&F, at that point in time, using the Neo-SQ, i.e., apparent solar rate? That would explain the discrepancy. (Based on some studies Bradley passed on to me and further work on my own, I reject the apparent solar rate.)

Jim,

Not referring to the neo-NQ but to the "Progression Day Type" BIJA (Q1)
found in SF's Preferences/Edit Settings option.

Anyway Sec. Prog's calc in SF gives the correct prog. planets positions but the Angles
differ by quite a bit when compared to the Day for a Year Progressions taken from the
actual date and time of birth has been so confusing to this aspiring Siderealist.

Do you see any value in Regressions? Haven't tried them yet but Fagan and Alex Maar
recommended them.

Thanks, Mike

I guess I'll need to pull out the Primer and retrace this. I thought you were talking about the SQ, not the SNQ.

Yes, if you want the Bija-corrected results (which I do not), Solar Fire can do that if you select the Q1 variant. It should match if natal, event date, and location all match.

Jim,

Problem is that the so called SF BIJA Q1 (nor in Janus) does not match Fagan's
BIJA calculations in the "Primer" A small technical incongruity that's been bugging
for decades ...Guess I'll just stick to Lunars/Solars/Transits, although it would
be kinda cool to nail down secondary progressions.

Wiz, since you have the book open and available... please give me natal data and event data (including place they used for calculations - I think they used SSR location, not event location, for SQ. In any case, please let me know where they calculated each for.) Also the MC or Asc of the quotidians you want checked.

I can imagine a tiny variation from the hand-calculations, and probably another 3 seconds a year accumulating since SF is probably using one tropical year instead of one sidereal year.

Hey guys. Are you feeling a little deja vú?
SNQ Calculation