hours for angles

[Fred73000]

In Crowdin, I found this string https://crowdin.com/editor/menion/3292/en-fr?view=comfortable&filter=basic&value=0#6230290

In the comment of this string, you have written:
 "300 metres on two hours which mean turn on 2 hours (2 * 30°) and go 300m to get back to track".

This comment seems false : according to this site https://www.kylesconverter.com/angle/hour-angles-to-degrees and this site https://convertlive.com/fr/u/convert/angles-de-lheure/a/degr%C3%A9s#1

1 hour is 15° which means that 2 hours = 30° and not 2*30°.

2d issue :
In France and probably in a lot of other countries (or, in another way of speaking, for probably many Locus map users) the unit "hours' for angle is completely unknow (I needed to search on Internet to know what it was, and I'm 57 years old !).

Could you replace in Locus Map this unit by something more usual ?

For example, I suggest to replace "2 hours" by "30° to the right".

[Menion]

Hello Fred,
thanks for the interesting questions.

Unit "hours" is pretty simple. Look at common watches on the wrist, point 12 towards, and now you see the angle, nothing more. 1 hour can be handled as a 1/24 of a whole circle, but I never heard that anybody thinks about it like this.

So from my view, this is perfectly ok and the values like "3/6/9 hours" give a very good overview of what the app want to say. Definitely a lot better than some angle values.

Anyone else any opinion?

[michaelbechtold]

I am used to e.g. "9 o'clock !" as  direction when approaching a roundabout - stands for strict left in the end (if there were no roundabout). Such a clock announcement is unambiguous. Degree - left or right, ... ?

[alang]

The two conversion references given refer to "Hour Angle". This is a value used in astronomical positioning/navigation which is definitely not suitable for e.g hiking, cycling etc:
See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hour_angle. 

Menion used instead the "Clock Position/Bearing" which is completely different and is simple, widely known (but not in France apparently ?), and very suitable for hiking etc.  It uses a 12 hour clock. I've been familiar with it since I was a child as I guess most will be in at least English speaking countries, though younger generations might not be as familiar with it perhaps.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_position

It was (maybe still is) famously used by pilots in WW2, as in "Bandits at 6 O'Clock" for enemy fighters at the rear, also in the Oscar winning film "Twelve O'Clock High"
In a vehice the direction is relative to the heading - i.e. the long axis of the vehicle body - in an aircraft or boat this is probably not the direction of motion because of cross-winds or currents.

Not sure of the context it was being used in, in the example, but for e.g. hiking the only thing to be careful about is to be clear what it is relative to.  For example:

The two things I most often want to know when hiking, without having to refer to my map/phone are: 
"What direction should I be heading to follow the planned route"
"How far am I from the route"

I use a custom announcement system which speaks, on-demand, something like:
"Current direction: West North West. Distance to track: 5 m. Follow track on bearing, East North East, at 4 o clock. After 372 meters, Bear left. Next waypoint, after 4.9 kilometers, is xxxxxx"

Or if off course by greater than a limit:
Warning. Distance to track: 113 meters. Current direction: West. Follow track on bearing, West North West, at 1 o clock.

The clock directions here, however, are relative to direction of motion as that is better defined than the direction the phone happens to be pointing in - if it's in my pocket that would be random.

[Menion]

Fine, thanks guys. You've confirmed that the current system is ok. So it may stay as is.