Weasner's Astronomy Software Feedback

ASTRONOMY SOFTWARE FEEDBACK

Last updated: 31 January 2006

This page is for user comments on Astronomy software for the PC, Macintosh, or Palm OS systems. Items that are more "review" oriented will be posted on the Astronomy Software Reviews page. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or answers to questions posed here, e-mail them to me and I'll post them. Please use an appropriate Subject Line on your message. Thanks.

Subject:	Meade Astrofinder Software
Sent:	Tuesday, January 31, 2006 07:38:47
From:	FJRau@aol.com (FJRau@aol.com)
As a novice I was interested in acquiring some software that could be
used to gain insight into star maps and also control my ETX 70AT
telescope.

I thought that the Meade Astrofinder software would be ideal. Upon
looking over the software review section on your site I became aware the
no one has reviewed this software. Is this software worthwhile, or would
I be better off with a more expensive package such as Skymap Pro 11?

Thanks in advance,
Frank Rauch

Mike here: The software works but there are more feature-rich, and less and more costly applications, including freeware and shareware. Of course, for the #494 Autostar you need the #506 serial cable that comes with the Meade software. For several other applications, see the Accessory Revlews: Software page.

Subject:	Re: ETX70 connecting starry night via laptop
Sent:	Tuesday, January 24, 2006 15:14:30
From:	Ernie (e.vango@lineone.net)
Managed to get my laptop talking to my ETX70 at last.  Astroplanner is
the only software of the three you mentioned that succesfully drives the
scope from my laptop.

Tried latest versions of ACP and Scopedriver but neither would function
correctly.

Astroplanner worked staright away.the only problem i have is starry
night supplied by meade wants to use the ACP plugin so i dont see how i
can use starry night with my ETX70 guess ill just have to use
Astroplanner

Anyway thanks for the headsup on Astroplanner at least i know i have
full functionality from ny laptop now.Im going to a starparty in march
in the east coast of England so i should have worked out astroplanner by
then !!

Regards

Ernie

Subject:	ETX70 connecting starry night via laptop
Sent:	Sunday, January 22, 2006 08:03:54
From:	e.vango@lineone.net (e.vango@lineone.net)
I wonder if you could be of assistance please i am trying to connect my
Laptop to my ETX70 using starry night 2.1 with the astronomer control
panel plugin. I can manage to connect starry night to my ETX briefly but
i am experincing two problems,one the ACP software says it is a Meade
LX200 connected and i cannot find where to change this.Two if i try to
move the scope in any direction using ACP or starry night the softwate
immediatlry disconnects from the scope.displays a message saying scope
is disconnected and does not move the scope

Regards

Ernie Vango

Mike here: Need more info. Are you using the current version of ACP from their web site? Are you using a #506 serial cable? Are you using a real RS-232 port on your computer or a USB converter? If using USB, what converter are you using?

And:

Im not using the latest version of ACP so i will download the latest
version. not sure of the cable number but am confident its the correct
cable it is a serial connection it came with the telescope from new with
the Meade software, (starry night) that i am trying to use.
Regards

Ernie

Mike here: OK, you should have the #506 serial cable then.

And:

Thanks for your help in troubleshooting my problem .

I can confirm its the #506 cable do you think i just need the latest
version od ACP software to cure this problem.

Bbeen trawling through your site and have find the exact error i am
experincing with ACP connection to my etx70 but unfortunately no
resolution.

Here are the exact symptons from the archive that i am experiencing
recently purchased an ETX-70AT with the #494 AutoStar hand set. I also
purchased the #506 AstroFinder software.  I got the two products from a
dealer - the packaging indicates the software and telescope are made to
work together.

When I try to use the ACP software - I can connect to the scope without
any problems - but as soon as I click on "sync scope" I get an error

Run-time error '-2147220472 (80040408)'
No scope detected on COM port.

Mike here: Well, for starters, get the latest ACP version. Alternatively, try one of the other telescope control applications (like ScopeDriver or Astroplanner; see the Accessory Reviews: Software page; if they work then you know you have connectivity).

Subject:	DS-2114?
Sent:	Monday, January 9, 2006 19:18:06
From:	Silva, Carl (Carl.Silva@nextiraone.com)
I have a DS 2114.  is there software I can load onto the PC that will
also talk to my GPS and control it?
 
Carl

Mike here: There are lots of software packages that will talk to the Autostar (see the Accessory Reviews: Software for some of these) to control the telescope. But they don't use a GPS receiver connected to the computer.

And:

this is my problem.  I'd like to find a software package that can
control the DS-2114 but does its initialization of location via GPS
connected to computer?

Mike here: Anyone with ideas?

Subject:	Unix Software
Sent:	Thursday, January 5, 2006 13:10:47
From:	Dirk Grokopf (dirkg68@web.de)
Here's a short update on the Unix software. The latest updates are very
old.

I'm currently using two different freeware software on Linux (Novel/SuSE
9.3 Professional Edition)

1) Cartes Du Ciel 3 alpha 0.0.9
This is the sucessor of Cartes du ciel 2.75 shipped with the recent
Meade ETX-70 bundles. It's pretty stable but several functions are
missing . If you are using the 2.75 version on WIndows, it's the right
program to use. It's a sourceforge project now. In additon to the
binaries, make sure the Borland kylix runtime librarie is installed too.
The binaries and sources can be found at 
http://sourceforge.net/projects/skychart

2) KStar 1.1
KStars 1.1 is part of the KDE Education package. It requires a recent
KDE installation, like it's shipped with latest Novel/SuSE distros 10.0
and 9.3. If you are using KDE you can simply add this package. It offers
telescope sync too. My personal opinion, it's much easier to use than
Cartes Du Ciel. On Novel/SuSE add the KDE Education package via Yast
Installed Software.
The source code can be found at 
http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php?content=9862

Regards
Dirk

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