Re: Sky Tools 2 - Initial Impressions - Long

From: Robert Pollard (robertapollard_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 01/11/05 

Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 17:43:06 -0000

Hi Mark,
  I have a <lot> of Astro Software from various companies, but my workhorse
remains Sky Tools 2. For me, I like the way that you can see as soon as it
loads what the lighting conditions for the current day are and you can
easily see maximum object elevations just by clicking on them. In fact
double clicking on an object produces a visibility chart for the whole year,
so you can plan your observing accordingly so that you choose the optimum
month for the object (I don't know any other software that shows this so
graphically and easily).
  The clincher though, is its scope/finderscope/sky view. I don't know how
Greg does it, but the finder scope view invariably looks EXACTLY like the
view through my finder scope! I see only the appropriate stars that my
finder can pick up. This is very important to me as I do CCD imaging on a
non-goto system and rely on Gregs software to tell me what to look for in
the finder scope to place the object on the CCD.
  If I could only have one mapping/logging program, it would be this one -
no competition.

RobP
Astro site at:
www.robpol.demon.co.uk

"Mark Smith" <emarksmi@san.rr.com> wrote in message
news:sit6u01gm0t5114fiftvkvaaqugk4ur4ht@4ax.com...
> All,
>
> After all of the discussion of Sky Tools 2 and my decision to buy, I
> thought I'd give you my initial impressions. Keep in mind that my
> total experience with the program is about 2 hours. I'm fairly new to
> astronomy, but an expert computer user.
>
> 1. Customer Service and Packaging: I ordered the program and the
> Real Time add on sometime after midnight on Friday Morning. Their web
> ordering system is simplistic by modern standards, but is clear and
> easy to use. They promise next business day after order confirmation
> delivery for orders in the US and charge $6 for shipping. Since
> postage was $3.85, they certainly aren't cheating me there. The
> package arrived this afternoon and contained a CD in an attractive
> jewel case and an invoice. The invoice had the activation code for
> the add on and the Registraton Number for the program was on the
> inside of the jewel case.
>
> 2. Installation: For the most part, standard windows fare. I was a
> bit disappointed that there wasn't an option to do a full install from
> the installation menu. The initial installation is a minimal one (11
> mb) and you must choose to install the rest when you run the program
> for the first time. There was a window during installation that told
> you how to do this, but I skimmed over it guessing that it would be
> obvious when I started the program. Well, it wasn't obvious to me. I
> figured it out, but it required digging into the HDD and reading the
> appropriate readme file. The program took the Add On registration at
> the first login and the add on worked perfectly.
>
> 3. Setup:
>
> a. Observing Lists: Only 3 observing lists come pre-loaded and I
> wanted more. Heck, that's what I bought the program for! I quickly
> figured out how I should accomplish importing more observing lists but
> couldn't get anywhere. There were no error messages, just no
> observing lists. I checked for the appropriate URL, but still
> nothing. A bit frustrated, I guessed maybe I needed to update the
> program and tried that. Still nothing. It wasn't until I tried to
> download the comet information that I finally found a screen that told
> me that it couldn't find the server. Neither of the other screens had
> indicated any problem other than not giving me what I wanted. I have
> both a Hardware Firewall and am running a custom version of Norton
> Internet Security. After termporarily disabling the NIS, all the
> updates worked perfectly.
>
> Which leads me to my one major gripe with the program so far:
> You can't select lists of objects for action. I wanted to download a
> dozen or so lists from the website but I couldn't highlight the bunch
> of them and say "Let her rip!" I had to import them one at a time
> and, after each import, the list reset to the top! Not being able to
> select lists of objects is not limited to this screen. I noticed it
> throughout the program, but I'll get there in a minute.
>
> b. Location/Telescope/Observer: This is a model for how it should
> be done. You simply click on one of these and add or edit to your
> heart's content. The units for elavation, aperature, etc. change
> between english and metric units with a click of a mouse. Entry is
> easy.
>
> c. Data Sorting: This is overall quite nice. You simply select a
> list and some basic parameters and off you go. There didn't seem to
> be an option for "no lists" (in other words, pull up everything), but
> I think I simply haven't found it yet. There are some powerful search
> functions that I didn't play with. Although the interface was
> intuitive, including setting magnitude limits, there was a "viewing
> time" setting that was, by default, all day (noon to noon). I knew
> there had to be a way to set this to something different, but couldn't
> find it for the life of me. Finally, I delved into the online help.
> It was intuitive and quite nicely context sensitive. I quickly found
> that you set this by dragging some little red bars to bracket the time
> you wanted. Easy and farily effective, but I ende up with them set
> from 6:03pm to 12:09 am. While I like the bar dragging, it would have
> been very nice to have been able to click on the time and enter it
> directly.
>
> d. The Log: I entered a few items into the log. Very nice with
> some cute shortcuts that make things quick and easy. Since this is
> one of the primary reasons for buying the program, the log function
> was important to me and didn't disappoint. The only strange "feature"
> is that when trying to change the time when entering past
> observations, the time change never seemed to take no matter how many
> different ways of entering it I tried. Another trip to the online
> help and I learned I had to hit "enter". Silly me! I thought the
> "OK" button at the bottom would have been enough. Still the program
> was very clear and it does work as the book says it should.
>
> 4. Playing Around: The star chart views are fun and easy to
> navigate. Some thought went into designing them as you can change
> their positions and sizes very easily. The lists were fun. They
> didn't work quite the way I expected, but that was OK. I have a
> feeling that I'll end up building my own "Observing Projects" list and
> working primarily from there. It doesn't really matter because there
> is incredible flexibility built in. I like the graphical view of the
> objects at the top of the screen. In real time mode, that should be
> great. I'm not entirely sure how much use this will be in the field
> though as there was entirely too much white and other bright colors on
> the screen while in Night Vision Mode (especially on the star chart
> screen). If there are other observers around, you are definitely
> going to need a red film over the screen.
>
> My overall impression was very favorable, although you probably can't
> tell from the above. The program looks like it will do exactly what I
> wanted it to do and a bit more. For all of my "nits" above, there
> were very few problems that I think will affect the way I use the
> program. So, my first impressions are:
>
> Negative:
> Serious:
> Cannot select several items from a list for action (such as moving or
> importing)
> Night Vision Mode Lacking.
> Lack of feedback when some operations fail
>
> Nits:
> Cannot change filter time by clicking on the numbers
> I really should be able to just hit OK when changing the time
> An option for a full install would be nice.
>
> Positive:
> The list capability is...well...incredible.
> The logging capability is exactly what an observer would want.
> Excellent search buttons.
> Interface, while not standard Windows Fare, is exactly what is
> required and works very well.
> Customability!!! You could use thie program in a vast number of ways
> depending on your wants/needs.
>
> To be Explored:
> Well, an awful lot. I'll post another review down the road.
>
> Clear, Dark Skies
>
> Mark

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