Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthernLight
Hi Guys, thanks for the advice. Quite a price difference between the two. I'll see if I can trial both and make up my mind. Although I'm pretty interested in the real world experience of the imaging planner that comes with skytools. Have you worked with that-any user experience?
|
When I first purchased SkyTools several years ago, I remember struggling with the interface initially, as it wasn’t a typically visual “draw the sky” planetarium program like The Sky or Starry Night Pro, both of which I had licences for.
However, I am really glad that I persisted with learning how SkyTools works and have since upgraded to Version 2 and Version 3.
I use the program to produce lists of objects which I can then GoTo using the additional “Real Time” module which connects to my telescope mount.
Using SkyTools as an observation planning tool, I have chased down Double Stars, Carbon Stars, NEO’s, “What’s Up Tonight”, Solar System Objects, Dwarf Planets, etc. and there are many, many other objects/lists/events available which are comprehensively customisable.
You can filter by telescope size/type, eyepiece, camera, object’s altitude, moonlight or not, best observing/imaging sequence, limit to e.g. between 8:00pm and 4:00am, obstructed horizon, etc. etc.
When chasing down NEO’s I have found that the SkyTools import has been the most accurate in placing the object on the camera chip. I have never used the Observation Logging function where you can make notes, store images, etc. on all the objects you have observed so you can work through a compiled list of e.g. Planetary Nebulae.
Using SkyTools I can plan for E & W elongations of e.g. Phobos & Deimos as well as other solar system moons, along with Jupiter events. SkyTools also downloads DSS images as required.
The software author, Greg Crinklaw, is currently developing V4 which should be out sometime in 2018.
SkyTools is a functionally rich application and I only use a relatively narrow selection of what is available.
Cheers
Dennis