SkySafari, SkySafari Plus, and SkySafari Pro for Android

mithrandir (Andrew) · #1 22-12-2011, 08:54 PM

I think I can beat Bill and Tim to the punch.

Quote:

After many months, I'm pleased to announce the arrival of SkySafari, SkySafari Plus, and SkySafari Pro on the Android Market. We haven't even had time to update our own web site for the "official" 1.0 release yet, but here it is:

https://market.android.com/developer?pub=Southern+Stars

Website updates and email notifications will go out tomorrow to those who have requested them. All versions will be at special intro pricing through January 1st, 2012.

I'd particularly like to thank Bill, who has put in heroically long hours porting this behemoth app to the world's wildest mobile frontier.

Clear skies all, and happy holidays.

-Tim

btschumy (Bill Tschumy) · #2 23-12-2011, 11:02 AM

Dang. You did beat me. I was just coming here to announce it.

Enjoy.

Bill

btschumy (Bill Tschumy) · #3 23-12-2011, 11:09 AM

Oh, by the way, here is the info about it on our web site:

http://www.southernstars.com/product...oid/index.html

selste (Steffen) · #4 25-12-2011, 02:07 AM

Hi all,
had the Beta 3 & Beta 4 running on my HP TouchPad (CyanogenMod Alpha 3.5), only trouble was a botched download/update with the Beta 3.
Bought the 'Pro' version - there's a 50% discount until January, i think - and it's REALLY good!
Merry Christmas,

Steffen

actonastro (Chris) · #5 27-12-2011, 07:37 PM

I bought the pro version and have it installed on a Eeepad Transformer tablet and a Motorola Defy phone. It's working flawlessly on the phone, but caused some trouble on the tablet requiring reinstalling it a couple of times.

Interestingly it seems to perform better on the phone then the tablet. This may be to do with the Honeycomb operating system as it seems like rendering bugs to me.

Good service from the developers and a really good product.

Chris

netwolf · #6 28-12-2011, 02:18 AM

Been testing the beta and bought the Pro today. Hope to get this working with the Aircable Serial3 bluetooth to serial adapter I have. Just need to wire up the Aircable for power from the Feature port on the Gemini.

ashcb1 (Ashley) · #7 30-12-2011, 11:36 AM

I tried b4 seemed to work ok on my zoom connected to my telescope with WiFi but the rate slider to control the speed of my scope would stay at 100%.

I have now purchased the pro version but is very unstable many crashes so back to my Idevice. I am still happy with the purchase though I hope the program will get better in time.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #8 30-12-2011, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashcb1

I tried b4 seemed to work ok on my zoom connected to my telescope with WiFi but the rate slider to control the speed of my scope would stay at 100%.

I have now purchased the pro version but is very unstable many crashes so back to my Idevice. I am still happy with the purchase though I hope the program will get better in time.

Ah yes, that could very well be a problem with the platform - or your phone, and not SkySafari as such. Given that there is no centralised body (such as Apple in its case) vetting everything that goes onto the Android store, it could be any one of the applications installed on your phone that isn't behaving, or causing SkySafari to do what it shouldn't.

I don't envy Southern Stars' job - or any other Android developer's, to make its application work without issue on this platform and on many various devices coming from different manufacturers and having to work alongside a plethora of un-verified apps. Open source is nice, but not when it comes to having to guarantee that your app will work as advertised.

btschumy (Bill Tschumy) · #9 31-12-2011, 08:27 AM

We just released SkySafari 1.0.1 for Android today. We have made big improvements in speed as well as fixing a couple of memory smash errors that can result in crashes. The full list of changes is here:

http://www.southernstars.com/product...whats_new.html

Hopefully this will address many of the problems folks have reported.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #10 31-12-2011, 09:28 AM

Wow Bill... you fellas are on the ball

When do you anticipate the new text file observing list import addition?

btschumy (Bill Tschumy) · #11 31-12-2011, 09:50 AM

It will be a couple of weeks. We are back on iOS and Mac, getting ready for MacWorld in a couple of weeks. A side reason for holding off the Android import is that the format is not compatible with the Mac (yeah stupid historical mistake). The new iOS version will have a compatible format and then everyone will be able to easily exchange files.

ashcb1 (Ashley) · #12 31-12-2011, 11:27 AM

Thanks Bill this is great news. I just love this app. I use it on ALL my devices, so I really have purchased it three times for my devices that I use.

Will give it another try soon if the weather improves.

AG Hybrid (Adrian) · #13 01-01-2012, 07:52 PM

Just bought SkiSafari for my new Sensation XL. Its looking alright for just 2 bucks, its very good value. Although, SkySafari Plus on the iPad is GREAT!

drdavekaplan · #14 03-01-2012, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Just bought SkiSafari for my new Sensation XL. Its looking alright for just 2 bucks, its very good value. Although, SkySafari Plus on the iPad is GREAT!

The Sky Safari Pro is the most amazing application for my android Galaxy S2
It has in depth notes and I downloaded the 500 megabytes data file with phenomenonal hi res pictures
Easy to use the money for the Pro version is so underpriced for what is delivered
Keeping the colour option on allows me to simply see the K and Meade stars by eyeballing the very accurate sky charts
I also can save any object easily and the massive database has more knowledge than I could deal with
Thrown with a night vision function too I am so happy I purchased this
It will become a best seller.
Buy it with confidence
DrDave Kaplan
South Africa

Logieberra (Logan) · #15 04-01-2012, 02:55 PM

Bill

I've got the Pro version on Android. Can it control a Losmandy G11 running Gemini 2? Over WIFI?

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #16 04-01-2012, 04:01 PM

Logon - you need the Southern Stars SkyFi unit to do this. It talks to your phone via 802.11 and translates this to RS232 for your mount. Controlling the Gemini 1 was never a problem in iPhone or iPad, and I can't imagine that either Losmandy or Southern Stars have changed their protocols. We've been doing this on iPhones for a long time now,so the Android version should work just fine.

netwolf · #17 05-01-2012, 12:06 AM

Chris if the Gemini2 is connected to the say the home network and your android is on the same network, then could they not talk to each other?

It seems that skysafari does let u put in the IP of your mount. So any reason why this will not work? Unless there is a requirement for some special protocol on the mounts side.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #18 05-01-2012, 08:35 AM

I imagine it'd work fine Fahim - if you're connected to your mount via ethernet to a hub (like Apple's AirPort or other equivalent) that incorporates an ethernet to WiFi bridge. In an observatory situation that's probably quite normal - but out in the field (or in my backyard with no observatory) it isn't. Not having a Gemini 2, does it let you nominate a port?

Quote:

Originally Posted by netwolf

Chris if the Gemini2 is connected to the say the home network and your android is on the same network, then could they not talk to each other?

It seems that skysafari does let u put in the IP of your mount. So any reason why this will not work? Unless there is a requirement for some special protocol on the mounts side.

netwolf · #19 05-01-2012, 02:31 PM

Chris what services the Ethernet port provided is the million dollar question. From the G2 quick start guide it seems to provide a webhost so i would assume that would be on port 80 or 8080. Also mentions the Gemini Ascom interface can be setup to talk to the mount via the same IP simultaneously, so this might be on another port. Not sure what this port is though. Skysafari seems to need a host on port 4040, but again not sure what kind of service/protocol its expecting to find. And weather or not the G2 has that service to offer. But I am sure it could be added. Or perhaps the Ascom port could be used, if they talk a similar language. I dont have a G2 so cant really test it to see. But I would think that it would not be hard to add this as a option on the G2, but then I think they are currently focusing on adding more essential features right now.

Yes I agree in the field the ethernet interface is tricker to setup. You could buy a cheap WIFI router (20$) and connect both the mount and Android to it. The mount physically to a ethernet port and the Android via wifi. For the backyard as long as your in range of your home WIFI, you could also use a WIFI Ethernet Bridge/Access point. Personally I am not fond of putting my Telescope mount on a home network even behind a firewall. Next we will need antivirus software for our telescope mounts.

Omaroo (Chris Malikoff) · #20 05-01-2012, 03:00 PM

I'm having thoughts that this probably won't work without SkyFi Fahim. Why should it? The SkySafari application, (either iOS or Android) I imagine, probably speaks its own Southern Stars specific protocol - app to SkyFi device. I could very possibly be wrong, but if I were the vendor I'd make sure that the wifi to rs-232 conversion smarts were in the SkyFi and not in the phone. All modern mounts use rs-232 to communicate over, so why go re-inventing the wheel for every mount out there - only a couple of which are fitted with ethernet?