TheSkyX Professional Edition

[Octane]

Hi all,

I have been a huge proponent of Starry Night Pro Plus 6, for a long, long time. Its realistic sky was a huge boon when it came to finding objects and the framing of images.

However, having gone down the automation route (CCD Commander until I pony up the cash for ACP and Scheduler), the software of choice is typically TheSky.

I had TheSky6 and it did everything I needed it, too, but, on a whim, I decided to purchase and download (which took an eon; Software Bisque's site is abysmally slow) TheSkyX Professional Edition.

Anyone care to outline the major benefits of TheSkyX over TheSky6?

While I was on the site, I had to struggle to keep my finger off the order button on a Paramount MX+. :D

Cheers!

H

[marc4darkskies]

TheSkyX is a one stop shop. Mount, camera, focuser, rotator and dome control plus TPoint modelling and accurate plate solving. Essentially it does it all (if you buy the add-ons). Maybe you should have bought the MX - it would have included TSX plus the TPoint and camera add-ons :)

Cheers, Marcus

[Octane]

lol, Marcus! I thought about that. :P

Is TPoint usable with my humble G-11?

H

[marc4darkskies]

Yep!

[Octane]

Fantastic.

I look forward to playing with TheSkyX this weekend as it's nothing but cloud and rain.

H

[rogerg]

Many people find TheSkyX frustrating for various resaons, so it's a good idea to have reasons you want it, to outweigh the frustrations :) Many people choose to continue using TheSky6 because as a driver for the Paramounts it works perfectly well with TPoint and all the rest, and arguably has less bugs than TheSkyX.

That being said, I use TheSkyX and it works well for me, although occasionally being frustrated by it's usability. Things which I like about it over TheSky6 are quite small things really:
- realistic/accurate photo overlay of my local horizon
- improved image link/plate solving
- more usable copy/paste of object details and display of them
- improved virtual sky which looks more "realistic" etc.
- more convenient time skipping

People who have problems with TheSkyX are often those who are using more ASCOM devices. My mount and camera all run using no ASCOM so I don't have such problems. TheSkyX is a significantly more resource heavy program than TheSky6.

TheSkyX needs a lot of screen realestate. I run 2 x 22" screens and it consumes one of them without thinking about it. I'd prefer to have more screen realestate to not have to flick between tabs so often but am saved somewhat from this by my camera control still running through CCDSoft so not needing to access all that functionality in TheSkyX.

Regards,
Roger.

[Octane]

The screen real estate is an issue for me.

My observatory computer is a tiny little Acer Aspire One notebook which is mounted on the pier and I remote into it via TeamViewer.

It happily runs everything at the moment, but, the screen real estate issue is going to be problematic. I might need to think about another way of getting higher resolution...

In the meantime, TheSky6 continues to work on it.

H

[frolinmod]

Note that TheSky6 does not support the Paramount MX, MX+ or ME2. It also doesn't support MEs that have been upgraded to MKS-5000 electronics. On the other hand, TheSky6 was the end of the road for the original Paramount GT-1100. TheSkyX definitely does not support that original first (stepper motors and SBIG electronics board) Paramount GT-1100.

[rogerg]

Fair enough, the people I know are using the Paramount ME. The most common scenario seems to be TheSky6 + MaxIM DL.

[Logieberra]

+1. Do it! SB. Lovely people. Top equipment.

[Octane]

Not just yet, I'll be divorced if I do, lol.

H

[Bassnut]

Well, in my experience Sky 6 just works, X "might", for mount control anyway.....

I too like Starry night pro 6 for planning, and Sky X even more lately for that, its great, although Sky X doesnt have a large number of common objects for imaging in its database which is really frustrating, despite its huge database generally.

I wouldnt touch Sky X with a barge poll just for mount control (if your mount is compatible with Sky 6). I still see endless drama with it on the net. Sky 6 on an OBS PC is rock stable and all it does for me is point to an object and track with a model, thats all I want it do, and it does that all the time without fail (with my PME), all else is fluff.

I think Sky X is great, but it goes no where near my mount.:P

[Bassnut]

Absolutely ;)

[Octane]

Cheers for your thoughts, Fred. :)

H

[rally]

+1

[White Rabbit]

I use to use SN and whole lot of other software but haven't looked back since moving to TSX pro with the camera add on. I haven bothered with the t-point add on because precision slew works so well there really is no point in paying $250 when waiting 60 seconds longer achieves the same result.

There use to be a lot of bugs but it's pretty solid now. When I first bought it, there would be an update every week to fix this or that bug. Now there is a release every 6 to 8 weeks. My subscription ended months ago but I haven't renewed it because there really is no need.

The whole plate solving thing in TSX was a total game changer for me. I don't even bother creating a model anymore. I just use all sky image link and the target is centered perfectly every time, session after session. If your framing is slightly off Center, you just need to image link from an image from the last session and do a closed loop slew and it will frame your next session to the last.

The planetarium doesn't look as good as SN but my set up is automated now so I don't even look at the planetarium software unless I need to edit how the image is framed. I use sky safari pro on my ipad (better than SN IMO) to select targets then enter them into auto pilot, press run and go to bed lol.

Auto guiding in TSX takes a bit of getting use to, but that's primarily an aesthetics thing rather that a ease of use thing. I came from phd and liked the squiggly line graph rather than towers/bars the TSX uses.

All in all the fact that everything is in one package focuser/filter wheel/guider/imager makes it a no brainier for me. It's by far the easiest software package I've used.

Now, quit screwing around with the other stuff and bite the bullet ;).

Sandy

[DannyV]

I really like The Sky X, it's the only thing with my setup that IS working properly to control my mount. My EOS 60Da is not behaving too well in remote view, but that happens with all my programs so it's not the Sky X's fault.

The question I have, if I may without taking over the thread, is does anyone control a Moonlite Focuser in TSX (without going though a TSX -> Maxim_DL link, which I Know can be done)?


I find TSX has a much easier user interface than most other galaxy programs (without trying Maxim_DL), but it takes a bit of getting used to their button mentality.

The bit I like best (other than it runs on a Mac :thumbsup:) - is because of my crook eyes, I have the ability to set the size and colour of every label, not just some of them.

[RickS]

I must have received a copy of the Unprofessional Edition. It displays incorrect Greek letters in some, but not all, Bayer designations. In particular, it gets Sigma Octantis wrong. After an original promise to fix this several years ago bug reports have been ignored and it is still broken. Don't meant to hijack your thread, H, but I figure if nobody complains about this miserable service it won't get better for others. I figure I've wasted enough money on SkyX subscriptions. They probably spent it on PMX mount development (or wild parties?) instead of their buggy software.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Octane]

lol, Rick! No need to apologise at all. I am having the exact same problem, even when I have Bayer/Flamsteed designations disabled. There is some upside down alien text in red next to all objects. I thought perhaps it was my video card playing up; it still happened after updating the drivers.

Is there any point filing a bug report if the issue has been around for a couple of years?

H

[RickS]

Give it a go, H! They are ignoring me but perhaps a new complaint will get attention?

[cfranks]

H,

I use an Acer Aspire one Netbook on my G11 backup system and haven't suffered any from a lack of screen real estate with TSX. but I don't use the Planetarium part of the display very much. With Windows XP, I use a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 and, as Marcus said, TSX is a one-stop shop for everything I need. The only problem I have suffered over the last 3 months is when taking my second or third image, the clouds roll up! :(

Charles

[frolinmod]

Not happening here guys. Perhaps your video driver has lousy OpenGL support or perhaps you've been spending all your money on psycadelic drugs, eh. :shrug: More seriously, how does one duplicate this?

[Octane]

I'll take a screenshot a little later. My video card is a fairly good one.

H

[RickS]

The problem with Bayer designations has happened consistently to me on three different hardware platforms (two generations of high-end Lenovo laptops and a desktop system with Nvidia Quadro video card and drivers) over several years of Windows 7 x64 and SkyX updates. It has been a reported problem since 2010. My original problem report was a follow up to someone else reporting the same issue (same drugs?) back then. One of the Bisque's responded to say the problem would be fixed. Since then I have tried to follow up several times but any new forum posts by me on the topic have just disappeared. Pretty pathetic...

[mithrandir]

As far as OpenGL is concerned NVidia drivers beat Radeon ones hands down. Always have done.

If Rick is seeing problems on NVidia I would blame the fault on TheSkyX.

[frolinmod]

That's a serious accusation. I've never seen them delete a post that wasn't spam. Not even posts from super obnoxious people. What's your username over there?

[frolinmod]

Unfortunately a screenshot by itself won't help anyone duplicate anything.

BTW, turning off the "smooth moving labels" feature in the Labels tab keeps TheSkyX from using OpenGL to render Bayer designations.

No wonder I can't duplicate it. That post over on the SB support forum is for Mac and I'm running Windows.

[RickS]

Username rickstevenson. Here's one of the threads on this problem: http://www.bisque.com/sc/forums/p/10716/39641.aspx#39641

I made additional (equally polite) posts which just disappeared.

[frolinmod]

Ah, must be a Mac thing then?



That username has only two posts - ever. Let's do a test. Use that username to post something on TheSkyX SB support forum (not the presales forum which is tape delayed and moderated) right now and let's see if it gets deleted. Mums the word. Let's see what happens. :D

[gregbradley]

Sky X on paper is a dream. In my use I find it both much better and much worse than Sky 6. Its more likely to crash than Sky 6. If there is any issue with the mount etc it will simply need rebooting. Sky 6 is more stable.
Its quite a complex piece of software and with that comes potential problems.

For example I cannot get it to operate my camera and filter wheel which should be a no brainer but isn't. I also find the display of the sky and objects not as good as Sky 6. That's just my preferences. I sometimes revert to Sky 6.

Greg.

[RickS]

As I mentioned above the problem occurs on Windows 7 as well. The guy who originally reported it was using a Mac.



Here's another thread on the same bug: http://www.bisque.com/sc/forums/p/10706/39763.aspx#39763

There are two posts by me in each of those threads so it seems odd that the forum claims I only have two posts.

I can't see any point in doing a test. I don't care if you disbelieve my claim that further posts on the topic have vanished. What is clear from the posts that remain on the forum is that the bug was reported in late July 2010, Daniel Bisque said in early August that they were working on a fix, and my follow up posts in August 2011 and July 2012 were ignored. When my subscription lapsed later in 2012 the bug was still not fixed. At best this is poor customer service, especially for a product that has a yearly maintenance fee.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Octane]

Andrew,

I'm running an nVidia card.

Will post a screenshot today showing the issue and to confirm it's the same as Rick's issue.

I'm not complaining, as I can live with it, but, as Rick has mentioned, the software carries a yearly maintenance fee; why do people pay if bugs that are reported (by more than one person) haven't been squashed after four years?

H

[frolinmod]

Looks to me like the problem is user apathy and lack of user followup. Good luck with that.

[rogerg]

Yes ... mixed feelings about SB support. I most commonly find they loose interest in solving my problem (that's the negative). That is after initially responding and being helpful at first (that's the plus). I put it down to being just another pleb in the southern hemisphere :lol:, as we know what respect they've had for SH issues in the past :)

All in all, on the whole, the software works and is the best option available for what I want to do :)

[frolinmod]

Support is a team effort with the user being an important part of the team. The user's job is to provide as much intelligent useful information as possible (such as a detailed description of the environment, the settings and exactly how to reproduce the problem) and to continuously and doggedly persue the case until it is resolved. If the user is passive aggressive, expects to just say there's a problem, give as little information as possible, not regularly follow up and expect the problem to just magically fix itself, that isn't always gonna happen. It's easy to fix something when the engineer can reproduce it. Not so easy when he can't (because the user didn't give good info).

SB's support forums are also no charge. You get what you pay for there. They should charge so that they can hire some professional support people to be the followup bulldogs (in both directions).

[RickS]

Curious logic, Charles, but you might be on to something. Think how much money IT companies could save by just ignoring support calls and blaming the customers for not trying harder.

[RickS]

There's a clear and detailed statement of the problem by the original poster.

There's an acknowledgement by Daniel Bisque:


And from then on all correspondence is ignored. Yep, clearly the customers are to blame...

Sorry, H, I'll shut up now :)

[Octane]

Rick, no, please, don't.

frolinmod, I haven't reported the problem to Software Bisque, yet, but, I will. As a UNIX sysadmin, I know just how important it is to describe the issue in its entirety. I will do that when I get some time /after/ trying to fix it myself. Admittedly, I haven't spent much time playing with the software other than going through the common settings.

The worst part about this issue is that even when I disable labels, they remain on the screen.

H

[Logieberra]

I really enjoyed using TSX in conjunction with the MX. I did find a glitch in the orientation of the 'Virtual Telescope' for southern hemisphere users, but after a detailed post, including a video showing the actual error on screen (which SB were appreciative of) the glitch was fixed ASAP by Richard Wright under the next Daily Build.

I also loved the layout and general operation of the SB support forums. Very smooth indeed, especially when compared with the clunky YahooGroups layout as used by many north american astro companies. To each their own :)

[Mckechg]

Do any of the people in this thread use SKY X on MAC with Synscan controller? I am stumped with a few issues.

[Paul Haese]

I have two systems as you know. One uses SkyX will link with camera but I am using Maxim. SkyX will connect my 3" rotator for some reason, but works with the dome software and does a good job of plate solving and inbuilt tpoint.

My other system an ME runs with sky6 and Maxim again. Works almost flawlessly but some things I miss from SkyX. Image link is perfect in SkyX but not so with Sky6. Not to mention my new dome software in roll off roof mode does not display in SkyX for some reason. Very odd and I need to sort that before making both systems SkyX.

SkyX is still a little buggy for me but works well generally. I do need to pick up a new daily build though as I have let my subscription lapse.

[Mckechg]

Hi Paul,

I have fixed "most" of my issues but I am very disapoitned with software bisque crew.

Their opening offer was "do you want your money back"

however I did a heap of research and learned quite a bit, and my indoors testing has the mount slewing, jogging with out the error and now it Syncs as well.

So until i get some sky time (prob next weekend under full moon) I am blocked.

One interesting remedy was the upgrading of the SYncscan controller from 4.05.17 to 4.33.X they have added many new features and more importantly my TSX works!

Thx for your help.

G./