Astro photography tool

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

A well set-up software and continual support is fantastic. great job Ivo. Can't leave home without one.

[Yoddha]

Many thanks Malcolm!

I have said several times that the biggest reward for me is to know that APT is in help The time unlimited "demo" is one proof

[Yoddha]

Hello,
I'm happy to announce that the new version is available on the site You will find that many functions are enabled in the demo version...

The changes log is:

2012/2/15 - v.1.90 New features and bug fixes
-Added: TemperHum v2 support
-Added: Close button for all panels
-Added: Shutter counter displaying on camera connection (Digic 3 and later)
-Added: Automatic enable/disable of the Mirror Lockup camera function depending on the selected Anti-Vibration pause (Digic 3 and later)
-Added: Possibility to disable dithering for particular plan (like focusing plan)
-Added: Minimize/restore the sections in Telescope Tab
-Change: Record LiveView button is upgraded to Planetary Panel
-Added: Possibility to define the number of frames to be captured in LiveView Planetary mode
-Added: Possibility to record HD Video (Digic 4 only, full version only)
-Added: ASCOM Filter Wheels support (full version only)
-Added: Filter Wheel can apply focus offsets to ASCOM focuser (full version only)
-Added: Other small User Interface enhancements
-Moved: Settings dialog is available in the demo version
-Moved: Images folder selection is available in the demo version
-Moved: Possibility to group the images, by Plan Type, Object Name or both is available in the demo version
-Moved: Automatic image name prefix and suffix - ISO, Exposure, Date, Time, EXIF or TemperHUM temperature is available in the demo version
-Moved: Delayed plan start is available in the demo version
-Moved: Selection between Celsius and Fahrenheit is available in the demo version
-Moved: Temper(HUM) calibration - entering calibrating constants is available in the demo version
-Moved: Changing the number of the images used for LV Stack is available in the demo version
-Moved: Tooltips ON/OFF is available in the demo version
-Moved: LiveView automation ON/OFF is available in the demo version
-Moved: Bigger User Interface fonts for notebooks with big screen resolution and small display is available in the demo version
-Moved: Support for M dial mode for Flat/Bias plans is available in the demo version
-Moved: Possibility to change the limits for the notifications for low PC/Camera battery, low Camera space is available in the demo version
-Moved: Possibility to change the path in Images browser is available in the demo version
-Moved: Keeping settings between APT restarts is available in the demo version
-Fixed: Bug in the remaining time counter when APT is minimized
-Fixed: Bug in the remaining time counter when APT is paused
-Fixed: Bug when Script and 0s pause are used.
-Fixed: Bug that causes tabs randomly to become invisible when APT is in background
-Updated: User's Guide document (the new things are in green)
-Updated: Some of the interesting facts in Objects browser are extended by Jeff Seivert. Thank you!

The next version is expected in April. The number is quite round - 2.00, so I decided to make it special. APT 2.00 will cross the DSLR border and will also support ASCOM CCD cameras

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by Yoddha

The next version is expected in April. The number is quite round - 2.00, so I decided to make it special. APT 2.00 will cross the DSLR border and will also support ASCOM CCD cameras

That is cool, now I have a better chance to select my next camera without changing software.

[Visionoz (Bill)]

Great news from you Ivo - about ASCOM controlled CCD usability!

Will await anxiously for it as I have two CCDs to try it now - if you want to beta test just let me know!

HTH
Cheers
Bill

[Yoddha]

Many thanks Bill! It will be a great help!

If you don't have anything against Yahoo groups, you can join to the APT's one. The main communication around the APT development is there.

[Yoddha]

The tooltips help translation in Dutch, Polish, French, Italian and Bulgarian are updated The rest are coming soon...

[Yoddha]

Hello,

A small update was released. It allows to make available few more features before the release of 2.0 that is expect in late April. The 500D and all Digic 2 cameras users will get guiding messages what is the required Mirror Lockup state. Thanks to Jeff Seivert for recording audio files for the objects in Object Browser.

The complete list is:
2012/3/02 - v.1.92 Small update

-Added: Mirror lockup status reporting for all models

-Added: Check if Mirror lockup is in the right status depending on the model, Anti-Vibration pause and Automation setting

-Added: Check if for the right dial mode when recording HD video

-Moved: Object Browser is available in the demo version

-Added: Possibility to play MP3 file for object in the Object Browser (requires an audio extension)

-Added: Full and short audio extensions as separate downloads in the site

-Added: Framing mask flip (180 degrees rotation) for use after Meridian flip (full version only)

-Change: Improved "Frames per second" ratio in LiveView Planetary mode, more than twice. The preview refresh rate is slower

-Fixed: Bug when plan is executed with Camera only destination and after that again with Camera+PC destination

-Fixed: Few more small odd things

-Updated: Some of the interesting facts in Objects browser are extended by Jeff Seivert. Thank you!

[Yoddha]

The work on enhancing the text and audio information in the Object Browser (now available in Demo version too) is in continuous progress, so everybody can download the part that want from the Downloads page in the APT's site.

The latest news are:
-There is a new version of the text version with some changes in the existing information.
-There is a new audio pack - Caldwel objects.
-Updated is the "full" audio pack. It includes 358 objects now.

Many thanks to Jeff Seivert for his hard work!

[Yoddha]

The tooltips help translation in German and Portuguese are updated You can find the latest translations in the Download page of APT's site.

[Yoddha]

Take a look on the APT's gallery There are more than 160 cool images!

http://www.ideiki.com/astro/Gallery.aspx

[Yoddha]

The APT's site was upgraded and now PayPal payments are handled automatically. As soon as Paypal marks a transaction as "Completed" you will receive your key (or your license will be extended if you are renewing)

No more waiting till I wakeup

[Yoddha]

The beta 1.94 is available on the site Note that CCD support is not included in it!

Here is the list if changes:

- Darkness Clock - shows the Sun and Moon set/rise, Nautical and Astro twilights. The clock shows the things from "nigh" point of view - most nights start in one day and ends in other Also there is a maker that shows the current time and flashes when there is approaching event in the next 15 minutes. The left end is 12:00 at mid day of the day in which the night starts/started. The right end is 12:00 at mid day of the day in which the night ends.

- Deep Space Darkness calculator. Double click on the Darkness clock to open it. It shows the exact times for all tracked events. Calculates the 'Deep Space Darkness' - the time when the sky is dark and Moon is not above the horizon. You can see the values for any date - input a date and hit 'Enter' key to recalculate or use Prev/Next buttons. Also you can search for the next night with at least X hours of DSD time, starting from the selected night

- Settings dialog is reworked to use tabs and there is new one - location. You can enter coordinates in the format +/-XX.XXXXX. APT will convert them in to readable form

- When PHD dithering is On, APT will check on every plan start if there is connection to PHD and will attempt to make connection if it is not available.

- Object calculator DB is extended with the new models - 5D Mk III, 1Dx and 60Da

- Recalc button will switch on the object scale mode of the 'Target' button.

- 1100D model has no native mirror lock function. APT is updated to support LiveView simulation for this model.

- Some UI enhancements.

Please keep a copy of the official version in case something with this beta goes wrong...

As usual I'll be more than happy to hear your opinions and suggestions!

[A23649 (Nathan)]

Ivo,
First off I would like to congratulate on an exceptional piece of software. Secondly I would like some help with connecting my 350D to your software. When I set it all up I connect the the camera to the computer as the insrtuctions for APT. I then click connect and it starts up fine but after 15 seconds or so it says "Communication Error Restart Camera, APT and then reconnect the camera again". Once I follow these instuctions I connect it again and it comes up with the same message. I tripled checked the cables with my dad's 1000D and that works fine so I don't know what the problem is. I am running the demo version of APT. If you could help that would be absolutely fantastic.

Cheers,
Nathan

[Yoddha]

Thanks Nathan!

Is the camera set in "PC connection" mode? Also what is your version of Windows? 64bit editions can't work with the drivers needed for 350D. The solution is to configure 32bits virtual machine and install the drivers there.

[A23649 (Nathan)]

Thanks for replying Ivo,
I am only running a 32 bit machine on a small netbook so anything larger would crash th computer. I haven't tried setting the connection to "PC connection" because the computer only recognises the camera when it is set in "PTP/Printer". I will have another go tonight and see how it goes.

Cheers,
Nathan

[Yoddha]

Some very good news There is a Chinese translation of the tooltips. Many thanks to Zhendi Wang!

The CCD support is advancing well and soon we will have APT 2.00 released

[Visionoz (Bill)]

That is good to hear Ivo - ie about the CCD support for APT - I have a new QHY11 waiting for first light so when you're ready I hope to test it out immediately!

Let's hope the ASCOM Camera choice will work straight off! - I know you will make it happen

Waiting ......

Cheers
Bill

Originally Posted by Yoddha

Some very good news There is a Chinese translation of the tooltips. Many thanks to Zhendi Wang!

The CCD support is advancing well and soon we will have APT 2.00 released

[Yoddha]

Thanks Bill!

[Yoddha]

There is a new beta - 1.95 that adds support for the models 5D MkIII and 1D-X. The new version of the Canon's communication library states that it adds support for 60Da, but I don't see any changes here and also have confirmation that the current official version works fine with that model...

There are few fixes in the Darkness clock and Calculator.

The CCD functionality is not fully finished yet, so it is not included. If there are no changes in the plans the beta 1.96 will be published in Friday for initial tests with real CCDs.