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Average Seeing |
Hi,
I just upgraded from Nav 1 after seeing your demo at AIC. I, unfortuneately did not download and try it first, which is my fault. Things I do not like right off the bat. The main window does not remember where you moved it. Also if you move it, click on a feature,like session, it does not open a new window, it replaces the catalog window, then when you close that window, the catalog window snaps back to the upper left corner. I cannot resize the window. It would be really nice to be able to see a lot more of the catalog at once, I have a large screen, being only able to view 10 items at a time is a pain. Also if you have several target windows open and select another window that goes in front of them, then you cannot go back to those other windows as they are not on the task bar, you have to minimize everything, select Nav2 and then they appear. In the previous version when I asked for the DSS image, I got it centered, with this version it is offset and does not appear in the Sky 6 either, I would have assumed that when you selected it and asked for what is in fov, it would have selected in The Sky. If I have guidescope selected, and I add the target to my session it wants to select the guide star. There is no way for it to know the guidescope size or chip size or the offset. It is a seperate guide scope. With a totally different sensor. Very difficult to measure accurately where the guidescope field of view is in relation to the main scope. Another issue, if I page through in the 10 pages of targets, select a target, open another window, when that window is close the thumbnail version automatically resets to the first entry on the first page and not where I was in the catalog, so I have to page back through again. And with the limited size of the window with limited entries this makes it tedious. Well this covers the first 10 minutes. Alan This message has been edited. Last edited by: AlanS, Alan Smallbone Laguna Beach, CA |
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Average Seeing |
Another thing and not sure if this is a "feature" but if I select camera and then change the initial position angle it does not rotate the dss preview image when you select a new target, even if "rotator" is selected. It appears you have to go through the calibration with The Sky which seems kind of awkward.
Also in terms of the UI, it seems awkward to me that the catalog selection buttons, go first, next, previous, end. Most selection UI will have the two backwards direction together and the two forward together. In other words most UI's that are used would go first, previous, next, last. Alan Alan Smallbone Laguna Beach, CA |
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Average Seeing |
Sorry this was operator error, it does create a centered image from the dss. Alan Alan Smallbone Laguna Beach, CA |
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Good Seeing |
Alan,
Sorry you're so dissatisfied. The paragraphs below discuss your lines point by point. Please refer back to your original note starting with "The main window...". If you close the main window with the "X" button in the upper right corner, CCDN remembers its position and when you next run it, it should be at that position. It does so here and on all the computers I've tested it on. What OS are you running? The thumbnails cannot be resized programmatically so I've chosen to use fixed size windows. I also have a large monitor here and when several information windows and Sky6 are open, the space is pretty much full. The information windows and Preview images are cascaded so you should be able to see a corner of every one of them and click on it to bring it to the top. Or maybe I don't understand what you're doing. The "Preview" feature should be giving you centered images and also rotated to whatever value the position angle (PA on the info window) has set. Prior to setting the target up for guiding, it will be at the default angle set in the camera menu. After rotating for autoguiding, it will be the angle you set up there. It will not move the Sky6 FOV to the target though. You also mention "... asked for what is in fov ..." so I guess you're describing the "In FOV" menu item. This gives a list of targets in your FOV boundary as positioned and rotated. But there should not be an "offset" so please give me a specific example of a target that is doing this. In the Camera menu, there is a "Choose and Calibrate FOV" button that will ask you to click on various points in the main camera and the guider's FOV on Sky6. This allows CCDN to measure the size of the main camera and the size/position of the guider. To do this for a guidescope, your FOVI in Sky6 needs to be set up to show the guidescope plus the camera in a single FOV. To do this, you'll have to make a model of your guidescope / camera which is not hard. If you'll provide me the camera's sensor and focal length plus the guider sensor and focal length, I'll be glad to set a FOVI up for you. Otherwise, you can use the "Unguided" method in the Camera menu and then CCDN will not figure out guiding for you. When you say "select a target", do you mean "Add to Session"? If so, the target that you added will have it's information window removed from the cascade. The others should be there as before but they will be refreshed which may leave a different one on top. But maybe you're doing something different, let me know. For your second posting. The rotation of the Preview image should be including the Initial Angle and any rotation added by a rotator. I'll check this, maybe I left the initial angle out in the code. I placed "Next" and "Previous" side by side so you wouldn't have to move the cursor far to move back and forth. Given that you've only spent 10 minutes using it, you might invest a bit more time to see if you can live with the interface as it's been provided. If you can be more specific as to the changes you'd like to see, I'll consider them. So far, I think you want resizable windows and somewhat different window behavior for the information windows. This message has been edited. Last edited by: Steve..., Steve... CCDNavigator Author |
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Average Seeing |
Steve,
Thanks for the reply, I have been working wtih it for a lot longer now since last night. I think the program is a great idea, and I know you have worked hard on it, I think it could be a really useful program but there are some things about it, that I find are real hindrances. Comments below in between your responses.
I have spent a lot more time with it, and I do think it can be very useful to many, but I still think correction of some of these issues could make it a lot more useful. Another thing, is I cannot select a fov or enter a chip size, like I was able to in V1 so that I could still do some planning, now I have to have The Sky installed in order to see the dss image. Or enter camera information. Like if I run it on my netbook to do some planning and peruse the catalog, I cannot enter camera information. Being able to calculate or enter chip size and data like it was in V1 would be nice. Another feature that would make it more useful is to be able to select different scope configurations on the fly without having to reload profiles. It makes a difference if I want to plan with my refractor with or without the reducer or extender, being able to switch easily would make it useful for planning. A more or less a "what if?" scenario checker. Alan Smallbone Laguna Beach, CA |
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Good Seeing |
Alan,
See if this summary includes all your wishes so far. 1. Wants a re-sizeable main window to carry a variable number of thumbnails. 2. Wants the target Info Windows to not remain hidden by Sky6 (or other). Currently if they get covered by another program, tapping CCDN's main window does not bring these to the front. 3. Wants the target Info Window to remain visible after "Add to Session" has been executed. 4. Wants Page controls ordered "First", "Previous", "Next", "Last". 5. Wants to be able to do some planning without Sky6. Currently, camera calibration requires Sky6 which may not be installed on some computers. 6. Wants to switch cameras without loading a profile to do "What If" scenarios. On item 6, I need to know what you think a "what if" scenario is. A full plan? Or just an image Preview? On item 5, what does "some planning" mean to you? Just viewing targets? Previewing images? You can do this now by copying your camera objects to the other computer. Then Sky6 will not be consulted unless you click "Add to Session". Steve... CCDNavigator Author |
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Average Seeing |
Steve,
Thank you for spending so much time even considering this and for the new version already. Sorry if I sounded so negative at the beginning, I do apologize. As to the items, those are pretty much them except for 5 and 6. Yes I want to do some planning on my netbook (I have a long commute to work on a train). Planning is looking for interesting targets and being able to pull up the dss image to see what the fov offers in terms of targets. I do sometimes change cameras, and I am sure I am different than most people, and I also change scopes depending on what I am going to image. I will change the scope configuration more often than the camera. I have a refractor that has 2 different focal reducers and an extender, so I can change the image size easily. I also have a longer focal length scope which also has a reducer, and I have two cameras, though only one is automated at a time. It still might be nice to be able to manually input the ccd info like V1, this is more or less interesting to see if a "what if", like looking at new cameras and chips. Thanks, Alan
Alan Smallbone Laguna Beach, CA |
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