AUTOSTAR INFORMATION Last updated: 13 November 2007

Subject:	Autostar software
Sent:	Sunday, November 11, 2007 01:59:40
From:	John Farrant (johnfarrant@gmail.com)
I hope the relocation is going as planned. All the best for that.

Over the past year or so I have tried various telescope control programs
but found them all either too complicated in the field or
non-functioning. Minisicule Star charts that my 63 year eyes had trouble
seeing. Also cables, houses and trees in the way. Objects that couldn't
be seen except with Hubble. With most of these software programs I still
needed a watch and a torch! As for levelling! Should I really need to
mess about with a 10 cent spirit level after spending 1000 English
pounds on a ETX125?

Enough was enough I thought. So with my Pocketpc and time on my hands I
wrote 33 standalone "C" programs that accomplish the following:

1.  Select best pair alignment stars using ETX or LX stars within chosen
ALT and AZ limits. Thus avoiding those pesky trees etc.
2.  Level scope by simply aiming at Polaris and selecting LEVELSCOPE.
3.  Send to Autostar correct date and time and start/stop tracking.
4.  Retrieve important info from Autostar.
5.  Full Bluetooth or cable control.
6.  Get Lat, Long and  UTC from a GPS Bluetooth device and send this
info to Autostar via Bluetooth or RS232 cable.
7.  Set Alt and Azimuth object viewing limits.
8.  Plot real time scope Alt and Az position. Simply!
9.  Show current approx Alt and Az position for planets on Pocketpc. In
other words are they up tonight. Calcs are not accurate enough for
slewing, but close.
10. Calculate which of the following objects are viewable (within Az and
Alt limits!)
    Messier, Caldwell, Harvest 1 - 5, Best of NGC, Carbon Red, best of
    SAO Doubles and Bright stars. A drop down list is generated from
    which you can select an object and slew to it. After Slewing you are
    giving a choice as to whether you want to log the object.
11. Log file produced in txt form.
12. No star charts with tiny pixel size stars plotted. All drop down
readable lists.

All of the programs are stand alone and are in "C" source code only. A
good knowledge of "C" programming and Astronomical calculations will be
required to get the programs running but believe me it's fantastic to
just go outside and after pressing three keys on my pocketpc (Level,
Send Date/Time, Selected Best Pair) I'm up and running. If I move the
scope to a different location I simply change the Az and Alt limits to
cope with obstructions etc. Also with Bluetooth - NO cables!

Another slight snag with my software is that it only works at my
Latitude and Longtitude - 38.75 degrees north, 0 degrees west. But any
"C" programmer can soon alter that.

If anyone wants to run it on a PocketPC you will need to contact
Orbworks for the header etc. This only contains defintions for the
Bluetooth control. Also you'll need some sort of compiler to run it
either on a PocketPC or Laptop (Visual C I think). All the maths is
there so It could be adapted to QuickBasic I suppose. Not sure.

Anyway, if anyone is interested I can be contacted at
johnfarrant@gmail.com.

Again, all the best to you and the better half.
Take care.
Regards,
John 

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