Polarfinder New vs. Old

[Stub Mandrel]

It's often seen as churlish or bad-mannered to criticise free software, but I offer this as constructive criticism in the hope that the writers of the sofware will implement the best of both versions.

Having tried both the old and new versions of Polar Finder, I would strongly advise beginners to Polar Alignment to use the old version. Three reasons:

1. The flashy new display is transparent - this means you can't make much sense of the dials. Makes it almost unusable.
2. You can't move the new version around on the desktop, to put it over an uncluttered background. Why?
3. You set longitude by twiddling the three pale discs - I found the degrees one impossibly sensitive, until I realised you could click it, hold the button down and move the mouse several inches to the right. Very fiddly and not very intuitive.
4. What are the previous and next peaks? I'm guessing they are when Polaris is lined up with a graduation? The website doesn't explain.
5. No print function - I get the feeling this new version is designed for mobile devices without a keyboard although this is the 'windows' version.
6. Even if the background is white (or black) the new version is hard to read.

In short, the new version appears to be a triumph of style over functionality.

What a shame the original version appears to have been discontinued 'officially', but you can find it with a bit of help from google.

New version on left, old version on the right.

[Lonestar70]

That is becouse the 2 versions are by different people.

The original, and best, is by Dr Jason Dale

http://myastroimages.com/Polar_FinderScope_by_Jason_Dale/

The NEW Version you have is by Jean Meeus and I agree it is not so easy to use.

Keep Happy.

Best regards.

Sandy.

[Davey-T]

Had the same problems still using old one.

Dave