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Anyone using TheSky?


Jkulin

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A mate (Peter Shah) dropped round with his laptop and was using a very nice looking sequence generator called TheSky.

I didn't get a chance to have much of a play, but the presentation of it was very cool.

Peter was advocating it big style and Peter does not use inferior stuff, so I checked with the company who don't provide a trial as such but do offer a 14 day money back guarantee http://www.bisque.com/sc/pages/TheSkyX-Professional-Edition.aspx

Problem is that it is $349 but with our skies it might be a month of Sundays before we see a clear sky, when I suggested a 28 day trial before purchase, the answer was a stony silence.

So, apart from the cost, and for those that have used it, is it better than SGP or APT?

I suppose I am still looking for the ultimate software, APT currently is very clunky with equipment profiles, SGP is feature rich but lacking in its presentation and stability as It crashes regularly and the developers aren't very accommodating if you report a bug and they don't want to deal or acknowledge it, I've had a play with Maxim DL but just can't make my mind up with it.

I have a feeling that this might just be a piece of software if you own specific makes of equipment and don't wander away from the standards.

Welcome any of your thoughts, Ta.

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Yep Tim, my thought exactly, it could cost $1219 if you go for all of them, that was why I was surprised about the trial option.

As nice as it is I think they are pricing themselves out of the market.

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Hi John

I had a copy of the Sky many versions ago and found it ok but nothing special at the time. I’ve recently been sent offers for ‘Prism’ from Hyperion Astronomy proclaiming it to be a do all app here https://www.hyperion-astronomy.com/

Looks very interesting and again not cheap but they do have a trial. I haven’t tried it myself yet but would be interested to see what it’s like.

Steve

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The Sky has been around for a very long time and predates just about everything else being used. It's roots are in the early days of the home computer based astronomy. It was always expensive. I can't remember the numbers but in the early days I purchased it as a milti floppy installation. It cost a relative arm and leg then. Probably still got them somewhere (the disks, that is (and the arms and legs, but I know where they are...)).

It's been developed continuously ever since and maintains a following. We've been blessed with (spoiled by?) an array of cheap and free software and apps that makes one wonder how The Sky continues as is. 

It's functionality is way beyond anything I need or want. That's probably true for a lot of potential users.

It always was an expensive, niche product and in an ocean of app style competition it continues to expensively serve a niche market! :) 

 

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7 hours ago, Jkulin said:

I suppose I am still looking for the ultimate software

After being in the imaging game since wet film (forty+ years now) I have concluded that there is no such thing as the ultimate software.

I had TheSkyX PRO from just after it was released, initially just as a planetarium program to run on my Mac as at that time there was virtually no astro software that would run on Apple OS and TheSkyX PRO is still one of the few commercial programs that can natively run cameras, mounts, focusers, rotators etc, all on Apple OS. TheSkyX PRO is also available and supported for other OS's too.

Then when I bought my retirement mount, a Paramount MX, which can not operate without TheSkyX PRO, I thought that would be that however I quickly found I wanted to run a fully automated and remotely operated observatory and that is not possible with the currently available software for a Mac. I had to downgrade to Windows :crybaby2: so that I could use ASCOM and the best (IMO) software for running an observatory fully autonomously and remotely is ACP, but ACP can not interface with TheSkyX PRO scripting interface directly, so that meant I needed Maxim DL and FocusMax with The SkyX being marginalised to just run the Paramount MX. It is a wonder to me that it all works at all.

TheSkyX PRO is as good as it gets for a one-stop integrated solution but it has become rather large and bloated and uses a lot of computer resources, it is quite lethargic on base model laptops.

Software Bisque keep dropping hints that they are working on a replacement for their obsolete automation scripting interface for TheSkyX, Orchestrate. They have been doing this on and off for the last three years now and I just don't think they are interested in getting it to market. The current Orchestrate can be scripted for automated operation but it needs a level of programming knowledge that many would struggle with. A proper automation interface for the SkyX that could run on Apple OS as well as Windows, incorporate weather monitoring and be accessible to users who are not programmers would make it an unbeatable integrated solution albeit an expensive one.

SB keep stating on their support forum that other manufacturers supply suitable automation software for the SkyX but then seem to make it difficult to resolve connectivity issues by regarding these 'other' providers as competitors and, shall we say, being less than cooperative when trying to resolve these problems promptly.

As an ex-engineer, used to working with critical systems software, the biggest annoyance to me about the SkyX is their method of updates. It seems designed to keep you maintaining a yearly subscription because they never release a version of the SkyX with all known bugs fixed. They continually release bug fix updates lumped in together with new features, which introduce new bugs, you never get to a stage where you could say I now have a fully working, bug free application and can just sit back and run it reliably.:BangHead:

If I were starting from scratch I would certainly give Prism a try, with a months free trial it's better than you'll get from any other software vendor. Maxim DL is years out of date now and as a 32 bit application it struggles with big files from modern CMOS cameras, quickly using up all the allocated volatile memory and having to resort to swap files on the hard disk which impacts on other programs that also need hard drive access so that very often the whole pile of cards crashes down.

Ultimate software? not a chance.....:dark1:

 

 

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Thanks Steve & Paul, appreciate your replies.

Thanks Oddsocks, reading your reply it seems to echo what I am reading elsewhere and the attitude of trial before you buy and their lack of response put me off considerably.

Indeed Prism does look quite good (Thanks Steve) and I will most certainly have a look at that, but will delay downloading and commencing the trials until we at least get some resemblance of clear nights to test it upon, which was the concern with TheSky as they only offered a 14 day trial and I have only managed I think 3-4 clear nights since the beginning of the year. Trialling during the shorter nights is great in prep for the longer nights later in the year.

I'll post back when I have had a play.

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I'd be interested to see what you think of Prism..... I have looked at it a few times but for me the lack of people is a killer point. If it's that good why aren't there loads of people using it? I know that everything has to start somewhere, but it's been around for a while according to the info. 

I look forward to hearing about it :)

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When it comes to astro software I do often wonder why developers do not give you an actual timed trial. It is annoying that the 30 day trial you had for some software only gets tried a few times. I would love to see software that let you use if for say a 24 hours in total that can be used up over any time frame you like.

I am sure this would be a coding thing and maybe even not possible.

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1 hour ago, swag72 said:

I'd be interested to see what you think of Prism..... I have looked at it a few times but for me the lack of people is a killer point. If it's that good why aren't there loads of people using it? I know that everything has to start somewhere, but it's been around for a while according to the info. 

I look forward to hearing about it :)

Will do Sara, probably the reason people aren't using it as much is because of the price, which I don't have a problem with if it is good.

SGP is good, but it is temperamental, like if you try to cancel an autofocus, it doesn't like it and bombs out. The pop up tips can't be moved out of the way and prevent you clicking a command, but the dev team refuse to answer that problem despite a number of people reporting it. They have a very cavalier attitude as well and from their forum if they don't agree with something they ignore the problem.

Once we start getting some clear nights again, then will have a run with Prism and report back

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I used the Sky for many years for planning observing and for running my AWR fitted Intes Alter D6 mount. I haven't upgraded to Sky X as I think it is a lot of money and there are other more cost effective solutions. Also, there appears to be an issue currently in adding comet data, essentially Software Bisque don't support older versions. I still use it to plan, but am looking at an ASCOM/ACP solution for mount control.

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  • 3 months later...

I have used The Sky since version 4 and now have the X Pro version. It depends on what you want to do but without it I could not run my spectroscopy in th automated fashion I do. For example I run 3 cameras and need to plate solve small fields of view.

However, if you just want to do automated imaging there are cheaper or free alternatives.

Regards Andrew

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