Stargazing apps

[Gfamily]

On 19/04/2021 at 15:55, Gfamily said:

Thanks for the heads-up - prompted me to check prices on Google Play for the Android versions

£8.49 (From £12.99) for Plus 

£23.49 (From £34.49) for Pro

Currently £5.99 for Plus and £19.49 for Pro 

[Starslayer]

I read all this and see people 'bigging up' sky safari but hey -   

 

[Stu]

30 minutes ago, Starslayer said:

I read all this and see people 'bigging up' sky safari but hey -   

 

I never use any astronomy apps in that way (pointing them at the sky and expecting to be told what’s there) so it’s simply not an issue. I don’t apologise for ‘bigging up’ SkySafari, it’s an excellent app and drives a lot of my pleasure in astronomy, along with this forum.

[Deadlake]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

I never use any astronomy apps in that way (pointing them at the sky and expecting to be told what’s there) so it’s simply not an issue. I don’t apologise for ‘bigging up’ SkySafari, it’s an excellent app and drives a lot of my pleasure in astronomy, along with this forum.

Indeed so many stars which one am I looking at. However for planning, and then getting the mount to slewing through a list of double doubles or seeing what’s up tonight amazing.

I’ve been using an unreleased version of Luminosity which has better rendering then sky safari, unfortunately no way to share viewing lists like the Pensack 500. However can drive a starbook mount.

[Pixies]

5 hours ago, Stu said:

I never use any astronomy apps in that way (pointing them at the sky and expecting to be told what’s there) so it’s simply not an issue. I don’t apologise for ‘bigging up’ SkySafari, it’s an excellent app and drives a lot of my pleasure in astronomy, along with this forum.

Agree. That 'feature' of astronomy apps is OK for those beginning and learning the constellations, and I have those gyroscopic functions turned off. For me the strength of SkySafari (as well as some others) is it's use as a tool for managing observing lists, finding targets with an accurate FOV display, and recording observations. 

I'll recommend it as an good app since it is the one I've found most useful. I tried a few and it is the best for the way I observe now. I'd admit that I have probably adjusted the way I work at the scope around the app, which means other apps would probably seem harder to use, but I'd like to think that if I found a better one that I would sing its praises too.

I use Stellarium on the laptop.

 

[Stu]

2 hours ago, Deadlake said:

However can drive a starbook mount.

I managed to get SkySafari working with a Starbook on a Sphinx mount.  I can’t recall exactly how, but it involved a wireless router of some sort, quite cheap and if I can manage it, anyone can!

Choice of app is often just down to personal preference on interface. Personally I love SkySafari and it has the most extensive databases as far as I’m aware, plus it just ‘works’ for me. Others prefer Luminosity or Stellarium, perfectly valid choices.

[Stu]

2 hours ago, Deadlake said:

a list of double doubles

Isn’t that quite a short list? 😉

[Kimboman]

 Nice topic  I also use Sky Safari and Pocket Universe various star atlases and my trusty Planispheres I love my vintage Philips one

[Deadlake]

8 hours ago, Stu said:

Isn’t that quite a short list? 😉

Your quite right, there are so many observation list already available, even the sharpless catalog. And you can share lists as well. Great feature.

[AstroNebulee]

9 hours ago, Pixies said:

Agree. That 'feature' of astronomy apps is OK for those beginning and learning the constellations, and I have those gyroscopic functions turned off. For me the strength of SkySafari (as well as some others) is it's use as a tool for managing observing lists, finding targets with an accurate FOV display, and recording observations

I see sky safari 6 on offer at the moment 50 % off, I'm wondering whether to pull the trigger as I generally use stellarium 

[Stu]

3 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

I see sky safari 6 on offer at the moment 50 % off, I'm wondering whether to pull the trigger as I generally use stellarium 

Do it, you won’t regret it 👍

[callisto]

3 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

I see sky safari 6 on offer at the moment 50 % off, I'm wondering whether to pull the trigger as I generally use stellarium 

Do you have a link for that offer?

[callisto]

It's ok, I found it

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, callisto said:

It's ok, I found it

Sorry about that, am at the pub, 1st pint in a pub since Xmas 

[Stu1smartcookie]

25 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Sorry about that, am at the pub, 1st pint in a pub since Xmas 

Did the postman bring that ? If he did , then he’s a good chap .. and I will certainly use the Royal Mail again ! Lol 😂 

[AstroNebulee]

6 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Did the postman bring that ? If he did , then he’s a good chap .. and I will certainly use the Royal Mail again ! Lol 😂 

No not royal mail but a very lovely bar person, maybe royal mail could take a few pointers though 😉

[Soligor Rob]

Glad I found this thread, I have been using Sky Map which a bit limiting to say the least, thanks to you guys I have now downloaded Sky Safari Plus, plenty there to keep me occupied.

[AstroNebulee]

I've just bought the sky safari 6 Pro app for £19 got to get used to it now ftom using stellarium on my phone, but looking good so far 👍

[callisto]

2 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Sorry about that, am at the pub, 1st pint in a pub since Xmas

That's fine.....Enjoy 👍 (Had my first in my local Monday)

[SpaceWatcher]

As an alternative I’ve been using Starmap2 since it came out. Good app and telescope control

[Stu]

1 hour ago, AstroNebulee said:

I've just bought the sky safari 6 Pro app for £19 got to get used to it now ftom using stellarium on my phone, but looking good so far 👍

Nice one. Well worth finding out all the features as I has a lot of functionality. Tapping top left and top right opens so shortcut menus.

In the observing section you can setup your equipment, and choose field of view circles to display. You can also generate observing lists in that menu.

That’s just a taster for you. 👍👍

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Did the postman bring that ? If he did , then he’s a good chap .. and I will certainly use the Royal Mail again ! Lol 😂 

Not quite postal delivery, but during the pandemic, Texas legalized alcohol to-go to help keep restaurants afloat.  It did so well, that emergency order was turned into a law by our state legislature.  Have y'all got something similar?

Edited May 22, 2021 by Louis D

[callisto]

21 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Not quite postal delivery, but during the pandemic, Texas legalized alcohol to-go to help keep restaurants afloat.  It did so well, that emergency order was turned into a law by our state legislature.  Have y'all got something similar?

Yeah, there's quite a few where I live (North East England) but they charge twice the price even on the cheap drinks 🤨

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Nice one. Well worth finding out all the features as I has a lot of functionality. Tapping top left and top right opens so shortcut menus.

In the observing section you can setup your equipment, and choose field of view circles to display. You can also generate observing lists in that menu.

That’s just a taster for you. 👍👍

Thank you, I've had a brief look at it and can see I can control my mount and scope, will look into it more but looks a good buy at £19, not sure I'd pay £40 though. Thank you for the info 👍

[Gfamily]

19 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Thank you, I've had a brief look at it and can see I can control my mount and scope, will look into it more but looks a good buy at £19, not sure I'd pay £40 though. Thank you for the info 👍

I've just bought the Plus version for £5.99 - the advantage of Sky Safari Plus over Stellarium Plus is that the former allows you to adjust and align/sync on your GOTO targets, so you can compensate for any inaccuracies in the GOTO.

The only issue I had was in setting the IP address and Port No needed to link to the AZ GTi (127.0.0.1 and 11882 worked for me)