ACP Horizon Editor - New Version Released (V1.15)

[Jörg Hanisch]

Hi all,

i am happy to announce my latest Version of
ACP Horizon Editor.

Because ACP changed the ActiveX- Interfaces in Version 6.0 the code has to be revised. I also revised the Helpfile.

ACP Horizon Editor is a 32-bit Application but should run also on a 64-bit System.

Actually it has been tested with Windows 7 64-bit and 32-bit
It also works on Machines with Win XP SP2 and Win XP SP3.

Looking at the support-notes from Microsoft, some ActiveX-Components are not shipped with their OS anymore so i provide the MSFLXGRD.OCX.

See the helpfile for information how to install a missing ActiveX-Component on your system.

To install just unzip the files into one folder and run the ACPHorizonEditor_V115.exe.

Last but not least a small hint: I added an option to make a donation, please make use of it

Use at your own risk and....have fun!

feedback is welcome..

Regards,

Jörg

[Andre Germain]

Fantastic tool, really like that the scope position is shown real time.

It also rescued my horizon file (which registered ACP installation seemed to have toasted) from The Sky back to ACP the easy way.

One big annoyance however is the *always on top* of all windows. This should be selectable. Despite my 30" screen with 2560x1600 rez, I had to keep moving the window to see others.

Cheers

[Stan Ralph]

Detecting cloud temperature is one of the best indicators of deteriorating conditions. To gain useful data, you need a thermopile, not an IR sensor. These devices are quite expensive and require considerable software expertise to interface. To design a reliable product requires about 1000 hours of software R&D and 300 hours of hardware design. By the time all the parts are identified and located, boards are manufactured, populated and assembled, it gets to be expensive.

Our product is at the lowest price that will work. It integrates well with ACP, ACP web and other software, but DIY is always alluring. It depends on what satisfies your interest in astronomy.

You can see our version at FosterSystems.com
Regards,

Stan Ralph

[Andre Germain]

Hello Stan,

I had indeed perused your site many times. For the moment I'm having fun with the Phidget, but an off the shelf unit is somewhere in my future. )

Cheers

[Bob Denny]

I heartily endorse Foster Systems' products. My big thing is happy customers who do astronomy not fiddle with things.

[Andre Germain]

Hello Jörg,

your horizon tool is fantastic, but it has one very troublesome feature; it's always on top of windows and thus always needs to be moved to work with other apps. Can this feature be switched off?

I already mentioned this, but another member accidentally replied on this thread about a completely unrelated topic.

Cheers

[Robert Brewington]

I used the editor to generate the ACP horizon editor, and I think it worked OK. However, when I generated the horizon for theSkyX, it is not in the correct format. I suspect it is in theSky6 format? It seems to be a binary file. TheySkyX uses a text file, similar to the text file produced by this editor (when saving to a text file, rather than theSkyX).

I was able to convert the text file format to theSkyX by hand, so everything is OK. However, that part should be addressed

[Jörg Hanisch]

Hello Robert,

I suspect it is in theSky6 format?
.....However, that part should be addressed

Yes, the Horizon Editor application gives/uses the "theSky 6" format.
I don't own and don't have access to TheSkyX so...if you could provide some information about the format TheSkyX uses (you said that you were able to convert it by hand) and are willing to test, i might be able to update and compile a new version of the HorizonEditor.

Regards,

Jörg

[Robert Brewington]

Ah - I assumed you had tested with SkyX since it was listed on the window.

The format for theSkyX is straightforward - it is a text file, similar to the text file you already produce.

- The first line I assume describes the Dec limits, with two values of 90.00 separated by a pipe "|". I haven't played with these values.

- second line is 360, indicating there will be 360 points following. I tried using 180 points (since your file is for every 2 degrees), but that didn't work. SkyX crashed when it tried to access that file.

- 360 points with the altitude at each point.

Note: the line endings are such that Notepad looks funny (lines are run together) but vi shows the lines correctly.

I have attached my copy of the file so you can see how many characters are in each field; I have not tested different sized fields.

Robert Brewington

[Jörg Hanisch]

Hi Robert,

Thank you for providing your horizon file. Indeed this looks A LOT easier that the format used by TheSky 6!

I tried using 180 points (since your file is for every 2 degrees), but that didn't work. SkyX crashed when it tried to access that file.

That would not work with TheSky 6 either . Even TheSky6 wants 360 Points, the HorizonEditor simply "doubles" the 2-Degree Values...

The first line I assume describes the Dec limits, with two values of 90.00 separated by a pipe "|". I haven't played with these values.

I think this is important! For TheSky 6, the first Line is used for a description.

Note: the line endings are such that Notepad looks funny (lines are run together) but vi shows the lines correctly.

Thanks for te information. Fiddling with the format of The Sky 6 i expected something funny. ...

I have attached my copy of the file so you can see how many characters are in each field; I have not tested different sized fields.

OK, so for the 360 data-points it looks like there are 10 characters each line, beginning with Space (chr(32)) and ending with a LF (chr(10)).

But the intersting thing would be to know what the first line is about.
Could you test and design a horizon in TheSkyX and send me the result?

Thanks in advance


Jörg