Hi Pat-

I too enjoy Guide quite a lot and since I don't do any imaging as of yet I
don't see the need to carry a laptop around with me and ruin my dark
adaptation- I don't exploit Guide as much as I should but I'm too cheap to
buy a laptop or The Sky anyway. But I've been tempted a couple of times to
try out the "MEC" feature of Guide with my Tangent-based digital setting
circles to see if the additional modeling improves my setup's pointing
precision. I know a couple of guys using T-point and another using a Gemini
setup on his Mountain Instruments GEM and they're pretty happy with the
gains vs. the hassles of further refining their alignments.

I don't know if your setup allows testing but I wonder if you've used Bill's
system as offered at http://www.projectpluto.com/scope.htm#MEC. I'm curious
but a bit too lazy to give it a try myself as I'd have to borrow a laptop or
drag a desktop system out to the yard.

Regards,
Bill Dean

----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick J. Madden" <RevPJMadden@...>
To: <guide-user@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 9:17 AM
Subject: Re: [guide-user] Guide 8 draws nigh


> I have Guide and TheSky (Software Bisque). I find that Guide handles the
> USNO database much more efficiently. I regularly display this data using
> Guide. With TheSky, it is another story altogether. When the option is
set
> to display USNO stars, it is like my computer is filled with molases.
> Therefore I regularly run TheSky with the USNO stars turned off. Also,
for
> finding asteroids, TheSky cannot compare with Guide.
>
> In my humble opinion, Guide is the far better stand-alone program.
However,
> I often use TheSky when doing CCD photography because of the neat
interface
> with CCDSoft. If I find an object with TheSky, then the CCDSoft image
will
> automatically be stamped with RA & DEC pulled from TheSky. Also there are
a
> couple of neat add-on's. TPoint improves pointing accuracy, and works
> seamlessly with TheSky, and there is a scripting program, Orchestrate,
that
> I am learning to use, and which can automate much CCD observing--I do
> primarily supernova search. So, while TheSky cannot hold a candle to
Guide
> in many respects, the other programs that work seamlessly with it make it
> attractive.
>
> I usually run both programs: using TheSky to point the telescope and
> acquire the image (via CCDSoft) and Guide to display USNO stars and
RealSky
> images to compare what I have just taken with past images of the same
> galaxy.
>
> Pat Madden
>
>
>
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