Hi folks,

NEXSTAR SUPPORT (I HOPE):

I've had troubles getting data on the communication protocol for the
NexStar. However, James Ellis just e-mailed me a scanned version of the
manual page on this subject, and I've added it to the program.

If you download the current software from the site, you'll see that
the "Scope Control" dialog has a new "NexStar" radio button. In theory,
if you select that button and the COM (serial) port corresponding to your
NexStar scope, you can then use the 'slew Guide' and 'slew Scope' buttons
in the Scope Pad, just as you can with an LX200 or Ultima 2000 scope.

I use phrases such as "I hope" and "in theory" largely because of Chris
Marriott's comments about this scope, to wit: it doesn't behave exactly
the way it ought to. As soon as I get some feedback as to whether this
works, I'll announce it on the site (along with one or two other small
items, such as the custom guider chip, that I neglected to mention
previously.)

NEW QUASARS:

There is yet another version (the ninth) of the Veron-Cetty/Veron
quasar catalog. Details and the .TDF file needed to display it are at

http://www.projectpluto.com/extras.htm#Quasar_update

-- Bill