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Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all) Nop Vendor (iPushto) Reged: 02/12/06 Loc: Netherlands, Valkenburg Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad?       #5265840 - 06/11/12 08:08 AM Attachment (128 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I really miss a high contrast atlas for my iPhone and iPad. At the 18" scope, i'm using the excellent sky safari, but it lacks contrast and intuitive controls PDF readers don't support night vision modes and are very slow when loading large pdfs. So i decided to make one myself. It is based on the excellent Triatlas and used with permission. The app will be free of charge (maybe i'll make a pro version later with integrated memo recorder). Stars up to 12.6 and galaxies up to mag 15.7. The features in te upcoming release are: intuitive navigation (index-chart with all constellations zoom in to subcharts) excellent performance. atlas zoom, pinch, scroll, night vision flip chart mirror chart brightness control Future versions will have memorecorder (with GPS stamp) messier/ngc/ic search Note that it is an atlas: no planetarium features or searching (yet). But it will suit my needs. What do you think? Regards Norbert Edited by Nop (06/11/12 08:13 AM) Post Extras:       Nop Vendor (iPushto) Reged: 02/12/06 Loc: Netherlands, Valkenburg Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: Nop]       #5265847 - 06/11/12 08:16 AM Attachment (97 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Night vision preview Post Extras:       rmollise Postmaster Reged: 07/06/07 Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: Nop]       #5265848 - 06/11/12 08:17 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Sweet. I don't have much recourse to a static atlas these days...but when I do, this will be cool. Post Extras:       helpwanted Post Laureate Reged: 07/04/07 Loc: Phoenix, AZ Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: rmollise]       #5265902 - 06/11/12 08:58 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Back to Sky Safari for a moment. You said not enough contrast... Just turn off all the colors and go to night vision, the end result looks just like your second picture. What you are making in interesting, but I think if you play with more settings in SS, you can get to where you want. Post Extras:       psonice Pooh-Bah Reged: 07/24/09 Loc: Warrington, UK Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: helpwanted]       #5265919 - 06/11/12 09:11 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I bet this will be very useful to a lot of people (a simple planetarium is better for my needs - but then an atlas is pretty much useless when light pollution makes most of the stars invisible!) The night mode looks totally wrong though - you've got white on red, surely it should be red on black or black on red? A red background seems like a bad idea anyway. Are you just putting a transparent red UIView on top of it? It would be better to change the drawing itself if you are. Post Extras:       Nop Vendor (iPushto) Reged: 02/12/06 Loc: Netherlands, Valkenburg Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: psonice]       #5265935 - 06/11/12 09:20 AM Attachment (53 downloads) Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Tanks for your responses. @helpwanted. I didn't try that! Thanks for the hint I have to play around with night vision. I have a combination of uiview and a pixelmap which inverts (difference) the colors. The combination comes close to good night vision, but i'll have to figure it out. Post Extras:       psonice Pooh-Bah Reged: 07/24/09 Loc: Warrington, UK Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: Nop]       #5265961 - 06/11/12 09:38 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: I have to play around with night vision. I have a combination of uiview and a pixelmap which inverts (difference) the colors. The combination comes close to good night vision, but i'll have to figure it out. You mean you're using a LUT to get colour values? If so I've found the best way to handle it is to convert to greyscale first, then simply zero the green/blue values. This gives you red on black if the chart is white on black, and you don't have to worry about losing e.g. blue or green text (they turn black if you're just using red values). You can invert the resulting values, but this is best if it's optional I think unless your charts are black on white. As a rule you want nothing but red (pink = red + white, and white is bad!), so green/blue values should always be zeroed, and you want the minimum light possible so the goal is red text / stars on a black background. It can help if you can also dim the red (just multiply the red value by e.g. 0.5 for half brightness), although it's somewhat limited as you can't control the backlight. All of this would be much easier (and actually 'free' when it comes to performance) if apple would just let us modify the colour/gamma LUTs on the GPU Post Extras:       marques member Reged: 03/03/08 Loc: Valencia, Spain Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: psonice]       #5274018 - 06/16/12 07:06 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I think it´s a great idea! Above all, the possibility to record observations, looks interesting. Right now, you have to carry paper and pencil, no matter how "technological" your deployment may be. It´s ok, but paper is problematic sometimes, due to dew and wind. What about and object´s index? J. Torres has one in plain text that I transformed into excel, if you need it, PM me. And last question. Had you used the A, B or C charts? It could be nice to have the three of them. IMHO, A set is perfect for the finder and for quick searchs of not too difficult objects. Post Extras:       vkhastro1 sage Reged: 08/21/05 Loc: Ontario, Canada Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: marques]       #5276704 - 06/18/12 08:38 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Definitely a need for your advanced star atlas. I'd would use it, if available. Go for it!! Post Extras:       bicparker Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/07/05 Loc: Plano, TX Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: vkhastro1]       #5277046 - 06/18/12 12:30 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   This is really not a new idea as there already is a star atlas iOS app that is chart based - Star Charts by Wil Tirion. It does not go as deep as your proposed program (stars to mag 6), but uses an existing set of charts (which I happen to own and bought in Australia) that he made a few years ago. It is not a bad application, really, but very simple in its design. Post Extras:       Ain Soph Aur sage Reged: 08/11/11 Loc: Tennessee Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: bicparker]       #5278637 - 06/19/12 11:16 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I am looking forward to this app! While I am a dedicated SkySafari Pro user, I can see where an excellent star atlas would be a much value. Post Extras:       Astraforce Paul Carpal Tunnel Reged: 04/05/05 Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: Ain Soph Aur]       #5280979 - 06/20/12 04:28 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   The app looks good and the features sound intriguing! Definitely let us know when it's available on iTunes; along with others, I would certainly download it. Post Extras:       rmollise Postmaster Reged: 07/06/07 Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: bicparker]       #5281114 - 06/20/12 05:56 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: This is really not a new idea as there already is a star atlas iOS app that is chart based - Star Charts by Wil Tirion. It does not go as deep as your proposed program (stars to mag 6), but uses an existing set of charts Tri Atlas, which he is using does exist. Post Extras:       bicparker Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/07/05 Loc: Plano, TX Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: rmollise]       #5281420 - 06/20/12 10:01 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Quote: This is really not a new idea as there already is a star atlas iOS app that is chart based - Star Charts by Wil Tirion. It does not go as deep as your proposed program (stars to mag 6), but uses an existing set of charts Tri Atlas, which he is using does exist. Tri Atlas isn't an iOS app, though, is it (it isn't listed in the App Store)? Star Charts by Wil Tirion is. That was the only thing I was saying. Tri Atlas is basically a collection of atlas PDF files that aren't (yet) integrated into an app on the App Store. Star Charts by Wil Tirion has some basic search (star and constellation) and a few other features. It appears to have some of the same issues as are being discussed here regarding its red "night" mode. It uses the Star Charts loose page printed atlas that Tirion published in Australia in 2005 along with Astrovisuals. Astrovisuals released it as an iPad/iPhone app last September. Again, this isn't as deep as the Tri Atlas group of maps, but it is an app and isn't a bad small atlas app for quick references. Post Extras:       rmollise Postmaster Reged: 07/06/07 Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: bicparker]       #5281882 - 06/21/12 08:02 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Quote: Tri Atlas isn't an iOS app, though, is it (it isn't listed in the App Store)? Star Charts by Wil Tirion is. The Tirion app is based on a set of charts. His proposed atlas is based on a set of charts. And the app can't exist before it is finished. Post Extras:       bicparker Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/07/05 Loc: Plano, TX Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: rmollise]       #5281897 - 06/21/12 08:19 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   And Rod, that was my point originally... that there is already an app using charts. nothing more.. I guess I'm missing your point.. which is????? Post Extras:       Nop Vendor (iPushto) Reged: 02/12/06 Loc: Netherlands, Valkenburg Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: bicparker]       #5288181 - 06/25/12 10:38 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Yes, its based on charts, it is essentially comparable to star charts (Will Tirion), but my app will have more than 250 charts, fully dimmable and a bigger feature set targeted for the observer (like built in memo recorder with GPS timestamp). I am even thinking about an integrated sketch pad! ( If you have an iPad or iPhone and want to beta test: send me a mail to info@ddq.nl ) Post Extras:       bicparker Carpal Tunnel Reged: 02/07/05 Loc: Plano, TX Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: Nop]       #5288368 - 06/25/12 12:17 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Norbert, I look forward to your application. It will definitely be deeper than Wil's. I was particularly interested in his because it used those same charts I purchased in Australia several years ago. The charts are A4 sized and useful for quick views. After using Wil's app a bit, I have found that an object index is the thing I probably miss the most. I am also curious... have you considered putting in any chart annotation features? I look at my and others' paper charts and they have collected tons of pencil notes over the years that I find myself relying upon for observing. Good luck with it! Post Extras:       Nop Vendor (iPushto) Reged: 02/12/06 Loc: Netherlands, Valkenburg Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: bicparker]       #5326537 - 07/20/12 09:23 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Here's a sneak preview. About 40% of the maps are in. A lot of work in spare time. But it has to be complete on my next observing trip in August. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60W8txq0sU8&feature=player_embedded Post Extras:       AndreaF member Reged: 04/09/09 Loc: Italy - Venice Re: Interested in an advanced star atlas/iPhone/iPad? [Re: Nop]       #5326622 - 07/20/12 10:26 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   very good! could you add a button to draw a circle in the middle of the window to simulate the eyepiece view? it could be a great help with starhopping Post Extras:       Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | (show all)

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