README.TXT for "EYEPIECE" Version 2.03, by Waldee-Wood Astronomical Software Copyright (c) 1997-2007, Stephen R. Waldee - All Rights Reserved. Dated 05/10/08 º º º WELCOME TO Waldee-Wood EYEPIECE Version 2.03 For DOS! º º The Very Last Upgrade of the Telescope, Eyepiece, and Filter º º Parameter Program For Amateur Astronomers - 1997/2007 Edition º º * * * * º º º Please Read the Helpful 'PROGRAM MANUAL' for EYEPIECE 2 from the Main Help Screen And Other Help Files For Assistance In Operations Now, the program is freeware, distributed as one large zip file. See our website for complete installation instructions at this URL: CONTENTS: 1. INTRODUCTION & Overview 2. Computer System Requirements: Drives, Memory, Video. 3. Listing of Program Files and What They Are For. 4. Installation: Automatic, or Manual Installation. 5. New Features in this Edition. 6. Memory Limitations and Errors; Solving DOUBLE STAR Memory Problems; Best Performance from Windows(tm) operation. 7. Internet Website and Email addresses 8. Addendum: Latest Information - and limits of calculations for apparent field 1. INTRODUCTION EYEPIECE 2.0 is the last edition of a series of software programs for amateur telescope users and astronomers that date back to their inception in 1990, when the authors Stephen Waldee and Ron Wood began assembling the requirements for an automatic calculator of the visual operating parameters of a telescope. 1) For testing predictions of performances with various eyepieces and nebular filters; 2) For preparation of actual viewing of hundreds of selected multiple stars and deep-sky objects, with predictions of how they will look in YOUR scope, and helpful color and monochrome pictures of many objects; 3) For learning or perfecting the techniques of astronomical observing; 4) And for deriving basic prime-focus astrophotography exposure times for sky objects in the program's extensive data lists. Edition 2.0 you are about to install includes mouse-support in most functions to make the program easier to navigate. Please consult the on-line HELP system in the software for answers to any operating questions you may have. This "artificially-intelligent" software program will help guide you through each function by means of its interface and extensive error-correction algorithms. Here is further information and documentation for the program EYEPIECE that supplements the extensive program manual and help files. This article also includes a list of the complete program files contained in EYEPIECE, as well as suggestions for advanced users, assistance with a few known problems in Windows(tm), and the latest information about this version and its memory requirements. We hope that we have erred on the side of providing TOO MUCH information rather than not enough! 2. COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS "Eyepiece" 2.0 will run on a large variety of IBM(tm)-compatible computer systems. (a) DOS Version 3.3 or later. 3.3 is the earliest edition of DOS that will read the 1.44 mB installation disks. However, DOS 3.1 will operate the program once is it decompressed onto a hard drive. In a pinch, DOS 2.0 will even run it on a 20 mB or smaller hard drive, but we don't guarantee flawless file-access with this early version of DOS, which does not reliably support certain file path functions used in EYEPIECE. (b) Windows(tm). The program has been tested with all versions of Windows, up to XP Home and Pro (the author uses it 99% of the time on those operating systems.) But the last compiled version was developed and tested with DOS 6.22. Under Windows, most of the functions work correctly, but a few are unsatisfactory or somewhat unreliable depending on the system, discussed below. (b) A hard drive with a capacity of at least 4.6 mB for the complete program, or about 2 mB for the "light" installation. (c) 286 CPU or later. The program WILL run on a lowly 8088 or 8086, but the calculation time will be somewhat slow, and graphics will be loaded and displayed at an incredibly tedious pace. The program checks the CPU type in use, and makes some modifications to a few of the really intensive number-crunching processes to simplify them for operation below a 286. A 386, 486, or above will be great! (d) Math coprocessor. If you don't have one, the program will emulate one for some of the rather complicated floating-point (decimal number) calculations. (e) EMS Memory. When used on a DOS machine, the program will attempt to load its overlay into expanded memory, if it is present and configured with a memory manager. With some amount of upper memory above 640k, you may be able to get improved speed of screen displays, messages, and certain calculations. The program uses less than 200k of EMS memory. Without EMS memory, the program may occasionally make extra hard-drive reads for the overlay file, which will result in slightly slower performance. (f) Load DOS into High Memory. If you are using a version of DOS (such as 5.0 or later) that will load COMMAND.COM into High Memory (above 640k), we recommend that you use this feature, which requires loading HIMEM.SYS in the config.sys file, followed by the DOS=HIGH command. Check your DOS manual or on-line documentation for the exact syntax for your version of DOS. If DOS is not loaded high, it is possible that you may not be able to run the memory-hog "DOUBLE STAR" program in EYEPIECE 2.0. (This information of course is irrelevant for users of the program on a version of Windows 95 and later.) (g) VGA (or above) Video Display. The program uses the native 320x200 pixel/256 color, and 640x480 pixel/16-color video modes of a VGA display, plus the text mode. This will work fine on VGA or Super-VGA, but will probably not work on EGA or below; in fact, our graphics driver program will usually inhibit displays on a non-VGA-compatible system. The program WILL, however, run in TEXT mode on virtually ANY display: start the program by adding the 'T' parameter: type eyepiece t and press . This will eliminate the opening and closing graphic files. If you have a color monitor, you may run the program in either DAY or NIGHT (red color) modes by adding a d or an n as follows: eyepiece n [starts in red color NIGHT mode] eyepiece or eyepiece d [starts in multi-color DAY mode]. Further information about color and graphics modes will be found in the program manual and elsewhere in the program documentation files. When used in later versions of Windows on PCs made recently, the graphics may seem poor, compared to modern video standards. This is because the graphics mode for text and pictures was developed when very rudimentary color systems existed: sorry. 3. PROGRAM FILES "Eyepiece" 2.0 was originally distributed on 3 diskettes (1.44 mB, High Density) that contain some non-compressed text files, an executable installation program (EYESETUP.EXE), and three large compressed files that contain (1) the main program files for a basic installation; and (2) two disks of graphics files & description text files for sky objects and telescope equipment. Now, after 2005, the program is distributed via our website on one large zip file, containing all contents except the installation file, which is no longer needed. This zipped file expands the files in the list below onto the user's hard drive. The exact dates and size of the files may vary slightly from the list below. 1DEF.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 29,511 1MESSIER.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 34,735 2MESSIER.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 31,545 3MESSIER.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 22,042 AUTHORS.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 133,146 B33.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,168 B33_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 146,553 B33_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 109,045 B33_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 22,660 BANNER.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 38,389 CLUSTER.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 33,825 COMET.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,301 COMET_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 99,077 COMET_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 63,288 DARKADAP.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 20,360 DATA.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 39,365 DCALC.EXE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 155,315 DEEPSKY.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 26,387 DEF.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 43,012 DOUBLES.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 34,019 E1DOUBLE.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 9,199 E2DOUBLE.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 9,216 E3DOUBLE.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 9,193 E4DOUBLE.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 9,176 E5DOUBLE.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 9,206 E6DOUBLE.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 6,873 ECLUSTER.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 8,764 EGALAXY.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 7,715 EGLOBULA.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 5,677 EMESSIER.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 8,088 ENEBULA.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 6,401 EPLANETR.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 6,317 EYE1.BAK 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 536 EYE1.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 536 EYEDB.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 11,262 EYEGRAF.EXE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 24,349 EYEPIECE.DOC 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 34,101 EYEPIECE.EXE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 431,453 EYEPIECE.ICO 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 766 FERGUSON.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 24,626 FILTER.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 15,397 FINDERS.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 12,561 FRATIO.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 37,991 GALAXY.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 34,404 GLOBULAR.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 31,045 HELIX.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,262 HELIX_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 63,760 HELIX_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 74,284 HELIX_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 111,684 M1.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,037 M1_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 11,873 M1_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 14,694 M1_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 19,562 M17.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,117 M17_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 37,941 M17_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 84,459 M17_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 45,900 M20.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,092 M20_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 38,969 M20_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 31,144 M20_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 50,354 M22.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 3,342 M22_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 79,104 M22_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 29,821 M27.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,185 M27_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 29,876 M27_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 29,754 M27_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 49,180 M31.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,017 M31_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 103,517 M31_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 106,339 M31_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 40,447 M42.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,102 M42_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 34,102 M42_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 53,396 M42_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 40,917 M45.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,259 M45_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 49,343 M45_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 50,117 M45_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 38,691 M57.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,100 M57_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 15,737 M57_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 30,291 M57_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 52,806 M8.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,019 M8_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 48,456 M8_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 68,244 M8_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 28,766 M97.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,119 M97_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 16,884 M97_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 16,681 M97_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 5,691 MARS.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,127 MARS_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 9,872 MARS_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 11,444 NAM.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,129 NAM_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 44,287 NAM_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 82,847 NAM_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 34,088 NEBULA.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 40,782 OBJECT.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 36,711 OBSERV.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 41,909 OCULARS.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 32,008 PHOTO.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 38,758 PLANETRY.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 19,793 PLNBDRAW.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 50,172 README.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 34,077 NAM.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,155 ROS_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 21,943 ROS_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 41,748 ROS_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 127,252 SATURN.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,117 SATURN_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 8,051 SATURN_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 10,265 SCOPE.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 1,208 SCOPEDB.DAT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 7,552 SCOPES.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 47,991 SOL.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,191 SOL_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 24,940 SOL_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 23,001 SOL_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 29,670 SOLAR.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 104,542 SPECTRUM.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 16,908 TEMP.INI 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 539 TOPIC.EYE 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 35,841 VEIL.TXT 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 4,179 VEIL_1.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 53,979 VEIL_2.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 60,058 VEIL_3.BMG 12/31/2005 04:08 PM 117,073 The File Extensions are: .EXE - executable file. EYEPIECE.EXE is executed by the user when EYEPIECE Version 2.0 is started. That program, in turn, activates EYEGRAF.EXE for displaying grafics, or DCALC.EXE for running the double star program. EYEGRAF may not be run directly by the user, but DCALC may be used: see below in the ERROR section. .INI - INI files for setting up configuration of the program. The EYEx.INI files (from EYE1.INI up to a maximum of EYE10.INI) contain user-saved telescope & eyepiece system parameters. TEMP.INI is used to convey data to the double star program DCALC.EXE. .TXT - Ascii-text files of information. SCOPE.TXT is the exported file of telescope system data, which may be created by using the option " File" from the PRINT menu, for exporting the data of the SYSTEM SCREEN for use in other programs, if desired. README.TXT is this current file; all other TXT files contain information about sky objects, displayed with the pictures of objects. .DOC - Ascii-text files of information used in the Program Manual, EYEPIECE.DOC. A copy of this (uncompressed and readable) is on the installation disk No. 1; it is also copied to the hard drive during the installation procedure. .EYE - Ascii-text files of information used in the HELP files. .DAT - Ascii-text files of database information: the telescope database SCOPE.DAT; the eyepiece database EYDB.DAT, and various other listings of double star and sky object data. These files may appear readable in an editor but contain "hidden" values not shown onscreen in the Eyepiece program, which are used for some calculations. .BMG - Bit-mapped graphics files that contain pictures, used in the open & close of the program, the Help menu, and in the display of sky objects. These pictures may sometimes be readable by various "paint" programs, if you wish to print them or view them outside EYEPIECE. See the Program Manual (EYEPIECE. DOC) for further information. Several of the text files describing objects have been improved, with recent additions and corrections, in 2005 and 2007. In addition, the executable files were patched to correct an inherent speed limitation that kept them from working on fast computers. So the 2005 to 2007 versions of this program will run on any current system; older versions will not start properly on PCs with clock speeds much faster than 300 to 400 MHz. Use the new one instead! 4. INSTALLATION Zipped File Version: Place the zipped file you have downloaded from our website into a folder (directory) on your hard drive that you have named EYEPIECE. Use your unzip utility to expand the contents of this file; that's all there is to it! Uninstalling the program requires only erasing the files in that folder. Files are NOT created anywhere else. If you have created Windows shortcuts, then you must delete them manually. 5. FEATURES IN THIS EDITION The older Waldee-Wood Telescope Parameter Programs offered a variety of the features found in EYEPIECE 2.0, but we have added the most-requested suggestions of our users to enhance the value of this software: (a) MICROSOFT(tm)-MOUSE Compatibility: We have added mouse functions to the program in MOST of the functions. The major exception is the DOUBLE STAR program, activated by EYEPIECE, that is a re-compilation of part of our older REDSCOPE 4.0 program that did not use a mouse. We have found that not all of our users are "double-star mavens". Since it took us more than a year to add the mouse functions to the main program, by the time we stopped developing EYEPIECE we had not been motivated to add mouse functions to the DOUBLE STAR applet: sorry. (b) Enhanced graphics functions: we have added some pictures of telescope designs, standard eyepiece design styles, using a hydrogen-alpha solar prominence filter, the visible light spectrum processed by nebular filters, and Comet Hyakutake, to name just a few. (c) At the special request of a distinguished reviewer, we added a "go back" function during the display of sky object pictures. Read about it in the Help screen that comes up the first time you activate the VIEW menu from the main SYSTEM SCREEN. (d) Tighter code: the graphics functions should be a bit more reliable, and many of the program variables have been re-defined for quicker calculations. (e) File Export Capability: you may now export a text file of the SYSTEM SCREEN parameters. The function is contained in the PRINT Menu, [ File ] and will write a file called SCOPE.TXT in the subdirectory containing the EYEPIECE program. You may import this ascii-text file into a standard word processor program for re-formatting or compiling into another document. (f) DOS Shell, available from the CONFIGURATION Menu, obtained by selecting option from the main menu of the SYSTEM SCREEN. You will exit temporarily to the DOS command line for doing various little tasks that you may occasionally find necessary: checking your SCOPE.TXT file or printing it out; checking directory contents, etc. There will not be full system conventional memory available, but there should be enough to run some programs that are not memory-intensive. And, on some Windows systems, the DOS Shell does not work correctly. It is NOT needed when you are running Windows, which is a multi-tasking operating system. If you are indeed running EYEPIECE in Windows, you need only use the task switcher (see your OS instructions for your particular version for the key stroke required) and you can do other things while EYEPIECE is open. 6. MEMORY LIMITATIONS AND WINDOWS(tm) SUGGESTIONS It takes a little under 500k FREE conventional memory to load and operate EYEPIECE 2.0. A DOS system with 640k RAM on board should be able to start up the program and run it without difficulty. If any extended/expanded memory is located and is found to be configured and usable, EYEPIECE will try to load its overlay file into that memory, speeding up certain functions such as screen-writes. Windows will automatically adjust the memory requirements and usually will allow all the functions to have enough memory to work correctly; more on this below. (a) SAVING MEMORY BY OPENING WITHOUT GRAPHIC DISPLAY: If users of old systems (286 or earlier) without extended or expanded memory find that the program operates somewhat erratically or does not load up, use the "text" command-line parameter to open the program without the graphic picture: i. e. type eyepiece t and press from the DOS command line. This will avoid the opening graphic banner picture, which uses much more memory than if the program is opened without the picture. This feature also permits opening the program much quicker on slow systems. (b) DOUBLE STARS MEMORY LIMITATIONS The program DOUBLE STARS 2.0 that is included with EYEPIECE is actually a full, executable DOS program that is a recompilation of a section of our older REDSCOPE 4.0 program, including all the functions for displaying information about double/multiple stars from the object databases, and for calculating the proper magnification and eyepiece for a given double star separation. When DOUBLE STARS 2.0 is invoked from the EYEPIECE "System Screen" main menu (option ' Stars'), EYEPIECE actually exits momentarily to DOS to load DCALC.EXE, using a temporary data file that contains the information about the current telescope system in use. If there is sufficient conventional memory available (something around 600k free RAM, depending on the version of DOS used, any TSRs previously loaded, and how much extended memory has been used by the EYEPIECE overlay), then DOUBLE STARS 2.0 will operate correctly. If there is insufficient memory, DCALC.EXE cannot run, and the program automatically switches back to EYEPIECE, after displaying a memory-error message. We found that at least Windows 98 and Windows ME, as well as Win XP (below service pack 2) would open the Double Star program with no difficulty. But Win XP systems with SP 2 and later updates sometimes did not allow enough memory to DOS applications to allow the double star application to run. If this happens to you, there IS a way you can run DOUBLE STARS 2.0 directly from the DOS command line: it is a bit cumbersome, but it will work. (1) We presume that you have already tried ' Stars' from the main menu, and that the TEMP.INI file has been created to convey the information from your telescope system. (2) Exit from EYEPIECE back to the DOS prompt (NOT from the program's DOS Shell function...QUIT Eyepiece altogether. (3) At the DOS prompt in the subdirectory containing EYEPIECE, type the following command: dcalc d 10 and press the key. DOUBLE STARS 2.0 will load the TEMP.INI file of telescope values and start in the 'daytime' color mode. If you want to run it in the 'night-time' RED/BLACK mode, then type dcalc n 10 and press . DOUBLE STARS 2.0 will use the values of telescope that were chosen when the TEMP.INI file was written by EYEPIECE when you attempted to run the double-star program by invoking the ' Stars' option from the main menu. If you need to do this in Windows XP, here is the process: (1) Create a desktop shortcut for dcalc.exe. (2) In Properties (right click the shortcut), select PROGRAM and then in the Program Cmd line box, which shows the command for starting it, change whatever you see after dcalc.exe the following: dcalc.exe d 10 for day mode, or dcalc.exe n 10 for night (red color) mode. (3) Run EYEPIECE and select Stars from the main menu. The program will TRY to start Double Stars but all it will do is to create the required temp file. Close Eyepiece, if you like. (4) Click on the shortcut for dcalc.exe. The Double Star program will now open and run, with the last telescope definition you used in Eyepiece. (Remember, though: the Double Star program does not have support for the mouse; sorry.) Close the Double Star program. If you wish to evaluate the magnifications required for a different telescope system, define it in Eyepiece, and then repeat the process of selecting Stars from the main menu, to create the required temp file with the new telescope parameters. Then, when you click on the shortcut for the Double Star program it will use those new values. (c) MICROSOFT(r) WINDOWS(tm) SUGGESTIONS We have tested EYEPIECE 2.0 in all versions of Windows (3.1, 3.11, 95 to XP) and have found it to work on every system we have tried. We installed EYEPIECE as a DOS application, using the default values that Windows assigned it. On 486 or better systems, the performance of EYEPIECE was as good as obtained from a 'raw-DOS' installation. NOTE: For up-to-date suggestions about Windows settings, see our current EYEPIECE webpage: http://home.earthlink.net/~steve_waldee/index.html There were certain problems on some under-powered elderly 386 systems running Windows 3.1, but of course few people will be doing that these days! (1) Sometimes EYEPIECE would not always close properly and restore the system to Windows. This usually occurred on systems with only 4 mB of extended memory: in other words, on systems which ran out of 'environment space' and could not reload all of the Windows graphical functions. In fact, this problem also occurs using a large number of memory-intensive graphical DOS programs in addition to EYEPIECE. The solution: get more memory; use a 'ram-enhancer' program that assists Windows in allocating graphical resources; or run EYEPIECE outside of Windows after FULLY CLOSING Windows and returning to the DOS prompt. (2) On a 386 system that had been set up to run Windows with 256-color video mode, it was noted that whenever EYEPIECE switched from text mode to graphical video mode to display a picture, the computer video display momentarily lost sync and the screen flashed for a fraction of a second. The solution: run Windows in standard 16-color VGA mode; use a faster system with a 486 or better CPU and a fast video card with at least 1 mB of video memory; or operate EYEPIECE from a 'raw-DOS' prompt after closing Windows. There is one requirement that is essential to operate EYEPIECE correctly on Windows 3.1 installations: run EYEPIECE only in FULL-SCREEN MODE (not in a 'window') to avoid locking up the system. Windows 3.1 did not seem to like to try to start an EYEPIECE graphic or the opening banner picture when in a 'windowed' mode. It WAS possible in Win 3.1 to put the text-display screens of EYEPIECE into a DOS window or to copy them to the Windows clipboard using the PRINT SCREEN key with no problems, however. According to Windows 95 users, however, EYEPIECE may indeed be run in a 'window' in Win95 without problems. With Windows XP (Service Pack Two) there might not be quite as much memory available in the virtual DOS box as before; thus some systems might not run the Double Star applet. Refer to our website for the latest suggestions -- -- or double check the instructions given above in Section 6 (b). Furthermore, on occasion an XP system will not "like" the "DOS Shell" function, and may crash. It is not needed when EYEPIECE is used from a Windows environment; you may employ the Task Switcher to run other applications when EYEPIECE is open. In pure DOS use, however, the "DOS Shell" might be valuable if you want to move or copy files created by the program. 7. INTERNET & EMAIL CONTACTS: Sorry; we no longer provide email support for EYEPIECE, as it is now freeware. Please consult all the program documentation if you have difficulties. Our current EYEPIECE website address is: http://home.earthlink.net/~steve_waldee/index.html 8. ADDENDA: Here is the latest information we have published on our webpage about bugs or requirements for using the program in Windows operating systems: Feb. 2007 -- 1. On modern faster machines, there are a few functional anomalies: • The mouse cursor may not be solid but transparent or "shimmery", since the program was developed in the days of slow video cards with 1M or less memory. Modern fast video cards may not render the hardware video calls flawlessly; ironically, in that regard, Eyepiece© may look better under Windows than DOS! • With Win 95+, sometimes when Eyepiece© switches back to text mode, after showing a graphic, the program may jump from full screen 25-line display mode to 50-line mode on an SVGA monitor. The solution is to run the program under Windows in "full screen mode" or to boot and run it in "raw DOS" instead. • Windows users with versions 3.x to ME will most likely find that the program will work correctly only when set for "full screen" mode. However, Windows XP may use it best with "windowed" screen display mode, depending on your graphics display and monitor, in order to keep the proper display modes for the text and graphics modules. • Users of modern computers with huge monitors that allow display parameters greater than 800 by 600 pixels may find that the graphics look crude. We were not able to develop a DOS version of this program with SVGA graphic mode and were limited to 256 colors maximum: displayed full screen on a modern monitor, the color photos will look coarse. Back in 1992, however, on a 13" VGA screen, the images were impressive! But today we have progressed way beyond the graphic capabilities of this old piece of software. The upside of the way we wrote the program, however, is that it will work even on the oldest text-only pre-VGA systems without showing color images, so that ven the most elderly lap-tops are likely to be able to run the program in the field beside your telescope. • Printing charts when running the program under Windows may not always be successful, as the built-in DOS printer driver hardware status checking is intercepted by Windows, sometimes returning an erroneous "Printer not ready" error (common to many old DOS programs, run under later versions of Windows.) Two workarounds exist: (1) run Eyepiece from DOS when desiring to print charts; (2) print chart to "File", which creates a short file called "SCOPE.TXT" in the Eyepiece program's folder. This file is over-written each time you repeat the printing process. So, access it from the folder, using Windows to print it, or save it with a new name (and location if desired) to preserve the values. We prefer to open the file with Notepad, and copy the contents into a new document, using various Windows fonts and highlighting to make up fancier eyepiece charts than this program was originally devised to do under DOS. • You may not be able to use the 'Dos Shell' function from the "Config" menu on some Windows systems, especially those running XP (which does not have a true DOS mode but creates instead "virtual DOS machines".) Activating the Dos Shell could cause the program to crash, one of the few function in EYEPIECE that is unstable in the XP OS. The Dos Shell function was added for use in standard DOS, which is not a multitasking OS, so that users could save or rename the data export file. This may be done in Windows by ordinary means since DOS programs may be multitasked, so the Dos Shell function is not needed when running EYEPIECE from Windows. • When running Eyepiece under Windows XP, we suggest that you set up a desktop shortcut and then start with these properties to test the program: PROGRAM TAB - Run maximized; check "close on exit"; FONT and MEMORY - choose "Auto"; COMPATIBILITY - Run in Windows 95 mode; turn off advanced text services; run in 256 color mode; SCREEN - run in "Window"; check "Restore Settings at Startup"; other tabs - use default values. • Another XP operating system caveat: we have run every function of the program -- except for the DosShell -- on our desktop XP Pro systems using CRT's with no difficulties. Yet we found that our new laptop PC is more sensitive to the old code's hardware video calls. If you are running XP and have set EYEPIECE for full-screen display, with a large wide LCD monitor (such as ours, which runs 1280x800 pixels mode) exercise caution with the Slideshow function. It crashes our laptop after a few pictures have been displayed! Yet the Slideshow runs fine on our XP desktops; we haven't a clue about curing this problem, so don't expect these old (c.1993) graphics functions to work perfectly on the latest hardware! Furthermore, with a screen display ratio greater than 1.33:1, the object images, with EYEPIECE running under Windows, may be stretched horizontally more than intended (as they were originally created to be displayed on a 640x480 VGA monitor.) • We recently discovered that on one of our older DOS computers (running Version 6.22 of the operating system) that an aggressive memory manager was conflicting with the function in our program that checked for the data files when using the "Object" menu, and kept telling us that the "file was not found". The file WAS indeed in the directory. The solution was to close the program and start it again; or -- better -- to use the program under a Windows DOS box! This problem would require extensive debugging and recompiling on that specific DOS system with its memory manager: not practical since there is such a simple workaround. • On one particular Windows XP system, "Eyepiece" refused to recognize the PgDn key. This may be due to a particular keyboard driver, since the problem was not repeatable on other systems. Consider the use of Eyepiece© with modern computers to be an experimental one: try and try again until you get a good setup with correct functionality in the various program modules of text and graphics (in summer of 2005, we managed to get it to function on a brand-new fast laptop computer, using XP Home Edition, to be used out in the field with our computerized "goto" telescope.) Older systems made before about 1997 or so will generally pose no difficulties. (All trademarks are copyright their respective trademark holders.) 2. Mistake in Text File Documentation: This error has been noticed since we did an earlier correction of some small mistakes in February, 2007. Since the production of a new distribution of the whole program takes some time, we will correct the following mistake in our next update, when at least a few more necessary corrections have accumulated, justifying the work. * In the text file for the information about viewing the sun (SOL.TXT) there is a missing decimal point in the value "6563 nanometers" as written, which should be "656.3 nanometers". * After doing some research on the open cluster NGC-6683 in the summer of 2007, we decided that John Sanford's data for the object, included in the datafiles of our program, has now been superceded, thanks to the work of the NGC/IC Project and Dr. Harold G. Corwin, and by Wolfgang Steinicke, the author of one of the most reliable revisions of the New General Catalogue. So we have now decided to change (during the next revision of Eyepiece) the original data provided by Sanford, which is in conformance to older catalogues, to the new values. This changes the declination (slightly) and also the dimension of the cluster, reducing the diameter from 11 arcminutes to 3 arcminutes. The new value is present in our website version of the information but not yet incorporated in the entire zipped package on our website, as of July 2007. See this web page for the NEW data for NGC-6683: * There is a small typo in the def topic file. It SHOULD say: MEASURING THE TRUE VISUAL FIELD If the field of view of the eyepiece/scope is very accurately measured, it is properly called the "true" or "real" field. The procedure given by Luginbuhl and Skiff in "Observing Handbook and Catalog of Deep-Sky Objects" is as follows: Time the passage of a star as it drifts through the eyepiece field; multiply the (time in minutes) X (15) X (cosine of the declination of the star) to obtain the true field in minutes. Thus, for a 4 minute 30 second transit of a star at 10 degrees 30 minutes declination: (4.5) X (15) x (cos 10.5) = 66.37 minutes [or 66 min., 22 sec.] Originally it had been typed "66 min 62 sec." instead of "22 sec.". 3. May 2008: Calculation of Apparent Field Limitation When we originally designed the program in the period of 1990-1992, we were advised by the world's leading eyepiece manufacturer that the limit of apparent field that could be achieved in a normal commercial telescope eyepiece was about 85 degrees, due to the constraints of geometry and the size of eyepiece barrels and focus drawtubes. Thus, we included a limit of about 86 degrees if you "declare" a user-described eyepiece, and a value exceeding that generates a warning message. However, the program will allow declaring an apparent field up to 90 degrees; but above that number, there is an absolute top limit that will prevent calculation. At the time this was considered "correct". Now, in late 2007 and early 2008, that manufacturer has introduced a *100 degree* apparent field eyepiece series, with two focal lengths available, and probably more to come. "Eyepiece" will NOT do calculations for those oculars: sorry! We have no intention of rewriting the source code and recompiling the program, as the eyepieces cost more than many telescopes (including some that the authors own and regularly use), and we consider them to be niche products that are not necessarily going to drop in price and therefore achieve significant market penetration and widespread use. ================================================================== MICROSOFT(r) is a registered trademark, WINDOWS(tm) is a trademark Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. IBM(tm) is a trademark (c) International Business Machines Corp (c) IBM Corp. All other trademarks are property of their respective copyright holders. EYEPIECE 2.0 Copyright (c) 1997-2008 Stephen R. Waldee - All Rights Reserved. This revision of README.TXT is dated 10 May 2008.