Really tried to use KStars

[Mark Casazza]

I'll start a new thread on visual observing with KStars. I admin I need to
spend more time with the observation planner, but based on what I have seen
so far:

   1. It would be really nice to have angular distance from where the scope
   is pointed. I use this feature to explore an area of the sky
   2. The catalog is my biggest issue. I learned how to load the PGC
   catalog. Any suggestions on various Quasar catalogs?

Once I get the catalogs updated I will give this a go under dark skies and
come back with more feedback.

Mark Casazza
http://casazza.net
Home of the Clear Sky Alarm Clock and Tonight's Sky


On Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 10:10 PM Mark Casazza <markcasazza at gmail.com> wrote:

> As a fellow software developer I want to offer feedback for KStars and
> EKOS as replacements for my Windows tools (SkyTools & NINA). I really want
> to get off Windows and I've managed to convert every device except the two
> that control telescopes. That is six of eight computers now running Kubuntu
> with no regrets.
>
> The EKOS / NINA feature gap is too wide to even consider making the jump
> for imaging. KStars with Observation Manager seems closer to the feature
> set I need for visual observing with a 20" truss tube scope, but it would
> be a major investment in catalog population for objects like quasars and
> globulars in other galaxies.
>
> I would be happy to share the details of my A/B comparisons and suggest a
> few "easy" wins that could really help along with bigger items that might
> be worth including in your roadmap. I fully appreciate that dev teams have
> their plans and priorities so I will wait to hear back from you.
>
> I fully respect the great work you have done and I have several friends
> very happy with their Linux telescope control and image acquisition
> solution. I even recommend it whenever I find someone open to a Linux
> approach. I admit that I am spoiled and a power user. There are features I
> would be lost without that seem to be missing.
>
> Clear skies,
>
> Mark Casazza
> http://casazza.net
> Home of the Clear Sky Alarm Clock and Tonight's Sky
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kstars-devel/attachments/20250615/4cbc37db/attachment.htm>