SkySafari 5 | Scope Equipment

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    Scope Equipment

    Use the Equipment settings to enter information about your telescopes, eyepieces, finder scope, and/or camera(s). SkySafari uses this information to display the field of view of your equipment. And you can select this equipment when logging observations of objects.

    SkySafari comes with some built-in lists of equipment, as examples. You can delete these, and/or add your own equipment. To edit any equipment list, tap the Edit button in the upper right corner of the screen.

    Telescopes

    This section lists your telescopes. To add a new telescope, tap the Add Telescope button below the list, then enter the following:

    • Scope Name: descriptive name for the scope, for example "Celestron 8-in SCT f/10".
    • Aperture: diameter of the telescope's primary mirror or lens, in mm. An 8-inch telescope has an aperture of 200 mm. This is usually printed on the telescope tube.
    • Focal Length: focal length of the telescope's primary mirror or lens, in mm. This may be printed on the telescope tube. It is the same as the aperture times the telescope's f/ ratio. For example, an 8" telescope with an f/10 focal ratio has a focal length of 2000 mm (=200 mm x 10).

    When you're done entering your telescope's information, tap the Done button. To cancel without entering anything, tap the back button to return to the Equipment list.

    Eyepieces

    This section lists your eyepieces. To add a new eyepiece, tap the Add Eyepiece button below the list, then enter the following:

    • Eyepiece Name: descriptive name for the eyepiece, for example "Celestron 25mm Plossl".
    • Focal Length: focal length of the eyepiece, in mm. This is usually printed on the side of the eyepiece.
    • Apparent Field of View: the angular width of the visible circle (in degrees) that you see looking through the eyepiece. Often found printed on the eyepiece barrel.

    Binoculars & Finders

    This section lists your binoculars and finder scopes. To add a new binocular or finder, tap the Add Binocular or Finder button below the list. Then enter the following:

    • Binocular or Finder Name: descriptive name for the binocular or finder. For example "Celestron 10x50".
    • Aperture: diameter of the objective lens, in mm. Binoculars and finders are commonly described as "Magnification x Aperture". So for 10x50 binoculars, the aperture would be 50 mm.
    • Magnification: the enlarging power of the binocular or finder. For 10 x 50 binoculars, the magnification would be 10x.
    • True Field of View: the true angular width (in degrees) of the visible circle that you see looking through the finder scope or binoculars. For example, 10x finder scope with an apparent field of view of 60° would have a true field of view of 6°. May be printed on the actual equipment or found in its user manual.

    Cameras

    This section lists your camera equipment. You can enter information for film cameras, CCDs, DSLR cameras, or any device with a rectangular image sensor - or more than one image sensor. For CCD cameras that have a separate guide sensor and main image sensor, enter the information for each sensor separately.

    • Camera Name: descriptive name for the camera. For example "SBIG ST-2000".
    • Sensor Width: total width of the film frame or active image sensor area, in mm.
    • Sensor Height: total height of the film frame or active image sensor area, in mm.
    • Sensor X-offset: horizontal offset of the film or sensor center from the camera's optical axis, in mm. This is usually zero, except for off-axis guide chips. Check your camera specs for details.
    • Sensor Y-offset: vertical offset of the film or sensor center from the camera's optical axis, in mm. Again, this is usually zero, except for off-axis guide chips. Check your camera specs for details.

    Barlows and Focal Reducers

    This section lists your barlows and focal reducers. To add a new barlow or focal reducer, tap the Add Barlow or Focal Reducer button below the list, then enter the following:

    • Barlow or Focal Reducer Name: descriptive name for this piece of equipment. For example "2x Barlow".
    • Magnification: the change in magnification that this barlow or focal reducer imparts. Enter a number greater than 1 for magnification or between 0 and 1 for reduction.

    Editing Equipment Lists

    You can rearrange and delete items in an equipment list. Here's how.

    On iOS, tap the Edit button at the top of the screen. Then tap and drag the "grip" icon on the right side of the equipment item to move it around the screen. Tap and drag the - (minus) icon on the left side of the item to delete it. Tap the End Edit button at the top of the screen when you're finished.

    On Android, tap the Edit link at the top of the screen. Up/down arrows and a trash can appear at the bottom of the screen. Then tap the equipment item you want to move or delete. Use the up/down arrows to move the item in the list, or tap the trash can to delete it. When finished, tap the End Edit link at the top of the screen.

    Comments

    • Avatar
      Steven

      So, I just spent 45 minutes entering all of my equipment into SkySafari 5 Pro on my iMac desktop computer. Is there away to send that information to my iPhone version? I ask because its way easier to type with a keyboard on a big screen verses a tiny screen on my phone!

    • Avatar
      Cmac7203

      I am running on a iMac, iPad, and iPhone. Set your storage to iCloud and all the platforms will sync.

    • Avatar
      Cmac7203

      I would like to add more fields of view than the 5 provided (I have 6 eyepieces). Any solution?

    • Avatar
      Ralph Trynor

      How can you add filters to equipment and filter wheel to equipment? Also just thought about a zoom lens.