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[Feature Request] Request for gyro-only mode

I would ask you to reconsider the implementation of a gyro only mode.   As many have stated in this forum,  the compass on most devices is poor at best.  I believe the iPhone's compass normally gets an accuracy of around 10-12 degrees, even after calibration.  The gyro, on the other hand is very accurate, and using the relative attitude produced by CMDeviceMotion (on iPhone) can be accurate to less than a degree.

Having a gyro only mode would effectively allow Sky Safari to become a simple Push-To tool.  Mounting the phone on the telescope, pointing at a known bright object, and turning on the gyro would allow push-to searches, especially over short angular distances.  On the other hand with the compass-fusion mode, that becomes impossible since the compass always has an error of a few degrees, even after calibration.  

I hope you can reconsider the decision that a separate "gyro button is not coming back".  I realize this may compete against the fancier go-to setups that Sky Safari supports, but for many of us it would be a great addition.

2 comments

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    J Oltion

    I second this request. I often observe from a site with no Internet connection, which means the compass defaults to true north. That's 15 degrees off, and SS gives me no way to correct that in the field (that I'm aware of, anyway). With a separate Gyro function, I could aim at a known object, turn on the gyro, and be properly aligned. SS version 3 had this capability and it was wonderful. I don't know why it was removed, or why there seems to be so much resistance from the programmers to the idea of bringing it back, but I would dearly love to have that capability again.

    Also, I'd love to have an option to enter my magnetic declination and to tie that to my location so that the program loads the declination when started whether I have Internet and/or location services turned on or not.

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    Alex G

    Just want say that I came here to post the same thing but found this thread. I have location services enabled for the app and 'use true north' enabled in the device settings and the app still reports 'Unable to determine True North, using magnetic etc' on launch. Between the inaccuracy of the compass, interference and real-world magnetic variation, compass mode can be off by a such a large amount as to make it nearly unusable. It would be extremely useful to be able to solve this by pointing at a known bright object and locking the gyro to that orientation. Alternately with compass mode still engaged, maybe a 'adjust compass alignment' setting?

    I'm a VERY big fan of this app and love being able to sync my observations between my iOS devices and desktop version. Many thanks to the developers for their amazing work.

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