Deep-Sky Planner 7.1 Release

A free update to Deep-Sky Planner 7 has been released. It contains bug fixes, enhancements and new features. The list of changes is available in the release notes that can be viewed in the Deep-Sky Planner 7 Community (Software Updates page), and in the Readme file that accompanies the update.

This release has some important changes that require some explanation. First, support for ASCOM weather stations has been added. I tested with both the BlueAstro Stickstation and the Astromi.ch MeteoBox. As you may know, the developer of the Stickstation, Per Frejvall, died unexpectedly in July. I had corresponded with Per and worked out communication issues before he passed. I have since worked with Martin Ingold at Astromi.ch on support for MBox. Both Mbox and StickStation are working well with DSP7.1.

MeteoBox (MBox)

Deep-Sky Planner 7 was released with internal support for high resolution displays. The user interface was sufficient where Windows scaling was 150% or less. Because the user interface was not sufficient where scaling was above 150%, I have elected to make internal support for high resolution displays an option within Deep-Sky Planner. I will improve internal support for high-resolution displays as Windows and development tools improve support for high res displays.

Lastly, the database has been updated with new cross reference information for NGC globular clusters. There were incorrect references between NGC and GCL catalogs for globular clusters. If you have created any observing plan documents that include GCL objects, you may want to be sure that the object information is correct. Please look for a new Terzan Clusters plan and an updated Palomar Clusters plan in the Plan Library in a few days. My thanks go to Owen B for reporting this issue.