THE L.F.K. MESSIER OBSERVER'S GUIDE V1.0 - RELEASED NOVEMBER 17, 1992 REQUIREMENTS A hard drive and VGA monitor are required for this program to run properly. It will run without a hard drive but the file loading is extremely slow. A 386 or 486 processor is recommended. A 286 will run, though much slower. 384K of memory is required and a mouse is support- ed. Also required is DOS 2.11 or later. Make your backup copy as soon as possible. DISCLAIMER Unfortunately, there is no way that I can guarantee the opera- tion of the program and/or the running condition of your system with regard to this program. Operation is completely at your own risk. If your computer develops any operating problems while running this pro- gram, stop running as soon as possible and consult someone with system experience. BACKGROUND Those of us in the field of amateur astronomy are in great need of observer's software. There are programs that introduce the beginner to the sky and programs that give an indication where some of the most interesting objects are located but none of those programs really show or tell you what to expect when you look through a telescope. They try to sell you pretty pictures and some are rather spectacular but you'll never see them in your telescope because they're photographs. Long time exposures that can only be recorded on film, never seen visually. OPERATION My slide show changes all that. I call this program a slide show because that's what it really is. What you can do with my program is very limited, because you are confined to the slides I've created. However, you do have three options...a SEARCH capability that lets you jump around to any slide you want by choosing a word or phrase that allows the program to find that particular object of interest. Then there's the quick GOTO option that allows you to jump to any Messier object directly and the NEXT and BACK options that will allow you to move forward or backward through the slides, one at a time. Each slide contains the "M" number, constellation, class of ob- ject, RA, Dec., and magnitude of the Messier object displayed. If you know the approximate Sidereal time, you can search the list of "M" ob- jects using Right Ascension or if your sky is limited by city condi- tions, you can search on magnitude. If you can recognize a constella- tion in the sky, search on the constellation name. Each new slide that comes up shows which "M" object is in the constellation. Be sure to include any spaces or special characters in the search, if it's re- quired. The search option can bring up all text and Messier screens. The telescope and binocular views that I use to show magnified enlargements are limited to four shades so they're going to be much more contrasty than the real view will show. There is a trick you can do to make the lighter shades of grey a little more realistic. Turn the contrast down on your monitor and those views will become a little closer to the real views. * There isn't any way to reorient the slides so Southern hemis- phere amateurs are out of luck. Those of you South of the Equator have my apology. Maybe matters will improve for you guys at a latter date. PLOTTING ACCURACY Everything was drawn by eyeball judgement, even the Messier objects. My purpose for this program wasn't to produce a measuring de- vice. The only reason this program exists, in it's present form, is to entice the user to use his binoculars or telescope. In other words.... get out and observe the wonders of the universe. I want this program to get you out of your armchair and out under the stars. If your tele- scope is equipped with automated setting circles and computer driven, you won't need this program, except to find out what to expect in your eyepiece. Perhaps, even that, may provide the incentive to make you use your telescope. MORE BACKGROUND I'm not a programmer. The only portion I'm responsible for are the slides. They were created with a shareware program called ANOTHER PROGRAM. The idea for this slide show occured to me about five years ago when I was a great Commodore 64 fan. It didn't get off the ground because the 64 graphics just weren't good enough. After I got the com- patible and found a suitable paint program with a slide presentation capability, I decided to try my hand at the MESSIER OBSERVER'S GUIDE again. The slide show is supposed to have 110 messier objects. Because of the amount of time and space required to produce the show, I decided to release V1.0 with only twenty-five Messier objects, just to find out how the program will be accepted by the public. If you are interested in creating your own slide show with ANOTHER PROGRAM and want to con- tact the author, his name and address is: Jeff Napier And Another Company P.O. Box 298 Applegate, OR 97530 NOTE: ANOTHER PROGRAM has been renamed THE MULTIMEDIA WORKSHOP C: DRIVE PREPARATION The first thing you should do is create a directory on the hard drive with the MD command. I suggest using MD\MESSIER. Then change to that directory with the command CD\MESSIER. Now you're ready to copy the disk files to the new directory. Put the MESSIER OBSERVER'S GUIDE disk in the A drive and enter the command COPY A:*.* C:. When all the files are copied, remove the disk from drive A and start the program with the command GO. OTHER DRIVES If you have to run from floppy drive A or B, just enter GO after you move to the correct drive. * OTHER VERSIONS Version 1.0 contains twenty-five slides or "M" objects. This is the version I've made available as shareware at this time. It contains the first twenty-five objects. Version 2.0, which contains the first fifty "M" objects is nearly complete and will be available by the time you read this. Version 3.0 should be ready by June '93, with seventy- five slides and version 4.0, with possibly the entire one-hundred and ten Messier objects, by the end of '93. Again, I emphasize, that re- gistration ($39.95) will entitle you to the latest version available. Any additional versions that become available will have a postage and handling charge of $5.00 per program copy for registered owners. A registration form is provided at the end of this file. PRINTING THIS FILE If you're running from a hard drive, this file, with the regis- tration form, can be printed with the command: COPY C:README.1ST PRN: If you're running from the A drive or B drive use: COPY A:README.1ST PRN: or COPY B:README.1ST PRN: The file PRINTME.BAT is a batch file that will start printing the README.1ST documentation also. If it's included in the files on the disk, just enter the command: PRINTME PRINTING FROM OTHER DRIVES If you are using any other drive than those mentioned above, just substitute the proper drive letter in the commands shown. Be sure that your printer is set to the top of the page before printing. The print format is set up for dot-matrix machines of the Epson variety with sixty-six lines per page. THE SHAREWARE CONCEPT Shareware gives everyone searching for programs the opportunity to try out a program for very little cost. Vendors and bulletin boards have the right to distribute this program for very little profit, just so you can have a chance to try it out. If you like the program and continue to use it, it's to your advantage to support the shareware authors by registering and contributing to furthur the development of new programs. If you don't like the program, pass it on to someone else who might find it useful. MISCELLANEOUS You're welcome to submit any comments, criticisms or ideas for improving the MESSIER OBSERVER'S GUIDE. Write to me at 15674 Flanagan, Roseville, Michigan 48066, U.S.A. * LICENSE REGISTRATION AND ORDER FORM FOR THE L.F.K. MESSIER OBSERVER'S GUIDE (Please print legibly and copy for your records) NAME________________________________________________ (This name will show on the title slide. Addi- tional names should be placed on back of form) ADDRESS___________________________________ APT______ CITY____________________________ STATE___ ZIP_______ TELEPHONE NO.(_____)-_____-________ DATE ___/___/___ From whom did you get your copy of This Messier Observer's Guide? ___ BBS ___ Friend ___ Store ___ Mail Order ___ Shareware vendor Please indicate name of store, catalog or shareware vendor Name ______________________________ City________________State____ FLOPPY DISK SIZE (check one) ___ (360K) 5 1/4 in. ___ (1.2M) 5 1/4 in. ___ (720K) 3 1/2 in. ___ (1.4M) 3 1/2 in. Each purchased copy constitutes one license. Multiple licenses for network operation or clubs are available at reduced prices. Distribution with a product req- uires a special license. QUANTITY REQ'D ______ Copy(ies). 2 to 5 copies......discount 10% 6 to 10 copies.....discount 20% 11 or more.........discount 30% PURCHASE AGREEMENT I hereby acknowledge that the program material which I have agreed to license, is copyrighted material and will not be reproduced for any other purpose than my own personal back- up and that one copy constitutes one license for one compu- ter and one user per computer. Signed _______________________________ (Owner or Purchasing Agent) THE ABOVE PURCHASE AGREEMENT MUST BE SIGNED BY THE PURCHASER OR PURCHASING AGENT OF ANY COMPANY BUYING THE ABOVE MENTIONED SOFTWARE OR ALL CHECKS AND MONEY ORDERS WILL BE RETURNED AND THE ORDER CANCELLED. Sorry, no purchase orders or C.O.D.'s Your check must clear our bank before we mail your copy Allow about one to two weeks delivery, four weeks overseas PLEASE MAKE CHECK OR MONEY ORDER FOR $39.95 PER COPY TO: LARRY F. KALINOWSKI AND MAIL TO: LARRY F. KALINOWSKI, 15674 FLANAGAN, ROSEVILLE, MI 48066 *