I’ve been using Voyager for over half a year now, and I am just amazed by how flexible and dependable it has been.
I am primarily a back yard imager who puts my telescope outside for several days at a time to image one or two targets. Thanks to good weather a couple of weeks ago, I completed a narrowband imaging run on two targets for seven days straight. Due to obstacles in my back yard, I shot target #1 until about 1 AM and then shot target #2 until the end of astronomical night. On most of those nights, I would start the DragScript before dusk and do other things (like spend time with my family ). Night after night, Voyager waited until dark, centered on the target, focused, calibrated, changed targets at the right time, and kept going until dawn. I always awoke to find lots of high quality data on my SSD. Given all of the complexities of astrophotography, this degree of reliability blows my mind.
I am grateful to Leo for continuing to develop the program and for being responsive to user requests. I have come to appreciate the artificial intelligence he has build into the program and have learned to “trust” Voyager about many things. Recent additions to the program, such as the image viewer and native ASI camera driver with per-event gain control, really make for a top-notch experience.
Thank you so much Glenn and Rowland… i’m happy about.
Unfortunately, the image damage brought by the unscrupulous attacks of some incompetents have relegated Voyager to the limbo from which I believe it will be difficult to escape. I don’t have any new licenses but with some renewal I can keep the activities in place.
The advance of open source software nullifies all the advanced technology deployed to the detriment of uniformity.
I think it may just a quiet time of the year. I purchased a license some time ago, because I can see from the enthusiasm of those using it, that it is indeed super software.
However, Northern Hemisphere summer = short nights and anytime that I had a chance to go out to the scope, I just carried on with what I was familiar with. It takes that initial step to say: “tonight I am not worried about data capture - this will be a software familiarisation night”. I think once one gets over that hurdle and progress made, then one more imager will start spreading the word
My work takes me away from home for long periods - but I hope by October, I will claim to be another convert and add another link to the chain. More links should help to encourage more licenses…
I got in at the old price, but would be happy to pay the difference! It’s well worth it. And I’m sure I’ll be buying an Advanced Version when it comes out.
I just purchased a license. I only recently heard of Voyager after stumbling across some very detailed threads on Voyager’s functionality and robustness on the Cloudy Nights forums. Most people in the thread seemed very impressed with the software so I downloaded the trial. After a weekend of integrating my equipment and running some indoor scripting tests, I knew I had to buy a license. I can’t wait to get Voyager out into the field now!
I’ve come to realize that Voyager’s most amazing feature is its dependability. As Rowland said above, having equipment or a program work dependably night after night is exceedingly gratifying. The interesting thing about this “feature” is that one does not appreciate it until some time has passed.
Voyager does unattended imaging better than any other program I’ve used. I was an SGP user, and although I still consider it a fine program, Voyager does fully automated, unattended imaging so much better.
I shot two targets. The first one started at about 35° altitude and continued until it just before the meridian. Then, the system waited until the second target cleared a big tree in my back yard. Then it shot the second target until dawn. I awoke to lots of good data on my SSD.
This kind of flexibility and dependability is liberating. Just thought I’d share!
Really happy Gleen … thanks to found time to write this.
In this day i’m personally under attack in a famous forum, this message help me to continue with passion.
Could you share your drag script in file? Like with google drive. I have not had the time to learn it, and I have been using voyager for year now. Shame on me!
But if you are willing to share, I would be interested how did you plan the times fof different targets .
I have open sky and I have not needed that functionality yet, but would be cool to test it.
I was able to set the gmail connection to my mail. So I get notification from voyager.
I’am trying to figure out how could I make something like this:
*IF sequence 1 is past altitude (RA-DEC) move to block sequence 1
*IF sequence 1 is under the altitude (RA-DEC) move to block sequence 2.
So much you can do with this! amazing =)… Until I get full dome control, and cloud watcher, I might not make anything too complicated. After I get my dome’s open automatically I hope I can set up a list of targets and when they are in certain parts of the sky voyager know’s to image them.
I should have mentioned that I have Sequence 1 set to stop when the target reaches hour angle -0.2 (meaning 0.2 hours before the meridian) and Sequence 2 to stop when the target sets below 30 degrees in the west.
The DragScript runs Sequence 1 immediately until Sequence 1 tells the DragScript that the target has reached its endpoint of 0.2 hours before the meridian. Then the DragScript starts Sequence 2, which will run until sunrise OR until the target sets below 30 degrees, whichever comes first.
Thank you for the clarification. I only use it as reference and make my own, for my needs. I learn much more quickly with example =). Thanks again for sharing.
). Night after night, Voyager waited until dark, centered on the target, focused, calibrated, changed targets at the right time, and kept going until dawn. I always awoke to find lots of high quality data on my SSD. Given all of the complexities of astrophotography, this degree of reliability blows my mind.
