Installation

To get Planetarium up and running you need to:

Download the Planetarium archive planet20.zip (if you have not already)
Unzip the files contained in planet20.zip
Decide which files you want to install
Install the files on your PDA device
Start Planetarium and enter the registration code (if you have purchased Planetarium, otherwise the program runs as demo version)

If you upgrade from a previous version:

You may decide not to install these files:

PlanetariumDB.pdb - the location list
UserObjsDB.pdb - the objects list
PlnCometsDB.pdb - comets and asteroids

If you have entered personal locations you should not install the file PlanetariumDB.pdb. If you want to install it, export your personal locations to a memo so that you can reimport them after installing the file. (See the chapter "Databases" for more details.)

If you have entered user objects yourself, you should not install the file UserObjsDB.pdb. If you want to install it, export your personal objects to a memo so that you can reimport them after installing the file. (See the chapter "Databases" for more details.)
This is a list of errors that were corrected in the last release. You can enter them manually:
- M25 is IC4725 (not NGC)
- M82 had the wrong icon. It should have the same icon as M81
- in the double star list omicron dra should have ra/dec of 18h51m / 59.4
- C89 is NGC6087 (not NGC6067)

If you have entered orbital elements for comets and asteroids you should export your personal entries to a memo so that you can reimport them after installing the file PlnCometsDB.pdb. (See the chapter "Databases" for more details.)

Notes about installing Planetarium on a memory card or memory stick

You can only install the file planet20.prc on the memory card.
All the other files (PlnStarsXXXX.prc, PlanetariumDB.pdb, UserObjsDB.pdb, PlnCometsDB.pdb) must stay in main memory.

Exception to this rule:
You can install the following files into the memory card, if you do NOT intend to add data to them:

PlanetariumDB.pdb - Location list
UserObjsDB.pdb - Deep Sky Objects
PlnCometsDB.pdb - Comets and Asteroids

If these files reside on the card only but not in main memory they will be copied to main memory together with planet20.prc each time you start the application and will be discarded when you stop the application. So if you add new entries, they are discarded as well. The files will be copied again from the card at the next start. (Please note, you need the files from the latest release (v2.2). Files from older versions do not get copied along with the application).

This copying takes place only if you don't have the files installed in main memory. If you have them installed in main memory and on the card, they won't be copied.

If you wish to enter a new location, a new comet or a new object, you need to move the files to the main memory. If you just want to read from them, you can move them to the card and remove them from main memory.

Download Planetarium

You can download Planetarium from the following web site:

http://www.aho.ch/pilotplanets/release.htm

You will also find information about the latest release there and you can join a mailing list to get notified when new versions are available. Current data is also posted on this site.

Unzip the archive

If you are familiar with zip files, you might want to skip this paragraph.

A zip file contains several other files in compressed format. Storing files this way has advantages: a) They are all grouped together. You just download one file and have everything you need. b) They are stored in compressed form and therefore need less download time. c) The zip file contains a checksum. Should there be an error during transmission, you would get notified about it.

The zip format is widely used. If you plan to download other software from the internet in the future, you will need to know how to "unzip" a file. However, if you haven't ever unzipped a file and don't want to go through this, you can ask the author of Planetarium to send you the files in uncompressed form as an e-mail attachment: planets@aho.ch

To extract the contents of a zip file you need a special program.
On Windows you could use WinAce from http://www.winace.com or alternatively WinZip from http://www.winzip.com.
If you have a Macintosh you could use "ZipIt" from http://www.maczipit.com.
Please read the instructions that come with these programs on how to use them.

Which files to install

planet20.zip contains the following files:

Planet20.prc - The main executable application file.
PlnStars1600.prc - The small star data base.
PlnStars9096.prc - The big star data base.
PlanetariumDB.pdb - A list of 600 Major cities.
UserObjsDB.pdb - A list of about 200 deep sky objects.
PlnCometsDB.pdb - A list of some comets and asteroids.

You need to install at least the file Planet20.prc and either PlnStars1600.prc or PlnStars9096.prc. All the other files are optional.

PlnStars1600.prc contains data of about 1600 stars down to magnitude 5. Choose this file if you don't have very much free memory or don't need faint stars in the program.
PlnStars9096.prc contains data of the complete Yale Bright Star Catalogue with 9096 stars down to magnitude 6.5. Choose this file if you have enough free memory and would like to have fainter stars in the program.

You can switch the star data base later by just installing the other one of them.

The data base files correspond with the following lists in the program:

PlanetariumDB.pdb - The Location Pick list (Menu item "Options / Set Location", then tap the "Pick" button)
UserObjsDB.pdb - The Objects list (Menu item "Options / Objects")
PlnCometsDB.pdb - The Comets and Asteroids list (Menu Item "Options / Comets and Asteroids")

The data in these lists is backed up during HotSync every time you have made changes or entered new data. To fill some or all of these lists with initial data you can install the corresponding .pdb files from planet20.zip. They contain:

PlanetariumDB.pdb - About 600 major cities from all over the world.
UserObjsDB.pdb - 110 Messier objects and 110 Caldwell objects.
PlnCometsDB.pdb - Some comets and asteroids.

If you have a GPS and a cable to connect it to your Palm, Planetarium can get the current location directly from the GPS. To enable this feature, you'll need to download and install the file GPSNMEA.prc. You can read more about this on the page "Connecting a GPS"

If you have a computer controlled telescope and a cable to connect it to your Palm, Planetarium can show you the sky section where the telescope is pointing at or steer the telescope to a given object. To enable this feature, you'll need to download and install the appropriate plug-in file. You can read more about this on the page "Connecting a Telescope".

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Installing the files on the PDA

If you are familiar with installing files, you might want to skip this paragraph.

To install these files onto your PDA, please have a look at your documentation that came with your device. There should be a chapter explaining how applications are installed.

For very novice users, this is a little bit more detailed (I cannot give you completely detailed instructions on this here because it depends on the device and brand, but in general it works like this):

Start the Palm Desktop Application on the PC or Mac.

Select the "Install" function.

Select one or more .prc and .pdb files and prepare them for installation.

During the next HotSync they get transferred to your Device.

Entering the registration code

If you have purchased Planetarium you should have received a registration code. If you don't have this registration code, Planetarium just runs as demo version. When you enter the registation code, Planetarium will get converted into the full version.

To enter the registration code you got, select the menu item "Info / Register" or press the "Enter Key" button on the startup screen.

Enter the registration code without any blanks or quotes.

Tap on the "OK" button. If you have entered the key correctly, you will get a confirmation.

Planetarium runs as full version which you can convince yourself of in the About screen (menu item "Info / About")

For very novice users: To select a menu item you tap on the lower left silk screen button just at the left of the graffiti area. Then you should see the menu bar at the top of the display. You now select with the pen one of the items from this menu.

Deinstallation

If you wish to deinstall Planetarium, please delete the following items from your Palm:

Planetarium - The Planetarium main executable and the data bases

PlnStarDataLib.lib - The star database

PlnGPS.lib - If you have installed the GPS connection feature

PlnTelescope.lib - If you have installed the Telescope connection feature

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User Manual Contents