SOLUN Version 4.3 for Series 3a and Siena

© Copyright 1993, 2000 David Rushall

Contents

(*) Please read all sections marked thus before installing and using Solun, even if you have used the application previously.

Introduction

Solun is your "Pocket Planetarium": a convenient tool for the amateur astronomer, providing both almanac and planetarium functions.

Features include:

This version of Solun runs on the Psion Series 3a range of machines, including the Series 3c, Series 3mx, Siena and the Acorn Pocketbook II. A minimum of 256K is recommended. A full installation takes around 130K disk space.

Note: Solun is also available for EPOC platforms, such as the Psion Series 5.

Visit the Solun home-page, at http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/ , for latest news and screen shots.

New features

The following lists some of the new features to be found in the most recent versions of Solun.
Version 4.3
Faster, higher resolution star chart plotting; Around 1000% faster point-and-click object identification; Improved star detail selection, including automatic mode (based on zoom level); Two-level Milky Way outline on chart; Azimuth-Altitude grid on chart; Plot lines with user labels; Saturn ring display; Advanced entry mechanism for angle values; Find labels matches sub-strings, not just prefixes; Various enhancements and bug fixes (new-style world-map display; some constellation names on quick displays; sun-earth distance; Arctic circle boundary error; rounding on DMS conversion).
Version 4.1
1st Charityware release Galilean moon display; Planet report; Improved rise/set accuracy; Various bug fixes.
Version 4
New "Quick observation" views; New "Report" mode, including eclipse prediction; Point-and-click pan and zoom; Greater accuracy for Sun and Moon calculations; Multi-size labels; Full support for Psion Siena.
Version 3.5
Configurable grey-level on star chart displays; Left and right flushed as well as centered labels; User interface improvements.
Version 3
High-resolution graphics for the Series 3a; Basic lunar month and rise and set reports; Point-and-click chart object information; Primitive animation.

License and Conditions of Use

Copyright status: Charityware

Solun is Charityware. This means you are licensed to distribute and use this application (according to the following conditions) for free!

However, if you like it enough to pay something, then you are invited to send a small donation to a environmental or humanitarian charity.

Some suggestions are:

Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org/
Greenpeace
http://www.greenpeace.org/
Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org/
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
http://www.rspb.org.uk/
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
http://www.panda.org/

Conditions of use

  1. Solun is Charityware and copyright; it is not public domain. The rights to this package remain the property of the author.
  2. You may use this software, free of charge, for an indefinite period and at no obligation to the author, other than honouring these conditions.
  3. Permission is given to publically distribute this software provided the distribution contains all, and only, the unaltered files of this original distribution. In addition, my ownership of the rights to this software must be clearly stated and any fee charged for the distribution must be extremely nominal.
  4. Use of Solun is entirely at the user's own risk. The user must accept responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damage arising from the use (or misuse) of the package. Solun is supplied 'as-is'.
  5. Warning: Both the plotted positions of 'fixed' objects and the calculation of the objects of the solar system are not intended to be highly accurate. Whilst these may be sufficient for many amateur astronomical purposes, Solun should never be used for navigation.
  6. Note: Some of the files provided along with the Solun application are derived from the Yale Bright Star Catalogue and as such are not covered by this declaration of copyright and conditions. These files are identified by their *.str and *.sol suffixes, and are provided for your convenience.
  7. Note: This license does not cover Solun for EPOC (the Series 5 family and compatibles).

Available Documentation

In addition to this README document, there are a number of sources of information about the installation of use of Solun. These are listed below.

README document (this one)
This document contains what you should know to get started; including how to install the application and display a few simple screens.
Online application help (Solun.hlp)
Solun includes brief online help. This contains hints for key displays and includes some useful information, such as lists of some interesting objects in the sky. To read this document, select the 'Help' item from the main menu within the Solun application.
User manual WWW (web site)
There is an illustrated version of the User Manual for Solun available as a web page, at: http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/solunman/ . This document is (currently) written with version 4.0 version of Solun in mind but is near enough to this version. Important differences for users of the current version are listed below.
Solun home page (web site)
For information about Solun, including the latest news and releases, visit my home page on the web: http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/ .
Ask the author (email)
If you have queries, comments or suggestions then please feel free to send me an email. My address is at the end of this document.

Supported Hardware

This version of Solun is designed for use with the Psion Series 3a and compatible machines, including the Siena.

If you have a problem with a particular platform then, if possible, please send me an email, preferably with a screen shot of the problem.

Installation

The following sections outline how to install and use this version of Solun 4. Please follow these instructions carefully.

Notice for former registered users

Registered users of the former shareware release of Solun should now upgrade to this charityware version as this now contains a more rich set of features.

Upgrading from a previous version

If you have been using one of the previous versions of Solun it is strongly recommended that you remove the old application before you start installing this release. Delete the contents of the \App\Solun\ directory, the \App\Solun*.opa file and the Solun.dat and Solun.ini files from the \Opd\ directory. Finally, remove the Solun icon from the System screen.

Contents of this distribution

The distribution ZIP file contains the following files:

Important

If you use the instructions contained in the full user manual for Solun (available on my web site) then please note that this version of Solun includes a new file, Solunlib.opo, which is required for all configurations.

Installation

To install this version of Solun 4, simply use the following steps:

  1. Create a the following directories on your Psion machine and copy, without conversion, the appropriate files into them (M: refers to your Internal drive - you may replace this with A: or B: if you wish to install on an SSD):
    M:\App\
    Copy the main application file, Solun4.opa, and the chart label alias file, Solunlab.als, into here.
    M:\App\Solun\
    Copy all remaining files in the distribution ZIP file (including the label files, with the *.lab suffix) into here. (You can include this Readme.htm file for future reference)
  2. Use the "Install application" option on the System screen to install the Solun4.opa application. You should now see the new "Solun 4" icon.
  3. Finally, if you wish to write your own chart labels, you may install the label editor alias file, Solunlab.als, onto the System screen also. This icon will list all the "*.lab" alias files you have installed and allow examination of their contents via the Data application.
    Note: Take care when creating and making changes to label files. See the full user manual for Solun (see above) for instructions.

Please consult your Psion manuals for more details of these operations, but let me know if you're having problems.

Uninstalling

If you have finished with this software you can remove the application as follows:

  1. Make sure the Solun application is not running.
  2. Uninstall the "Solun 4" and label alias icons from the System screen.
  3. Delete the following files in the following directories (replace 'M:' with 'A:' or 'B:' as appropriate):

A Quick Tour

Once you have installed the Solun 4 application, you are ready to take a quick tour...

Starting Solun
To start the tour, just highlight the "Solun4" application icon on the System screen and press the Enter key. After a few seconds you will be presented with the welcome screen, including a small display representing the current moon phase.
Display a star chart
After Solun has finished initialising and the welcome screen has been displayed, press the Space key to display a star chart.
The first time you display a star chart, Solun calculates a trigonometry table, which can take a minute or two. Please be patient. When the table is complete, you are given the option to save the table to disk for next time (as M:\OPD\Solun.dat). Press Y and Solun will continue to draw the chart.
When the chart is complete, you will see a representation of the current sky as seen from your home city, facing South. By default, Solun displays the planets and the outlines of the constellation shapes against a coordinate grid on the sky.
Changing the star chart display
From the menu, press Psion-D to display the Chart Details dialog. Select 'Automatic (Low)' in the star magnitudes field and set all other fields to 'Black'. Now, press Menu to choose which lines to plot. Set 'Milky Way outline' to 'Mixed' and all other lines to 'Grey' and press Enter twice (once to return to the Chart Details dialog, and a second time to return to the main menu mode).
From the menu, again, press Psion-C to display the Fast Planetarium menu, and then select West from this menu by pressing Psion-W.
Solun will begin to redraw the chart with your new settings.
The day/night world map
To display the day/night map, press the 1 (number one) key, or select the "World map" option from the "View" sub menu. An outline map of the world will be displayed, with a curved line representing the areas where the moon is rising or setting, and a shaded area representing the areas in darkness.
The quick visibility display
To quickly see which planets are currently above the horizon from your home city, press the 5 (number five) key. A grid is displayed representing your horizon along the bottom, and showing the symbols for the planets.
To view the meanings of the planet symbols in an inset window, press the L key.
The moon information panel
To display a panel of information about the moon, press Psion-M from the main menu. The displayed panel includes the rise and set times for the moon, as seen from your location today, and the current moon phase.
A report display
From the main menu, press Psion-R to enter the Report mode. Pressing the Menu key here displays the Report menu. Press Psion-M to display the Moon Phase report.
Solun will calculate the date and times for the quarter moon phases for the next few weeks. In addition, an indication is displayed of the likelihood of an eclipse at each new and full moon.
When the report is complete, press Esc to return to the main menu.
That was, of course, a very quick tour and Solun has many more features, as you'll find if you explore the application menus. For more information please see the list of available documentation, above.

Notes on New Features

The new features in recent versions of Solun are listed in the introduction to this document. Some of these not currently covered in the user manual (see above) and deserve further explanation.

Automatic star detail settings

The chart detail dialog allows you to control the number of stars that will appear on the chart, either by selecting the number directly or by allowing Solun to select the level of detail automatically.

If you select one of the automatic settings, Solun will determine the number of stars to plot based on the scale you choose for the chart. As you zoom in, more stars will be plotted.

Two automatic settings are provided, which display different numbers of stars for a given zoom level: 'Automatic (low)' and 'Automatic (high)'.

DMS entry fields

Some dialogs contain special entry fields that allow coordinates to be entered in both decimal and degrees-minutes formats.

These fields always display their values in degrees and minutes but you can enter the values in a variety or formats. The fields are written as follows:

Line drawing using label files

Users of Solun 4.2 and later can use label files to draw lines on the chart, perhaps to plot the path of an object or to outline an interesting region of the sky.

This is achieved by writing label files in the usual manner, as documented in the user manual (see above), and using the following special label tags:

<>*
Move the drawing cursor to the given position.
<>
Draw a line from the last cursor position to the give position (and move the cursor).

Note: Lines that move too far off the edge of the displayed screen will not be drawn. For this reason, try not to make lines too long - imagine the length of line on the surface of the celestial sphere.

Example label files using this mechanism will appear on the Solun web site, in the fullness of time.

Getting In Touch

If you have any comments or suggestions about this application then I can be contacted at the following locations:

Email:
dave@piecafe.demon.co.uk
World Wide Web:
http://www.piecafe.demon.co.uk/
For the latest information about Solun, please visit my home-page on the World Wide Web, or send me an email.

I hope to hear from you, and in the meantime I hope you enjoy using Solun as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

David Rushall, February 2000
dave@piecafe.demon.co.uk