Quick Start Guide

Thank you for choosing Deep-Sky Planner 6 Special Edition. This document guides you through the most essential steps in getting the product ready for use. For more detailed information, see Deep-Sky Planner Help.

Setup your observing location(s).
Use Options | Location Manager to find a location that is near your observing site or add your site to the database. Make sure that you choose the correct time zone definition for your site. Select the site that you use the most and make it your Favorite.
Enter information on your observing equipment. Use the browsers on the Equipment/Observer menu to add, edit and delete equipment.
Enter Observer information for yourself using Equipment/Observer | Observer Browser.
Optional - If you want to control a telescope with Deep-Sky Planner 6 Special Edition, use Telescope Control | Setup to choose the driver for your mount. Telescope Control | Setup is enabled only if you have previously installed ASCOM. You can download ASCOM at http://ascom-standards.org/.

If you receive an error message when you select Telescope Control | Setup, you will need to close Deep-Sky Planner 6 Special Edition and restart it using 'Run as administrator'. This error occurs because some versions of ASCOM require administrative rights to select a telescope driver.
Optional - If you want to view dates, times or angular values in a different format, use Options | Preferences to choose the formatting that you prefer.
Optional - If you want to set the colors and fonts used for reports, use Options | Report Styles to choose a report stylesheet. Make sure you make your stylesheet selection the Favorite.
Backup your user data and settings (set above) for safekeeping or for synchronizing another installation of Deep-Sky Planner using File | Backup. This is particularly useful when moving user data to Deep-Sky Planner 6 if you upgrade to the full edition.
Important: When uninstalling Deep-Sky Planner 6 Special Edition, you are asked whether you want to remove all user files. Answer NO; otherwise, your backup files will be deleted unless you stored them in a custom folder location.

You are ready to start using Deep-Sky Planner 6 Special Edition to search catalogs, calculate ephemerides, etc.