Installation/en

Voyager is a shareware program. The demo version is free to use. The author assumes no liability resulting from improper use or bugs in the program. As an integrator of third-party applications, VOYAGER cannot know for sure the behavior of other software. Any damage arising from the use of VOYAGER is not covered by any insurance.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

The latest version of the application can be downloaded here: http://software.starkeeper.it/index.php/download

Prerequisites

VOYAGER runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems, both 32 and 64 bit. Basic requirements are:

• Operating Systems 32 / 64bit Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1,

Windows 10

• Microsoft Dot Net 4.0
• ASCOM platform from version 6.x https://ascom-standards.org
• minimum 1024x600 screen

VOYAGER has also been tested on Mac using PARALLELS virtual environment.

Third Party Applications and Versions Supported by Voyager

Applications, with minimum versions, that can be managed by VOYAGER:

• CAMERA CCD / DSLR
  • connected via ASCOM Platform 6.x https://ascom-standards.org
  • or Maxim DL CCD version 5.x
  • or TheSky6
  • or TheSkyX

• MOUNT / TELESCOPE
  • connected via ASCOM Platform 6.x https://ascom-standards.org
  • or TheSky6 Professional Edition 6.0.0.24 and later
  • or TheSkyX Professional Edition 10.1.11 and later

• GUIDING
  • PHD2 version 2.3.0 and later
  • or MaximDL 5.x
  • or TheSkyX 6.x

• PLATE SOLVING
  • PinPoint LE version 5.x
  • or PinPoint FULL version 5.x
  • or TheSkyX ImageLinker
  • or PlateSolve2
  • or nova.astrometry.net
  • or All Sky Solver

• FOCUSER
  • connected via ASCOM Platform 6.x https://ascom-standards.org
  • or FocusMax 3.4.40 and later
  • or MaximDL 5.x
  • or TheSkyX

• ROTATOR
  • connected via ASCOM Platform 6.x https://ascom-standards.org

Important Note! In order to use Voyager, you must at minimum connect a Camera and Mount.
The availability of executable actions within Voyager depends on the number and capability of connected applications.

Installation procedure

After downloading the installation file:

1. Start by double clicking on the downloaded file:

2. Under Windows 10, you may get a dialog box telling you Windows 10 protected your PC - click the More Info link:

3. After clicking More Info, you will see this additional information. Click the Run Anyway button to continue installing Voyager:

4. If you get another warning asking if you want to allow this application from an unknown publisher to make changes to your PC, click Yes to continue installing Voyager.

5. Choose your installation language, English or Italiano, and click OK

6. Read the license agreement, click the I accept the agreement radio button, and click the Next button to continue installing Voyager:

7. Optionally, check the "Create a desktop shortcut" box and click Next to continue installing Voyager:

8. Finally, click the Install button to do the installation:

9. You will see a dialog box with a progress bar while files are extracted and installed. Click Finish to complete the installation:

Important Note! For Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users: Voyager has to run with administrator privileges so it can communicate with other software. The installation program attempts to set administrator privileges but it is a good idea to confirm this was successful. The next instructions tell you how to do this.

10. To make Voyager run as Administrator, you can set the properties from either the desktop shortcut, if you created one, or from the Voyager2.exe file's properties. If you created a desktop shortcut, right click the shortcut and click Properties:

Important Note! Don't click "Run as administrator" from this menu since that will only run Voyager as administrator this one time. You want to set the properties so Voyager will always run as administrator.

Next click the Compatibility tab, then check the "Run this program as administrator" checkbox and click OK to save your changes.

OR

If you didn't create a desktop shortcut, navigate to the directory containing Voyager2.exe - usually this is in C:\Program Files(86)\Voyager\. Right click the Voyager2.exe file and click Properties:

Next click the Compatibility tab, then check the "Run this program as administrator" checkbox and click OK to save your changes.

Congratulations, you have installed Voyager!

Voyager Folders

When you first run VOYAGER, it will create a series of folders using the documents area of the operating system:

• ConfigSequence

Configuration files of the automated imaging sequences or automatic flat taking sequences

• FIT

FITS files (image files with metadata) created by VOYAGER actions

• GuideFIT

FITS files created by guiding actions

• Log

Text files with the log of operations performed by VOAYGER. The level of information is very high. These files will be required in case of bugs to fix or anomalies to interpret.

• Profile

Settings files for the various imaging system configurations you define

• ScreenShot

Screenshots of the program in case of watchdog events such as guiding or other failures

• Script

DragScript files used to automate imaging sessions

• Sequence

Default folder containing the FITS files generated by running sequences, the files are sorted to subfolders that are created with the name of the target. You can override this and send FITS files to a directory of your choice in the Setup section.

Log File

The Log folder contains the files VOYAGER creates as it executes tasks. There will be a file for each day of use, and each file will contain at most the logs from 24 hours of operation. Information in the log file is intended to help the developer trace the cause of a problem in the event of application failure or malfunction.

The developer may ask you to attach a zip file with the relevant portion of the log to help track down a problem. You can use a text editor, such as Notepad or the free third party editor Notepad++ to find the time of the problem, and then trim the log file down to the relevant lines. If there are more than a few lines of interest, save the relevant lines to a new text file and then compress them into a .zip file to attach to your email requesting help.

You may be asked to email the relevant portion of the log file with a text editor, and attach a zip file in your email They will be required as necessary to send an email. In that case it will be necessary to decrease the size zipparli and select only the necessary period.