Using tablets in the field

Hi folks,

I would like to share my experience with using a Windows 8.1 tablet. I believe it has a lot of potential and I am eagerly waiting for dark skies sans clouds to try it again.

I recently purchased a Dell Venue with Windows 8.1 for $250 from Amazon, on which I promptly installed my copy of Skytools 3. I also purchased some Rubylith film and a pen as Windows 8 in normal mode (not using tiles but the traditional menu) is not so "touch" friendly and any normal windows application is certainly not optimised for tablets.

I will soon source a case with built in Bluetooth keyboard and a Bluetooth mouse to go with it but here is how I am faring so far.

I have set up my parameters in ST3 on my laptop (observing locations, telescopes, equipment e.t.c.).

I then backed up this version in my Dropbox and promptly restored it on my Windows tablet. It is easier this way as the tablet is not really optimised to handle a lot of data input using touch e.t.c. As soon as I have the keyboard and mouse, it's another story.

I have found this tablet to be quite fast with "notable" exception that it takes an extra second to render the sky chart for the evening with eyepiece, finderscope and naked eye views. Not really anything to complain about!

Using Rubylith maintains my night vision and I used this last week for a couple of hours. I have found it eminently usable and I am looking forward to more testing. I do carry various charts with me, but if I can avoid printing charts for star hopping, that would be awesome.

Heck, I could always Velcro the sucker on my Dob and keep it mounted for hands free viewing!

Also, with the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, I will be able to take quick observing notes and hopefully start maintaining some records of my observations (a bit lazy in that respect).

Upon returning home, I just backed up the tablet to Dropbox and restored everything (including a couple of test notes) to my desktop.

Would I recommend this? I believe that printed maps will always have their place in the field. I enjoy poring over them with a red light. But the ability to have detailed information and star charts at the tip of my fingers is a tremendous help.

Something to consider and definitely miles ahead of using SkySafari in the field. SkySafari may be more user friendly but in no way can it match a full on astronomical software like ST3.

Food for thought...

Edit: I do of course carry various other maps on the tablet, details about my eyepieces and any other astro stuff of interest. Also, Stellarium runs like a charm and I find it nice for general purpose viewing and could also be extremely helpful for outreach events.

I agree that both time and technology have arrived to allow us to realistically minimize paper. We might even completely eliminate it. I have found that computer-generated charts are rarely of much use for dim or small objects: their selection and rendering of stars rarely present a realistic field and I waste more time trying to reconcile with what I'm looking at through the eyepiece. Alvin Huey's approach generally works best: a wide field view to set the broad location context, a more narrow view to get you to the neighborhood, and then an actual image to serve as the finder. However, that forces one to carry around a lot of paper.

I always carry around the Pocket Sky Atlas to get that broad location context. If I want more detail, I find SkySafari is great. Finally, for detailed finding, the Clear Sky Observers Guide provides an optimized DSS rendering. I have the entire sky 12" edition, which is plenty suitable for my 18" Obsession: it takes up a bit of memory on the tablet and I could get by with just portions of it, but why not have everything at your fingertips?

CSOG presents white on black. This is better than a reversed image when viewing it on a pad with rubylith because it minimizes the aggregate amount of light hitting your eyeballs. Image quality is enough to zoom the 30' field to the full screen. I have found an added bonus: CSOG includes a lot of information about each object. I used to carry around the paperback version of the Sky Atlas 2000.0 Companion to look up information on the object; this eliminated 840 grams, not to mention the bulk. (I used to lug around the Uranometria 2000.0 Deep Sky Field Guide 2270 grams was way too much. I do carry both volumes of Uranometria 2000.0 "just in case." I will probably stop that, since I have found little need to refer to it.)

I could easily survive with just my Pocket Sky Atlas and iPad. (I actually have the Pocket Sky Atlas on my iPad, too, but the paper version is easier to navigate.)

I haven't had the chance to put my newest iPad to the cold test. We all know as temperatures drop, so do the battery charges. I don't think it is realistic to just leave it on for an extended.

My paperless workflow extends way beyond this, but I won't bore anyone with the details.

I don't care pea turkey about printed maps anymore. I wouldn't mind a tablet, but it would have to run SkyTools and Deep Sky Planner. I understand that might be possible with some of the Windows tablets and not others...

I use my iPad (1st generation) with SkySafari Pro 3.8.2 (newer version not available due to OS limitations) with my 20" dob and I am very happy about that. The iPad I have set to minimum brightness and it is covered by red plastic. The touch screen still works fine. I create observing lists with SkyTools which I export and import into the Notes app on the iPad. Works like a charm.


Clear skies,

Wouter van Reeven

I am just not there yet tablet-wise. Things may be changing, but at this time the tablet paradigm with astronomy is still "What can I stand to give up?" ALSO, for the way I work, a tablet wouldn't be a big help. I generally run the scope from inside a tailgating canopy with the computer on a camping table. I don't have a computer at the scope. Finally, if you add a keyboard to a tablet, I really don't see the advantage over a laptop. As tablets evolve and more astro-ware becomes available, this will no doubt change. But, like I said in a recent S&T article I did on astro-puting, a laptop is still the best choice. ;-)

This is my second year away from printed charts and I'll never go back to paper charts. Currently I use SkySafari 4 Pro on a 10.1" XOOM tablet. This latest version doesn't show all of the stars that I see in the eyepiece but it makes it a cinch to galaxy hop, in Leo for example.

I use a Surface Pro 2 with 512 gig hard drive and 8 gig RAM. All my astro software runs on it (The Sky X, Skytools 3 Pro, Megastar, Deepsky Planner, Astroplanner, etc.) and I can even control my scope wirelessly. The screen resolution is great and it runs fast. I use FoxIT PDF to print all my astro articles to PDF so I do not have to lug them around. I got sick of going to star parties and bringing everything but the kitchen sink. Not having to haul around a bunch of books and atlases makes it a bit easier to travel.

Duane

How do y'all maintain night vision and use a tablet?
By the time I make it dim enough it doesn't noticeably damage my night vision, I can't read it.
The problem is, direct light into the eye can't be as dim as a red LED flashlight on paper.
I can turn down a red LED to the point where I can barely see it, and the reflection from the paper is, maybe, 3 square inches.
If that were a phone, it would be a very small one.
I know many of you use laptops, tablets, and cell phones in the field, but I notice I can see the light on your faces from 50' away, and that is just WAY too bright for deep sky use. When I'm observing galaxies, I cover all LEDs with tape, and use no light at all other than sky light except a dim red LED (one LED with dark red fingernail polish on the LED, and set to the dimmest possible setting).
I have taken to staring at the ground for a few minutes before going to the eyepiece, and NOT looking at the sky (I have found that the sky itself damages night vision).
I suspect that:
--you aren't really dark adapted
--you may observe in brighter skies than I do.
--You're using apertures so large you don't care about losing some dark adaptation because you're going to see it anyway.
Frankly, I'm getting annoyed at the proliferation of laptops, tablets, and cell phones at dark sites. I think they should be kept to one end of a large field, away from the visual observers. The number of them has gotten so large at Mt. Pinos, I'm now seeking out new sites in the area to observe from.
Count me as a curmudgeon, I guess. I have a DSC which has a screen so dimmed it can't be read until it is completely dark, and i even turn that off when I'm observing.

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Originally Posted by Don Pensack

How do y'all maintain night vision and use a tablet?

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Using a tablet, I have experienced my dark adaptation is actually better (much better) than using a dim red flashlight on white paper. Properly dimmed with a red cover applied, there is less light.

- Use a double layer of red PVC foil. Many use a type of vinyl that is usually more pink than red. Ensure the plastic is very red. Use a piece that is sufficiently large to cover the screen and attach another that is a bit larger and overlaps part of the tablet's bezel. Simply use a piece of tape to attach this double layer to the tablet. The touchscreen will continue to work as it normally would.

- Dim the laptop (obviously). For those who use an iPad, I recommend the app PerfectReader 2. It allows an open document to be dimmed much more than the iPad's standard settings allow.

- Dim the tablet so that it gets tough to read, then pinch to zoom. Zooming (creating larger content on the screen) allows for much dimmer screen settings.

- All iPad users: Jailbreak (no, it's not illegal). Download the app "Dimmer". An iPad can now be dimmed as much as desired.

- Switch the tablet off when not using it. Again, a jailbroaken iPad helps as "Activator" allows you to set the iPad's home button as the "off" switch when pressed and held.

The image below is yours truly in a Kendrick tent with an iPad mounted to the telescope using a TwelveSouth Hoverbar. The exposure time for that photo was 10 seconds (f2.8, ISO12800... yes, really), during which the iPad remained switched on. Note the Autostar controller at minimum brightness.

http://www.clearskies.eu/webfiles/ootm/0714/ipad.jpg

http://www.clearskies.eu/webfiles/ootm/0614/ipad.jpg

I have to agree with the assertion that using a tablet can be actually better than paper with a red light. I find most have their red lights turned on to high to start with. Perhaps it is my aging eyes, but I don't find I need to go to the extremes Victor goes through, including jail breaking my iPod! (Of course, Victor seems to see about twice as much with two-thirds the aperture... Youth is wasted on the young!) I'm using the self-adhering transparent screen cover from AstroGizmos, which doesn't require tape, and I can set the screen brightness below what I can see. In fact, it is so low, even with the red cover, that I keep thinking my iPad is broken the next morning because I can't see anything when I turn it on in the light of day. Perhaps that says more about my aging eyes. I have taken the iPad with red cover into a closet with moderately adapted eyes and shined it at my hand a foot away and was unable to see the hand. I'd be willing to guess that this is actually reducing the overall red pollution.

Because I'm near-sighted, it is easier to take my glasses of and get my eyes very close to the screen. This is actually very awkward to do with a red flashlight.

I also agree with the complaint about the proliferation of unprotected or under-protected screens at public events.

I use a double layer of Sirius astro red film on my iPad Mini. The mini has a much dimmer back light compared to the full size iPad. I've also have started using an eye patch to cover my observing eye at all times except when I'm looking in the eyepiece. This along with using the hood on my observing vest has improved my dark adaptation tremendously and I can go deeper than ever before. It was easier than I thought get use to mono vision.

I use a small laptop with The Sky and Astroplanner on my 24" dob. I use both a special medical red film and ruby red plastic from TAP, and these allow a very dim screen with no light passing shorter than a very deep red. But I must agree to a large degree with Don: it can effect your night vision. I can tell when I have been away from the screen for 10 or 15 minutes while just viewing an object, returning to the laptop screen, then to the eyepiece. It takes my vision a bit to recover. There is a trade off here given the convenience of digital charts. For this reason, I still have a least one paper atlas and finder charts with descriptions on a table. I need to experiment more with the background display too.
Al Smith

Inspired by Clear Skies (or rather I was sort of indoctrinated by him ^_^) I have used an iPad Mini retina last April while observing. With a thick piece of PVC, the screem dimmed to its max there is no substitute for part of the paper tower. I still use paper atlasses because I want them on a big layout. There's no way the TriAtlas B/C on A3 will be substituted by my iPad anytime soon. The CSOG however are perfect on the iPad and give loads of extra information in the field!

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Originally Posted by theritz

Inspired by Clear Skies (or rather I was sort of indoctrinated by him ^_^) I have used an iPad Mini retina last April while observing. With a thick piece of PVC, the screem dimmed to its max there is no substitute for part of the paper tower. I still use paper atlasses because I want them on a big layout. There's no way the TriAtlas B/C on A3 will be substituted by my iPad anytime soon. The CSOG however are perfect on the iPad and give loads of extra information in the field!

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Have you used the TriAtlas app? Granted, it only has the 'C'-level charts, but it works astoundingly well in the field. It also has a red-on-black night-vision mode that works very well (although it would work much better if the 1/2"-wide toolbar also turned red, rather than grey--as it is, you still need a red film over the screen). You can expand the charts to a decent scale.

I know the app (in fact is it made by another Dutch guy I know from my public observatory work) but I find my 8.9" (or 10" screens at that) too small to have the overview I want. Yes, you can zoom in but then I loose the overview. Nope, it does not cut it for me.