NGC! v1.04
~~~~~~~~~~

General Information
-------------------
NGC! is a program written by Star Pilot Technologies, designed to run on the Palm
Computing Platform(r) that gives users the ability to obtain precise information
about NGC (New General Catalogue) and IC (Index Catalogue) objects and log their
own personal observations.

NGC! is written and maintained by Chris DiPierro of Star Pilot Technologies.


Requirments
-----------
 * A device running PalmOS v3.0 or higher.
 * 466k of free memory on your Palm for the program files/databases


Installation
------------
*NOTE*: You MUST install Location Manager (http://www.star-pilot.com/locmgr/)
        in order to use NGC!

Install the following files on your Palm device:
 ngc.prc (or ngc-reg.prc if you own the registered version)
 ngc.pdb


Upgrading from v1.02 or v1.03
-----------------------------
* Install ngc.prc (or ngc-reg.prc)

Changes from v1.02
------------------
* Fixed an RA bug

Changes from v1.02
------------------
* More precision added for RA & Dec on view screen.
* Deleting an observation record now works correctly.
* Added a confirmation after exporting an observation record to MemoPad.

Changes from v1.01
------------------
* Declination 'minutes' truncation (all decs were displayed with 0 minutes)
* Rise/set bug in southern hemisphere
* Run other apps fix
* Added constellation to main view screen

Changed from v1.00
------------------
* Declination display bug fix (all decs were incorrectly dubbed north)
* Added object type display
* Fixed search bug


Known Bugs
----------
 * There are no known bugs at this time.


Usage
-----
NGC! is a fairly simple program to use and its basic operation is documented
below. However, if you wish further documentation including screen shots, please
refer to http://www.star-pilot.com/ngc/

Search Screen
Using this screen you can limit what objects you would like to populate the 
drop-down list on the main calculation screen. Since the database has over 13,000 
objects in it, you must limit them via this screen so that it is managable. The 
way the search works is simple. If you wish the field to be a part of the search, 
check the box to its left, and then specify a range in the two fields. 

For instance, if you wanted to see objects that had an NGC designation between 
1000 and 2000, but only those that were Galaxies, you would:
 * Check the NGC checkbox
 * Put 1000 in the first NGC field
 * Put 2000 in the second NGC field
 * Check the Type checkbox
 * Select "Galaxy (Gx)" from the Type list
 * Uncheck all other checkboxes
 * Click the Search button

The fields are as follows:
         NGC # - New General Catalogue deisgnation
          IC # - Index Catalogue designation
        Mess # - Messier Catalogue designation
          Type - Object type

Mag - Magnitude
 Constellation - Constellation that the object is in
  # of Matches - Lets you know how many objects will be in the drop-down list when you hit "View"

Finally, select what field you'd like to sort the results by from the "Sort Order" drop-down 
list. Also Select (Asc)ending or (Des)cending to decide in which order your search results 
should be displayed.

Once you have the objects you care about, hit the View button and proceed to the 
calculations form.

Main Screen
Select an object in the drop-down list. Once you do so all fields will be filled in for 
that object. The fields are as follows:
   NGC # - New General Catalogue designation (if applicable, otherwise N/A)
    IC # - Index Catalogue designation (if applicable, otherwise N/A)
  Mess # - Messier Catalogue designation (if applicable, otherwise N/A)
      RA - Right Ascension in hours/minutes
     Dec - Declination in degrees/minutes
      Az - Azimuth of object in the sky in degrees  (if currently visable, otherwise N/A)
     Alt - Altitude of object in sky in degrees (if currently visable, otherwise N/A)
 R, T, S - Rise, transit and set times for the object (if applicable, otherwise N/A)
     Mag - Magnitude
    Size - Size of object in arc minutes


Observation Screen
After you've observed the object in the field, record your observations on this screen. 
You can also export your observations to MemoPad via the Export option in the menu.



Registration Info
-----------------
NGC! is distributed under the shareware "try before you buy" license.
It costs $9.95 to register. 

Benefits of registration include:
 * Ability to change date/time
 * Ability to sort by records
 * Ability to export observations to MemoPad

To register, please refer to http://www.star-pilot.com/purchase/


Liability
---------
The author of NGC! is not affiliated with Palm Computing, and is not 
liable for any damages caused to the user or the user's computer equipment
(including both their home PC and their Pilot). This program has been tested
on a Palm IIIc and to the best of the author's knowledge will not harm similar 
equipment. However, by installing this product the user dissolves the author 
of all liabilities related to this program or otherwise.




