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Envision the Heavens v2.5.2.0

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@wesmcd6 wesmcd6 released this 17 Oct 21:47
· 36 commits to master since this release
v2.5.2.0
fa1b1f0

Envision the Heavens™ 2.5.2.0

The app formerly called ExploreStars Envision is now Envision the Heavens™, referred to
here as Envision, with a new icon and launch screen. This release also brings Polar Assist, a more complete pointing model, better alignment
stars, the VR sky window, and easier installs on Windows and Mac.

2.5.2.0 is the first public release since 2.5.0.6, so it also includes everything from 2.5.1.0,
which was never published on its own.

Installing or setting up? Everything you need is in the download. In the server zip, open the
docs folder inside Envision and double-click server-setup-guide.html: the step-by-step
Server Setup Guide for Windows, Mac, PC Linux and Raspberry Pi. The same docs folder (in the
server zip and the Windows zip) holds the full user manual, Envision-UserManual.html. Upgrading
from an earlier version? See Upgrading below.

What's new in 2.5.2.0

New name and look

  • The app is now Envision the Heavens™ (Envision for short), with a new icon and a launch screen showing a meteor shower with a few
    seconds of night sounds. You can turn the sound off under Settings → Launch screen. Silent mode
    also mutes it.
  • In the PWA, the launch sound starts on your first click, tap or key press. Browsers block sound
    until then.

Alignment and pointing

  • New: Polar Assist. Polar-align with the altitude and azimuth bolts, guided by the star
    alignment. After Done, GoTos stay corrected until you re-align.
  • Alignments are remembered per site. One centered star re-anchors a saved alignment, and a second
    star checks that the mount hasn't been bumped.
  • A more complete pointing model. It now fits Taki's Z1 term (Dec axis not square to the polar
    axis), and it solves each term only once the stars can pin it down.
  • Better alignment stars. Star Align ranks the whole catalog and asks for the stars the model
    needs. Skip keeps a star out, and Different stars works again. In the southern hemisphere,
    suggested stars now cover both sides of the pier.
  • A star that doesn't fit the others is caught and named, with re-center, skip and
    commit-anyway choices.
  • Atmospheric refraction is corrected for alignment and GoTo, and Star Align shows whether the
    correction is on.
  • Meridian flips are an ordinary GoTo with the alignment applied. Tracking stops at a per-mount
    limit if a flip is held or Auto flip is off.
  • Sync accepts a chart pick, refuses the same star twice, and offers Use anyway.
  • Custom coordinates entered as JNOW now GoTo the position you typed. They were being precessed
    twice, which put them about 20′ off.

Catalog and chart

  • Star positions corrected. The chart's stars were at the Hipparcos epoch rather than J2000, and
    several hundred catalog entries were fixed.
  • On iPhone and iPad, Wikipedia opens inside the app instead of switching to Safari.

Settings

  • Envision Mode moved to Settings, under Connection.
  • More of the app is translated, including Polar Assist and the alignment banners.

Installing and running the server

  • Windows: the download is now a folder with Start Envision and Create Desktop Shortcut,
    and the program in app\ beside them. The program is now Envision.exe, and your settings carry
    over from the previous version.
  • Windows: the launchers and start-servers.bat work even when the PC's PATH is too long, and
    start-servers.bat stops servers left running after its window was closed with X.
  • Mac: the first server launch is one line to copy and paste into Terminal, and a double-click
    works every time after that. The run permissions now survive unzipping.
  • Mac: start-servers warns when this Mac doesn't trust the server's certificate for SSL. When
    that happens, Safari shows "Load failed" and nothing connects. The setup page and the manual give
    the certificate steps, including the SSL line.
  • PWA: the app updates itself. After the server is upgraded, the app reloads once onto the new
    version instead of showing the old one from its cache.

Manual

  • New sections on zoom and text size.
  • New Troubleshooting rows for an accidental zoom, the Mac certificate, and a WiFi mount whose IP
    address changed. For the last one, the fix is to set a DHCP reservation in your router.

Also included from 2.5.1.0

  • New: the VR sky window, a third chart mode (FREE → LIVE → VR). Hold the phone up and the
    screen shows the sky behind it.
  • The chart now points at true north, using magnetic declination from the World Magnetic Model
    (with a manual override).
  • Steadier chart tracking on iPhone, including near the zenith.
  • Push-To pointing corrected: the sensor pip and the chart now use the same true-north heading.
  • ALIGN uses the star you picked and shows how far it is from where you're pointing. An alignment
    can now be cleared.
  • The chart no longer reloads itself during long sessions, and no longer comes back stretched.
  • The app stays in portrait on phones and tablets.
  • Polar alignment no longer warns about a missing sensor when the sensor works.
  • Night mode reaches the status bar on both platforms, and the dark theme no longer flips when the
    phone switches to light mode.

Downloads

File For
Envision-v2.5.2.0-android.apk Android phones and tablets (sideload)
Envision-v2.5.2.0-windows.zip Windows 10/11 desktop app
Envision-v2.5.2.0-pwa-server.zip The server, for sharing one mount with phones, tablets and other programs (Windows, Mac, PC Linux, Raspberry Pi)
SHA256SUMS.txt Checksums for the three files above

The download names changed with the new app name. They used to start with ExploreStars-Envision-.

Upgrading

Setup instructions are in the download. In the server zip, open the docs folder inside
Envision and double-click server-setup-guide.html. It walks through installing and starting
the server on Windows, Mac, PC Linux and Raspberry Pi, and connecting your phones. The same docs
folder (in the server zip and the Windows zip) holds the full user manual,
Envision-UserManual.html.

Android: install the new APK over the old app. Your settings, catalogs and saved alignments
are kept.

Windows: unzip to a folder you can write to, such as Documents or the Desktop, not Program Files.
Open the Envision folder and double-click Start Envision. Run Create Desktop Shortcut once
if you want an icon. Your settings carry over from the previous version the first time it runs.
After that you can delete the old ExploreStars-Envision folder.

Mac (server): macOS blocks programs downloaded from the internet, so the first launch of each
new download is one Terminal step. It is also in the Server Setup Guide (docs/server-setup-guide.html),
which has a Copy button for the line. Open Terminal (⌘ Space, type Terminal, press Return), then
copy this whole line, paste it, and press Return:

f="$(find ~/Downloads ~/Desktop -name start-servers.sh -path '*Envision*' -exec stat -f '%B %N' {} + 2>/dev/null | sort -rn | head -1 | cut -d' ' -f2-)"; if [ -n "$f" ]; then bash "$f"; else echo "Envision folder not found in Downloads or Desktop"; fi

If macOS asks whether Terminal may access your Downloads folder, click OK. Every launch after that
is a double-click of start-servers.command.

PC Linux (server): install Node.js (sudo apt install nodejs) if you don't have it. The web
server (Caddy) is bundled, so there's nothing else to install.

PWA users: after the server is upgraded, the app switches to the new version by itself, with at
most one reload. If it still looks like the old version, open it in a private window to confirm,
then clear that site's data and fully quit and reopen the browser.

Independence, trademarks & license

Envision the Heavens™ is an independent application that controls Explore Scientific™ PMC-Eight™
telescope mounts. The application code and project materials are authored and owned by Wes McDonald
except where third-party credits are listed below. If Explore Scientific, LLC recommends, endorses,
promotes, or distributes the app, that endorsement should be understood as support for use of an
independently authored application within the PMC-Eight ecosystem, not as Explore Scientific
authorship or ownership of the app.

Explore Scientific™, ExploreStars™, and PMC-Eight™ are trademarks of Explore Scientific,
LLC, and are used here with acknowledgement. Envision the Heavens™ is a trademark of Wes McDonald.

Envision the Heavens™ is provided as a compiled binary for personal use with the Explore Scientific™
PMC-Eight™ mount. The source code is not publicly distributed. Redistribution of the unmodified binary
is permitted; modification, reverse engineering, decompilation, and source extraction are not. The
software is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind. Full data & software attributions are in
LICENSES.md, included with the download.

Copyright © 2026 Wes McDonald. All rights reserved.

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