Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thu, 07/30/2015 - 13:26
Hi all,
Excuse me, I do not know if it's the right section and if the argument was already addressed, but I could not find anything.
I am writing to ask why in the tables photometric VSP is no longer given the magnitude U?
Thank you!
You can now specify which bandpass magnitudes you want to display when plotting a photometry table. By default it only shows V and B-V, but if you scroll down to near the bottom of the VSP form you'll see a group of checkboxes that allows you to specify other bands to display. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the clarification William, and thanks for the work of improvement of the VSP.
Well, it looks like the old VSP is now gone. I lament it’s passing as it was user friendly and compact.
The most visible change was the addition of photometry table options (multi filter users please check your filters at the bottom of the form); this is really a worthwhile change especially when the Sloan filter data is eventually added.
However, I fail to see why the old format had to be changed to this unappealing format which consumes more space in both axis and for no apparent reason.
There may have been a need for a couple of internal changes but why alter the old form so much when it was so user friendly and COMPACT.
It is more time consuming and aggravating for me to use this format.
I would implore staff to update the old format without changing it’s user friendly layout.
I will confess to being an old curmudgeon but am I the only one that hates this new layout?
Tim Crawford, CTX
#1. If I want a DSS image what does it matter if I use 19 or 22 as the magnitude limit? I got "Timed out" on a chart request for V4641 SGR when I used 22 as the mag limit and 20 arc min as the field. When I used 19 and 15' as the limits, I got the DSS image I wanted.
#2. Why must I type in the new info for the limits and then delete the old ones? I used to merely highlight the old data and type over it - or is this a quirk of Firefox?
At first, I liked the new VSP beta, but after I used the beta version a few times, I reverted to the old one. I do appreciate the attempts to keep up with the microsoft race to stay ahead of forced obsolescence. It seems like racing around the screen to keep ahead of Pacman, sans sound effects.
Lew
Whenever one changes something that supplies output that other programmers use as input to their software, IF the output is not in the same format as before, THEN that software becomes useless. I have found at least two programs I use that don't work as designed: TG and LesvePhotometry. This means that the fallout from eliminating the old VSP makes more work for two other (volunteer) programmers. This also means delays in reporting data.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE restore the old VSP at its former URLs. It is OK if you want to keep the new VSP linked from the pages that currently use them, just use different URLs than those used previously.
Lew
Lew, I just ran several TG runs - using both VPHOT and the AIP formats. Everything looks ok. Was your problem with TG or TA? Gordon
Title says it all!
Lew
Hi,
I also realized today that something changed in the VSP. I used to run software reading from the old version of the seqence (and URL) and it worked perfect. Also the old format was much more compact and easier to use than the new one. Why one needs to put checkboxes for the filters. Why not show all what is available immediately? Those not interested in say BVI filters will not use the info. Now much more space is used for the presentation and many more clicks to get what the user wants.
I have not often used VSP in its present or passed form. I always either use the program offering input files for LesvePhotoemtry or used the box on the main AAVSO page and click on create a finder chart and then to the photometry table where I manually copied into LesvePhotometry before the automatic program was available.
Although I welcome change but it should be towards improvements. I fear that again this is a change in the worng direction.
I have submitted myself about 5% of the total AAVSO submission data and hence am a heavy user of the AAVSO website and features. The available tools and help of othe amateurs developing programs to easily extract the necessary information made this so far rather "easy". I spent about 3-4h daily on variable stars so please do not make it more complicated as it is if you have tons of data.
Josch
Interesting comment, Tim, and you are one who spends a lot of time on charts!
I use my 15" Mac laptop a lot and I have to admit that the new format takes up a lot more screen room. I used to be able to fit most of the opening VSP page on one screen but now it takes two screens with scrolling.
Just a comment.
Kind regards
Stephen [HSP]
Thanks for the feedback you guys. I did some work based on similar feedback to make the form more compact, but I can see I still need to do some work there.
It's interesting to note that I've measured the two forms and found that the new VSP form is only about 20% taller than the old form -- and the new VSP form has more fields than the old one. It goes to show how big an impact a small change can make, and why its difficult to get these things right.
Unfortunately, I cannot simply bring back the old form--the new VSP is running on a completely new codebase, and it's not possible to simply copy and paste the old layout into the new code and have it work. Instead I will continue to try and improve the current layout based on your feedback.
Thanks for the continuous work to improve VSP, Will. It's an incredible tool and one that I use often.
I can't help but think back to the early days of the Variable Star Section of RASNZ when I used to wait, with bated breath, for Frank Bateson to bring out his next series of charts. Now we can get them almost with the click of a finger.
Kindest regards
Stephen [VSP]
Hello everyone,
I apologize for the confusion surrounding the VSP API.
As of this moment (Wednesday Aug 5, 6:45PM US Eastern time), the old VSP API (cgi-bin/vsp.pl...) is working. If it is not working for chartIDs generated *prior* to August 2, please *email* me privately -- please do not post here. I would greatly appreciate feedback from the software developers themselves on this if it appears broken on your end right now.
The old API does not currently have access to new chartIDs. I am trying to write a fix for this right now, and I expect it will be tested and finalized on the morning or afternoon of August 6 (likely after August 6.5 UT). Please also realize that if you generate new chart IDs using the old API at this time, they may not be available through the new API, at least not immediately.
Again, apologies for any inconvenience.
Matthew