we don't know what we don't know

It's taken a long time.

Lately it has occurred to me that I'm very comfortable with the SkyTools software. Finally. I don't leave him without it. I enjoy using it. It is important for me when planning. And I really like to have it at the telescope, for starhopping, if necessary, for confirming sights, identifying double stars. If I can drive the mount, all the better. More and more I'm using it for image capture planning. Fantastic.

But then I considered that there are maybe still features I don't yet know about. It's a big product. It felt a little overwhelming in 2010 and 2011. Now I feel settled. But maybe I am too settled. I don't use the ephemeris much; I think I understand the basic principles.

Recently I had been at the Skyhound web site and noted the software features page. I returned to it and worked through the list. The plan was that if I came across anything I hadn't used or heard of or learned well, I'd concentrate on these undiscovered features. In conjunction, I reviewed the documentation. I wanted to be sure I was fully using the product. Using it as well as possible.

I was surprised at all that I knew. Then again, it's been over 1300 days since I first installed the app!

Hold up! I saw a note about the star drift tool. What?! What's that? Ooh, for doing drift alignment. Cool! I had no idea! Can't wait to try that!