FAQs

This section contains some frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding SPOT.

General

Why is it installed as “spot-nik” if the name of the program is “spot”?

Because on the Python Package Index (PyPI), “spot” was already taken and we needed a fun name.

Platforms

Does SPOT run on Mac/Windows/Linux/XYZ?

SPOT is written entirely in the Python programming language, and uses only supporting Python packages. As long as a platform supports Python and the necessary packages, it can run SPOT.

Is there a web version of SPOT?

Not yet, but keep an eye out for that.

Usage

SPOT seems to stall when opening the PolarSky plugin?

When first running up SPOT, some of the third-party astronomy packages need to download some ephemeris files. They will do this in the background, without any warning to the SPOT user except on the terminal you started spot (we realize this is not ideal, and are working on a solution for it). Just please be patient and eventually the plugin should start

Targets don’t seem to be updating with time?

Closing some plugins can cause other plugins to not work as expected. For example, the “SiteSelector” plugin is important as the source of time updates for almost all the other plugins, and if you close it completely the time tracker there may no longer trigger updates in those other plugins. Similarly, the “Targets” plugin is the one that actually plots the targets and solar system objects in the Polar plot, so if you close it those objects may not be updated. If in doubt, minimize a plugin instead of closing.

And speaking of the “SiteSelector” plugin, if the “Time mode” is set to “Fixed” then the time will not update regularly either, and objects will be plotted in fixed positions with respect to that fixed time.

Customizing

How can I add my telescope privately to SPOT?

If your desired location is not available, you can easily add your own. If you have the SPOT source code checked out, you can find the file sites.yml: https://github.com/naojsoft/spot/blob/main/spot/config/sites.yml at SPOT’s github home, or (if you have downloaded the source code) in “sites.yml” in …/spot/spot/config/. Copy this file to $HOME/.spot and edit it to add your own site. Be sure to set all of the keywords for your site (latitude, longitude, elevation, etc). Restart spot and you should be able to pick your new location from the list.

How can I get my telescope added to the official list?

See the sites file (referred to in the question directly above) for the necessary information to provide to us. Submit a github issue: https://github.com/naojsoft/spot/issues with the request to add your site.

How can I get my telescope to work with the TelescopePosition plugin?

In order to successfully use this plugin, it is necessary to write a custom companion plugin to provide the status necessary to draw these positions. If you didn’t create such a plugin, it will look as though the telescope is parked.

Download the SPOT source code and look in the “spot/examples” folder for a plugin template called “TelescopePosition_Companion”. Modify as described in the template.

How can I get my instrument FOV overlay to work with the InsFov plugin?

This is a little more complicated, but not too hard. See the examples in …/spot/spot/instruments (as well as the {tt __init__.py} file there. We can advise you in github discussions: https://github.com/naojsoft/spot/discussions