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Overview Our Products Look & Feel More InformationCustomer Comments Our PartnersTutorial Videos Pricing & Requirements Contact Us & Legal Learn Why ACP Expert is so Different Explore Now ACP Expert is the total solution for observatory operations With our professional-class automation, scheduling, and web / mobile / local access, you’ll get the most out of your observatory whether you do science or art . You tell it what images you want, and the scheduler determines when , while the automation handles how . ACP Expert automates your entire observatory 24/7 hands-off while providing you mobile and web access to monitor operations, submit new image acquisition requests, and deliver images via the cloud as they are acquired automatically night after night. We focus on image acquisition and observatory operations. We also have partnerships with companies that integrate their software with ours. For example, CCD Navigator cross-links with ACP Expert ( see the video ), including the Scheduler and its database, even if the observatory is remote. The same goes with SkyTools Imaging , which also cross-links with ACP Expert’s Scheduler an its database remotely. Software is a service business, not a product business Ask any of our customerswe provide first-class support including live sessions with the developer. We provide a fast-response forum, the Communication Center , and if needed the developer will log in via our remote assistance tool to provide live help and diagnosis. We value our customers’ satisfaction ahead of everything else! Modular DesignThe key to reliability and scalability A commonly held belief is that a single program is more reliable than a collection of programs that interact via the operating system. Modern computing architectures are all based on modular design . This is best-practice for managing complexity, adaptability, and reliability. Each module/block has its own responsibilities, and the glue is the modern multi-tasking operating system with inter-process communication. ACP is a modular system and its long history of reliability and adaptability is due in large part to that design.Our Products There are five of these . Click the name right below to see the info for that product. ACP Expert ACP Observatory Control User Interface PinPoint Astrometric Engine Support & Upgrades SatisfactionACP Expert This is the complete system, consisting of the scheduler, the automation engine, the web server, and supplied web content (click User Interface above). ACP Expert manages your observatory 24/7 hands off. Give it work on multiple targets and colors for months ahead , specifying the conditions under which you want the images to be acquired. When the conditions are right, your images will be acquired. You don’t have to wrestle with timing of targets. The capabilities of the scheduler cover both science and art astronomy. Both communities can benefit from increased observatory productivity and reduction of astronomer workload! click to enlarge It may be difficult to imagine, or even believe, that such a capability exists. How can it know which targets to acquire when? What does it do when there is a weather unsafe event? Does it recover and continue acquiring images when the weather becomes safe? Does it really handle all aspects of the observatory night after night without babysitting? If you want to discuss ACP Expert and have your questions answered, please feel free to call us for a personal chat at +1 480 396 9700 business hours (MST, UTC-7) Monday through Friday. For more detail, go to the legacy ACP Expert Scheduler web site , or just download a 60 day trial version of the scheduler . You will need MaxIm DL and the trial version of the ACP Observatory Control Software as well . ACP Observatory Control Software This is the automation engine, web server, and supplied web content (see User Interface) but no scheduler. It can be purchased separately for those who don’t need the full scheduling capabilities of Expert. The automation engine in ACP provides live / timed observing similar to other automation packages out there. With all unscheduled automation packages, you are required to set up the target timing so that your images will be acquired when the target is visible, or better yet, when it is high in the sky. ACP can of course handle multiple targets, so you can have it work on a series of several targets in a night, working while each is in its best position. We supply a free planning tool ACP Planner to assist in setting up multi-target runs, but for the ultimate in ease of use consider ACP Expert’s scheduler. No planning at all! All aspects of observatory automation are 100% covered. This obviously involves many functions, and we have pioneered most of them. For example, solve and correct pointing was baked into ACP in its first release 14 years ago (we developed PinPoint for this purpose initially). When we say hands-off we really mean it. For much more detail, go to our legacy ACP web site , or just download a 60 day trial version . You will need MaxIm DL as well. click to enlarge Mobile / Web User Interface - It Doesn’t Get Any Simpler! Unique to both ACP Expert and ACP Observatory Control is the built-in "zero-admin" mobile / web observing feature. We have focused our design on this set of observing controls and forms for the last ten years. Whether you are out in your observatory, or it is 1,000 miles away, one set of controls is all you need to learn . Astronomers see simple forms for requesting a single image live, or a series of images in multiple bands for a single target, live or queued, or an uploading facility for more complex observing plans for live or queued acquisition. A live "dashboard" shows what is happening at all times. Virtually everything is presented in a compact clean way. Most forms have a magic Help button that slides out helpful and reference info. This unique way of interacting with the observatory also protects your observatory against tampering or "adjustments" by students or well-meaning friends. You don’t need to provide direct access to your observatory computer. No remote desktop. The web interface includes a sophisticated web-based editing system with detailed documentation within the tool set. You can customize your observatory’s web interface using this and the results are automatically web and mobile compatible! Just be aware that most of the web content is automatically adjusted for your observatory’s equipment (filter lists, etc). For more info see our videos covering the mobile/web user interface . click to enlarge Suggest full screen ^^^ PinPoint Astrometric Engine The standard for plate solving. Used not only within ACP Expert and ACP Observatory Control but also many other astronomical programs for both telescope pointing and scientific position measurements (astrometry). PinPoint connects automatically to Astrometry.net for all-sky plate solving, very useful for "lost" telescopes. Within ACP, PinPoint’s usage is completely automatic (like everything else!). PinPoint also comes with a mass plate solving and asteroid/supernova hunting program Visual PinPoint (shown below) PinPoint is available separately for use within other automation packages and scientific tools. If you have one of these other tools and wish to purchase a license for PinPoint, you can do so at our software store . If you want more details, visit the legacy PinPoint web site , or download a 60 day trial copy . click to enlarge Support and Upgrades When you purchase a license for one of our products, you get a year of free upgrades and our first class technical support. At the end of that year, you can optionally renew your support and upgrades . Your software never stops working . Software is a service business, not a product business.Bob Denny Support issues are handled on the DC-3 Dreams Communication Center , a forum system with both public areas as well as a premium section for current support subscribers. At...