help
help
Getting started with Clear Night Coach
Five minutes of setup, then the console does the thinking
Getting started
Getting started
1. Run ClearNightCoachSetup.exe (Windows will warn about an unknown publisher — click "More info", then "Run anyway"; the Download page explains why).
2. Launch Clear Night Coach from the Start menu. The console opens as its own window.
3. Open CONFIG and set your site: latitude, longitude, time zone and Bortle class. This is the single most important step — every altitude, dark window and moon figure is computed for exactly this spot.
4. Open Equipment and set your rig: pick your telescope and camera from the lists (or type your own numbers), set your mount type and any filters you own.
5. Go back to Targets. That's tonight's decision — done.
Troubleshooting
1. Run ClearNightCoachSetup.exe (Windows will warn about an unknown publisher — click “More info”, then “Run anyway”; the Download page explains why).
2. Launch Clear Night Coach from the Start menu. The console opens as its own window.
3. Open CONFIG and set your site: latitude, longitude, time zone and Bortle class. This is the single most important step — every altitude, dark window and moon figure is computed for exactly this spot.
4. Open Equipment and set your rig: pick your telescope and camera from the lists (or type your own numbers), set your mount type and any filters you own.
5. Go back to Targets. That’s tonight’s decision — done.
1. Run ClearNightCoachSetup.exe (Windows will warn about an unknown publisher — click "More info", then "Run anyway"; the Download page explains why).
2. Launch Clear Night Coach from the Start menu. The console opens as its own window.
3. Open CONFIG and set your site: latitude, longitude, time zone and Bortle class. This is the single most important step — every altitude, dark window and moon figure is computed for exactly this spot.
4. Open Equipment and set your rig: pick your telescope and camera from the lists (or type your own numbers), set your mount type and any filters you own.
5. Go back to Targets. That's tonight's decision — done.
"Windows protected your PC" on install — expected for an independent unsigned app. Click "More info", then "Run anyway". The Download page explains why.
Weather looks stale or missing — you're offline or the forecast service is unreachable.
The console falls back to its last saved forecast, then to pure astronomy, and says so on the Weather page. The target decision still works. "Key saved — connecting to verify" won't clear — a subscription key needs internet once to switch on. Get online, open the LICENSE panel and click reconnect.
Times look wrong — check the time zone saved in CONFIG matches your site. All decision times are local; the header clock is deliberately UTC, matching your FITS timestamps and NINA logs. Anything else — email support@clearnightcoach.com with what you saw and roughly when. Screenshots help.
"Windows protected your PC" on install — expected for an independent unsigned app. Click "More info", then "Run anyway". The Download page explains why.
Weather looks stale or missing — you're offline or the forecast service is unreachable.
The console falls back to its last saved forecast, then to pure astronomy, and says so on the Weather page. The target decision still works. "Key saved — connecting to verify" won't clear — a subscription key needs internet once to switch on. Get online, open the LICENSE panel and click reconnect.
Times look wrong — check the time zone saved in CONFIG matches your site. All decision times are local; the header clock is deliberately UTC, matching your FITS timestamps and NINA logs. Anything else — email support@clearnightcoach.com with what you saw and roughly when. Screenshots help.
Getting Started
“Windows protected your PC” on install — expected for an independent unsigned app. Click “More info”, then “Run anyway”. The Download page explains why.
Weather looks stale or missing — you’re offline or the forecast service is unreachable.
The console falls back to its last saved forecast, then to pure astronomy, and says so on the Weather page. The target decision still works. “Key saved — connecting to verify” won’t clear — a subscription key needs internet once to switch on. Get online, open the LICENSE panel and click reconnect.
Times look wrong — check the time zone saved in CONFIG matches your site. All decision times are local; the header clock is deliberately UTC, matching your FITS timestamps and NINA logs. Anything else — email support@clearnightcoach.com with what you saw and roughly when. Screenshots help.
The hero card is the night's winner — the one target the engine backs, with a plain-English case for why: how it frames on your sensor, when it's best placed, what the moon is doing to it.
Below it sits the shortlist, at most five alternates, each with a one-line why (or why-not). Above everything is the conditions verdict: GO means shoot; MARGINAL means there's a real window but it's compromised, and the reason is stated; DON'T-BOTHER means the honest call is to stay inside.
The engine computes every number deterministically — the AI only writes the prose, it never invents the astronomy. Want a second opinion on your own idea?
Type any object into Check a Target and get the same honest scoring, even when the answer is no.
Reading the decision
The hero card is the night’s winner — the one target the engine backs, with a plain-English case for why: how it frames on your sensor, when it’s best placed, what the moon is doing to it.
Below it sits the shortlist, at most five alternates, each with a one-line why (or why-not). Above everything is the conditions verdict: GO means shoot; MARGINAL means there’s a real window but it’s compromised, and the reason is stated; DON’T-BOTHER means the honest call is to stay inside.
The engine computes every number deterministically — the AI only writes the prose, it never invents the astronomy. Want a second opinion on your own idea?
Type any object into Check a Target and get the same honest scoring, even when the answer is no.
The hero card is the night's winner — the one target the engine backs, with a plain-English case for why: how it frames on your sensor, when it's best placed, what the moon is doing to it.
Below it sits the shortlist, at most five alternates, each with a one-line why (or why-not). Above everything is the conditions verdict: GO means shoot; MARGINAL means there's a real window but it's compromised, and the reason is stated; DON'T-BOTHER means the honest call is to stay inside.
The engine computes every number deterministically — the AI only writes the prose, it never invents the astronomy. Want a second opinion on your own idea?
Type any object into Check a Target and get the same honest scoring, even when the answer is no.
1. In NINA, save an Advanced Sequencer target set you're happy with — your usual startup, autofocus, dither and shutdown blocks. Any target already in it is just a placeholder.
2. In Clear Night Coach, click Send to NINA on tonight's pick and choose that saved file.
3. The console writes a NEW copy next to it with the target name, coordinates, exposure, ISO and sub count filled in — synced everywhere NINA needs them. Your original file is never modified.
4. In NINA, load the new file and press start. That's the whole bridge: the console decides, your own proven sequence executes.
Sending to NINA (Pro)
1. In NINA, save an Advanced Sequencer target set you’re happy with — your usual startup, autofocus, dither and shutdown blocks. Any target already in it is just a placeholder.
2. In Clear Night Coach, click Send to NINA on tonight’s pick and choose that saved file.
3. The console writes a NEW copy next to it with the target name, coordinates, exposure, ISO and sub count filled in — synced everywhere NINA needs them. Your original file is never modified.
4. In NINA, load the new file and press start. That’s the whole bridge: the console decides, your own proven sequence executes.
1. In NINA, save an Advanced Sequencer target set you're happy with — your usual startup, autofocus, dither and shutdown blocks. Any target already in it is just a placeholder.
2. In Clear Night Coach, click Send to NINA on tonight's pick and choose that saved file.
3. The console writes a NEW copy next to it with the target name, coordinates, exposure, ISO and sub count filled in — synced everywhere NINA needs them. Your original file is never modified.
4. In NINA, load the new file and press start. That's the whole bridge: the console decides, your own proven sequence executes.