If you've asked a question, please remember to mark the best answer as 'accepted' by clicking the check mark next to your preferred answer. It looks like the checkmark to the left, and is right under the vote section. You'll gain some reputation and it helps us surface the best content.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of question can I ask here?

Astronomy questions, of course! As long as your question is...

  • related to astronomy (equipment, software, stargazing, or anything else)
  • detailed and specific
  • written clearly and simply
  • of interest to at least one other person somewhere
...it is welcome here. No question is too trivial or too "newbie".

Please look around to see if your question has already been asked (and maybe even answered!) before you ask. If you end up asking a question that has been asked before, that is OK and deliberately allowed. Other users will hopefully edit in links to related or similar questions to help future visitors find their way.

Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion (such as interface proposals and so forth, use ASCOM-Talk for that). This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered!

Do I have to log in or create an account?

Nope. You can ask and answer questions to your heart's content as an anonymous user, much like Wikipedia. However, there isn't much else you can do on the site without registering. It's easy to register if you want to. All you need is an OpenID account, or an email address. If you want to use an OpenID click log in using OpenID

Why should I vote

The quality of information we gather depends on you voting on it. You can vote on questions, answers and comments. Voting is key to making the site work well and helping us emphasize the best information, so vote liberally. In the box to the left, the vote section is circled. The number indicates how many votes that question or answer has. The up arrow is orange because the person who took the picture had voted it up. If you find something you like, or has correct information, vote it up. If you find something that is wrong, unclear or out of date, you can vote it down. Better yet, you can edit the content or leave a better answer. That way, the best, most up-to-date information appears at the top and those who contribute good information gain reputation based on votes from their peers.

Be courteous and honest

Treat others with the same respect you'd want them to treat you. We're all here to learn together. Be tolerant of others who may not know everything you know. Bring your sense of humor.

Above all, be honest. If you see misinformation, vote it down. Insert comments indicating what, specifically, is wrong. Better yet, edit and improve the information! Provide stronger, faster, superior answers of your own!

What is reputation?

Reputation is completely optional. Normal use of this site — that is, asking and answering questions — does not require any reputation whatsoever.

Remember, ASCOM Answers is run by you! If you want to help run the site, you'll need reputation first. Reputation is a (very) rough measurement of how much the ASCOM community trusts you. Reputation is never given, it is earned when others vote on your questions and answers.

Here's how it works: if you post a good question or helpful answer, it will be voted up by your peers and you'll get 10 reputation points per vote. If you post something that's off topic or incorrect, it will be voted down, and you'll lose 2 reputation points per vote. You can earn up to 200 reputation per day, but no more. (Note that votes for any posts marked "community wiki" do not generate reputation.)

Amass enough reputation points and ASCOM Answers will allow you to go beyond simply asking and answering questions:

  1. Vote up
  2. Flag offensive
  3. Leave comments
  4. Vote down (costs 1 rep), edit community wiki posts
  5. Vote to close or reopen your questions, create new tags
  6. Re-tag questions
  7. Edit other people's posts
  8. Vote to close or reopen any questions
  9. Delete closed questions, access to moderation tools

At the high end of this reputation spectrum there is little difference between users with high reputation and moderators. That is very much intentional. We don't run ASCOM Answers - The community does.

What if I don't get a good answer?

In order to get good answers, you have to put some effort into the question. Edit your question to provide status and progress updates and more detailed information. Document your own continued efforts to answer your question. This will naturally bump your question and get more people interested in it.

If, after two days, you still don't have an answer you like, you can offer a bounty. Slice off a bit of your own hard-earned reputation -- anywhere from 50 to 500 -- and attach it to the question as a bounty. We'll even throw in 50 reputation to sweeten the deal. The bountied question will appear with a special icon in all question lists, and it will also be visible on the home page Featured tab.

Once started, the bounty period lasts seven days. If you mark an accepted answer, your bounty is awarded to the answerer (note that accepted bounty answers are permanent and cannot be changed). If you do not accept an answer in seven days, the top voted answer will automatically become the accepted answer, and half your bounty will be awarded to that answer. You will always give up the amount of reputation specified in the bounty, so if you start a bounty, be sure to follow up and accept the best answer!

Of course, bounty awards, like all accepted answers, are immune to the daily reputation cap and community wiki mode.

Why can others edit what I write

Like Wikipedia, this site is collaboratively edited. If you are not comfortable with the idea of your questions and answers being edited by other trusted users, this may not be the site for you.

How do I set my profile Avatar

The default avatar images on ASCOM-Answers are a little uninspiring and it isn't obvious how to change them.

Avatar images for ASCOM Answers are supplied by Gravatar (‘Globally Recognized Avatars’). Create yours at www.gravatar.com – once you create your Gravatar, it will automatically show up on ASCOM Answers (and any other service that uses Gravatars).

The connection is made based on your email address, provided you’ve used the same email address on ASCOM Answers and Gravatar, then your gravatar will show up. Gravatar lets you specify several email addresses in case you use different addresses on various web sites.