Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Tue, 11/10/2020 - 17:47
Yikes! Willmann-Bell, home of Handbook of AIP, has closed. There's a discussion on Cloudy Nights.
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/736820-willmann-bell-closed/
Sad to see it happen.
Sadder yet, when this afternoon AIP reminded me to call Willman-Bell and update my registration!!!
I guess Richard Berry monitors this forum....so what is the plan??
Hi all--
As you see above, Willmann-Bell is closing. This happened with zero advance notice to the authors of WB books and software. The WB website is still up, but not forever. WB is seeking another entity to sell the current stock in the warehouse. I do not know what else they plan.
To find on-going support the AIP4Win software, join AIP4Win@ groups.io. I created a new version of AIP4Win, version v2.4.10.NonReg, that does not require user registration. I posted a link to the setup/installation program in the Files area. Version 2.4.10 is functionally nearly identical to v2.4.8, the version that many AAVSOers use for photometry. Perry held the setup/install software very close, so I did not become familiar with it until last week. As far as I know, the setup program works well, but before you install it (because it supposedly requires removing the previous installation) be sure to back up any MMT *.MMTx or *.STAR files you created.
This change essentially makes AIP4Win into "freeware." Realistically I can't support a zillion newbees who want to play around, but don't have a copy of the Handbook and know nothing about astronomical imaging or photometry. I prefer to work within in this community.
For the future, I will consider ways to get back into adding and improving the feature set of AIP4Win as we did in the early days. This will not happen immediately because my house burned in Oregon's Beachie Creek wildfire. Once I am reestablished, we can discuss how to go forward. My working code advanced to v.2.4.49, but WB was not interested in releasing continuing upgrades. I released the v2.4.10.NonReg version because it is safe and familiar. The program is over 20 years old and written in VB6SP6, so it's legacy 32-bit code. Setup and installation works pretty reliably in Windows 10, it runs it on Win 10, but in the long term, it would be best to migrate to another platform.
--Richard
I guess the definitive place to discuss the situation and how to ensure your existing licence of AIP4Win can continue to be used is the AIP4Win user group at https://groups.io/g/AIP4Win
CS
HB
Sorry to hear about your home.
As a forester that has worked fire for the past 35 years it is always amazing to see the homes that fires burn and the ones that are spared. I did look up some fire information for the Beachie Fire. I would have said that your home was safe, until it finally was not!!
The odds were with you, but it is just a probability game when it comes to fire behavior.
Thanks for making AIP available to the astronomical community. I did buy version 1 and 2. It is handy having it on my computers when I am outside of internet range, which is often.
Vladimir