AVE reads plain ASCII files that contain the Julian dates and the differential magnitude. If you use the LAIA software, you do not need to worry about the file and its format as it does it all for you.

Every night is shown using a different color. This helps you to identify the good and bad nights (from a photometric stand point). AVE calculates and adjusts the scales automatically, so the light curve is shown at full amplitude.

There are context menus. It is possible to configure several items of the light curve graphic. As AVE recognizes points made in different nights, you can go to the tool/menu option of Nights to obtain the light curve night by night. Scale is adjusted automatically for every night.

Beside surfing by nights, AVE allows us to mark intervals on the X axis (abcises) and the curve adjusts it self (Y axis too if needed) to the new interval.

A dialog box asks us for an interval of periodes where to look for, number of samples inside the interval and to select an algorithm (as there are different algorithms to find a periode in a cloud of points). The AVE sets a merit function (depends on the algorithm selected) for each sample. Then, by simply having a look to the Periode/Merit function graphic, you can determine the possible periodes of the data.

It determines several minima and the exact moment of each one of them. Minima are identified using the Van Woerden method and it can be configured to adapt to your curves (i.e. in case of having a few dots).

Beyond the scientific significance of double star systems in the near cosmos, double stars have played an important role in the inspiration of amateur astronomical observation. What budding astronomer does not recall the thrill of first paired-light falling upon a modest amateur telescope?

It is in the spirit of the richness and wonder of personal observation that that the windows-based program "dblCalc" was created using the C++ programming language by myself (Jeff) and programming colleague Bob Crawford.

Features:

• An extensive set of period analysis methods to detect periodicities in time-series : Lomb-Scargle, Bloomfield, Discrete Fourier Transform DFT (Deeming), Date Compensated Discrete Fourier Transform DCDFT (Ferraz-Mello), Jurkewich, PDM (Phase Dispersion Minimization), Dworetsky, Renson.
• Multiple windows to display observation sets, period diagrams, phase diagrams, etc. Each observation set is drawn in a distinctive color, that is consistently used throughout all related windows.
• Powerful data analysis functions for averaging, detrending, prewhitening, heliocentric correction, curve fitting, etc.
• Determination of period error values (uncertainties) based on a method by Schwarzenberg-Czerny.
• Sophisticated calculation of False Alarm Probabilities to determine the period significances, using a Fisher Randomization method (Monte Carlo permutations).
• Extremum finding based on the Kwee-van Woerden algorithm.
• Handles datasets of >300.000 observations (and probably even much more).
• Temporary deactivate observations and study the impact on your period analysis results
• Swiftly import observations from Microsoft Excel™, Microsoft Word™, AIP4WIN™ and other products. Full support of the Windows Clipboard.
• Powerful data and image export capabilities (to file or to clipboard)
• "One-Button-Save" to store all analysis windows on disk and continue your work in identical conditions at a later stage
• Toolbars, cursors and indicators let you select dominant periods, indicate intervals for refinement of your period analysis, etc
• Easy navigation bar to step through and zoom in on observation sets
• Fully customizable windows : axes, grids, window annotation, trendlines, colors, etc.

Select which star to observe tonight, the main windows show for each star in the current input file the time of next minima and maxima and the estimated actual magnitude; click on a line to show the estimated light curve and your observation point.

You may plot your own observation in VSNET format or data from AAVSO or AFOEV; you may click on a graph to show the magnitude, change the color or the current period and print the graph. If you are connected to the Internet you can immediately get additional data from the AAVSO Quick Look or the VSNET data browser

A mouse right click on a line of the main window show you a menu to enter a new observation. UT decimal is automatically calculated from date and UT time; you can also use the AAVSO PCObs software to enter your observation, in this case you can copy the star designation by using Shift+Insert in the corresponding field.

You are also allowed to plot a chart of the selected star using "Cartes du Ciel / Sky Charts". The chart is automatically centered on the current star and use a customizable profile for the default options.