General Usage Guide

Elite Observatory is a powerful, modular tool designed to monitor and report upon Elite Dangerous journals.

Here you'll find documentation for getting the Observatory set up, as well as detailed guides and troubleshooting for its many plugins.

Features

• Read and analyse all CMDR journal files
• Configure pop-up and/or voice notifications
• Choose from a wide array of [[startnew#Plugins|plugins]] providing expansive functionality
• Define custom search/reporting criteria using Lua

Installation

Installed Version

The installed version can be installed in any location but will store its settings in a user appdata folder. It will also create start menu or desktop shortcuts, and set up a file association with .eop files to allow easier installation of plugins.

• Download the latest ObservatorySetup.exe from the releases page.
• Double-click on the downloaded ObservatorySetup.exe to install.
  • During setup you will be asked which supplementary plugins (if any) you would like to install.
• Once setup has finished, launch Elite Observatory as you would with any other application.

Portable Version

The portable version can be placed anywhere and keeps all its configuration and other files in the same location for easy migration between systems. The portable version will not automatically create any application shortcuts, nor does it create a file association for .eop files.

• Download the latest ObservatoryPortable.zip from the releases page.
• Extract the archive to the location of your choice
• Launch ObservatoryCore.exe

Quick Start

Hit "Start Monitor" and start exploring in Elite Dangerous! The out-of-the-box defaults will notify you about a selection of interesting object as you scan with the FSS.

If you'd like to scan through your past discoveries switch to the "Explorer" tab and hit "Read All".

Detailed Usage

Once Observatory is started, you will a tab for each installed plugin along the top.

Main Window Buttons

• Export: Exports the content of the current plugin tab to a file. The format of this file is potentially selectable in the Core Settings.

• Clear: Clears the content of the current plugin tab.

• Start Monitor / Stop Monitor: Toggles watching the Elite Dangerous journal files for changes and enabled realtime alerting for in game activity and discoveries.

• Read All: Reads all Elite Dangerous journal files and loads all historical events and activity. Some plugins may require this as an initial priming step to populate player information.

• About: The ℹ️ button on the bottom left. Opens an "about" window with information about Oberservatory, links to documentation, donation links, and a list of current paid patreon members as of that release.

Plugin Tabs

The tabs along the top of the application window each correspond to an installed plugin (except for the Core Tab).

For specific information about interacting with plugins, see the plugin usage page.

Core Tab

An example of Observatory Core's main page.

The Core tab is the main location for accessing the configuration of Observatory and its plugins.

Plugin list

The main feature of the Core tab is the plugin list. This displays various pieces of information about each plugin, whether the plugin is enabled, and provides a button to open the plugin menu to see additional information and options.

For detailed information about plugins see the plugin usage page.

Bottom Display

This area shows some simple status infomation about the current state of Observatory's log monitoring, allowing quick visual confirmation that journals are being read.

In addition it has the following two buttons:

• Plugin Folder: Opens the folder which contains all currently installed plugins. From here you can install new plugins by placing .eop, .zip, or .dll files in this folder, or uninstall plugins by deleting their associated .dll.
• Core Settings: Opens the Core Settings Window.

Plugins

There are many optional plugins available for Observatory, designed to supplement and enhance the core application.

By default, three plugins are installed along with Observatory:

• Explorer: Finds interesting astronomical features while exploring
• Botanist: Tracks planetary biological signals scanned on foot.

Additional plugins can be downloaded as .eop files and can generally be installed by simply double-clicking the file.

• BioInsights: Provides in-depth detail on biological signal sources.
• Evaluator: Provides detailed mapping value information for system bodies.
• SignalMonitor: Detects and provides notifications for certain uncommon signal sources.
• GeoPredictor: Tracks and predicts planetary geological signals.
• Telegram: Sends notifications via Telegram messenger.

For more detailed information on plugins and their usage see the plugin documentation.