Chart Defaults

The Defaults tab decides what a newly opened chart starts with. If you always work in the same zodiac, from the same vantage point, or in the same coordinate format, set it here once and every new chart arrives that way.

Overview

The tab holds eleven rows across two columns. The left column is dropdowns covering the calculation frame, the per-chart-type orientations, the house system, the parallel aspects, and the coordinate format; the right column carries the two display checkboxes.

Every row seeds the next chart window and leaves already-open ones alone. Each also has a per-window equivalent on the chart itself, so a default you set here is a starting point rather than a lock:

Rows here	Per-window equivalent
Zodiac, Coordinate Origin, Reference Plane, House System, Parallel Aspects, and the three Orientation rows	Chart Calculation Frame
Coordinate Format, Display Lat./Decl., Display Chart Info.	Chart Display Options

Nothing on this tab is written to disk until you press Save on the window's bottom bar. See Chart Settings Window.

Calculation-Frame Defaults

These rows decide the frame a newly opened chart is calculated in. Every field already shows its current default, so change only the settings you want to adjust:

• Zodiac, Coordinate Origin, and Reference Plane set the default measurement frame. Between them these three decide the terms every newly opened chart's positions are calculated in: which zodiac they are read against, the vantage point they are taken from, and the plane they are projected onto.
• House System sets the default house division, which governs how a new chart's wheel is carved into houses.
• Parallel Aspects sets the default declination parallels, which governs which parallels a new chart draws, if any.

Per-Chart-Type Orientation Defaults

Each chart type carries its own orientation row, so what a new wheel is turned to can be set differently for each without one choice disturbing the others. All three rows already show their current defaults, so change only the ones you want to adjust:

• Mundane Orientation, Natal Orientation, and Transit Orientation set the opening orientation for a new Mundane, Natal, or Transit chart respectively.

note

Orientation decides whether the House System row is reachable on the chart itself: a chart's House System is available only while its orientation is Horizon.

Display Defaults

These rows decide how a newly opened chart writes positions and which overlays it shows. All three rows already hold their current values, so change only what you want to adjust:

• Coordinate Format sets the default position notation, which governs how a new chart writes the positions it reports.
• Display Lat./Decl. adds the latitude and declination values to a new chart's wheel; Display Chart Info. adds the chart information block. Between them these two decide how much supporting detail a new chart carries alongside the wheel.

Reference

Zodiac

Option	Description
Tropical	New charts measure positions against the tropical zodiac.
Sidereal	New charts measure positions against the sidereal zodiac.

Coordinate Origin

Option	Description
Geocentric	The sky as seen from the center of the Earth.
Topocentric	The sky as seen from the chart's own place on the Earth's surface.
Heliocentric	The sky as seen from the Sun.

Reference Plane

Option	Description
Ecliptic	Positions are referred to the plane of the ecliptic.
Equatorial	Positions are referred to the plane of the equator.

Orientation

The same two options are offered by all three orientation rows.

Option	Description
Horizon	New charts of this type open turned to the horizon.
Zodiac	New charts of this type open turned to the zodiac.

House System

Option	Description
None	Angles only, with no house cusps drawn.
Alcabitus	The Alcabitus division.
Campanus	The Campanus division.
Equal (Ascendant)	Equal houses measured from the Ascendant.
Koch	The Koch division.
Meridian (Axial Rotation)	The meridian, or axial rotation, division.
Morinus	The Morinus division.
Placidus	The Placidus division.
Porphyry	The Porphyry division.
Regiomontanus	The Regiomontanus division.
Topocentric (Polich/Page)	The topocentric division of Polich and Page.
Vehlow Equal	The Vehlow equal division.
Whole Sign	Whole sign houses.

Parallel Aspects

Option	Description
None	New charts draw no declination parallels.
All	New charts draw both parallels and contraparallels.
Parallels	New charts draw parallels only.
Contraparallels	New charts draw contraparallels only.

Coordinate Format

Option	Description
Sign Coordinates	Positions are written against the zodiac sign they fall in.
Cycle Angles	Positions are written as angles around the full cycle.

Related Topics

• Chart Settings Window
• Chart Colors
• Chart Calculation Frame