Telescope Reviews: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad?

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Equipment Discussions >> Mounts

Pages: 1

tommyhawk13
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 09/28/07

Loc: Jacksonville, Fl

Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

#5594771 - 12/29/12 05:39 PM

I have a 4 year old Orion Atlas that I bought new without the goto controller. I had planned on getting a netbook and eqmod later, but then the economy dropped out...

Now I am thinking about getting a refurbished Ipad. Orion sells a cable that will communicate with the Ipad, but it looks like it has to be attached to the goto (Synscan?) controller.

Will eqmod work with the Ipad, or am I better off getting a netbook, or a non-Apple tablet?

Post Extras:

ourobouros2k2
sage

Reged: 11/10/11

Loc: okc area, oklahoma

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: tommyhawk13]
#5595010 - 12/29/12 07:44 PM

I bought a Sirius EQ-G without the controller, I use the netbook/eqmod. No complaints, but I too was considering doing the cable or wifi route with an ipad. Ken from orion said that their system works in concert with, not in replacement of the controller, and that initial alignment has to be done with the synscan controller. Since I didn't get a controller with my mount, I am outta luck. I would only assume the same would be true with the Atlas.

Post Extras:

tommyhawk13
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 09/28/07

Loc: Jacksonville, Fl

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: ourobouros2k2]
#5595174 - 12/29/12 09:40 PM

That's what I was thinking after reading the instruction pdf on Orion's site. Thanks!

Post Extras:

Phil Sherman
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 12/07/10

Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: tommyhawk13]
#5599015 - 01/01/13 01:16 AM

I'd look for a refurbished/used laptop with XP on it to use with EQMOD to control the scope. You should be able to find one for less than $150, possibly $100.

I can control my scope, guide, and image using an old ASUS Eee netbook with an 800Mhz Celeron CPU and 2G of memory. It doesn't take a lot of horsepower to run a planetarium program (ie CdC) and EQMOD on XP.

Phil

Post Extras:

ourobouros2k2
sage

Reged: 11/10/11

Loc: okc area, oklahoma

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: Phil Sherman]
#5599025 - 01/01/13 01:21 AM

I like EQMOD a lot, and it is pretty nice to use a wireless keypad for direction buttons.

Post Extras:

rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: Phil Sherman]
#5599230 - 01/01/13 09:08 AM

Quote:

I'd look for a refurbished/used laptop with XP on it to use with EQMOD to control the scope. You should be able to find one for less than $150, possibly $100.

I can control my scope, guide, and image using an old ASUS Eee netbook with an 800Mhz Celeron CPU and 2G of memory. It doesn't take a lot of horsepower to run a planetarium program (ie CdC) and EQMOD on XP.

Phil

Yep, the only way to use the mount without an HC is with EQMOD, and I doubt it is going to be ported to the iPad anytime soon...

Post Extras:

tommyhawk13
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 09/28/07

Loc: Jacksonville, Fl

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: rmollise]
#5600465 - 01/01/13 10:29 PM

To be clear, I have a hand controller, it's just not goto. Thanks guys, you saved me some coin and frustration.

Post Extras:

rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? [Re: tommyhawk13]
#5601056 - 01/02/13 11:06 AM

Best bet? Round up a cheap netbook.

Post Extras:

cavefrog
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 11/11/08

Loc: loozyanna

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: rmollise]
#5607278 - 01/05/13 08:51 PM

wouldn't the mount need encoders to be able to use goto from a computer?

Post Extras:

rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: cavefrog]
#5607333 - 01/05/13 09:31 PM

Quote:

wouldn't the mount need encoders to be able to use goto from a computer?

No. The Atlas has never had encoders

Post Extras:

Phil Sherman
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 12/07/10

Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

Re: Orion Atlas non goto and Ipad? new

[Re: cavefrog]
#5608697 - 01/06/13 04:01 PM

Quote:

wouldn't the mount need encoders to be able to use goto from a computer?

When the mount is driven by stepper motors, encoders aren't necessary. You can count steps of the motor to determine where the mount is pointing. The big issue is that when the mount is powered off, there's usually no place to store the current position. If you're using PEC, you have to be careful to always park the mount before powering it off. This returns the counters to zero, their value when powering up everything.

PEC needs to be synched with the worm position. If you remove the plastic cover on the RA worm, you will see a flat on one side of the shaft. You can use this to get a rough alignment of the worm if you suffer an unexpected power failure and loose the counter values.

EQMOD, the computer control program for the Synta mounts, including the Atlas, has a resync function that will allow resetting the counters after a power failure.

Phil

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