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drksky
super member
Reged: 09/01/09
Posts: 113
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I've been trying to wrap my head around this, but sometimes, I'm just dense.
I'm trying to use gotos to put my scope on my target, but in order to do the goto alignment, I need to use the scope visually which has a different balance than with the imaging train. To rebalance the scope after changing over to the imaging train, you have to move the scope, but when you manually move the scope, you lose the alignment.
Am I missing something obvious? Do most people do their goto alignment with their imaging equipment?
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Tony C
AT8RC
C6-R
CG-5 ASGT
ST80 w/StarShoot Autoguider
Canon EOS 450D (Stock)
The Drinking Bird
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HunterofPhotons
sage
Reged: 04/26/08
Posts: 266
Loc: Rhode Island, USA
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Quote:
..... Do most people do their goto alignment with their imaging equipment?
Yes.
Balance for your imaging setup and if your initial gotos are wildly inaccurate, then toss in an eyepiece (without rebalancing), do a rough alignment, then put on your imaging stuff and do an accurate alignment. Use the camera cross hairs to get good data.
dan
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Dan G
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/27/06
Posts: 1754
Loc: Minisink, NY, USA
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I always us my camera on the main scope. Just take a quick image and use brighter stars that will stick out in a star field. The key is to have a finder scope that is WELL aligned with your imaging scope. One that has some type of illumination - either an eyepiece or red dot - is preferred.
My process is manually move the mount to my primary alignment star, center the finder on it, take an image then use SW to center the star on the CCD. Synch the planetarium SW with the mount and I am done.
Dan in NY
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TV 76, Vixen VC200L, TV NP-127is
EM-200, NJP
ML 8300, ST-402
Tranquility Base Observatory aka "The Shed" by non-tranquil members of the house
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groz
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/14/07
Posts: 1074
Loc: Duncan, BC
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We do the 3-star align using the guide camera. It allows much more precise centering than an eyepiece and it's repeatable. With a cross hair display on the guider, it's just like using a reticle eyepiece.
We often joke about winning eyepieces as door prizes at various star parties, happened to us twice this summer. Not sure what to do with them, neither of our telescope kits have actually had an eyepiece inserted for nigh on 2 years now.
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Footbag
sage
Reged: 04/13/09
Posts: 461
Loc: Scranton, PA
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I do all my goto aligning with the equipment on. I used to switch between EP's and cameras, but found I was wasting too much time switching/focusing.
Now I use Celestrons precise go-to to find a nearby bright star that I can see through the camera, and then the mount does the rest.
Works very well with live view, but without it, you'll either have to take test photo's or use the viewfinder.
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Adam
Celestron CPC 800, Celestron HD Wedge
Hyperion 17mm, Celestron 40mm Plossl, TMB 9mm
WO 66, SSAG
Modded Canon XS
Lackawanna Astronomical Society
My Gallery
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jgraham
Postmaster
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 6757
Loc: Dayton, Ohio
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I align my GoTo with my telescope configured for visual use, and then park the mount. After that I can reconfigure it as I like and the GoTos remain spot-on as long as I remember yo park my scope before I turn it off and to re-sync the mount when I first turn it back on. To re-sync the mount I locate a bright star using my guide scope and then center it in my camera. I usually only have to do a full re-alignment about once a year.
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-John
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Homebuilt scopes from 4.25-16.5"
Meade LXD75-N6/SN6/SC8, DSX-90, ETX-60BB, ETX-125PE, DS-2130
Orion StarBlast, BinoViewers, Coronado PST
Rebel XT/XTi, DSI Pro (I, II, & III), DSI, LPI, Electronic Eyepiece, Phillips SPC900NC
Tasco 60mm Refractors
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adamsp123
sage
Reged: 11/20/08
Posts: 442
Loc: welshpool mid wales UK
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I roughly goto align with the finderscope and use live view on my camera for final fine centreing.
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SkyWatcher 120ED PRO, GSO 200mm F4 Astrograph, Meade 10" SNT, WO 72ED & 66ED
Vixen Sphinx and Vixen Atlux with starbook,
QHY5 guider, Modded Canon 1000D, Baader MPCC.
WO Flattener III
Don't you wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'Brightness,' but it doesn't work."
TV is called a "medium" because it is neither rare nor well done.
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drksky
super member
Reged: 09/01/09
Posts: 113
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Thanks for all the great ideas.
As for parking the mount, how do you make sure you get it back in the same place once you're done reconfiguring and balancing?
To re-sync from a park, don't you have to have the scope in the same orientation as when you parked it?
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Tony C
AT8RC
C6-R
CG-5 ASGT
ST80 w/StarShoot Autoguider
Canon EOS 450D (Stock)
The Drinking Bird
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jgraham
Postmaster
Reged: 12/02/04
Posts: 6757
Loc: Dayton, Ohio
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To re-sync my mount all I have to do is turn it on with it in the home position. The very first GoTo will be off by the amount the initial setup was off. Once it's synced to one alignment star this error is taken care of and all subsequent GoTo's are accurate. Ballance and load doesn't seem to have an effect as long as the load is reasonably close and I don't change it once the mount is synched. If I change the ballance (for example after a meridian flip) all I have to do is re-sync the mount on one alignment star. Another thing I do is to sync the mount on the current object before slewing to the next target.
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-John
================================================
Homebuilt scopes from 4.25-16.5"
Meade LXD75-N6/SN6/SC8, DSX-90, ETX-60BB, ETX-125PE, DS-2130
Orion StarBlast, BinoViewers, Coronado PST
Rebel XT/XTi, DSI Pro (I, II, & III), DSI, LPI, Electronic Eyepiece, Phillips SPC900NC
Tasco 60mm Refractors
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