3840 replies to this topic

[davidparks]

The Sharpcap Platesolve routine does the following:  (taken from the manual)

 

•Capture a single frame using the current camera and camera settings
•Send that frame to the plate solving application
•Remember the current target of your mount (RA/Dec)
•If the plate solve succeeds then your ASCOM mount will be sync’d to the plate solved location
•Tell your ASCOM mount to GOTO the original target position remembered a couple of steps ago

 

So yep, you are correct Daniel, it does both a SYNC and then a GOTO  (I wasn't aware these were separate transactions, but makes sense now)

[DIMITRIS K.]

Tomorrow i'll get my new mount. It seems my old one had some serious mechanical and unsolved issues. Hope it will be good. I'll let you know!!

[LaCasaCorp]

Oh I see, I think it does a final goto.  Maybe I'm wrong, but a sync simply sends the plate solved coordinates to the mount to replace its current position. I could be wrong though.

 

I'm going to fiddle with all this.  Tonight is actually clear, but I'm tired so I'll wait till the weekend maybe.

 

I think you are correct, sync is when you do a star alignment and just replaces the coordinates (its so long since i did one i forgot about it... plate solve is spectacular)... my mistake

 

Plate solve with Astrotortilla and Sharpcap is flawless with this mount, never had issues, very very accurate.

[Geordie47]

This thread just keeps getting better - thanks to all contributors.

 

Quick question on plate solving with AT & Sharpcap.

 

is there a tutorial on this, including settings, config?

 

Thanks

 

Dave,

[dciobota]

So, it seems that sync does work after all, that's good news.  I'll try it again when the weather finally clears (low chance of that for now).

[LaCasaCorp]

This thread just keeps getting better - thanks to all contributors.

 

Quick question on plate solving with AT & Sharpcap.

 

is there a tutorial on this, including settings, config?

 

Thanks

 

Dave,

• install a plate solver (as I said, i had success with Astrotortilla but I think the other two will work as well). The only notable thing is, that, during the installation, the software will ask wich data files you want to download: the standard is to select index files that cover from your widest FoV down to 20% of your narrowest FoV (i usually install indexes from 4204 to 4219 and they should work for most of our scopes, if you want you can download more indexes, will take just more donwload time and hard drive space)
• Sharpcap wiull automatically find the plate solver and will not require anty setup
• Connect your mount through ASCOM in sharpcap
• Press the "find my location" button on the mount control tab and you are good to go (https://www.sharpcap...s/plate-solving)
• One note: if you have too many stars in your field of view (200+) the plate solving will become quite slow... My habit is to find an exposure where the plate solver finds 40 to 100 stars (you will see the number of stars found in the green bar that appears when you start a plate solve in Sharpcap).

[nm1213]

Sync in AZ mode still has a bug as of synscan 1.10. This is being fixed in the next release. It doesn’t behave the same way as sync in EQ.

Also, sync will be ignored or will behave badly if the difference is more than a couple of degrees.

There is a strange bug where slewing manually messes up the co-ordinates after a sync is done. Finally, sync co-ordinated are lost in some cases, and the Mount starts to report random co-ordinates after this happens.

These will also be fixed in the next release.

[dciobota]

Hey, I'm happy to report that platesolving and auto goto works just fine in APT as well.  I guess last time my mount was so far off (I think I turned it off/on without resetting to home) that the goto adjustments were too far off.

 

Another happy thing.  So, my gotos ended up within 30 pixels (about 1 arcmin) of the target with no star alignment!  I don't know if I was just lucky or what, but here's what my procedure was tonight:

 

- level tripod

- install mount and scope, roughly point north (make sure counterweight shaft is perpendicular and dec is aligned along the mount axis pointing north)

- once it got dark enough, use the red dot finder on my scope to point to Polaris by adjusting the azimuth knobs and the altitude wedge only.

- turn on mount, then turn on pc stick

- start the synscan pro app and connect to scope in eq mode

- start Sharpcap (I have version 2.9), turn on guidecam (which is parallel with scope, or alternatively you can use the scope cam)

- focus

- use the Sharpcap polar align tool to fine tune alignment use the synscan RA (left/right) arrow keys to slew 90 deg when the tool asks you.  Do NOT loosen the RA or DEC clutches.  Adjust the polar alignment using the azimuth knobs and altitude wedge.

- Once you're done, you can slew back to home, but not necessary (I didn't)

 

I never performed a star alignment after that.

 

That's all, the gotos were pretty much spot on.  Using platesolve set for 10 pixel accuracy only nudget the mount a little bit (basically 20 pixels, since it was 30 pixels off).

 

Maybe I just got lucky, I don't know.  But doing gotos east and west I was only off by a max of 30 pixels.  My camera has a pixel fov of about 1.8 arcsec/pixel with the at65edq.

 

Happy camper.  Now I have a couple of mounts to put up for sale lol.

[Geordie47]

Hey, I'm happy to report that platesolving and auto goto works just fine in APT as well.  I guess last time my mount was so far off (I think I turned it off/on without resetting to home) that the goto adjustments were too far off.

 

Another happy thing.  So, my gotos ended up within 30 pixels (about 1 arcmin) of the target with no star alignment!  I don't know if I was just lucky or what, but here's what my procedure was tonight:

 

- level tripod

- install mount and scope, roughly point north (make sure counterweight shaft is perpendicular and dec is aligned along the mount axis pointing north)

- once it got dark enough, use the red dot finder on my scope to point to Polaris by adjusting the azimuth knobs and the altitude wedge only.

- turn on mount, then turn on pc stick

- start the synscan pro app and connect to scope in eq mode

- start Sharpcap (I have version 2.9), turn on guidecam (which is parallel with scope, or alternatively you can use the scope cam)

- focus

- use the Sharpcap polar align tool to fine tune alignment use the synscan RA (left/right) arrow keys to slew 90 deg when the tool asks you.  Do NOT loosen the RA or DEC clutches.  Adjust the polar alignment using the azimuth knobs and altitude wedge.

- Once you're done, you can slew back to home, but not necessary (I didn't)

 

I never performed a star alignment after that.

 

That's all, the gotos were pretty much spot on.  Using platesolve set for 10 pixel accuracy only nudget the mount a little bit (basically 20 pixels, since it was 30 pixels off).

 

Maybe I just got lucky, I don't know.  But doing gotos east and west I was only off by a max of 30 pixels.  My camera has a pixel fov of about 1.8 arcsec/pixel with the at65edq.

 

Happy camper.  Now I have a couple of mounts to put up for sale lol.

Hey Daniel - when you say you "slew back to home" - how do you set up a home position?

 

Going to start putting this info in a guide, once I get to test it myself, but storms over the next few days here in Blighty!

[dciobota]

Hi Geordie,

 

The home position is the starting position of the mount, basically the counterweight shaft perpendicular to level ground, scope pointed along dec axjs (like in David's avatar pic).  Like I said, you don't have to slew back to home position.  David explains how to create and store the home position if you want to automatically slew to it here:

https://www.cloudyni...ount/?p=8872318

[nm1213]

New version of synscan is out. Doesn’t yet have the functionality I had requested. However that will come in the next release. The dev guys for this app are great!

[DIMITRIS K.]

Dialog style changed to avoid problems... That is the change of version 1.11... Not sure what skywatcher means but I'm happy to see that skywatcher folks keep improve the app! By the way I've go my new mount. It sound different it moves different and much more smoothly. Have no backlash no sound of motor tension. If the rain stops here, I'll test it on the field.

Στάλθηκε από το Samsung Galaxy μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk

[rvr]

Hello, everyone! I've been doing some imaging sessions with the AZ-GTI in EQ mode with the SA wedge. One of the things that I find difficult is doing a good polar alignment. Question for those who use the EQ mode is: How do you do it?

 

In my case, last night I attached a polar scope to the dovetail and then rotated the RA axis, just to find that the Dec axis wasn't parallel. So I wasn't sure «dec is aligned along the mount axis pointing north» as dciobota does.

[dciobota]

The way I do it is just get a first rough alignment using a red dot finder mounted on the scope (or the camera, depending of my setup) to just point to Polaris.  The DEC may not be perfectly aligned, but that's ok.  That's what I meant by aligning north along the axis.

 

My next step is to use Sharpcap to polar align.  Since the software automatically detects and compensates for cone error to indicate true north alignment, it's ok not to have the DEC perfectly aligned.

 

And really that's the best to hope for.  Even with good polar alignment you will still have cone error to deal with, but hopefully it will be small enough not to matter in exposures.  I haven't found it bad enough on mine to spoil images of 1min at 420mm, but it may show up if you try to guide the mount and use exposures of say 10min or more.

 

Based on the few samples on here I haven't been able to deduce what the quality variation is.  Dimitris on here did get a dud, and I did have to adjust the dec bearing on mine.  Others seem to be pretty much near perfect.

 

One thing that may drive cone error (rotation axes not aligned with the mount) is sag in the bearing tensioner adjustments.  You can't overtighten them, so the simple fact that they need to be a little loose could be causing this, especially with heavy kits and counterweights.

 

The more I play with this mount the more I am aware that it's not meant for scopes over 600mm focal length and more than say 80mm or so aperture, although someone on here is pretty successful imaging with a 100mm aperture scope.  But that's ok, these mounts are meant to be very portable and handle imaging in the "widefield" range just fine.  For bigger payloads I would definitely recommend a bigger mount.

[Bart Declercq]

Hello, everyone! I've been doing some imaging sessions with the AZ-GTI in EQ mode with the SA wedge. One of the things that I find difficult is doing a good polar alignment. Question for those who use the EQ mode is: How do you do it?

 

In my case, last night I attached a polar scope to the dovetail and then rotated the RA axis, just to find that the Dec axis wasn't parallel. So I wasn't sure «dec is aligned along the mount axis pointing north» as dciobota does.

Sharpcap pro and its platesolving for polar alignment - worth every penny of the very cheap license. You just need a telescope+camera with a FOV between 0.5-2.5° and point it within 5° of the celestial pole, then take two shots at 90° angle from each other and based on the second shot it will show you where to move the mount (it'll just pick one of the brighter stars, put a circle around it, a circle where it's supposed to go and a line between them).

 

Polar alignment with Sharpcap Pro is the best polar alignment routine I've ever used - had my big mount which has no room for a polar scope polar aligned to within 5" (yes, arc seconds!) in less than 10 minutes.

[davidparks]

I’ve never used a Polar Scope, so feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but they must be aligned with the RA axis, because their function is to visually sight the NCP, that is to say, putting the NCP in the center of the view, with the assumption that the center of the RA axis coincides.   With the Sharpcap polar alignment tool, the camera/scope being used does not need to be aligned with the RA axis, or even perfectly parallel with the main scope (in the case where the main scope/camera isn’t being used for PA).  Sharpcap uses the two off angle images to calculate the center of the RA rotational axis, regardless of where the center of the image (view) is, and directs your alignment thusly.  

[Geordie47]

Hi all

 

Just wondering if anyone has been able to use stellarium with the AZ-GTI?

 

I have a windows laptop & unfortunately, skysafari isn't available for windows.

 

I've downloaded the Ascom mobile app drivers and connected the laptop to the az-gti. I can get the synscan app controlling the mount on my lappy & Stellarium says it's connected to the skysafari but I can't slew to anything.

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

[gul1337]

Hi all

 

Just wondering if anyone has been able to use stellarium with the AZ-GTI?

 

I have a windows laptop & unfortunately, skysafari isn't available for windows.

 

I've downloaded the Ascom mobile app drivers and connected the laptop to the az-gti. I can get the synscan app controlling the mount on my lappy & Stellarium says it's connected to the skysafari but I can't slew to anything.

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

Try StellariumScope

http://welshdragonco...stellariumscope

 

I use it with eqmod and synscan windows app

[Geordie47]

Tried it but shows the below.

 

I have Ascom driver installed for sysnscan mobile telescope & is chosen in the Telescope chooser.

 

IP is set to 127.0.0.1 as both the synscan mobile app, ascom driver & Stellarium reside on the same pc.PC/Synscan app conenct fine to mount and can slew. Its just the control from Stellarium that ain't working.

 

 

 

[gul1337]

Tried it but shows the below.

 

I have Ascom driver installed for sysnscan mobile telescope & is chosen in the Telescope chooser.

 

IP is set to 127.0.0.1 as both the synscan mobile app, ascom driver & Stellarium reside on the same pc.PC/Synscan app conenct fine to mount and can slew. Its just the control from Stellarium that ain't working.

 

Mine is also running on the same PC.

 

 

First I run synscan app and connect to the mount.

After that I select " ASCOM.synscan.MOBILE" in stellarium scope.

After it is connected I run stelarium with "start stellarium" button

after that I can use "ctrl+1" to slew scope in stellarium

[Geordie47]

I do exactly the same, but get the errors with Stellarium scope when I open the app.

 

Any ideas?

 

[gul1337]

Did you press "update stellarium configuration" button?

At first i missed this button, but after i pressed it everything worked perfectly.

It will override stellarium configuration files.

Does it work with telescope simulator?

[Geordie47]

Did you press "update stellarium configuration" button?

At first i missed this button, but after i pressed it everything worked perfectly.

It will override stellarium configuration files.

Does it work with telescope simulator?

Eventually got it to work. Had to uninstall everything & clean install after reboot.

 

Now working like a dream.

 

Thanks for the help :-)

[rvr]

With the Sharpcap polar alignment tool, the camera/scope being used does not need to be aligned with the RA axis, or even perfectly parallel with the main scope (in the case where the main scope/camera isn’t being used for PA).

Thanks for the tip! I was intrigued by the claim, but I've been reading and seems that Polar Master doesn't have to be pointed exactly to the North Celestial Pole either. I'll give Sharpcap a try.

Edited by rvr, 15 October 2018 - 06:24 PM.

[DIMITRIS K.]

Here is my disassembly guide of AZ-gti in PDF format. You can download it as a reference guide. You can also print it (A4 format). Sorry about some mistakes i'll correct them when i have the time! All the photos is mine exept 2 from the second page that belongs to Daniel (dciobota) (sorry mate, if you have problem about that, just tell me and i'll correct it ASAP).

 

Please think twice before you proceed, because you will probably not manage to assemble it right and that VOIDS THE WARRANTY! YOU MUST ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS TOOK PHOTOS OF YOUR STEPS! Good luck and PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

 

Download PDF HERE