4 replies to this topic

[MasalaDav]

Hello,

Is there a way to connect the Sky Watcher Star adventurer 2i pro to a s/w like NINA to polar align. I'm able to successfully PA manually, no problem. But with manual polar alignment, on a 300mm lens attached to a mirrorless camera, my exposure time is limited to about 90 seconds before it starts to trail.

I'd like to get greater accuracy with PA.

My setup currently includes the star adventurer mounted on a sturdy tripod and a mirrorless camera.

Would really appreciate any suggestions/ tutorials/ videos.

 

Thanks very much and clear skies

Masala

[matt_astro_tx]

It's not the mount that you want to connect to software, it's the camera.  You'll snap alignment pictures with the camera and the software will show you how far to move the mount.

[MasalaDav]

Thanks Matt. So all I need to do is connect my camera to NINA, take pictures of the night sky (roughly in the direction of Polaris), get NINA to plate solve. NINA will tell me how much to move in the azimuth to center Polaris.

Hopefully the NINA manual will have all the information about how to hook up my camera and do a plate solve.

 

Thanks again.

Masala

[jml79]

Thanks Matt. So all I need to do is connect my camera to NINA, take pictures of the night sky (roughly in the direction of Polaris), get NINA to plate solve. NINA will tell me how much to move in the azimuth to center Polaris.

Hopefully the NINA manual will have all the information about how to hook up my camera and do a plate solve.

 

Thanks again.

Masala

Almost but not quite. With NINA you have to use the 3 Star Alignment plugin and put it in manual mode. Then you point near polaris, snap an image then rotate the RA, snap another and repeat one more time. Then NINA will keep snapping images as you move the mount to alignment. I found that SharpCap was easier to use for this, it only requires 1 RA movement instead of 2 but you have to pay an annual fee to access this feature. Sharpcap is sometimes easier to connect to the camera with but not always.

 

If you tell us about your camera, someone will know how to get it working. I have experience getting Sony's working but lot's of others are knowledgeable about Canon and Nikon.

 

If you ever decided to get a guide camera and scope, I used to use the guide camera for polar alignment to save on the shutter count. It was accurate and quicker than using the main camera.

[MasalaDav]

Thanks jml79.

I'm using the Nikon Z6ii. Any help in doing a PA will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks again

Masala