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The Skywatcher SynScan Alt-Azimuth GoTo Mount


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Hi Neil - not yet, but I'm planning to. I have downloaded Stellarium + Stellariumscope, got my USB to serial converter and when I get a chance, will be giving it a go. Expecting a few :) and some :) moments, but hopefully no :D ones

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I have done the very thing! I connected my system to a laptop via a usb-serial converter and the custom lead that comes with the telescope. I couldn't find how to use Stellarium to control the telescope, but a free planetarium software called 'Cartes du Ciel' could.

You first need to download and run the Ascom platform software and then the download and install the drivers for a Celestron telescope. In 'Cartes' you then set the Telescope/scope i/f to 'Ascom', then connect to the telescope from the Telescope/config panel. My RS232 settings were: baud 9600, data 8, parity none, stop 1, flow none.

Then select some object in the sky and command the telescopr to goto it from Telescope/goto current object. It tracks too. Enjoy!

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Yes, you first align the telescope in the normal way with the handset. Then connect the laptop and run the software to control it. You can then use either the handset or the software to control the telescope. Don't forget to use PAE every so often if you find alignment is drifting.

This is the site for the Ascom s/w:

ASCOM - Standards for Astronomy

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Neil, I've used a Celestron NexStar SLT AltAz mount for imaging. It's a very similar mount. I was using a 400mm refractor. It is however much harder than using an EQ mount. There are some limitations that you have to work within. You can, in theory, get exposures of up to 2 minutes when the target is low down in the east or west (I have done this). However, as the target moves towards the south or zenith, your exposure times come down, until you're pushing hard to get 30 second exposures. This will work nicely on brighter targets like clusters etc, but if you want to try anything fainter, then you will probably struggle. All my images have been posted in the Deep Sky section. From about October last year till February this year were done with that setup. Now I have an EQ mount, imaging has become much easier, I can get 2 minutes exposure lengths anywhere in the sky (excluding those parts limited by tree and house filters of course).

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Hi Blue Astra, I see in your set up you have a cam, have you managed to image anything using this setup?

Ta

Neil

If you check the imaging section under planetary, lunar and deep sky you will find some of my images. I am just starting the learning curve and have used a modified Logitec E3500 (<£10 !), a NexImage and a borrowed Canon 350D. My main problems are focus and the correct 'recipe' for the capture parameters.

Just for fun once I ran the telescope remotely using a laptop, 10m RS232 and 5m USB cable from the conservatory. I could select stars with the planetarium s/w, goto them, and then view them through the webcam. A bit warmer inside!

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I have tried Stellarium+Stellariumscope = No joy. It recognises that the scope is connected, and I can control the scope manually from the laptop - so I know that's working. I really like Stellarium, but the mount refuses to move :). Maybe I'll try Cartes instead.

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  • 2 months later...

Hello,

I have recently purchased the Skywatcher startravel 102 and am having problems aligning it. I haven't had a clear night yet so have been trying to get some kind of alignment indoors (difficult without any stars I know). Basically if I set the mount to point north and level the telescope in altitude and then select the first star to align I would expect the scope to slew to the near vacinity of that star. But it gets no where near?? Is it supposed to get close first time out or do you have to manually slew the scope to the first star yourself?

Thanks

Alex

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Hi Alex, this confused me at the beginning. Are you starting from "park" position? The point is, until you have correctly aligned the mount once, it will not "know" where it is pointing. So no, it won't be close to the first star the first time and you'll have to manually slew to both stars to get "Alignment Succesful". Then if you "Park Scope" before turning off power, as long as you get the thing in roughly the same position next time you use it, you will get close to the first star - and closer to the second. Watch out if you are using that silly battery pack (8 x AA batteries), low voltage makes the mount do daft things. Good luck!!

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Thanks for the info. It looks like I'm going to have to wait for a clear night then, the way things are with the weather here that could be next year!

I did manage however to connect it to Stellarium and Stellariumscope and the control worked fine. I've connected it via the serial DB9 port on my laptop but wanted to try connecting it to my pc which doesn't have a serial port. So I got a USB/Serial adapter to test on the laptop and installed the drivers and in the device manager it said it was recognised as COM4, but when I tried connecting the scope to COM4 it wouldn't connect. Any ideas why it wouldn't see the scope via this method?

Thanks

Alex

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Are all the baud rate settings correct on the adapter? Some USB/serial adapters do behave oddly - I have no idea why. Is there something else with a serial port you can connect to to check the adapter is working?

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I suddenly realised today what I did wrong with regards to the scope not going anywhere near the first star to begin with. I downloaded the EQ firmware and not the AZ firmware, Doh!!!

Reloaded the AZ firmware on and now goes roughly where it should from the off.

I don't know about the baud rate settings for the adapter. I looked at the adapters settings in device manager but the baud figures aren't there. Any ideas where I can see the baud rate data?

Also, is it possible throught Stellarium + StellariumScope to stay pointing at a satellite, say the ISS, i.e. track the satellite as it moves?

Thanks

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I suddenly realised today what I did wrong with regards to the scope not going anywhere near the first star to begin with. I downloaded the EQ firmware and not the AZ firmware, Doh!!!

Reloaded the AZ firmware on and now goes roughly where it should from the off.

I don't know about the baud rate settings for the adapter. I looked at the adapters settings in device manager but the baud figures aren't there. Any ideas where I can see the baud rate data?

Also, is it possible throught Stellarium + StellariumScope to stay pointing at a satellite, say the ISS, i.e. track the satellite as it moves?

Thanks

Well done for getting it working. :icon_salut:

If it works, don't bother with the baud rate. If you want to tinker, then the pc settings are in device manager: Right-click the relevant port, properties, port settings. It's the top box (bits/second).

I don't believe you could use it to track a satellite without some substantial code rewrite (which I am not clever enough to do!)

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  • 8 years later...
On 3/25/2009 at 21:11, BlueAstra said:

I have done the very thing! I connected my system to a laptop via a usb-serial converter and the custom lead that comes with the telescope. I couldn't find how to use Stellarium to control the telescope, but a free planetarium software called 'Cartes du Ciel' could.

You first need to download and run the Ascom platform software and then the download and install the drivers for a Celestron telescope. In 'Cartes' you then set the Telescope/scope i/f to 'Ascom', then connect to the telescope from the Telescope/config panel. My RS232 settings were: baud 9600, data 8, parity none, stop 1, flow none.

Then select some object in the sky and command the telescopr to goto it from Telescope/goto current object. It tracks too. Enjoy!

Hi

What operating system is on your computer?

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