StevieDvd

No it's a cloud magnet of course!

Another new owner of a Seestar S50 from today, now I can post on this thread as an owner and not an interested party.

A new arrival being fattened up (charged) for a later cloudless night! No prizes for guessing what it is.

These are still around there's even a 2023 Sabre model.

Try a different usb cable, sometimes the supplied ones can be a problem. If you can connect to a PC with ASI drivers installed, if it could indicate the problem is with the ASIAir.

That does not make sense to me. The unpark should update the mount coordinates to match the saved park position. If you tell yours to go to the home position and it does then it must know the saved position. It could be a case of the shutdown procedure i.e. if the mount is switched off first/last or when the eqmod is closed, but that's best answered by an eqmod user who parks in a saved position.

You should have told me that I'd have offered you £2 for it - twice it's current value.😀

Have you got a rogue file such as a jpg in there? Check the files for any that should not be there, it's a common error.

By mix up it was the linking of NCP to home position by where the scope is pointing. NCP can be set without a scope mounted. But of course if you setup your mount & scope for each session, and/or need to polar align then you will likely move the mount from whatever saved position or home to do so. If you are in an observatory and have PA sorted you can do a restart more easily, but in that case I doubt the original question would have asked. Can you let us know what software you are using and someone will point out where you can store your preferred start position? If you are not leaving the mount in the close down position for next time even the saved position is effectively lost. Plate-solving can be the answer you need as it can update the mount position for you as long as it can solve the image seen by the controlling software.

You are mixing up Polar Alignment and mount position. Home position is a useful starting point for most mounts, some do have an automated park/start position - the HEQ5 does not. NCP alignment is the mount not the scope and is needed for accuracy of goto's on eq driven mounts. Using your example of a perfect NCP alignment, what is needed on startup is to tell the mount where the scope is currently pointing. If it thinks it is at the standard home position but it's not, then the gotos will be wrong, though a bad date/time/location can have the same effect. A lot of astro software will let you save a start position, that is effectively your home position now. You would not need to go to the old weights down/scope north home position. When I had an HEQ5 mount and was polar aligned I would start at my home position, marked on my mount. Then do a goto to a bright star and if not centred I;d release my clutches and centre it, then do a goto home to check it was at my home marked on the mount. All gotos were then OK for me. The current equivalent can be done my plate-solving and re-centering. Star alignments are for letting the mount know of any inaccuracies in your Polar alignment and in where the mount is pointing (if not correct) it can then run taking these into account. HTH Steve

1. It loaded on my Iphone running iOS 17.0.3 - though I have not got my Seestar yet I checked the app out but have not connected to a Seestar. 2. The app says it needs iOS 13.0 or later

That's a valid point. I guess as they don't sell focal reducers they think it's the manufacturer of the reducer that needs to mention that. But we can't expect every reducer maker to know the settings for every camera can we.

To be fair they also state "Please be noted that this tutorial only applies to 55mm back focal length. "

ASPA on the Celestron was a feature that Skywatcher mounts used to lack and was hailed as a good tool by AVX users. You would do a normal star alignment, which in reality is compensating for a poor PA and then do a process to correct the PA by using any bright star. There is now a similar feature in SW mounts hidden in the manual. You'd need to see the AVX manual or a google to find the process

It's been a while since I last looked at alpaca, back then it seemed to need drivers from the hardware makers written for alpaca. The only reason I investigated virtualhere usb connection was to use an Asiair on a solar scope with moonlite focuser & Asi camera from indoors and a long network lead - all controlled from a Windows 11 machine.

Just an off the wall idea. If you have a look at virtualhere you can use the local Rpi as a USB hub and run all your current PC software. You can see the installation details on github. I think the free version only supports one usb but alt least you can try it out.

Save me repeating myself see this thread on SGL for the same question. HTH Steve

A guider scope, unlike a finder scope, needs to be in a fixed alignment with the main imaging scope. When guiding the target being imaged is not necessarily used as the guide star. The star chosen for guiding will move the same as the target so essentially no adjustments are needed for the guide scope.

Yes it could but the 70LT would need scope rings as the tripod it goes on is not a standard dovetail type. Though the usual answer is to use an adapter for the starsense to enable it to be mounted on a findershoe or similar. The 70LT would be a bit big for a finderscope though. The Starsense itself can be a replacement for a finderscope, that's how I use it.

A few you may want to look at: The ZWO TC40 - 50kg it has a spreader type connector and a weight bag. I have the Innorel RTC90 but these ones on Amazon look the same and are discounted at the moment. The plates are changeable, I think the FLO tripod plate can be replaced (if they have alternate plates) but not quick switch ones.

You don't need a new kernel from Joey for either Astroberry or Stellarmate to use the power ports. There is now an indi driver indi-asipower that supports them as standard thanks to Ken Self, if you search SGL you'll see how it was added and used like here for example. The virtualUSB is a licensed product that runs only on the licensed computer (server) but the usb connects can be shared over a network - it's about $50 for a single license from the author in Australia. I've tested it with usb drives and asi cameras, the server software is on my Astroberry & Stellarmate sd-cards but licensed to my AsiAir Pro. You'd need root access to the AsiAir sd-card to use it with the ZWO app but I've not done that myself.

You can run Stellarmate or Astroberry in the ASIAir Pro just by using a different sdcard, that also allows use of the power ports as there is a driver for those in the underlying indilib.

Yes the ASIAir & Canon DSLR will work together and after a quick google of the mount you mention that would work too. The DSLR would connect via a usb lead and the ASIAir will let you switch between using the camera for PA and then for imaging. Search google for 'asiair ioptron skyguider pro' and some YouTube hits appear as well as posts on cloudynights.

This thread is not simply an advert for the Seestar but is in the discussion area. Those that have not got one, or have yet made up their mind, may want to see honest opinions and results - even if the opinions are to buy another product. Not everyone can afford to buy both, though some can and would if they managed to cater for different usages. Or even if they just want to do a personal compare. That's their choice.

The tripod 3/8 bolt looks a bit odd. If the AzGTi is pre-fitted to the extension first , then the tripod 3/8 pass thru should be done up tight. Last the bolt under the tray. You can always add the AZGTI last as the 3 bolts can be accessed at any time. Was that the explanation you sought?