CKP

6 hours ago, happy-kat said:

If it is an altaz mount then start with the OTA level but pointing North.

In 1 star alignment you can search place your finger on the magnifying glass that's the search box. Start writing the star name

when it's daylight go to settings and connect settings and choose emulator mode, then connect and the app can now be pretend used to get familiar with it. Remember to take it out of emulator mode when finished.

I use 1 star alignment but on several stars of my choice.

 

Hi happy-kat,

It is an alt az, SkyWatcher az gti (not converted to eq).

I never spotted the magnifying glass last night, I will check it out when I get home.

I never knew you could use it as an emulator, I will also check this out too. It's meant to rain later anyway!

6 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

Not a 'disaster' !!  (I always have a feeling of trepidation reading a headline like this, expecting smashed up optics)

Just a few teething problems with new gear.

But you'll soon get into the swing of things, and some nice views await.

Have you looked on YouTube for some setup advice......??

Hi Space Hopper,

Sorry for sounding over dramatic. At the time of writing this I felt a little disheartened. Reading yours and everyone else's posts, I have realised I was putting to much pressure on myself to get it right on my first night and in an hour 😆 

I have looked on YouTube, however most the videos are converted to eq mounts rather than being standard.

7 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

What mount is it? If you’re not getting correct stars in the alignment procedure than your location info and/or time date info is probably incorrect, did you double check the info you entered into the handset? 

Hi Craig, the mount is a SkyWatcher az gti.

The stars aren't visible on the screen other than the very bright stars. It may be I need to play more with the gain and exposures more?  I'm using the laptop to control the mount so I think it goes on the laptop time and date? I did put the location co ordinates in, which I got from Google maps.

I could really use an article for dummies on eaa.

As it was starting to get dark last night, I thought I would have a play with my new set up.

I could only see Vega in the night sky. I looked on the synscan app and saw there was an option for one star alignment. The only problem is Vega wasn't on there and I couldnt find a search option, is there one in the alignment phase?

I waited a little longer until Arcturus was visible and used that to do the one star alignment. I had centred it in my eyepiece first and then did the alignment which took me from Arcturus up to the zenith. I used the manual option to get it back in the eyepiece and then finished the alignment. Am I meant to start with the telescope pointing north towards polaris (even if it isn't visible) before starting any alignment?

I put the camera into the focuser and found it was all out of focus. I managed to get it into focus and then decided to slew to m51. It went in that direction and when the screen settled it showed some more out of focus stars. 

Whilst I was trying to sort out the focusing, I noticed the stars drifting off. I didn't know how to track with this mount and thought once you slew to a target it would automatically track it, I did at one point press point and track but it was still drifting. How do I successfully track a target?

I previously downloaded Allsky plate solving to use with sharpcap, thinking I could do without the finderscope and eyepieces. When I tried running this I couldnt see any stars on the screen, I adjusted exposure and gain and moved the telescope to try and pick up stars. Needless to say it would fail.

It was my first time out and the one thing i've learned so far is that I dont actually know what im doing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated for what to do when I go back outside again.

Many thanks.

1 hour ago, StevieDvd said:

I trust you are rotating the outer (focus) ring and not unscrewing the lens itself 😆

There are also better Allsky lenses available from ZWO and others such as FLO, I've been looking  to build a unit for a while but it's on the end of a big todo list.

Yeah I definitely turned the focuser 😆 

Yesterday was a long day. I drove a 150 mile round trip to collect the mount and camera, set up the mount, learnt how to control the mount using stellarium as well as on my phone and then how to get the camera to work. (It was my version of a mid life crisis as I turn 40 tomorrow). I like the simpler things in life 😆 

This morning however, I simply turned the focuser and all became clear! I didn't buy the camera to do the allsky but it's always an option.

13 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Rotate the allsky lens to screw it in or out. I found its main use was for testing the colour balance indoors without a scope. Some of these cameras require a UV/IR cut filter.

Thanks. It's always good to know the little things.

Edit - I've just tried it and it works. It's a great image/video, I can't wait to try it on the night sky. 

Thanks for your help, I now have a live view on the screen. It was the asi cameras directshow driver. It also works on asistudio too. That will be something else to play with!

Just one more thing, I had the round lens on this time and the view was blurry, I'm not going to use it as an allsky cam  but if I was how would I make it less blurry?

7 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

I'd call it a current model as it's available at most Astro sellers, such as FLO.

To eliminate it from a SharpCap issue try downloading ASIStudio and running ASICap to see if it's recognised. I'm a bit suspicious that it is showing up as a DirectShow camera on SharpCap.

Thanks. I will download asistudio, but what is asicap? As you can tell I'm new to this and their isn't much info online about what I'm experiencing.

16 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

I have the ASI178MM and the latest ZWO drivers which loads as the screen below shows. I use it for luna/solar and it's a current model, I bought it July 2021

Is it a true ZWO or one of the ones purported to be ZWO but branded differently?

It's branded as a zwo.  If yours is a current model and is showing up on the list like this, I guess mine is an older model that don't want to work  😆 

31 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Did you get the camera new or used? I understand this is an older model of camera.

Looks like a driver problem to me. I suggest you download the latest driver from the ZWO website.

I got this sort of message with a Celestron camera (which however worked) but not with my ZWO cameras, only one of which seems to have come with a disc.

I bought it used from a well known telescope shop. I didn't realise it was an older model, especially the price I paid! I've downloaded the latest driver from zwo website but its still the same.

Hi,

I've bought a mount and a camera for EAA...

The mount seems great (not yet had it under the stars) I can even control it using stellarium, thanks to youtube!

The camera on the other hand, I can't get my head round.

Its a zwo asi178 mc. I've downloaded everything on the disc to get it to work on my laptop and with sharpcap. 

It shows up on the cameras tab as 3 different cameras. 

The first one Asi178mc camera (ZWO design) starts, but I get this message

I don't know how to run it without DirectShow???

If I press yes to continue with DirectShow, it starts to preview with a blank screen. I've tried playing with the exposure, gain, adding a Barlow and shortening the trusses on the telescope. It is just a blank screen.

The ones labelled asi camera 1 & 2 won't work. How do I get this camera to work? 

@Cosmic Geoff @Mike JW

I dont have a tracking mount at the moment but the az gti is highly praised and the price is fair, so I shall pick one of these up. The camera is the other part I don't have. The views are clear with the camera in the video and the price is affordable too. Is this the best option at this price point?

4 hours ago, Elp said:

If you possess the ability to connect a computer and download and install and configure software settings to things then it's fairly straightforward. Troubleshooting comes with the territory unfortunately.

I possess the ability to follow instructions, troubleshooting will be a whole new learning curve for me. Its something I'm willing to learn, so hopefully that should see me through!

7 hours ago, Steve in Boulder said:

 

But you don’t need to do any of this to get started.  You can just take your laptop outside and hook it up to the mount and the camera. 

I'm glad you wrote this last paragraph. It seems like it can get a bit technical.

Currently I have the skywatcher heritage 130p and I was looking at the az gti for visual anyway. 

Thanks for replying @Martin Meredith I like how portable it looks in the video, but then I already have a laptop so was thinking if it would be worth the extra cost? I guess it is just personal choice.

By the way I'm currently working in Burslem!

I recently watched a YouTube video which got me interested in EAA. I know nothing about it at the moment but the lad in the video made it look easy! Rather than using a raspberry pi and the stellarmate products, would it be better to use my laptop and either sharpcap or jocular instead of buying extra components and software? Is it just a personal choice, do they all do the same thing equally?

Thanks

5 hours ago, SteveWolves said:

Perton meet is tomorrow and is free just rock up 7pm - 9pm

Thanks for this Steve. I will have to do some juggling about to get there, thursdays are swimming and running clubs. I'll try and arrange it for next month though.

Thanks for the welcome into/back to astronomy.

Hi all,

I'm pretty much new to astronomy.

I have my phases where I feel dedicated and read up on everything I can, only then to forget everything i've read shortly after.

I have a beginners telescope (Skywatcher Heritage 130P) and a pair of binoculars (Helios Naturesport 10x50), between the two i've seen some of the beginners objects.

I want to restart this hobby and relearn the things i've forgot, to also progress further than before and enjoy the night sky as I once did!

Thanks.