happy-kat

in altaz I use only level and point north horizontal then turn on. I think if tracking is enabled it will track but there'll be drift as it's not aligned, this was how the virtuoso mount worked and I think the az-gti is likely similar, I might try this next time using the mount

APT DC is a great app for seeing when Astro dark starts and what % illumination the Moon is

The Moon was opposite side to this and the mauve was eye visible, right down South too 6:31pm

Only seen after looking at images taken and this bit is taken facing NE and the last image taken and it's not obvious on the others

Is this Steve? 6:43pm Images realized for web Meant to add the mauve was visible naked eye

Your lovely shots give me hope this just captured it too, 6:31pm right down south with a mobile

I have a synscan dongle and use it with two different mounts but I'm not understanding your question? I'll see if I can find the build your own thread

If you undo the altitude clutch will the altitude move by hand turning it

very rusty, a quick process, hope my data will be as nice

I enjoyed using v4 plus but I'm not liking v7 the time change ui is not as usable As a side comment I like the skymap feature in skyeye pro

a simple but steady tripod too would also be useful and if you can practice before you go

That's really good for sharing in the moment I'm loving the sharpsolve function

I too had flaky connection stability but when I followed the connection order I posted above (advised by skywatcher) all was good stayed connected al evening. I'm using ascom 1.40 and the latest synscan mobile app

I see what about using your chosen planetarium where you can add your telescope, camera and search for the comet and see what the FOV looks like

I've captured Comets with just a camera and a 55mm lens. Have a go with the equipment you have if that's what you have. Try the FOV calculator to see how tight you might be on the comet versus the surrounding star field.

You can guide in altaz mode, I saw a tip on YT about using just the one star option and not multiple stars when guiding in altaz mounts, it's something I'm currently playing with on the az-gti in altaz mode as although I've put the latest eq firmware on the mount I'm not using eq though I've mounted the telescope on the right and I do use a counter weight bar

I have skywatcher ascom driver 1.40 installed start ascon device hub (it will be in your programs start all apps list) / go to tools setup / select choose / select synscan app driver / properties mine is on search devices when connecting / select ok / select ok again / then ok again to close that dialog / and if on step 4 of my connecting steps select connect telescope / leave ascom device hub running though once connected you can minimise it

Will do Ascom device hub

Sorry I'm not at the PC too double check but it's the synscan app driver I downloaded the Ascom driver from skywatcher

This is what I do with an AZ-GTi with the wifi dongle as it has better signal for me mount level, telescope facing north level and horizontal, turn on az-gt 1- connect pc wifi 2- connect mobile wifi 3- start mobile synscan pro app and connect I do one star alignment (because it moves the mount and this method suits me) 4- start ascom and connect 5- start phd2 and connect mount etc. 6- sharpcap and connect 7- start stellarium and connect every thing is connecting and staying connected

The travelscope 70 refractor would give nice wide field views and can be used for other uses if the hobby grew like a finder scope on a bigger scope or a guiding scope with a bigger setup for imaging or as the telescope if beginning imaging when starting out using what you have already. it'll show chromatic aberration on very bright stars, the Moon and perhaps planets, it'll give nice low powered viewes and sweeping star fields like target like m45 or m44 for example.

Enjoyed a late to look all all the super entries in this challenge

EEA electronically enhanced astronomy is interesting I find as it reveals what the telescope is seeing by live stacking short length exposures of deep space objects from an astro camera, depending on what you have already there might be mileage in getting an Astro camera. Planets are taken generally by taking video of lots of frames a second as that's often done and using software to make a planet image from the best frames when the seeing/atmosphere was better. It's possible to choose an Astro camera that covers both. Though it could be connected to a PC depending on camera it could also connect to a mobile phone or tablet. Just a different thought

What is the telescope and tripod you currently have?

Telescopes can be quite large, awkward and heavy so if portability is important maybe because of distance from storage to using location perhaps because of stairs then that's something to keep in mind. Feature wise starting at total manual, to push to with guidance, to tracking to full go to with tracking. I like a feature called freedom find by skywatcher on some of their electronic mounts as it allows for disengaging the electronics and going manual. Whilst you get more telescope with less electronics if having electronics means the telescope gets used and not dusty that works for some.