jpgr

Sorry I meant cover the scope and align by obtaining the smallest shadow of the scope. Not look through a finderscope or rdf

could you leave the cover on and align it to the sun?

according to their website http://skysafariastronomy.com/products/skysafari/you need at least sky safari plus.

JonC - if you are trying to make a SW Synscan AZ cable (at the moment there is one for sale on astroboot) the cable colours dont matter, providing you connect the RJ12 pins to the correct pins on the RJ45 end.

i.e.

RJ12 pin 2 connects to RJ45 pin 6

RJ12 pin 3 connects to RJ45 pin 7 etc

ive just disabled buzzer and lights, pressed 5 and the mount moves in all directions ok.

if you press 1 and 2 together it turns tracking on / off.

if the buttons are not flashing, and you havent disabled the backlight, the unit is not tracking.

if you set the speed to 1 or 2 the telescope moves very slowly (used for centering an object in the eyepiece) - try using 4 or 5 to check its actually moving.

if no key is pressed within 30 minutes, tracking will cease automatically.

if you turn the unit off and then back on again it should reset lights, buzzer and tracking.

if you uncheck scope in the stellarium options then it disappears from the drop down list on the stellarium dialog.

if i manually move the scope the reticle follows the movement on the stellarium screen.

are you pressing the current object button on the "slew telescope to" dialog to update the ra and dec co-ordinates?

in stellarium the slew telescope to dialog:

if you have sync in the drop down box and press the slew button the reticle moves but not the telescope.

if you have scope in the drop down box, pressing the slew button will move the scope.

i can press the directional buttons on the mount and the scope moves in the direction selected - the speed might be set to the slowest, so press button 5 (highest) speed and see if the scope moves.

http://taursansaakamera.dyndns.org:2222/Ohjelmat/Stellariumscope/stellariumscope_user_guide.pdf

on the stellarium scope window you can enable/disable slew, sync and cancel. have you unticked these options?

the scope needs to be levelled, aligned north-south and latituded - as per page 2 of the instruction manual that came with the scope.

more details for connecting, aligning, problems etc are at:

http://armazemdotelescopio.com.br/loja/index.php/artigos/24-conteudo-astronomia-projetos/245-getting-acquainted-with-app-virtuoso-an-android-app-to-control-synscan-enabled-skywatcher-mounts-without-the-need-of-a-synscan
 

i uninstalled everything and started from scratch:

turn on the scope with bluetooth module attached the light on the module should keep flashing.
open windows devices and printers - add device
select HC-06 bluetooth other
pair without code - device has been added
HC-06 should appear in devices and printers window
windows message should appear saying successfully installed device
close devices and printers window

open control panel, type bluetooth in search bar at top right

under devices and printers select change bluetooth settings
select com ports tab on new bluetooth settings dialog that opens
click add button
add com port dialog appears
select outgoing option
select hc-06 from drop down list
Dev B (or something similar) should appear in the Service list
click ok

windows should start installing software and then announce success with a com port number
the bluetooth settings dialog should now show the port used, outgoing direction and HC-06 Dev B as the name
click OK to close the bluetooth settings dialog.
close control panel.

http://download.ascom-standards.org/ASCOMPlatform61SP1.exe
download and install the ascom platform

http://ftp.net-snmp.com/projects/eq-mod/files/EQASCOM/EQASCOM_V127l_Setup.exe
download and install eqascom  (i tried leaving out the eqascom driver but it doesnt work without it.)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/driverazgoto/files/
download and install DriverAzGotoByArmazemDoTelescopioSetup

http://www.welshdragoncomputing.ca/d/dgtocc/st/Setup_StellariumScopeWD_20141109.exe
download and install stellariumscope

assuming stellarium is already installed (if not it needs to be)
open stellarium press F2 and select plugins tab
select telescope control from left hand list and check the load at startup option.
close stellarium

run stellariumscope
click select mount at top left
ascom telescope chooser appears
select driver az goto por amazem do telescopio
click properties.. button
porta COM - select the com port windows assigned to the bluetooth module
elevaco(m) - height of your location above sea level
latitude and longitude of your location
alinhamento - northern hemisphere (norte) or southern (sul)
click ok buttons to get back to the main stellariumscope screen

make sure the scope is powered on and the bluetooth module plugged in and flashing
click the connect check box at the top of the stellariumscope screen
you should get a notification that a device is trying to connect and click on this message to allow it.

a dialog then comes up for the pairing code 1234 works for mine
if its the wrong code an error message appears and the connect check box unticks itself - try 0000

if successful a message box appears listing the device now connected - should be HC-06

close the dialog. the connect check box on the stellariumscope screen should now be ticked.

scope connected message should appear at the bottom of the stellariumscope screen
 

click update stellarium button on stellariumscope screen

click yes to the next three dialogs that come up.


click start stellarium button on stellariumscope screen.


if everythings ok you should see a yellowish reticle labelled scope appear in the sky.

depending on which way your scope is pointing this could be anywhere.

make sure the scope is pointing upwards and zoom the screen out if you cant see it

select the scope icon in stellarium and a "slew telescope to" dialog appears.

click the configure telescopes... button and check all three are connected if it doesnt appear.

the scope needs to be levelled, aligned north-south and latituded before doing any of the following

if SYNC is selected in the drop down box:
pressing the slew button aligns the screen reticle to where the telescope is pointed.

if SCOPE is selected in the drop down box:
select a star,planet or other and click the current object button on the dialog
the ra and dec coordinates should update to reflect this.

click the slew button and the telescope moves to where the object is and then continues tracking it.

if you manually move the scope the reticle moves across the screen in sync so you can get near to an object and then fine tune with the slew button.

one thing ive noticed: if the telescope reticle is to the left of an object you wish to track,

pressing the slew button causes it to rotate 360 degrees rather than just move to the right. i manually move the telescope to the right of an object and then slew to it.

cartes du ciel - select ascom driver, connect button and tracking button
c2a - connect to telescope etc

due to the weather, new scope, i havent had the chance to try this outside.

(phase 2 of this project involves dlsr controller)

from what i understand (although i might have over confused myself) the virtuoso with a Synscan controller can be controlled directly through a serial port by Stellarium.

Direct control of the virtuoso can be achieved using EQMOD (which means you dont need the Synscan handset).

Stellarium needs the ASCOM platform to interface to EQMOD.

stellariumscope is the friendly front end to ascom and eqmod.

so i downloaded and installed:
the ascom platform
eqascom - (might not be needed but listed on the stellariumscope site)
stellariumscope
Driver AZ GOTO do Armazém  http://sourceforge.net/projects/driverazgoto/

the bluetooth module takes the place of a connecting cable but you need to allocate a com port for the module

selected Driver AZ GOTO do Armazém from the mount select list in stellariumscope
using the com port allocated from above. changed long, lat etc to the appropriate settings.

updated the settings in stellariumscope and started stellarium.


you can also control the scope via android using Virtuoso Telescope Control (free) and skysafari plus/pro (not free)


Godit: i still remember my first view of jupiter and know what you mean

i forgot to mention you also need stellarium scope

ive tried stellarium, c2a and cartes du ciel and they all control  the telescope.

the driver is available from http://sourceforge.net/projects/driverazgoto/files/

you need to allocate a com port for the bluetooth device in windows.

you also need the ascom platform installed and eqmod - i can write you a rough guide if it would help

as the delivery addresses only listed brazil, i emailed him directly. he charged me £19 including the lead and postage.

it took 6 days to get from brazil to london.

It's already arrived.

Plug in the module, turn on the telescope base unit.

Pair the tablet and module. Open app virtuoso and the mount settings were automatically recognised.

One, two or three star alignment.

Open skysafari select the scope option.

Press connect and away it goes.

The app virtuoso can also move the telescope, change the tracking speed (sidereal, lunar etc) and fire off a connected dslr.  the first time I tried I forgot to pair the devices. Once I realised this it connected straightaway.

i forgot to add - the bluetooth module can control most of the skywatcher mounts that use synscan

skysafari plus (or pro) + virtuoso telescope control app + bluetooth module from

http://armazemdotelescopio.com.br/loja/index.php/montagem/modulo-bluetooth-para-montagens-allview-virtuoso-dob-goto-tele-track-az-goto-detail

(google translate the webpage)

the virtuoso app acts as a bridge between skysafari and the heritage mount. no synscan handset needed.

the bluetooth module comes with a connecting lead and gets its power from the telescope base unit.  (ordered 18th march - delivered 23rd march)

a lot cheaper than a synscan handset and skyfi module.

now just waiting for some clear skies

The seben 8-24mm zoom eyepiece gets a lot of good reviews or for a bit more the meade 4000 8mm-24mm zoom eyepiece.