Godit

Mine was the same, although I have not tried checking it with the old keycode to enable it.

By the way, the reason they sent me that email was in response to some feedback I provided. Might as well post it as a review: Rating 4 out of 5 Stars. Overall I am happy with the product assuming I can solve my technical issue. I know other users have no problems with the software so I will not fault the device for this. This was a great value for my money and I would recommend it to a friend. Pro: Very light and compact. Good quality and length of cable, not too long or too short. Virtuoso App is simple and effective. Con: The position of the velcro forces you to twist the cable 180 degrees. I installed my own velcro on the opposite side to reduce stress on the cable. The green indicator light from the cable interferes with night vision. I was able to cover it up with electrical tape. Setup and configuration was not very easy for a first time user. The Virutoso App worked fine but it took me a long time to figure out what settings to use in SkySafari 4 since it required a change to the default parameters. A video demo of the configuration for SkySafari would be very helpful. I also used the device with Stellarium on my PC. Again, as a beginner I was not aware of having to use Stellarium Scope and downloading ASCOM drivers. I eventually got help from an astronomy forum that gave a detailed step by step instructions: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/239925-skywatcher-heritage-virtuoso-controlled-via-bluetooth/?p=2611015

That is odd, I wonder if they are replacing it with a new WiFi product. I got an email from them on Monday stating "New products as Wifi connection modules and new Stellarium are about to be released." There was even a link to a preview of what looked like a Stellarium plugin of their Virtuoso App controls. But that link is now dead so maybe it was not meant to be released just yet. If you're interested in the wireless capability, I'd wait a few weeks to see if they come out with anything.

Nice setup, your pictures inspired me to buy one of my own. How much life would you expect to get out of one charge?

When I uncheck the scope in Stellarium Scope I get errors and asks to restart Stellarium. That is not surprising considering I am interrupting some connection. However, when I disable the scope control in the Stellarium plugin dialog the reticle dissapears but the behavior remains the same. I tried slowly moving the scope with the arrow keys at this time but the behavior appears to remain the same. When I re-enable the scope in the dialog, the reticle reappears but has not moved from its last location. When I manually move my scope, the reticle follows the movement on screen as expected. However, if I have commanded a slew and I then try moving the mount when it stops slewing, I can hear the motors engaging as it tries to return the selected object. The on screen reticle is no longer in sync with the actual position. If I am slewed to an object and "break free" using speed setting 5, then manual movement and the screen reticle work normally as before. I have tried using both the slew telescope to current object in the plugin dialog and the CTRL-1 (slew to current object shortcut) methods and the behavior is the same in each case. I am able to command the slew anywhere I choose. Even after it settles on an object I can select another object and command another slew. I can also move the scope with the arrows if I use the highest speed. The problem is I cannot slowly pan around the object after slewing to it, which means I cannot center it in the eyepiece and perform a SYNC to correct the alignment. One last addition, I uninstalled the EQMOD software to see what effect that might have and there was no change. In my case at least, EQMOD does not seem to be a requirement for the module to work. However, I will a fresh install of everything tonight to confirm this.

If I have commanded a Slew than even if I select Sync from the drop down, Stellearium scope pulls the mount back to the last slew. I can "break free" if I use speed 5, but trying to center the object in the eyepiece with speed 3 or 4 results if me fighting the software. When I am in Sync and hit slew the position updates as expected, but the problem is I'm never in the position I want to sync because it won't allow pan freely. I will try to uncheck the SCOPE box on Stellarium Scope. I was afraid it would require Stellarium to reboot or loose my alignment or something. But I will test that next to see if that disables the locked slew. Also I have noticed another oddity, When starting, whenever I command my first Scope slew the mount makes a full 360 rotation before going to the location. It doesn't matter left or right of meridian or even my starting position. Subsequent slews go directly to the point no matter left or right. I can't explain why the first slew is always a full circle. Perhaps related to the issue you have with objects to the right of the current position.

I see now. I had already set the latitude via the manual before. I suppose the mount references that in memory to know its initial position. I will try the setup again starting at aligned with Polaris to see if I can get it to work as intended. I still have no idea about how to move the mount with the onboard keypad. No matter what I did the mount seems to stay slaved to where Stellarium wanted it to be.

First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting this guide together. I'm not sure I would have figured it out on my own. I got it working tonight and was rewarded with my first view of a galaxy, M81 to be precise. There are a few kinks I have not worked out though. FIrst of all I am not sure as to the proper initial alignment of the scope. When you said aligned north-south and latitude, I interpreted that to be polar aligned but when I chose to slew to Polaris in Stellarium the scope went nearly straight up. I figured it must assume the scope is at 0 deg Alt so my next attempt I put the scope on the horizon and it seemed to work just fine after that. Maybe I missed a setting somewhere but I could not get accurate slewing if I started with the scope pointing up as you mentioned. The next problem I have is being unable to disengage the slew to refine the aiming. The slews were good enough to get object on the edge of my field of view but for some reason I could not use my controls on the Virtuoso mount to adjust the scope. I would use the arrow keys and the scope would move but after 1 second or so, its as if Stellarium was overide all my input and it would drag the view back to where it thought the object was centered. I used the CTRL-1 shortcut to make the initial GO-TO slew and tried many times using CTRL-5 to cancel this to somehow disengage the slaved function but even if I undid the clutch and manually turned the scope, it would attempt to move the scope back. At one point I seemed to get control back and was able to use CTRL-3 to refine Stellariums aiming, but I could not repeat that behavior. Perhaps I need to use the SYNC and SCOPE commands in the dropdown box as you mentioned instead of the shortcut keys. But I was getting confused with the intended behavior when the scope would move with the SLEW command even if SYNC was selected. I also though it was odd that the Android App function requires a deliberate star alignment in order to work with Sky Safari. I have tried this and gotten mixed results but not as good as the Stellarium even with the issues I had tonight. I was expecting to have to do a 2 or 3 star alignment with Stellarium scope but I guess not, why is that? Is there a way to do it?

This seller shows a dovetail like you mentioned. No idea it that comes with it normally or not. http://www.highpointscientific.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer-latitude-eq-base-s20530

It certainly looks like the product on page 9 of this manual http://www.skywatcher.com/downloads/MiniDOB.pdf Although the manual I got appears to be newer (from Celestron maybe?) has no mention of equitorial mounts,

I have ordered the bluetooth module thanks to the recommendation from jpgr in this thread: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/239925-skywatcher-heritage-virtuoso-controlled-via-bluetooth/ I remember reading about the EQ mode in this manual. Its worth trying the "Press 5" option as mentioned on page 9. http://www.skywatcher.com/downloads/MiniDOB.pdf But there are 2 other manuals out there that do not include any mention of this. Sky-Watcher USA for the mount only: http://www.skywatcherusa.com/downloads/manuals/mounts/virtuoso_manual.pdf And the manual I received apparently from Celestron: http://www.celestron.com/support/manuals-software I found a possible explanation somewhere else on the forums in regards to Synscan controller... http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/192325-synscan-az-goto-and-a-wedge/

Just got my Virtuoso 90mm Mak as my first scope and I'm in love with it. I thought I read an earlier version of the mount allowed you to put it into a Equitorial track mode if you had it oriented that way. Since it fits on a standard camera tripod, had anybody tried setting the elevation to your latitude and using it in this way?

I wonder how the mount will handle the load when put up to nearly 45 degrees. Will it effect the motors?

I suppose I could put one together with some scrap plywood. How precise do you think I have to be? I'll be using a tablesaw and measuring tape, not exactly precise CNC machining.

I'm a bit confused. I didn't think Stellarium Scope was required since the current version of Stellarium has a built in Telescope Control Plugin. http://www.stellarium.org/wiki/index.php/Telescope_Control

My first telescope, the Skywatcher 90mm Mak arrived tonight and I wanted to try it out despite the full overcast here. The moon was bright enough but just too clouded to bring into focus. I figured why not at least take a look at Jupiter which was very bright nearly directly overhead. It took me a while to get it in the scope but when I did...it took my breath away. I've never seen a planet like this with my own eyes. I did not expect much out of this little scope, never mind with these conditions, but somehow the seeing was good and the planet came into crystal clear focus. My jaw dropped as I saw for the first time the dark mid bands and the 4 moons aligned exactly as Stellarium depicted. Needless to say I was instantly hooked and can't wait to start capturing my own images. I've ordered the bluetooth module from Expanse Sky and would greatly appreciate if you could put together a guide for me to use my laptop with it!

I would like to do the same thing but I don't have an Android device. Do you know if it works with a bluetooth connection from a regular laptop running Stellarium? The website mentions this but I do not know if you need additional drivers since it would not be using the Android app. Also, they've updated the website with an English product page and YouTube demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q03p2Tc6q9U http://expansesky.com/ I also confirmed that the Virtuoso can be controlled as an equatorial mount via the app if you happen to have it on a wedge. By the way, thanks for posting about this, it is exactly what I was looking for!