Newforestgimp

Having very recently gone through this process, my biggest take away is don’t try and find a scope that does both visual and AP. Just accept it’s different tools for different jobs, once I squared that one away my decision making became much clearer.

Has anybody any suggestions or better still experience of a finder scope that when I’m ready can then be used as a guide scope for Astro photography ? cheers Andy

That is actually a really good idea 👍

Thank you for a very comprehensive explanation, it has helped me understand much better.

Anybody know how suitable this might be ? https://www.maplin.co.uk/portable-power-technology-powerpack-100-0616010988476?wgu=276885_59032_16084570983641_95583ad322&wgexpiry=1616233098&utm_source=webgains&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=59032 it seems like the specs are deliberately confusing, some quote AHours sone Mha this one WattHours ?? wished I’d listened at college now... Andy

Thanks 🙏🏼. Another promising off the shelf

Thanks 🙏🏼. Another promising off the shelf

Thank you, how do you go about the physical connections from the devices to the battery ? sorry if this sounds a but dumb but unless there’s a socket on a box I get confused how to DIY it ?

This is more like it, repurposing something not branded as Astro and pushing price up 👍 many clues on how long a charge will last ?

Interesting, as I say I’m electric phobic it’s a dark art to me, I have a EQM-35, will need to run a dew heater and phone/tablet nonguiding with laptop for now.

I think it will be mount, dew heater, laptop, phone. Home and remote is what I envisage ?

Yeah the price is prohibitive TBH, £250 seems like a lot to me.

Evening All, what suggestions for outdoor power source for mount etc ? I am an electrickery phobic have no real understanding of which sockets are required and the off the shelf power tanks are probably the answer but they seem very expensive for the convenience factor ? are there other better options than the Astro specific power tanks ? Andy

Hi All, After following some older threads I've managed to get Sharpcap to work with my Canon 1300D, functionally anyhow, still need a lot of practice to get the settings sorted but at least its capturing images. Its a bit irritating that the moment you connect to the DSLR it begins snapping away, is there a way to pause it while you get everything set I wonder ? Anyway I digress, the main question I have is... Once DSLR connected is it possible to collect video footage from the DSLR into SharpCap ? Regards Andy

Yes sorry I meant possibly buying both but using one or the other to suit whether using from home or out in the wilds.

Yes it is looking like possibly a combination of handset &/or USB/WiFi. id like to think if I can connect mount to something like Stellarium it would be more akin to guiding than just letting the mount alone track an object and hence more accurate ?. I may be giving too much credit to the Stellarium software though ?

Perfect, understood. Thank you so much for your help.

Still a little confused, is it the handset that makes an AZ mount GOTO ? what does the usb adapter do if the mount on its own isnt GOTO ?

Thank you ill check it out

Sorry for the questions Peter but i have another regarding stellarium control, is it possible for stellarium to control the basic supatrak alt az mount without handset i.e. direct connection from laptop to az mount ? Im a bit confused on how/what scopes stellarium connects and controls as the drop down lists seem only to have "GOTO" mounts listed.

Even Better, thanks guys.... Just got to find one, in stock or not stupid money on ebay.

Great stuff ! sounds like I have a few options, (wondering if there is anything in this hobby that doesn’t have multiple options to choose from 😂)

This is definitely a alt/AZ single fork mount with the more basic Syntrek hand controller, not anything as fancy as HEQ5. From what you’re saying it IS a simple case of plugging in a synscan handset to give full Goto. WiFi module ? the synscan app/Stellarium control, would that give tracking in a similar way to guiding without guide camera ?

Looks promising ! Thank you. I wonder if anyone on here has done it successfully with an AZ mount ?

Hi all, is it possible to upgrade a skywatcher Syntrek alt/AZ mount to be a full Goto mount ? Is it as simple as plugging in a synscan handset ? more complicated ? Or not possible at all. can Stellarium control a simple syntrek tracking mount ? any advice or pointers gratefully received. Andy