Software for controlling Goto via laptop - Help!

[AstroJOE]

Hi there, i want to connect my snynscan goto mount to my laptop. I know you can use stellarium to 'slew' from one location to another once the scope has been aligned but I just want to be able to control the alt-az mount.....up, down, left and right....as i would with a handset regardless of whether the scope has been aligned or not.

Reasons why I dont want to have to align my scope every time I am controlling it via the laptop are..

a) I cant be bothered having to align it all the time

I also want to be able to control it via laptop during day for some terestrial use

Can any one help?

[brantuk]

"I cant be bothered having to align it all the time"

Alignment is an essential part of goto - even if Stellarium is gong to control the scope it must be star aligned first. If you can't be bothered then you really need a different scope without goto or a different hobby.

[Viv]

as above ....

there are somethings you have to do / learn about - no choice.

[Tribal-Wolf]

If you put your scope in the same place every time you use it than you shouldn't have to align it every time surely?

[Steve 1962]

If you put your scope in the same place every time you use it than you shouldn't have to align it every time surely?

'fraid so ..and don't call me Shirley!

[stev74]

Mmm why would you want to move the scope from a laptop without it being aligned? You would just be randomly moving it and you wouldn't have your eye at the scope because you would be looking at the laptop screen so it would be pretty pointless anyway.... Unless I'm missing something?

Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk

[martin_h]

To move your mount to a target the mount has to know where it is starting from to be able to work out where it is going to. If you just plonk the scope/mount down and dont initialy align to anything it wont know where to go.

[ronin]

Simplest answer is to set the scope up reasonably accurately to the start positons and perform the quickest alignment you can.

Idea being that if the scope has tp start say level and north, then start the scope off as level and north as you can in a couple of minutes then perform something like a one star alignment. If you have to go to the star and centre it then you will need to have an idea of where it should be during the day at the time you input. If the scope is a Meade then it will go itself to where it says the star is just say OK.

You will have to do ssome alignment simply for the scope to perform some degree of tracking. If you could just place the scope and not lign it them either it will not tra k or if you placed the scope facing south and it starts at north everything will rotate out of view at twice the rate. So useless for any viewing expecially via a laptop.

As others have said if you buy a scope with goto one of the bits you also get is the necessity to do some alignmnet. As they say it comes with the package.

If you put your scope in the same place every time you use it than you shouldn't have to align it every time surely?

The scope may be at the same place but the date and time have changed and the alignment you did last night isn't valid tonight. Take an extreme case of in 2 months Orion will not be visible as it will be below the horizon so todays alignment will not be valid.

[huggiebear]

Heres an idea. Could you control your scope wirelessly? If so then you could add a wireless webcam and view from inside. Saves you from getting cold. Lazy astronomy at its best

[benjii]

Heres an idea. Could you control your scope wirelessly? If so then you could add a wireless webcam and view from inside. Saves you from getting cold. Lazy astronomy at its best

May as well watch the nasa youtube channel if you're going to do that!

[huggiebear]

May as well watch the nasa youtube channel if you're going to do that!

I honestly thought it was a good idea.

[Carbon Brush]

I'm not sure about the detailed features in Stellarium and Sybscan handsets as I don't have either. But here is what works for me....

I have a pier mount. But for this you could substitute a tripod dropped onto marks (small drillings) on a concrete base. Also you have to carry the tripod & mount away without collapsing it. That way it keeps alignment between sessions.

The handset can be parked in a known position so it will start up from there next time? I have a CG5 mount that will do this.

My AWR handset (for the D6 mount) keeps date/time during power off. But this is not essential.

In the computer I have Skymp Pro. This can send date/time commands to update a 'forgetful' handset. The data format is selectable Ascom/LX200 and various others. Presumably other planetarium software can send handset date/time commands.

So you put your tripod/mount down in a known orientation. Power up. The handset knows the mount was parked in a known location. Tell your planetarium software to update the date/time in your handset and off you go.

As you can see, with my pier & control setup I can just power up and view. No alignment. Just a quick check. The only time signficant errors come up is after swapping scopes on the mount. If the optical and mechanical axes aren't quite together, there is a scope to scope error. Then if I loosen the drive clutches while balancing, there is a loss of position. But that apart, it is power up and go.

Off to watch the youtube nasa channel now!

[keithatrochdale]

Use stellerium and a PS2 handset (wireless) to control the movement.

[chrisshillito]

The scope may be at the same place but the date and time have changed and the alignment you did last night isn't valid tonight. Take an extreme case of in 2 months Orion will not be visible as it will be below the horizon so todays alignment will not be valid.

If that were the case alignment wouldn't be worth doing at all as the alignment star is constantly on the move with respect to the mount!

Alignment stars are only used to measure the pointing error in the area of the sky where the star was at the time the alignment was made. It really doesn't matter that the star subsequently moves away from that point, gotos in that region of the sky will remain accurate provided the mount is not moved and it is parked prior to any powerdown.

Chris.

[malc-c]

a) I cant be bothered having to align it all the time

Can any one help?

Then build an observatory and have the scope permanently mounted so once it's been aligned on the first use you can simply park the scope and then slew straight to the first object the next time the skies are clear _

If you don't have that luxury then to get the best from your goto scope you must perform the star alignment as part of the set up, be that via the handset or using a laptop with EQMOD and a planetarium program that supports the ASCOm platform