Computer control of Skywatcher Synscan...is it possible...is it cheap???

[OldBigNose]

I have recently been toying with the idea of linking my S/W Synscan and whatever scope I put on it (well,to be honest I haven't much choice but hey ho.....) to my netbook and giving computer related astronomy a go;I won't be looking at the sky with the pc but just using it to find things;but I am wondering (1) if there's any point since the synscan handset is a computer in its own right and quite adequately finds it's way round the sky(2)are there any advantages to using a computer as an interface in the way i would be doing it(3)what would be required as hardware (4)what would be required as software? (5)would it be cheap? I have to justify it to the mrs you see!She got slightly miffed with the recent acquisition (binoviewers) and I didn't even pay for them (which was nice).Any suggestions gratefully received..........my thoughts are that it would be a bit of a pointless exercise,but I'd like to mess about and see what I could get for the effort involved,and hopefully that won't be much effort as it's getting cold!

[barkis]

You can use a planetarium programme such as The Sky, Stellarium, or Starry Night on your puter, and select object to slew to.

You will need a serial to USB converter to connect the mount to your computer, Plus the Ascom platform V6, and the Eqmod. Interface.

If you intend to do astrophotography, then you need a guidescope, guide camera, then processing software.

Cheap,? It can be an expensive route to embark on. Piggy backing a camera on your telescope is a possible first step. Some nice widefield

results can be achieved by that method.

Ron.

[brantuk]

Ron's right - it's totally free if all you want to do is click on an object in Stellarium to slew the scope and track it. It's more accurate the better you have polar aligned the scope. You should have the handset serial cable if the mount was purchased new. All you need is a serial/usb adaptor. I've done this for both Celestron and SW mounts - dead easy once you've worked out all the connections and software.

[OldBigNose]

Thanks for the quick replies gents;i used my brain cell and looked in the s/w instruction manual last night which made things look easier than they are,and also tried stellarium as advised but the program doesn't see the scope (or vice versa) and I am fairly certain my usb converter works as I updated the synscan handset with it yesterday,so now it is suddenly not working or I have missed something somewhere.It all looks straightforward but somehow isn't.I will give the Worldwide Telescope program a go today having downloaded the ascom software and scope drivers...however stellarium mentions nothing about ascom or an eqmod interface,it just tells you to pick a relevant scope from a list and (apparently)it should work,I must be doing something wrong as far as stellarium is concerned but I have a few days off to play with both programs.

[OldBigNose]

Ah!!!Stellarium works!!! I had to re-assign the com port in the "configuration" settings..fabulous...quite easy after all.Now to see if it works on the netbook so I can take it outside (I know,sounds daft,but I tried everything on my main pc first,simply because it's easier to sit at and iron any problems out on than on the little netbook)Thanks once again gentlemen,a little help goes a long way :smiley:

[barkis]

Ah!!!Stellarium works!!! I had to re-assign the com port in the "configuration" settings..fabulous...quite easy after all.Now to see if it works on the netbook so I can take it outside (I know,sounds daft,but I tried everything on my main pc first,simply because it's easier to sit at and iron any problems out on than on the little netbook)Thanks once again gentlemen,a little help goes a long way :smiley:

It's one of the main reasons why SGL is here.

Good Luck with your progress.

Ron.