GPS

[Mat1]

Hi everyone I'm very new to this so pls be patient, my gps on my phone doesn't match up with the number of spaces on the handset on my skywatcher 1145p surely I'm not that stupid am I ? can anyone tell me how to put these coordinates in N 51.3067 --- E 001.1307 and also after I've done that how do I put the brightest star in when I'll have to keep moving the telescope left and right and messing the level up ? I've got a very uneven garden so once it's level it'd be awkward to keep moving it

[Dude_with_the_tube]

hi Mat,

only 2 digits after the coma are required for synscan,and remember that in synscan the East coords are inputted first followed by north,so in your case it will be:001:13E 51:31N .these are case sensitive as if you do input them wrong the scope will not align.Same goes for date,but i hope you figured that out yourself.

i presume you have leveled your mount with the scope(use spirit level) and it has to be quite accurate if you want your scope to track and find your targets.once you have inputted the coordinates,you will have 2 options of alignement:brightest star or 2 star alignment.i would suggest to do the second option of 2 star as that will enable your scope to find your targets more accurately.if you are a new starter and not very familiar with the skies,i strongly suggest to get a freeware program called:Stellarium and before you even start any alignment start up the Stellarium and based on the view of the skies you have try and detect atliest 3-4 brightest stars in the Stellarium so when you do start your alignment then by browsing through the list of stars available you can find them and use them for alignment.Once you have chosen the first star all you do is use the arrow navigational buttons on your synscan to navigate the scope to the star.not to write a poem here,please watch this video:http://www.skywatcher.com/swtinc/customer_support.php?class1=1&class2=110

this explains pretty much everything about the synscan and how to do the alignment.

Clear skies.

[Mat1]

Wow how quick was that answer ! Thank u very much for that its very much appreciated, now I know how to do it i'll have to wait until tomorrow as its gone cloudy " great "

Thanks again

Mat

[steppenwolf]

There is an important distinction here depending on the full stop. If N 51.3067 and E 001.1307 have a full stop (.) in them rather than a colon ( then to enter them into a handset that requires degrees and minutes rather than decimal degrees, they must be converted so that 51.3067 = 51° 18' 24" or 51:18:24 and 001.1307 = 1° 07' 50.5" or 001:07:51

I hope that helps.

[Mat1]

Steppenwolf

Thank you very much, it's all a bit complicated for me but I'm sure i'll get there in the end

Thanks again

Mat

[AndyWB]

If you're using a iPhone, there are apps that give long-lat. in both formats. There's one "Scope Help" that displays both, and dates and times in various formats (and does lots of other utility functions)

[Mat1]

Just downloaded it, thanks for that

Mat