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Star alignment & HEQ5 Pro synscan

oldannie

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oldannie

oldannie

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First two times I set up mount and camera for imaging I did a two star alignment and knew the first two stars suggested so had no problems.  On the third occasion I didn't recognize any of the stars suggested and the first two were not appropriate as they were behind trees.  Can I choose my own stars as there were bright stars visible which I recognized?

Cheers

Annie

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Owmuchonomy

Owmuchonomy

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Yes of course, just scroll down the list until you find ones you do recognise. However the ones it is suggesting are the best. If you are imaging then make sure the two stars you pick are on the same side of the meridian as your imaging target. I use a notebook in which I have a shortlist of suitable stars, their constellation and the relevant season prepared from my planetarium app (sky safari). I am then ready to go when I've set up.

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oldannie

oldannie

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Don't think I explained myself very well  Chris - there were stars I recognized on the appropriate side of the meridian which didn't seem to be on the synscan list.  However I think your idea of keeping a shortlist of appropriate stars in a notebook is really good - am going to do just that. 

Thanks Chris

Annie

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Tinker1947

Tinker1947

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I'm not sure if there's a random element set in the Synscan list, i know when i scroll through mine to get particular stars they may not appear in the first list but do in the second or third run through.....it would be nice if you could type in a star's name then slew to it...:)

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Clockwork_Orange

Clockwork_Orange

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Hi Annie

There is an option hidden in the handset to display the alignment Stars alphabetically, go into the setup option and scroll through until you reach alignment stars and select how you wish to have them displayed, alphabetically then allows you to select the first star from the full catalogue which is fine if your just doing a single star alignment. If your doing a two star for some reason it does still seem to limit the choice a bit , but you should find it better like this.

Regards

John

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Owmuchonomy

Owmuchonomy

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Thanks for that John - if I'm imaging and choose a star adjacent to my target I assume it's okay to just do a one star alignment?

Annie

If you wish to run the PA routine to improve your PA for imaging after your alignment then you will need to run the two star alignment. If you wish to check your scope for cone error then you will have to run the 3 star alignment at some point.

As Tinker says the handset has a habit of giving you a new set of stars if you go into a second iteration. However, I'm surprised it didn't put up any stars you could recognise.

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oldannie

oldannie

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Thanks John and Chris.  Yes I was surprised at the list of stars I was confronted with - I could see bright stars in the sky that didn't seem to be on the list and the first two I selected were behind a nearby wood.  Hopefully I'll be better prepared next time - if the weather ever clears!.  I'll probably stick to a two star alignment as that worked fine on the first two occasions.

Thanks guys

Annie

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lensman57

lensman57

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The SynScan will by default display the names of the alignment stars in the order of brightness. As you know there is an option in the menu to change this alphabetically but the main problem remains as whether the suggested stars are the most suitable. This is indeed the case for Polar align routine as the unit reports different error values depending on which star you polar align on. There was a discussion of a list of the most suitable alignment stars either here on SGL or somewhere else but I don't think that there is enough hours in the day to start looking at these. I normally do a 3 star align followed by a PA routine with 2 or 3 cycles using the suggested stars or those that I can clearly see, I then slew to a star near the intended target and perform a PAE routine and more often than not the mount puts the target more or less in the centre  of the sensor. This is not 100% fool proof but it does work most of the time. The other problem I have with the SynScan star library is that I consider it incomplete and there are no HD catalogue star designations either.

A.G

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baggywrinkle

baggywrinkle

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SW and iOptron use a list of stars which are almost identical, I downloaded the list from iOptron's site, it give the Arabic/Greek names and then what I call the proper names identifying by constellation.

Celestron's Nextstar system allows a free choice but their AVX mount uses the Skywatcher method, so I m still using the lists.

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Owmuchonomy

Owmuchonomy

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Yup - definitely need a list and looking at the weather forecast I've got plenty of time to sort something out!

Annie

Hi Annie, for the current season these are the best stars for a 2 star alignment at my location later on in the evening. Adjust meridian position accordingly if you are setting up earlier in the evening. I use Sky Safari to check meridian position of stars before I head out.

For East of the meridian, Castor, Pollux (one of these obviously), Procyon, Dubhe, Merak, Mizar

For West of the meridian, Capella, Schedar, Rigel, Aldebaran, Ruchbah. You can add Deneb to this list if you are early and have a good NW view. It is just circumpolar at my latitude.

These are all bright, easily spotted and appear on the menu. Good luck

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