Skywatcher Heritage Virtuoso controlled via bluetooth

[Godit]

It does look similar doesn't it. I'd imagine you'd need to attach some sort of dovetail to the Virtuoso base to fit it to the Star Adventurer Wedge. Maybe check with FLO and see if it would work.

This seller shows a dovetail like you mentioned. No idea it that comes with it normally or not.

http://www.highpointscientific.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer-latitude-eq-base-s20530

[Godit]

...

the scope needs to be levelled, aligned north-south and latituded before doing any of the following

if SYNC is selected in the drop down box:

pressing the slew button aligns the screen reticle to where the telescope is pointed.

if SCOPE is selected in the drop down box:

select a star,planet or other and click the current object button on the dialog

the ra and dec coordinates should update to reflect this.

click the slew button and the telescope moves to where the object is and then continues tracking it.

if you manually move the scope the reticle moves across the screen in sync so you can get near to an object and then fine tune with the slew button.

one thing ive noticed: if the telescope reticle is to the left of an object you wish to track,

pressing the slew button causes it to rotate 360 degrees rather than just move to the right. i manually move the telescope to the right of an object and then slew to it.

...

 First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting this guide together. I'm not sure I would have figured it out on my own. I got it working tonight and was rewarded with my first view of a galaxy, M81 to be precise.

There are a few kinks I have not worked out though. FIrst of all I am not sure as to the proper initial alignment of the scope. When you said aligned north-south and latitude, I interpreted that to be polar aligned but when I chose to slew to Polaris in Stellarium the scope went nearly straight up. I figured it must assume the scope is at 0 deg Alt so my next attempt I put the scope on the horizon and it seemed to work just fine after that. Maybe I missed a setting somewhere but I could not get accurate slewing if I started with the scope pointing up as you mentioned.

The next problem I have is being unable to disengage the slew to refine the aiming. The slews were good enough to get object on the edge of my field of view but for some reason I could not use my controls on the Virtuoso mount to adjust the scope. I would use the arrow keys and the scope would move but after 1 second or so, its as if Stellarium was overide all my input and it would drag the view back to where it thought the object was centered. I used the CTRL-1 shortcut to make the initial GO-TO slew and tried many times using CTRL-5 to cancel this to somehow disengage the slaved function but even if I undid the clutch and manually turned the scope, it would attempt to move the scope back. At one point I seemed to get control back and was able to use CTRL-3 to refine Stellariums aiming, but I could not repeat that behavior. 

Perhaps I need to use the SYNC and SCOPE commands in the dropdown box as you mentioned instead of the shortcut keys. But I was getting confused with the intended behavior when the scope would move with the SLEW command even if SYNC was selected. 

I also though it was odd that the Android App function requires a deliberate star alignment in order to work with Sky Safari. I have tried this and gotten mixed results but not as good as the Stellarium even with the issues I had tonight. I was expecting to have to do a 2 or 3 star alignment with Stellarium scope but I guess not, why is that? Is there a way to do it?

[jpgr]

the scope needs to be levelled, aligned north-south and latituded - as per page 2 of the instruction manual that came with the scope.

more details for connecting, aligning, problems etc are at:

http://armazemdotelescopio.com.br/loja/index.php/artigos/24-conteudo-astronomia-projetos/245-getting-acquainted-with-app-virtuoso-an-android-app-to-control-synscan-enabled-skywatcher-mounts-without-the-need-of-a-synscan
 

[Godit]

the scope needs to be levelled, aligned north-south and latituded - as per page 2 of the instruction manual that came with the scope.

more details for connecting, aligning, problems etc are at:

http://armazemdotelescopio.com.br/loja/index.php/artigos/24-conteudo-astronomia-projetos/245-getting-acquainted-with-app-virtuoso-an-android-app-to-control-synscan-enabled-skywatcher-mounts-without-the-need-of-a-synscan

I see now. I had already set the latitude via the manual before. I suppose the mount references that in memory to know its initial position. I will try the setup again starting at aligned with Polaris to see if I can get it to work as intended. 

I still have no idea about how to move the mount with the onboard keypad. No matter what I did the mount seems to stay slaved to where Stellarium wanted it to be. 

[jpgr]

http://taursansaakamera.dyndns.org:2222/Ohjelmat/Stellariumscope/stellariumscope_user_guide.pdf

on the stellarium scope window you can enable/disable slew, sync and cancel. have you unticked these options?

[jpgr]

in stellarium the slew telescope to dialog:

if you have sync in the drop down box and press the slew button the reticle moves but not the telescope.

if you have scope in the drop down box, pressing the slew button will move the scope.

i can press the directional buttons on the mount and the scope moves in the direction selected - the speed might be set to the slowest, so press button 5 (highest) speed and see if the scope moves.

[Godit]

in stellarium the slew telescope to dialog:

if you have sync in the drop down box and press the slew button the reticle moves but not the telescope.

if you have scope in the drop down box, pressing the slew button will move the scope.

i can press the directional buttons on the mount and the scope moves in the direction selected - the speed might be set to the slowest, so press button 5 (highest) speed and see if the scope moves.

If I have commanded a Slew than even if I select Sync from the drop down, Stellearium scope pulls the mount back to the last slew. I can "break free" if I use speed 5, but trying to center the object in the eyepiece with speed 3 or 4 results if me fighting the software. When I am in Sync and hit slew the position updates as expected, but the problem is I'm never in the position I want to sync because it won't allow pan freely. 

I will try to uncheck the SCOPE box on Stellarium Scope. I was afraid it would require Stellarium to reboot or loose my alignment or something. But I will test that next to see if that disables the locked slew. 

Also I have noticed another oddity, When starting, whenever I command my first Scope slew the mount makes a full 360 rotation before going to the location. It doesn't matter left or right of meridian or even my starting position. Subsequent slews go directly to the point no matter left or right. I can't explain why the first slew is always a full circle. Perhaps related to the issue you have with objects to the right of the current position.

[jpgr]

if you uncheck scope in the stellarium options then it disappears from the drop down list on the stellarium dialog.

if i manually move the scope the reticle follows the movement on the stellarium screen.

are you pressing the current object button on the "slew telescope to" dialog to update the ra and dec co-ordinates?

[Godit]

if you uncheck scope in the stellarium options then it disappears from the drop down list on the stellarium dialog.

if i manually move the scope the reticle follows the movement on the stellarium screen.

are you pressing the current object button on the "slew telescope to" dialog to update the ra and dec co-ordinates?

When I uncheck the scope in Stellarium Scope I get errors and asks to restart Stellarium. That is not surprising considering I am interrupting some connection. However, when I disable the scope control in the Stellarium plugin dialog the reticle dissapears but the behavior remains the same. I tried slowly moving the scope with the arrow keys at this time but the behavior appears to remain the same. When I re-enable the scope in the dialog, the reticle reappears but has not moved from its last location.

When I manually move my scope, the reticle follows the movement on screen as expected. However, if I have commanded a slew and I then try moving the mount when it stops slewing, I can hear the motors engaging as it tries to return the selected object. The on screen reticle is no longer in sync with the actual position. If I am slewed to an object and "break free" using speed setting 5, then manual movement and the screen reticle work normally as before. 

I have tried using both the slew telescope to current object in the plugin dialog and the CTRL-1 (slew to current object shortcut) methods and the behavior is the same in each case. I am able to command the slew anywhere I choose. Even after it settles on an object I can select another object and command another slew. I can also move the scope with the arrows if I use the highest speed. The problem is I cannot slowly pan around the object after slewing to it, which means I cannot center it in the eyepiece and perform a SYNC to correct the alignment. 

One last addition, I uninstalled the EQMOD software to see what effect that might have and there was no change. In my case at least, EQMOD does not seem to be a requirement for the module to work. However, I will a fresh install of everything tonight to confirm this. 

[happy-kat]

Have you all gone for the bluetooth adaptor please?

I am undecided between the bluetooth or the cable.

[happy-kat]

Sold out of the bluetooth one.

[Godit]

Sold out of the bluetooth one.

That is odd, I wonder if they are replacing it with a new WiFi product. I got an email from them on Monday stating "New products as Wifi connection modules and new Stellarium are about to be released." There was even a link to a preview of what looked like a Stellarium plugin of their Virtuoso App controls. But that link is now dead so maybe it was not meant to be released just yet. 

If you're interested in the wireless capability, I'd wait a few weeks to see if they come out with anything.

[Godit]

By the way, the reason they sent me that email was in response to some feedback I provided. Might as well post it as a review:

Rating 4 out of 5 Stars. Overall I am happy with the product assuming I can solve my technical issue. I know other users have no problems with the software so I will not fault the device for this. This was a great value for my money and I would recommend it to a friend. 

Pro: Very light and compact. Good quality and length of cable, not too long or too short. Virtuoso App is simple and effective. 

Con: The position of the velcro forces you to twist the cable 180 degrees. I installed my own velcro on the opposite side to reduce stress on the cable. The green indicator light from the cable interferes with night vision. I was able to cover it up with electrical tape.  

Setup and configuration was not very easy for a first time user. The Virutoso App worked fine but it took me a long time to figure out what settings to use in SkySafari 4 since it required a change to the default parameters. A video demo of the configuration for SkySafari would be very helpful. 

I also used the device with Stellarium on my PC. Again, as a beginner I was not aware of having to use Stellarium Scope and downloading ASCOM drivers. I eventually got help from an astronomy forum that gave a detailed step by step instructions: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/239925-skywatcher-heritage-virtuoso-controlled-via-bluetooth/?p=2611015

[happy-kat]

Sorted, juat ordered the bluetooth one have been in email contact.

Just need to weigh my OTA to check how much within weight it is. Oh and fix my Nexus tablet which needs a big sort, a root and custom ROM as I got that dreaded error after 2.5 years of use that a complete factory reset has not fixed.

[happy-kat]

ooo the adaptor has reached Britain, that was very quick from Brazil so maybe it might come in the next day or two and my virtuoso mount arrived yesterday

[JonC]

Going to order one, hopefully collecting the mount after work tomorrow. Had originally intended to use it with a dslr, but tempted to wait for a cheap small scope on astroboot.

[happy-kat]

The mount does not compensate for earth's rotation so long exposures are out. No one has shared any long exposure trials on a wedge base to know if the tracking is good enough and without drift.

[JonC]

No even sure if it works in eq mode, not all manuals mention it, one way to find out I suppose. Other use would be a small scope for the Mrs, just need the scope.

[happy-kat]

The earlier versions had eq mode from reading, there is eq mode on the android app I will be using so this will override whether or not the mount has it supported with button presses or not I think.

[happy-kat]

The manual in my Virtuoso box does not mention EQ mode, so I could assume that means it has a later firmware.

Might still try to set it using the other manual as reference.

[Godit]

The manual in my Virtuoso box does not mention EQ mode, so I could assume that means it has a later firmware.

Might still try to set it using the other manual as reference.

 Mine was the same, although I have not tried checking it with the old keycode to enable it.

[happy-kat]

My bluetooth adaptor arrived today :-) best I sort out power for my mount now. (and root and rebuild my Android tablet)

[jimbo747]

Been reading this thread with interest after I found out the mount can be controlled without the hand set. Has anyone been able to confirm if the mount can be programmed in an EQ settings? Might be able to get hold of one cheaply and was thinking of adding on my travelscope 70 with DSLR for some basic wide field photography. If not, how does the tracking compare to say an SLT alt az mount?

[happy-kat]

I went to try and see if the EQ setting was supported tonight.

So fitted brand new batteries.

Turned it on for the firs time.

All the lights are flashing and it is periodically beeping.

IS this normal?

I then tried to set my latitude it made no difference the lights still keep flashing and I hear it beeping.

Update: if I turn it on I can move it using the direction buttons. But as soon as press either 1a or 2b and turn off the backlight and beeper the slew buttons no longer respond.

Any thoughts please?

I can't find anything that says how to reset it to clear what ever might be going on.

Edited June 5, 2015 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

after reading the manual again and this time the one in the box and not online it appears normal to flash and beep as it is saying if tracking or not.

if I turn off either the beeper or the lights then the direction buttons stop responding.

is this normal with your mounts too please?