SGP - Various Starter Questions

[PhotoGav]

Good stuff Starflyer, glad you are finding the thread useful too! I've had more of a rummage about in SGP now and it is all beginning to slot into place. I could really do with some clear nights now to give it a thorough trial in the field. Interesting to hear that you are a fan of the Lakeside autofocus system. I think that AF will make SGP the complete package for me, so am definitely going to go down that route very soon. I just need to suss out the best way of implementing AF on my EdgeHD. Nice pic by the way, unusual to see the flame on its own, it's always playing second fiddle to the Horse Head!

[Horwig]

I'll add another massive thumbs up for SGP.

I've gone through a few software setups, I started with Nebulosity and PHD, then tried Maxim. I loved its sequencing capability, but its guiding was pants, and it didn't dither with PHD, so gave SGP a go, and haven't looked back.

It just works, the Mosaic wizard is just beyond words. This is an example of what it can do: 

I've been using it for my portable kit for a while now, and it's more or less foolproof, I say more or less, because like any software it can cough, but it's only partially let me down once.  I usually go to bed and let it get on with its stuff, so a few wasted hours on one night I can forgive.

The rig is an FSQ106 on an AZ-EQ6, using EQMod, Stellarium and StellariumScope, PHD2, a Lighphase focuser (another gem), with SX and QSI cameras. I'm not using the latest release, but the setup is stable, and it does what I want, so if it aint broke...

I'm also now trying to set up my LesveDome controlled obsy with a Sitech controlled mount, and the latest beta release of SGP, looking forward to trying PlateSolve2, but it might be a while waiting for the weather to clear before I get it all singing.

(Sorry for the ramble , but SGP is that good I can't stop )

Huw

[PhotoGav]

That's glowing praise, Huw, and a glowing M31! I remember that thread when it was new, an impressive image and a great advert for Olly's skies as much as anything!! I have struggled to set up mosaics manually in the past, taking up quite a bit of time and I have ended up buying a wider scope partly to get round the issue! The mosaic wizard looks like a very big plus point for SGP.

What kind of obsy are you automating - dome or ROR? Whichever, good luck with that project!

If we all concentrate really hard, who knows, the Sky Gods might be kind and grant us some sky time over the coming New Moon... 

[Starflyer]

I've spent a few evenings on the SGP forum as well, this is a great source of info and has helped me avoid problems just by reading about other people's niggly issues.