Set Up Times

[AlistairW]

Hi,

Any good tips to reduce set up times in general. Personally I have a pier and can set up in 10 minutes or so, using my routine. But any other tips out there ?

Thanks

Alistair

[brantuk]

Mark where the tripod feet go on the ground so when you place them there next time they're close to the original set up position. Also use a black marker on the weights bar to indicate where the weights go - should balance up quicker next time. Hth

[Droogie 2001]

I think 10mins is pretty good even if its just visual so cannot really offer any extra tips.

I wish mine was 10mins. I have to perform a full setup every time. Takes about 45mins to physically set everything up (imaging kit) then a further 20mins to align and start imaging.

Polemaster and Plate solving helped reduce my alignment time massively.

[Peco4321]

I can usually set up in about 10 mins:

Tripod out of shed, roughly aim north

Weights on (stored in one of those outdoor boxes, nearer than the shed)

Scope on, all caps off etc (I leave finder attached), as stored near ambient temp little cooling needed, I observe first anyway  

Box of bits on garden table, ep in and polar align, motors switch on and off I go. 

Other set up if needed:

Attach sheets and fleeces to a washing line and prop up as a light shield if the neighbors are in and out of their bedrooms and bathrooms!!

[laudropb]

That's the beauty of a Dob. I take mine from an unheated garage. Take of the cover. Pop on the finders and an eyepiece into the holder. Check alignment although it seldom needs much adjustment and off I go. Probably takes about 5 minutes.

[Nova2000]

Mark the position of the weights and tube during balancing. 

Mark the area on the ground. 

 

[Northern Soul man]

If you have to align on stars for auto align for GOTO, I usually set everything up, switch on and point the scope at Polaris - I can then use this star to align my finder - usually not too far away, just a quick check in the EP to see that I'm on the right star (shows a double) - by this time I check the HC to see if its picked up the satellites for GPS, scroll through date and time, hit 2 star auto align - I'm already on Polaris, quick check to see if its centred - hit align, then pick my second star and away I go !!

Using Polaris has never given me a failed alignment and my GOTO's have always been very accurate  - just saves a little more time.

Paul.

[cfpendock]

10 minutes is pretty good in my opinion.  I take about 20 minutes, but that is starting from scratch until I'm imaging- no pier and I have to take the tripod outside - and of course polar align.

Chris

[Moonshane]

I agree 10 minutes is no time at all. I take about that but most of it is walking to and from the office which is at the other end of the house to where I observe.

[JOC]

I'm still new at this, but I guess I can cart everything out to the garden in about 10 minutes - it takes longer if I then arrive back for the third time with yet more items take a look around where I've put it decide actually it isn't in the best place and decide to shift it around to the other side of the house.

I'm getting quicker with the Goto 2-star alignment - I line up with Betelgeuse because its easy to find and then ask it to goto Polaris - if it finds this second star I can usually tell if its Polaris by having a look around - I don't have the confidence to find it first off - Orion is easier to spot - get it right first time (happening more often since I started using Orion) and it takes about 5 minutes - the longest bit is finding Betelgeuse in the view finderscope - I might do it in 30 seconds - it might take several minutes.  Driving the Goto is taking longer to find my way around.  If I need to redo the calibration it takes me an age to press enough buttons to find it again.  I'm still trying to work out which tracking mode I need to be in and how to change it.  It's like any drop-in/drop-out menu driven system I'll work it out in the finish I've used enough of them in the past and this will be no different - the bit I often forget is when I need to press the arrows at the bottom and not the ones at the top to drive through the menus.

At the moment I'm still sorting out what I need and changing how to do things - mains or power-pack, eyepieces/camera/both, do I need to take the PC/mobile phones (Stellarium)/both, do I need a chair and/or table?  Where shall I set up tonight etc. 

Does anyone else remember first starting out at this game?  I hope I'm not the only one to go through all this!!

[Astro Imp]

2 hours ago, JOC said:

Does anyone else remember first starting out at this game?  I hope I'm not the only one to go through all this!!

I started out with a 150P on an EQ3-2 and knew nothing. The first couple of times out I hadn't got a clue what I was doing, slowly it all came together and I had some small successes which encouraged me to carry on. With anything new take baby steps and don't expect to be an expert straight away.

I have just had delivered the same scope as you and so far have only managed a short session due to the awful weather. I notice you have problems aligning on your first star. I have just been reading the manual and it says it  gives the coordinates for the first star. Have you been using this to align? I don't know if this helps you as I haven't had a chance to really get to grips with the handset yet.

Good luck and let us know how you progress.

[JOC]

Hi Astro Imp

11 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

 I have just been reading the manual and it says it  gives the coordinates for the first star. Have you been using this to align? I don't know if this helps you as I haven't had a chance to really get to grips with the handset yet.

Most certainly not!!  I wouldn't have first idea about how to set the telescope mount up to find a specific set of sky coordinates manually.  I use the two star calibration.  The way the two star set-up seems to work is I find a star I know - Betelgeuse, I tell the SynScan I am looking at Betelgeuse and centre it in the eyepiece and it says it knows what those coordinates are and sets them as a its starting point.  It then wants to find a second star so I skip through the lists to find one I know in a bit of sky I know the scope will be able to see - Polaris works for my back garden.  It tell me what those coordinates are and asks if I want to goto them and when I tell it 'yes' it drives itself around (which is rather clever) and aligns itself roughly on the star.  I assume at this point that the only star anywhere in the view-finding scope is the one I'm after (Polaris) and centre the finder and then the main eyepiece on that star, tell the SynScan it's got it right and Bob's your uncle - it says calibration successful.  The only points you can fail on is if you've not located the right stars in the viewfinder through ineptitude in lining up the required stars in the finder scope and eyepiece - a failure that has me written over it, but I am getting better at it.