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Making a Synscan goto track without star callibration

JOC

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JOC

JOC

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I fancy trying to see the eclipse tomorrow with my solar filter (assuming its not cloudy).  I've never been entirely certain if it is possible to make my SynScan track without doing a star type calibration.  Does anyone know if it is possible to set up the telescope tomorrow and make it track at solar speed without doing any other calibration please?

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Buzzard75

Buzzard75

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I was actually just looking into this myself. I have the SynScan V4. Per the manual, it has an Easy Tracking Mode. Put the scope in the Home Position (base leveled, scope horizontal and parallel to the ground, pointing true North. Turn it on and let it Initialize. Skip the Alignment and start the tracking function directly and then references Section 5.4 of my manual. And that's where I'm stuck. So it sounds like it's possible even for an Alt-Az mount, but I haven't quite figured it out yet.

Edit: AH HA! I got it. You go into the Menu and select Tracking. In there are options for Sidereal Rate, Lunar Rate, and Solar Rate. In this case, solar or lunar would apply fairly well.

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DRT

DRT

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1 hour ago, JOC said:

I fancy trying to see the eclipse tomorrow with my solar filter (assuming its not cloudy).

There is no solar eclipse tomorrow :sad: 

The much discussed eclipse will happen in the USA on 21st August and will not be visible from the UK.

But there is a nice active region of sun spots to look at :smile:

 

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Buzzard75

Buzzard75

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56 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

There is a one star align option, that should work.

 

According to the documentation, 1-star is only available for equatorial mounts. Alt-Az setups and GoTo dobs can only do 2-star and Brightest Star or do the Easy Tracking mode.

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JOC

JOC

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OK, easy tracking it is then.  Tomorrow, was me believing what mum was saying she had heard on the TV an/or read in the newspaper - I think she had the wrong end of the stick - Still Monday isn't so long to wait and gives me a little while to play with the Dob's SynScan unit.  It would just be so much easier if I could get it to track for a little while rather than resort to nudging it. 

NB.  In case it is of use I have also discovered a fairly easy way to get it centred on the sun without a solar finderscope.  I put on the sun filter and then roughly point it in the right direction.  I then take the EP out of the system and just look at the view by looking directly at the secondary mirror - with the magnification removed it is far easier to spot when you are getting close, and then when I have the big orange sun circle dead-centre in the primary I add in the EP.  I only need to look for moments without the EP, and there seems nothing painfully bright about the view I see - it feels quite safe for the few moments that it takes and is so much easier than using an EP.

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MarsG76

MarsG76

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48 minutes ago, Buzzard75 said:

According to the documentation, 1-star is only available for equatorial mounts. Alt-Az setups and GoTo dobs can only do 2-star and Brightest Star or do the Easy Tracking mode.

I'm quite sure I used 1 star alignment in my GOTO dob and it worked, the pointing accuracy when searching objects was not as accurate as 2 star alignment but it worked.... I might be mistaken and might be confusing it with the CGEM (it's been a while) but I quite sure it was on the dob.

I have to test it at night and update this post.

 

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DRT

DRT

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2 hours ago, MarsG76 said:

I'm quite sure I used 1 star alignment in my GOTO dob and it worked, the pointing accuracy when searching objects was not as accurate as 2 star alignment but it worked.... I might be mistaken and might be confusing it with the CGEM (it's been a while) but I quite sure it was on the dob.

I have to test it at night and update this post.

 

I think JOC is just looking for easy tracking of one object, not GOTO. I have used a variety of mounts to simply point at the object I want to look at, select the correct tracking rate and then leave it to do its stuff. So long as you have the mount level this seems to work well.

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JOC

JOC

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Yes, just the tracking is all I am looking for.  It was wether you could ask it to track without calibrating first that was really the question.   I.e.  could I find the sun manually and then just say.  Now track please.  Cheers.

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Stu

Stu

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2 hours ago, JOC said:

Yes, just the tracking is all I am looking for.  It was wether you could ask it to track without calibrating first that was really the question.   I.e.  could I find the sun manually and then just say.  Now track please.  Cheers.

I suspect this is already answered, but I'm sure the answer is yes. Just get the sun in view and the select solar tracking and off you go. Making sure the mount is level will help it track more accurately. I intend to do the same thing with my AZ-GTi mount, would be great to catch the small partial eclipse. Hope it's clear!

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