Side by Side bar 90deg out

[Z3roCool]

Hi there, just had first go at setting everything up. I use a Canon lens and a guide scope Side by Side, so Dec axis is always 90degrees off when lenses are pointing straight ahead. I have managed to PA using Sharpcap but then getting a bit stuck!

I have Eqmod setup and working with Stellarium. The scope will move fine so all working. I presume I need to do some allignment in order for Eqmod/Stellarium to know where my scope is pointing? I tried to move the scope to a star I knew and seemed to be 90degrees out. 

Any help on what I am missing, also what is the correct location for 'Home' on the mount, NCP? Is there a way to set that in Eqmod. If that is set correctly will that tell the mount where it is? Sorry, getting a bit confused...

Thanks for any advice. 

Tommy

[steppenwolf]

This should be pretty straightforward and I have used a side by side arrangement on my own EQMod controlled mount.

Once you are polar aligned, start the session with the weights pointing down and the telescope/camera lens pointing up. This is the park/home position and EQMod will makes its slews based on this start position.

Good luck.

[Z3roCool]

41 minutes ago, steppenwolf said:

This should be pretty straightforward and I have used a side by side arrangement on my own EQMod controlled mount.

Once you are polar aligned, start the session with the weights pointing down and the telescope/camera lens pointing up. This is the park/home position and EQMod will makes its slews based on this start position.

Good luck.

Thanks for reply. For some reason my last reply did not appear so sorry if there are 2. My internet is not good here. 

Think I tried that. Was PA and then put mount in Home Position. Had setup before PA with weight bar and spirit level etc. 

How does Eqmod/Stellarium know where the scope is pointing? If I were to use the Hand Set I would do Star Allignment...

Sorry if being a bit dim!

Tommy

[steppenwolf]

2 hours ago, Z3roCool said:

How does Eqmod/Stellarium know where the scope is pointing? If I were to use the Hand Set I would do Star Allignment...

I used to slew to a known object, capture an image, plate solve the image, synchronise with the mount then re-slew to the known object to confirm that all was well and if my PA was good, slews for the rest of the session would be pretty accurate. Plate solving ensures that the mount knows exactly where it is pointing and, from memory (so apologies if I am wrong on this last bit), EQMod adds your session plate solve/syncs to a small sky model for increased accuracy so if you move to a new object, it is still worth plate solving and re-syncing to add to the model.

[ngwillym]

What mount are you using?.

Some (all?) Skywatcher mounts have the ability to offset the home by 90 degrees in Dec to allow for a side by side rig. Do the first setup with the handset, adjust the Dec offset to either +90 or-90 degrees, park the mount from the handset, switch off the mount, switch the hand set cable for EQMOD cable, switch back on and away you go. Works perfectly for my EQ8. Haven't used the hand set now since the last time I polar aligned the scope - about six mounths ago now

Not sure if other mounts have this feature.

Regards

Neil

 

[Thalestris24]

I think you can just loosen the clutch and rotate the puck through 90 deg and retighten the puck. Then do alignment as usual - or platesolve.

Louise

[Tommohawk]

I agree with Louise. Just start with the puck at 90 degrees, so the lens is pointing to NCP, do your PA and session, then finish ie park in the same position. I do this routinely.

 

[Z3roCool]

Thanks guys for all the input. Got my first ever night last night (images). Got the setup Polar Alligned with Sharpcap (Mount already in Home Position). Love that software! Then returned the setup to Home Position and fired up EQmod. Not sure what I did last time but it was all alligned nicely. 

Still not sure how to allign in EQmod but use Backyard EOS to find Capella and centered using EQmod and then CTRL 3 in Stellarium to synch and away I went. 

Only took a few shots as getting late and wind was starting up but one happy chappy with a few 3 min subs of a few Clusters, all very sharp and no trails!

Now the learning really begins!

Thanks again,

Tommy. 

 

[Tommohawk]

Well done!

BTW with Skywatcher mounts one advantage of using side by side setup and having the puck parked at 90 degree is you can polar align without having to rotate dec first. This means that your dec park position remains undisturbed. By contrast if you use "normal" setup, to PA you need to rotate dec axis, and then you lose your precise dec start position.