speeding setup time alignment or plate solve

[Wirral man]

Hi am getting to grips with a new setup just wondered if rather than doing a star alignment routine in stellarium or cdc and having to manually centre then sync can i just aim at 1 star and plate solve then sync as i need to speed up the set up and get more with the camera thanks...

[MarsG76]

I imagine that the star alignment would be a lot shorter than the rest of the setup... really the only options I can think of to speed up the setup time is either put some markers into the grass and setup you mount in exactly the same spot and Hibernate the mount before turning off the power so you can just simply resume with the last alignment.... The other option, which is the optimal, is a permanent setup.

 

[geordie85]

This is another reason why I use stellarium, APT and Astrotortilla. No need for star alignment. Once set up, connected and cooled I just slew to my target in Stellarium, tell Astrotortilla to plate solve and slew to target. 2 minutes later I'm on target and imaging 

[swag72]

I use CdC and can slew to a target. Then connect to SGP and press sync and solve. A plate solve happens and then the scope knows where it is pointing..... that's it, no more needed

[emyliano2000]

Plate solving reduces a lot of the set-up time. 

[RayD]

25 minutes ago, swag72 said:

I use CdC and can slew to a target. Then connect to SGP and press sync and solve. A plate solve happens and then the scope knows where it is pointing..... that's it, no more needed

Exactly that....Simples.

[RayD]

53 minutes ago, Wirral man said:

Hi am getting to grips with a new setup just wondered if rather than doing a star alignment routine in stellarium or cdc and having to manually centre then sync can i just aim at 1 star and plate solve then sync as i need to speed up the set up and get more with the camera thanks...

If you use plate solving you don't need to do any star alignment.  As @swag72 notes, just start CdC and SGP (or other capture software you are using), slew to any point in the sky and then solve and sync.  You are better doing it in a busy star field as solving will be quicker, and depending how far out you are you may need to blind solve first, but it is quick and very accurate. 

[Wirral man]

1 hour ago, geordie85 said:

This is another reason why I use stellarium, APT and Astrotortilla. No need for star alignment. Once set up, connected and cooled I just slew to my target in Stellarium, tell Astrotortilla to plate solve and slew to target. 2 minutes later I'm on target and imaging 

yes bud thats my way of thinking i just want to setup and image the only pain i still got is waiting for it to dark enough for sharpcap to see enough stars for my polar alignment.

last night i used the apt plate solve and worked a treat 

[Gerry Casa Christiana]

3 hours ago, swag72 said:

I use CdC and can slew to a target. Then connect to SGP and press sync and solve. A plate solve happens and then the scope knows where it is pointing..... that's it, no more needed

Just a question but obviously this comes after you have polar aligned fairly well? It is still necessary to do that first. Platesolving doesn't exclude the need to polar align? Might be a silly question  

I'm just starting myself to use it. Brilliant I have to say!

[swag72]

I would say that you still need a decent polar alignment..... plate solve will get you where you want to be, polar alignment will help more with guiding accuracy across the whole frame. Pp

[newbie alert]

If you hibernate when you shut down it saves all your star alignment so next time you power up you may need to redo the time/date but it's ready to go.. I choose a bright star for focus and if it's out I just re-sync ..

I setup and tear down..not on a fixed pier 

[kens]

9 hours ago, Wirral man said:

yes bud thats my way of thinking i just want to setup and image the only pain i still got is waiting for it to dark enough for sharpcap to see enough stars for my polar alignment.

Try Polar Drift Alignment in PHD2. If you can see Polaris just point at it, run PDA and adjust. You should be able to do that even if it is not completely dark.

[Wirral man]

ok will try it next time 

[Demonperformer]

I set up each time. I'm paranoid, so after PA, I do a quick platesolve in home position. Goto is then always spot on.

[Z3roCool]

This sounds interesting (Plate Solving with SGP) Currently takes me about 45-60mins to get setup from scratch (On target and shooting). Use SharpCap to get PA and then use Stellarium to point to a star (Near imaging target) and then fumble about in BackyardEOS trying to get the star centered and focussed, then align in Stellarium (CTRL3). Sometimes quick but other times have spent 30 mins trying to find the star!

Do not have SGP currently, presume AstroTortilla can do the Plate Solve like SGP does?

[Demonperformer]

You can use AT to platesolve within sharpcap (v3 onwards)

[Z3roCool]

22 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

You can use AT to platesolve within sharpcap (v3 onwards)

This is great...thanks for the info. This is the one part of the setup that takes me the most time. To be able to do this will speed things up hugely!

Nice info on it here - https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap/features/plate-solving

Thanks again.