Be gentle with me!

[simmo39]

I have taken the plunge and im trying to get the pooter to control the mount and camera. I have downloaded APT ( full version ), Ascom and eqmod. I have managed after a lot of button pressing and swearing I got the mount to move. All was good so I thought. I went one step further and tried to get the plate solving software to work with apt and nothing! Lost all control and have slamed shut my astro PC. What Im asking is 1. what order do I start the different software and how do I get apt to work with the plate solving software?

I have to admit Im a bit of a ludite so please keep it simple.

 

Thanks i advance

[Atreta]

Hi. 

I use apt with eqmod and platesolving with asps and platesolve2 . 

What software are you using for solving inside apt? Did you download the right indexes for your scope or lens? 

The first program i open is apt itself, then  go to the gear tab and click on connect scope. If it is the first time you're setting it up you have to hold shift and click the connect scope button to choose your mount.  Then it opens eqmod by itself when it connects.

Secondly i take a test shot of about 15s in a region near the pole, hit solve and sync and that's it. 

Please post more details of how you tried to setup so we can better help. 

[simmo39]

1 hour ago, Atreta said:

Hi. 

I use apt with eqmod and platesolving with asps and platesolve2 . 

What software are you using for solving inside apt? Did you download the right indexes for your scope or lens? 

The first program i open is apt itself, then  go to the gear tab and click on connect scope. If it is the first time you're setting it up you have to hold shift and click the connect scope button to choose your mount.  Then it opens eqmod by itself when it connects.

Secondly i take a test shot of about 15s in a region near the pole, hit solve and sync and that's it. 

Please post more details of how you tried to setup so we can better help. 

Hi, I have been trying platesolve2 and find it very frustrating. I think im going to try astrotortilla and see if that is any better, failing that ill keep looking. thanks for the pointers.

Simmo

[alacant]

1 hour ago, simmo39 said:

what order do I start the different software

It doesn't matter. If one needs the other, it will start it. E.g. as @atreta: start APT, hit Gear > connect scope and you're ready to go.

1 hour ago, simmo39 said:

how do I get apt to work with the plate solving software?

What stage are you at? How does your installation compare to e.g. this?

[david_taurus83]

Have a look at Wirral Mans topic posted over the weekend

 

 

[simmo39]

1 hour ago, alacant said:

It doesn't matter. If one needs the other, it will start it. E.g. as @atreta: start APT, hit Gear > connect scope and you're ready to go.

What stage are you at? How does your installation compare to e.g. this?

Thanks, will have a look tomorrow as going out. Not sure I have got the same.

 

1 hour ago, david_taurus83 said:

Have a look at Wirral Mans topic posted over the weekend

 

 

Yes had a read of it and got very depressed lol. need to study it thanks

[david_taurus83]

20 minutes ago, simmo39 said:

Thanks, will have a look tomorrow as going out. Not sure I have got the same.

 

Yes had a read of it and got very depressed lol. need to study it thanks

Lol he got it up and running in the end. I found the struggle with getting plate solving working at first was not having all the directories stored on the harddrive, having the directory paths correct and finally making sure the correct focal length and camera chip size are correct in the Tools tab. I'd leave plate solving for now until you are comfortable with the user interface of APT as it does need getting used to. Make sure the location settings are correct and practice setting the mount up, connecting to the pc, controlling from pc and have a look at the camera capture profiles. All this can be done indoors during the day. Much easier to see what's going on as opposed to getting frustrated in the dark and wasting clear skies!

[simmo39]

13 hours ago, alacant said:

It doesn't matter. If one needs the other, it will start it. E.g. as @atreta: start APT, hit Gear > connect scope and you're ready to go.

What stage are you at? How does your installation compare to e.g. this?

Think i have this as close to yours as i can, Is there any way of testing in day light?

 

12 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Lol he got it up and running in the end. I found the struggle with getting plate solving working at first was not having all the directories stored on the harddrive, having the directory paths correct and finally making sure the correct focal length and camera chip size are correct in the Tools tab. I'd leave plate solving for now until you are comfortable with the user interface of APT as it does need getting used to. Make sure the location settings are correct and practice setting the mount up, connecting to the pc, controlling from pc and have a look at the camera capture profiles. All this can be done indoors during the day. Much easier to see what's going on as opposed to getting frustrated in the dark and wasting clear skies!

Hi, will be setting up and seeing if i can get the mount to work in a bit. Think you are right will just be happy to get mount to work correctly. Just one quick question ( thats my best Columbo impression btw ). I have only used the handset to align the mount, I asume you can do all that with APT?

[alacant]

1 hour ago, simmo39 said:

testing in day light?

Yes. Enter the fl of the telescope in Tools, load an image taken with it and hit Blind. HTH

**let us know if you need a test image

[david_taurus83]

2 hours ago, simmo39 said:

Think i have this as close to yours as i can, Is there any way of testing in day light?

 

Hi, will be setting up and seeing if i can get the mount to work in a bit. Think you are right will just be happy to get mount to work correctly. Just one quick question ( thats my best Columbo impression btw ). I have only used the handset to align the mount, I asume you can do all that with APT?

Will you be using a planetarium software like Carte du Ciel? To fully appreciate the benefits of using Eqmod it's worth considering. You can align just like the handset using that software by slewing to a star, centring  the star and pressing Sync. You can repeat this on as many stars as you like. Again, can all be practised indoors during the day to get used to it.

[simmo39]

Just now, david_taurus83 said:

Will you be using a planetarium software like Carte du Ciel? To fully appreciate the benefits of using Eqmod it's worth considering. You can align just like the handset using that software by slewing to a star, venturing the star and pressing Sync. You can repeat this on as many stars as you like. Again, can all be practised indoors during the day to get used to it.

Hi, I have just down loaded Carte du Ciel and it worked like a dream. Just need to get out of Stellaruim mode. hooked up to pooter twice and aligned twice! nice. just trying the plate solve side at the moment with some old images. seems a bit hit and miss but am happy with the rest of the software. all we need now is some dark! roll on next season. Thanks again for the help.

[simmo39]

1 hour ago, alacant said:

Yes. Enter the fl of the telescope in Tools, load an image taken with it and hit Blind. HTH

**let us know if you need a test image

Hi, I have tried a couple of my images and got it to plate solve 1 out of 3. think I need to adjust the settings but feel im going in the right direction. thanks again for the help.

[simmo39]

Hi, just another question, have been watching the alignment vids on You Tube and the show a red triangle in EQMOD I can get the three stars but no red line triangle. Am i missing something?