APT or SGP?

[newbie alert]

Hi guys,Just thinking of starting to use this type of software and was supprised at the cost difference between the 2..APT is next to nothing (about £15) and sgp $99.. Are there any benefits over one or the other? At the moment id be looking at its plate solve and framing attributes and maybe in the future having the kit fully automated, but that's a long way off yet.

[adyj1]

I was in the same boat and went for APT, with no regrets so far. 

Is there a 'killer' feature in SGP that sets it apart from APT? 

 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I have both & use both, as well as Indi\Kstars etc.

APT is a lot simpler to get going, but if you want full blown Obsy control, then go for SGP, both have trial versions, so go & play....

[newbie alert]

46 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

I have both & use both, as well as Indi\Kstars etc.

APT is a lot simpler to get going, but if you want full blown Obsy control, then go for SGP, both have trial versions, so go & play....

I'm not that far ahead yet..still set up and tear down kinda guy..

Thanks for the feedback thou..is sgp that much better to warrant the extra money?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

To me yes.

I have a garden pier, fully equipped & ready to go,  so I only need to remove the cover and I'm off.... For this I find SGPro more easily covers the requirement to image the same patch of sky over successive evenings, especially during these summer months.

Also I could never get APT to successfully do a meridian flip\re-centre etc. whereas SGPro does it & I may not even notice, but then others may find the opposite ??

[tooth_dr]

1 hour ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

 if you want full blown Obsy control, then go for SGP

As an APT user, I’m intrugued about SGP. I have tried it before but when the trial ran out I tried APT and ended up buying it instead  

What features of SGP make it have ‘full blown obsy control’ as I don’t think I got full use out of it last time I tried it!

[swag72]

THE single best thing on SGP and what makes it frankly invaluable to me is the framing and mosaic wizard. This is excellent and really helps in framing a target and looking around to get the best framing possible. I did think about using another programme earlier this year as I do find SGP flaky at times, but this alone stopped me from changing. 

So while I can't compare APT and SGP, I can certainly say that the framing and mosaic wizard makes SGP superb from the start. 

[MarsG76]

Personally I use and vouch for APT... not just for the price but also for it user friendliness and stability.. It hasn't crashed on me during imaging yet, so it is very stable.

I'm able to control my scope, my camera, setup profiles for subs in varying time exposures and ISOs, contorll dithering on PHD2, read temperature, preview the live camera feed etc.. its a very feature packed package... too many to list here.

I at one stage needed something that will park my scope after the imaging session, of profile list, has ended so I looked into SGP, but after a little bit of research into SGP, it didn't really offer anything over APT especially once learning about the scripting part of APT, I was able to get the scope to park itself, than laptop shut down and obsy to power down automatically.

I'm sure that I'll be able to setup a script to make the obsy shut it self with the use of APT once I add the motors to it...

 

APT wont break the bank by any stretch and I bet you will not regret it...

 

 

[MarsG76]

Apparently APT also does plate solving via program such as AatroTilla... I personally haven't used that feature YET but it has that option.

[adyj1]

APT uses platesolving in a couple of ways, to great effect. 

[groberts]

I have SGP and I know many speak highly of it but I also had APT and when I switched from DSLR to a ZWO 1600 camera last year decided to start off with APT and am still happily using it.  It is very comprehensive and their Forum is both very helpful and friendly to use (just like SGL), so when you do (and you will) get into difficulty help is close at hand; credit must especially be given to Ivo who is responsible for APT and is readily accessible via the APT forum for help.  I got stuck on taking flats and plate solving - both of which are on APT - which was quickly resolved  from Forum members and Ivo. 

For the moment I'm a very happy user of APT but may eventually need take up SGP for mosaics when the time comes.  

[AngryDonkey]

When I looked at APT the feature I was missing was automatic in sequence focussing i.e. re-focussing adter filter, time or temperature change. I think there were plans to implement this but I haven't checked recently.

Yes the SGP framing and mosaic wizard is fantastic!

[stash_old]

Apt killer feature maybe - great support when you encounter a problem Yoda is quick to reply and normally solves the problem or suggests a solution. Apt will also feature direct support (Not Ascom) for ZWO soon I beleive!

SGP - whats the support like ?????? members answer !

[adyj1]

1 hour ago, AngryDonkey said:

When I looked at APT the feature I was missing was automatic in sequence focussing i.e. re-focussing adter filter, time or temperature change. I think there were plans to implement this but I haven't checked recently.

Yes the SGP framing and mosaic wizard is fantastic!

That's useful info AD. I'm sure someone will let us know if this has been added to APT, but for now it's a possible differentiator.

[Jkulin]

APT is brilliant if you only have the one scope and don't require the framing wizard, although I am aware that a profile setting is in the dev stage. I have also found the plate solving to be next to useless, so I use Astro Tortilla interfaced through APT

SGP is a little more buggy, but offers a fantastic profile setting, and the plate solving does work most of the time.

APT is really good for support and responses from the Dev team, SGP is very poor at getting them to acknowledge that there is a fault in the first place.

Personally I use both, for testing and checking things through then APT, for capturing SGP.

Hope that helps?

[stash_old]

1 hour ago, Jkulin said:

plate solving to be next to useless

Funny that as SGP Plate Solving option (one of) is Platesolve2  which can be used in APT so maybe the settings!!!! But I agree it doesn't work 100%

[wornish]

I have only just started using APT but I find its blind platesolving is very good, took only 47 secs to find my image.  It takes longer than that to do it on Astrometry.net  and you need to be connected to the web to use it.

PlateSolve 2 does need an approximate RA / DEC as a centre to spiral search around but once found you can show where you are pointing on  your favourite planetarium program. I use Stellarium.

I don't plan on building my own Observatory anytime soon so a lot of the SGP features don't give me anything.

 

Polar alignment is one area that could be improved in APT.  It uses  a drift alignment process which takes ages.  Not sure what SGP does haven't looked.

The best software I have found for doing PA is Sharpcap which can get you virtually spot on in less than 5 minutes, for that feature alone its worth £10 to me as I have to set up every time.

 

 

[Jkulin]

6 hours ago, stash_old said:

Funny that as SGP Plate Solving option (one of) is Platesolve2  which can be used in APT so maybe the settings!!!! But I agree it doesn't work 100%

Yeah I know, all the parameters are checked but it just doesn't want to solve, if I want to guarantee 100% a platesolve the Astrotortilla in conjunction with APT does work

[michaelmorris]

Having used both, for me the advantages of SGP are

• The framing and mosaic wizards
• The automated focussing routines (only useful if you have a stepper motor-based focusser)
• The ability to automate a multi-target imaging run.

If you don't need any of these features, then I would use APT.

[Big Jim Slade]

I used APT ages ago (best thing available for a DSLR at the time if IIRC) but I moved to SGP when I got a CCD. A couple of things I like not yet mentioned:

• Focusing is really tweakable, for things like filters and temp compensation
• Platesolving is deeply integrated, so to get going I can just slew to the rough area, solve and sync a couple of times and I'm good to go. Also works well after a flip in my experience.
• Grab an image, then right-click on any point, choose "centre here" and it will solve, re-centre the scope and solve again to ensure it's bang on. Magic.
• Works perfectly (zero config)  with my Flip-Flat, which is the most useful bit of kit I think I've ever purchased.

[adyj1]

On 01/08/2018 at 21:40, Big Jim Slade said:

I used APT ages ago (best thing available for a DSLR at the time if IIRC) but I moved to SGP when I got a CCD. A couple of things I like not yet mentioned:

• Focusing is really tweakable, for things like filters and temp compensation
• Platesolving is deeply integrated, so to get going I can just slew to the rough area, solve and sync a couple of times and I'm good to go. Also works well after a flip in my experience.
• Grab an image, then right-click on any point, choose "centre here" and it will solve, re-centre the scope and solve again to ensure it's bang on. Magic.
• Works perfectly (zero config)  with my Flip-Flat, which is the most useful bit of kit I think I've ever purchased.

I don't have the equipment to have tried points 1 and 4, but I use 2 and 3 frequently in APT. Didn't fit a finderscope last night, did it all with platesolve and goto++

[MarsG76]

As well as the comments about the features of APT, the thing I can't prise enough it the stability of APT.... it hasn't crashed on me AT ALL... I honestly cant remember it closing or returning a runtime error or anything... 

The knowledge that you start a imaging session and you KNOW that the software controlling the whole thing will not freeze for the whole time every time is priceless.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Hmm, I beg to differ, but I have lots of baggage installed, but I have had APT crash on me, requiring a system reboot....  I love APT (for DSLR capturing), but I love SGP more (for ASI 1600 etc.)...

[MarsG76]

1 hour ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Hmm, I beg to differ, but I have lots of baggage installed, but I have had APT crash on me, requiring a system reboot....  I love APT (for DSLR capturing), but I love SGP more (for ASI 1600 etc.)...

I described my experience with APT on various laptops.

Although I do keep my Astro laptops clean and exclusively for AP hence my smooth running.

[adyj1]

Well, for me the jury has returned a verdict;

1. For DSLR AP'ers  both apps are widely used, with no obvious feature deficiency in either, and so it seems down to personal choice. 

2. For CCD photography there seems to be a preference for SGP. 

Follow-up question; Any CCDers happily using APT for their imaging?

Thanks

Ady

(Loving the hot days and frequent clear nights, coinciding with the return of Astro darkness to the UK and me fixing all outstanding issues with my AstroEQ-converted EQ5  )