Can Stellarium track a Skywatcher Dob?

[chrisowen66]

Hi all,

In addition to Stellarium (on my laptop) sending goto info to my Sywatcher Dob, does anyone know if it actually then tracks the object? I'm looking into using Stellarium to control my Dob, but I feel the wi-fi adaptor and Synscan app is a better option if its tracks. I only need tracking for visual use, it doesn't have to be astrophotography standards of accuracy. Thanks

[Astro-Geek]

I use Stellarium and a Skywatcher synscan goto Dob as well as an EQ6 goto mount with my other scopes.

Yes, I have Stellarium and the SynscanPro app slewing my goto Dob to whatever I select, and then the Synscan Dob keeps it centred with its Siderial Tracking.

I wrestled with all of the software options and finally found a "set" that matches all of my requirements, as explained in this thread:

 

[Cornelius Varley]

10 minutes ago, chrisowen66 said:

Hi all,

In addition to Stellarium (on my laptop) sending goto info to my Sywatcher Dob, does anyone know if it actually then tracks the object? I'm looking into using Stellarium to control my Dob, but I feel the wi-fi adaptor and Synscan app is a better option if its tracks. I only need tracking for visual use, it doesn't have to be astrophotography standards of accuracy. Thanks

It depends on what you mean by "if it actually tracks the object" .  Stellarium will send the mount to the required target but after that the mount will return to sidereal tracking and the software plays no further part in the tracking. Any error in the tracking after the initial goto command won't be reflected in Stellarium.

[chrisowen66]

15 hours ago, Astro-Geek said:

 and then the Synscan Dob keeps it centred with its Siderial Tracking.

 

Thanks for replying. It's really appreciated as I'm very new to all this Could you explain more about what you mean here? What 'Sidereal Tracking'? Is this is function of something? What I wish to achieve is to have Stellarium send slew info to the scope, the scope slews, and then I want the scope to track the object so it stays reasonable in the field of view. So after the slew info is sent, and the scope slews, what then actually does the tracking? Does Stellarium keep nudging the scope to track the object? How does it work? Thank you.

[Astro-Geek]

8 hours ago, chrisowen66 said:

Thanks for replying. It's really appreciated as I'm very new to all this Could you explain more about what you mean here? What 'Sidereal Tracking'? Is this is function of something? What I wish to achieve is to have Stellarium send slew info to the scope, the scope slews, and then I want the scope to track the object so it stays reasonable in the field of view. So after the slew info is sent, and the scope slews, what then actually does the tracking? Does Stellarium keep nudging the scope to track the object? How does it work? Thank you.

No problem Chris, when I look at so many of the Astro Photography posts on here I realise I'm still "new to all this" despite doing it for many years ! 🤓

Siderial Tracking is the automatic slew rate of the RA axis to match the Earth's rotation, so that is what keeps any object centred in the scope, and as Peter said, that is a function of the mount's hardware, rather than anything Stellarium is doing.

So Stellarium only sends the neccessary slew instructions to move the scope to a new "selected" object that you saw on your computer screen.  (Then the mount's own tracking keeps it centred in view).  It then keeps a crosshair gunsight on whatever the scope is pointing at, so that if you do slew the scope around looking for things while looking through the eyepiece, then the "gunsight" will faithfully follow you around on the Stellarium screen to show you and name anything that piques your interest.  It is a huge enhancement to the functionality and ease of use.

[Cornelius Varley]

8 hours ago, chrisowen66 said:

What 'Sidereal Tracking'?

The Synscan handset has three user selected tracking speeds, sidereal, lunar and solar. Sidereal tracking speed is 15d/hr and this matches the earths rotation rate. Lunar tracking is slightly slower to match the moons orbit and solar for other solar system objects. 

[chrisowen66]

Thank you so muh for your replies gents. That has made things a lot clearer, except for one point - AstroGeek, you explained very well that the mount does the sidereal tracking automatically (which seems ideal). But in the next reply, Peter says that tracking is a function of the handset (which I'm hoping not to use anymore as mine has packed up), which seems to contradict what Astro-Geek said. Any clarification would be appreciated, as I'm still confused as to what performs the tracking and how it is activated. Thank you.