SynScan

[shropshire lad]

When setting up on Polaris, does the synscan software know the true north offset as it knows my location and the date.???

Or is this not relevant anyway??

 

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by shropshire lad

[shropshire lad]

Oh well .. looks like it was a dumb question.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Did you mean 'Synscan software'?

If you did, the latest versions offer you the option of fine-tuning the polar alignment after a successful 2-star or 3-star align.  The exact details are too complicated to quickly explain here.  Try it and study the manual.

[M40]

No such thing as a dumb question, just dumb people like me that are not sure how to answer it   I am going to guess at the answer as follows.... not relevant. If you get the synscan app (either synscan or synscan pro dependent on your mount), the app should be able to give you all the info the handset needs. True North Offset is not in the info hence the answer not relevant. Hope it helps. 

[Seelive]

On 25/12/2020 at 12:43, shropshire lad said:

When setting up on Polaris, does the skyscan software know the true north offset as it knows my location and the date.???

Or is this not relevant anyway??

 

 

The Synscan software needs to know your geographical location, the time and the date so that it can calculate the position of Polaris relative to true celestial pole and provide the information necessary to allow you to correctly align the mount using the polar scope (providing that the graticule has been correctly aligned to the mount to start with).

[shropshire lad]

Sorry Guys typo error .. yes should read SynScan ...... 

Using it with AZ-GTI mount and mobile phone, so Synsacn knows my location, time and date from the phone.

I was just trying to determine if polar alignment is good enough with polaris or does it need aligning to true north?

Thanks for your inputs.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

2 minutes ago, shropshire lad said:

I was just trying to determine if polar alignment is good enough with polaris or does it need aligning to true north?

Thanks for your inputs.

With the latest version, Synscan gives you a slightly cryptic readout of how accurate your polar alignment was, which you can fine-tune or ignore.  If you mechanically polar aligned on Polaris, it will therefore indicate a small error. If you try using it to GoTo objects, you will find out how good the polar alignment is in practice. I suspect that any polar alignment will prove good enough for visual use. (Remember that alt-azimuth GoTos work just fine and they are not polar aligned at all.)

A very precise polar alignment is only required for long exposure astrophotography.

[shropshire lad]

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

With the latest version, Synscan gives you a slightly cryptic readout of how accurate your polar alignment was, which you can fine-tune or ignore.  If you mechanically polar aligned on Polaris, it will therefore indicate a small error. If you try using it to GoTo objects, you will find out how good the polar alignment is in practice. I suspect that any polar alignment will prove good enough for visual use. (Remember that alt-azimuth GoTos work just fine and they are not polar aligned at all.)

A very precise polar alignment is only required for long exposure astrophotography.

Thank you for the reply .... Didn't know that az gotos are not polar aligned.

Haven't got round to using this mount as a eq.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, shropshire lad said:

Haven't got round to using this mount as a eq.

We should have asked before (or you could have told us) - what model of mount is it?

[shropshire lad]

Sky Watcher AZ-GTI goto mount

I have a lot to learn

 

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by shropshire lad