Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[Elp]

To stop the mount tracking click on the upper right arrow >>> in synscan pro app to see your tracking options, set it to off when setting up.

By definition of using alt az you generally can't just slew in one direction as the motion of objects is horizontal and vertical over time. Short duration you can slew left or right but you'll also have to make up or down adjustment at some point.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Elp

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

21 hours ago, Ed the Fox said:

Just a thought..

What percentage of people here use the mount purely for visual rather than AP?

I suppose I fall into the visual only camp, although I have used the mount in alt az mode for some basic lunar photography with a telescope and dslr.

[Adam J]

On 15/03/2022 at 16:38, LaurenceT said:

When I was buying my OSC camera I mentioned to the seller that I would probably sell the 135mm Samyang and get an Askar FMA180 but I'd need an OAG because I couldn't find a way to mount a guidescope. He replied that it would be "a short descent into hell" so I avoided the Askar😅. I don't know how accurate his assessment was.

Completely inaccurate lol, mounted mine fine. 

[LaurenceT]

20 minutes ago, Adam J said:

Completely inaccurate lol, mounted mine fine. 

How did you mount yours?.........lol

[adyj1]

1 hour ago, OK Apricot said:

so to avoid it I need to have a way to centre using only right and up. 

As @happy-katsays, use left and down to go a little bit past the star you want to align on , then you'll always be using right and up to do your final adjustment (which then takes up the backlash on both axes and tracking is then accurate)

It doesn't matter if you need to use down and left along the way as long as the last movement was up and right in each axis.

remember the backlash is separate for each axes; so if you've aligned in the up/down axis with a final 'up', you can then go left and right as many times as you want as long as you finish on a 'right' and don't touch 'down'. 

once you've got the hang of it it will make sense, I promise... 😁 

[Adam J]

43 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

How did you mount yours?.........lol

 

[OK Apricot]

I'm doing as you've described - I send the star to the 'top right' of the fov so that I can then centre using up and right. I was wondering if slewing down and left at all would be throwing the alignment, but as you've said, it doesn't. I'm going to give it one more try tonight, over and over. If it doesn't give decent results it's going back. I'm even going to video it if I can get it on camera properly. Shame as I'd read so much good about this mount for the money - I've either got a bad one or I'm thick as two short ones 🤷

[badhex]

21 minutes ago, OK Apricot said:

I'm doing as you've described - I send the star to the 'top right' of the fov so that I can then centre using up and right. I was wondering if slewing down and left at all would be throwing the alignment, but as you've said, it doesn't. I'm going to give it one more try tonight, over and over. If it doesn't give decent results it's going back. I'm even going to video it if I can get it on camera properly. Shame as I'd read so much good about this mount for the money - I've either got a bad one or I'm thick as two short ones 🤷

 

How far out is it? You mentioned in an earlier post that it is still within the finder but obviously not centred. After you centered the star, clicked the align button and moved to the next alignment target, is it *any* closer? Does it exhibit the same sort of error (e.g. Always the same sort of place in the finder) or is it completely random? 

I reckon filming your experience might also be helpful if you can. 

[LaurenceT]

1 hour ago, Adam J said:

Completely inaccurate lol, mounted mine fine. 

Which bit is inaccurate?

47 minutes ago, Adam J said:

 

Very nice

[Ratlet]

57 minutes ago, Adam J said:

 

Is that rigged up as a single unit?  So you can just mount the whole lot on the az-gti or piggy back on another telescope as required?

Very nice setup!  Love the labels.  When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail and when you have a label maker everything needs a label!

[OK Apricot]

1 hour ago, badhex said:

 

How far out is it? You mentioned in an earlier post that it is still within the finder but obviously not centred. After you centered the star, clicked the align button and moved to the next alignment target, is it *any* closer? Does it exhibit the same sort of error (e.g. Always the same sort of place in the finder) or is it completely random? 

I reckon filming your experience might also be helpful if you can. 

That's the thing - after centering the first star, the next will be a few degrees out, centered again, then it'll be a similar distance out in a different direction - very random. Sometimes closer, most of the time not. I'm going to try video my process tonight 👍

Edited March 20, 2022 by OK Apricot

[happy-kat]

after recentering the star do you then pick the icon to say this is where the star is? and you are using the least powered eyepeice? biggest number likely a 25mm

[Adam J]

2 hours ago, Ratlet said:

Is that rigged up as a single unit?  So you can just mount the whole lot on the az-gti or piggy back on another telescope as required?

Very nice setup!  Love the labels.  When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail and when you have a label maker everything needs a label!

Yes it's all one unit made from two vixen bars forming a T shape. You can slide the main scope back and forth in the clamp between the two vixen bars as well as the whole thing in the AZ GTI clamp. That allows you to balance it in both directions as the rotation of thing like the filter wheel move and change balance. I can piggy back it on the larger obsy rig or move in one piece to the AZ GTI. The whole thing can be stored in a box or placed in a hard cabin bag for travel. All the numbering is so I can't forget anything when I travel against a list. In far flung locations a single missing usb lead could bring the whole thing to and end. 

[Elp]

2 hours ago, OK Apricot said:

That's the thing - after centering the first star, the next will be a few degrees out, centered again, then it'll be a similar distance out in a different direction - very random. Sometimes closer, most of the time not. I'm going to try video my process tonight 👍

It will be interesting to see your results but tbh I don't think the azgti is super accurate for goto anyway, mine isn't unless it's paired with an asiair. For the price and the fact it's main draw is it's super compact and relatively cheap I don't really expect it to be.

[bomberbaz]

8 hours ago, OK Apricot said:

So the dwindling faith is turning to frustration at this point. Last night conditions were terrible really, so I thought I'd use the time trying to get some good results with the goto.

Everything level, zero'd, fully charged power pack, clutches not tight but snug. Followed all advice from FLO and here. North level alignment, pants. 1 star, pants. Brightest star, terrible. 3 star, nowhere near. Each time it goes from one alignment star to another, its somewhere else completely in the finder. 

What am I doing wrong? 

The only other thing I can think of is that to centre an object, a lot of the time I have to use the down and left slew. With the mount tracking, I can't use earth rotation to let the star drift in a way that I can then "catch up" using ONLY up and right slew. This is probably introducing a degree of error through backlash. Is there a way to stop the mount tracking during alignment? I cannot think of anything else. 

Really not sure where your problems are. Try following this tutorial maybe, I found it perfect and so far using this workflow has been perfect BUT I am using the ASI Air PRO.

If you are using other systems, google and try; "yoursystem  tutorial"

 

[OK Apricot]

GUYS GUYS GUYS!!

I'll tell you where the problem was: North level alignment

I tried and tried tonight painstakingly making sure things were level, level and even more level, pointed north, balanced etc. It just wasn't having it. I'm sure I'd read earlier in this thread that this was the way to go so that's why I stuck with it. 

Then tried a 3 star alignment. Perfection 🙌. Any star any area in the sky was plumb in the centre of my eyepiece. I left Arcturus in the fov for half an hour while I went to warm up, and it was right where I left it when I returned. I'm chuffed to bits and the faith has definitely been restored 😁

Sorry for being a complete dimwit and I appreciate you guys sticking through helping me out!

Can't wait to make the most of the clear nights forecast ahead 🌖🌗⭐🌠

 

[badhex]

6 hours ago, OK Apricot said:

GUYS GUYS GUYS!!

I'll tell you where the problem was: North level alignment

I tried and tried tonight painstakingly making sure things were level, level and even more level, pointed north, balanced etc. It just wasn't having it. I'm sure I'd read earlier in this thread that this was the way to go so that's why I stuck with it. 

Then tried a 3 star alignment. Perfection 🙌. Any star any area in the sky was plumb in the centre of my eyepiece. I left Arcturus in the fov for half an hour while I went to warm up, and it was right where I left it when I returned. I'm chuffed to bits and the faith has definitely been restored 😁

Sorry for being a complete dimwit and I appreciate you guys sticking through helping me out!

Can't wait to make the most of the clear nights forecast ahead 🌖🌗⭐🌠

 

This is great news! Interesting that north level didn't work, I have tended to find it the most accurate and so have a few others which is why it's often recommended. That said there are various different alignment options, so super happy you've found one that works for you! 

Now you've cracked it you concentrate on enjoying the skies 💫✨

[AstroNebulee]

6 hours ago, OK Apricot said:

GUYS GUYS GUYS!!

I'll tell you where the problem was: North level alignment

I tried and tried tonight painstakingly making sure things were level, level and even more level, pointed north, balanced etc. It just wasn't having it. I'm sure I'd read earlier in this thread that this was the way to go so that's why I stuck with it. 

Then tried a 3 star alignment. Perfection 🙌. Any star any area in the sky was plumb in the centre of my eyepiece. I left Arcturus in the fov for half an hour while I went to warm up, and it was right where I left it when I returned. I'm chuffed to bits and the faith has definitely been restored 😁

Sorry for being a complete dimwit and I appreciate you guys sticking through helping me out!

Can't wait to make the most of the clear nights forecast ahead 🌖🌗⭐🌠

 

Brilliant, fantastic news. So pleased it worked for you now and you can accurately align. 👍

If your mount isn't permanently set up outside I think you have to reset the alignment, then when you take your mount out again perform the 3 star alignment. In the depths of my poor brain I think anyway.

[OK Apricot]

Cheers guys, I would've given up a long time ago if it wasn't for this thread - it's an absolute gem. Hopefully the result can be repeated in the next few days. 

[AstroNebulee]

2 minutes ago, OK Apricot said:

Cheers guys, I would've given up a long time ago if it wasn't for this thread - it's an absolute gem. Hopefully the result can be repeated in the next few days. 

Good luck and looking forward to your reports 👍

[Elp]

@OK Apricot great that you've got it going as goto makes it so much more enjoyable. It's good to get a compass which has an east west declination scale on it so you can point the mount to true north (not magnetic north). 

[Adam J]

Just wondering if people have opinions on if this bresser AR102L will work with the AZ GTI?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-ar-102l-1000-refractor-ota.html

I think its quite close to the stated weight limit. I am using a much more stable tripod than the one what is normally shipped with the mount if that makes a difference. 

Adam

[badhex]

15 minutes ago, Adam J said:

Just wondering if people have opinions on if this bresser AR102L will work with the AZ GTI?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-ar-102l-1000-refractor-ota.html

I think its quite close to the stated weight limit. I am using a much more stable tripod than the one what is normally shipped with the mount if that makes a difference. 

Adam

TBH it might be a bit much more due to the length than the weight, but with the sturdier tripod you might be okay. Do you have a counterweight? 

[Adam J]

1 minute ago, badhex said:

TBH it might be a bit much more due to the length than the weight, but with the sturdier tripod you might be okay. Do you have a counterweight? 

Yes I have a 2Kg counter weight. 

Adam 

[Elp]

As @badhex has said the length may be an issue. Using my 130pds causes the setup to vibrate a little more than desired especially if there's a light breeze though I haven't tried it with my uni tripod yet. My Z61 imaging setup is 3.2kg + 2kg counterweight/bar.