Skywatcher AZ GTI mount owners thread

[powerlord]

4 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

That's a good deal for 2 power packs. 

Just be aware that's a 3s pack. So 4.2 x 3 = 12.6 full, 3.3 x 3 = 9.9v empty.

Your azgti should be OK with that - specs say 7.5v to 14v.

But if u have other 12v stuff like an old eaf, or a zwo camera, etc it's unlikely it'll be happy with much less than 12v. For those you'd be better with a pack with a built in buck booster that always outputs 12v.

Or add one to the output of the pack. This sort of thing:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204453322384?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Br9H2YwyR02&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=k_pahIebQ6a&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Just an example, size u need depends on max amps u need.

Stu

Edited September 18, 2023 by powerlord

[LDW1]

3 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

They do in the manual state True North for setting up home position (AZ mode).  Your home position, levelling and location/date & time are used to help align the mount by centering the alignment stars and the mount compensating for inaccuracies.  The uptake of plate-solving has made these inaccuracies less of a problem, as the software would be able to centre the target after a plate-solve.

Using a manual polar alignment system such as a polar scope, the correct axis is found by knowing the position of Polaris in relation to the NCP and placing that in the right hourly position. So when the PA is correct, and the mount rotated, Polaris would spin around in a circle with the NCP in the middle. So if your time/date or location is wrong that position you centred Polaris in would be wrong and hence the assumed position of the NCP would be out as well. Note we have not used a True or Magnetic North for this manual process, but the NCP would be True North (no magnets or compass used).

So True North is best to use, but if Magnetic is close then the alignment error correcting should compensate for either of them. If the degree offset is large then True North should be used, if Magnetic gives a better result then there is a compensating error.

https://gisgeography.com/magnetic-north-vs-geographic-true-pole/

 

It sure hasn't worked for me yet, read my posts as to my procedures, my exact location realative to it all is well set, Magnetic North is about a 10° west declination from True at my viewing location and when my scope stops at a selected object it is about 10° east of the object thats why I asked about Mag. vs True. I intend to try both next time and by the way my mount and scope are levelled as close as is possible as per their instructions.

[happy-kat]

What firmware version is on the az-gti and what is the version of the synscan app you are using?

[LDW1]

3 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

They do in the manual state True North for setting up home position (AZ mode).  Your home position, levelling and location/date & time are used to help align the mount by centering the alignment stars and the mount compensating for inaccuracies.  The uptake of plate-solving has made these inaccuracies less of a problem, as the software would be able to centre the target after a plate-solve.

Using a manual polar alignment system such as a polar scope, the correct axis is found by knowing the position of Polaris in relation to the NCP and placing that in the right hourly position. So when the PA is correct, and the mount rotated, Polaris would spin around in a circle with the NCP in the middle. So if your time/date or location is wrong that position you centred Polaris in would be wrong and hence the assumed position of the NCP would be out as well. Note we have not used a True or Magnetic North for this manual process, but the NCP would be True North (no magnets or compass used).

So True North is best to use, but if Magnetic is close then the alignment error correcting should compensate for either of them. If the degree offset is large then True North should be used, if Magnetic gives a better result then there is a compensating error.

https://gisgeography.com/magnetic-north-vs-geographic-true-pole/

 

Please give me the location in their user guide where SW confirms that in their application, just for my information.

[powerlord]

this is getting a lot of attention, considering, if I've followed it correctly, LDW1 is complaining that on the first goto after a ONE star alignment, it's off. I mean yeh.. of course it is. I don't think I ever did one star alignments, but if I did i wouldn't expect it to be accurate until a number of gotos and corrections. You are far far better doing a 3 star alignment, and making sure the stars you use are in the area of the sky you want to then be 'going to'. It's not magic - it needs to create a model of where it is - 3 points is about the minimum that's gotta be. Even then it will be accurate for that area of the sky - if you do a goto to the other side it will need correcting and syncing again. that is the nature if any goto system. It's the same with my EQ6-Rs - only there, in combination with asiair and plate solving they do it automatically.

IF the op confirms that he has done a 3 star alignment in the are of the sky he is going to observe/image. And then a goto is massively out, THEN it's worth trying to debug what's going wrong.

1. align it with true north (think: you are aligning it with the earth for EQ. For AZ mode it doesn't really matter just close is enough - magnetic, true.. doesn't matter)

2. you do a 3 star alignment, adjusting and syncing so each is centred for the 3.

3. you do a goto in the same area of the sky (ideally within the triangle of the stars, which should all be in the same E or W sky.

4. this goto should be 'close' - again, you adjust and sync. it will now track it well.

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by powerlord

[LDW1]

34 minutes ago, powerlord said:

this is getting a lot of attention, considering, if I've followed it correctly, LDW1 is complaining that on the first goto after a ONE star alignment, it's off. I mean yeh.. of course it is. I don't think I ever did one star alignments, but if I did i wouldn't expect it to be accurate until a number of gotos and corrections. You are far far better doing a 3 star alignment, and making sure the stars you use are in the area of the sky you want to then be 'going to'. It's not magic - it needs to create a model of where it is - 3 points is about the minimum that's gotta be. Even then it will be accurate for that area of the sky - if you do a goto to the other side it will need correcting and syncing again. that is the nature if any goto system. It's the same with my EQ6-Rs - only there, in combination with asiair and plate solving they do it automatically.

IF the op confirms that he has done a 3 star alignment in the are of the sky he is going to observe/image. And then a goto is massively out, THEN it's worth trying to debug what's going wrong.

1. align it with true north (think: you are aligning it with the earth for EQ. For AZ mode it doesn't really matter just close is enough - magnetic, true.. doesn't matter)

2. you do a 3 star alignment, adjusting and syncing so each is centred for the 3.

3. you do a goto in the same area of the sky (ideally within the triangle of the stars, which should all be in the same E or W sky.

4. this goto should be 'close' - again, you adjust and sync. it will now track it well.

 

I never implied I do a one star align., I use mostly a 2 star align and tried a 3 star. What is consistent is that when my scope stops the dso I am looking for isn't even in the FOV and I am using an ep that gives me about a 3.2° TFOV. It is consistently about 10-11° west declination from my scope which I then manually move to the dso selected . And by the way I am not complaining but I asked very specifically ' do I use True North or Mag. North when when doing a North Levelling Alignment and where is that clearly stated in the user guide ' !  My only real concern is why the dso I have selected is not in the FOV of my scope provided that I have aligned it properly and thus my True vs Mag. question. Once confirmed I don't think I will have a problem getting there.   PS:  I will keep your set of instructions as a reference though.

Edited September 18, 2023 by LDW1

[LDW1]

56 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

What firmware version is on the az-gti and what is the version of the synscan app you are using?

The SynScan Pro version I am using is 2.3.6, I will have to check my Gti but I believe is up to date, I will get back.

[AndyM001]

3 hours ago, powerlord said:

Just be aware that's a 3s pack. So 4.2 x 3 = 12.6 full, 3.3 x 3 = 9.9v empty.

Your azgti should be OK with that - specs say 7.5v to 14v.

But if u have other 12v stuff like an old eaf, or a zwo camera, etc it's unlikely it'll be happy with much less than 12v. For those you'd be better with a pack with a built in buck booster that always outputs 12v.

Or add one to the output of the pack. This sort of thing:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204453322384?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Br9H2YwyR02&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=k_pahIebQ6a&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Just an example, size u need depends on max amps u need.

Stu

Thanks for the info, I only plan to use them with the AZ-GTi.

[badhex]

44 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

do I use True North or Mag. North when when doing a North Levelling Alignment and where is that clearly stated in the user guide

 

On 16/09/2023 at 19:26, badhex said:

it refers to the home position of the telescope being "True North", page 7, so we can infer from that that True North is assumed for alignment as well

As previously mentioned, True North is referenced on Page 7 of the manual I attached as the Home position. It is not mentioned on the alignment pages, however we can infer that they mean true north since it's the home position of the scope from which the north level alignment starts. 

Ultimately if your tripod is level, and even if you are only using a rough eyeball to find north - after the first 2-3 alignments the mount should have been corrected for any initial errors and be finding your targets almost if not totally bang on the mark. It should not consistently be pointing 10° out in any direction once aligned, as that is the whole point of the corrections you make during the alignment routine. In fact, since you have to always confirm the target is in the centre even when doing a normal slew, it is constantly correcting the pointing model throughout your session also. 

When using the mount regularly, I frequently just made sure the tripod itself was definitely level as that's the base on which the mount sits and rotates, eyeballed north (I had a reference building which was pretty much north), eyeballed the scope to level, and then ran the routine with a very low power EP in place for the final corrections. I genuinely rarely had any issues at all.

[LDW1]

After all of this turmoil I think I will get everything I need by rereading the SynScan User Guide and confirming all my settings which are suspect. Thanx for all the comments / help, it is appreciated !

[happy-kat]

On 06/09/2023 at 19:35, happy-kat said:

getting ready for the season and it's new installs all round, Ascom, Ascom driver and Synscan Pro pc and mobile all very recently  new

What's the saying it it's not broke,,.... Cloudy so dry run inside yesterday could I get ascom to connect... Big flat no. Back to drawing board to check I'm setting it right...

[happy-kat]

I'll hopeful that this year the little rig on its az3 leveling base gives plate solving through sharpcap/astap and some data to play with from a sharpcap/ASI combo and a 10m usb.

Not forgetting skyeye pro which has a great live sky map to help identify what's the bright star in my tiny view I'm focusing on, point take screen grab zoom in and read the label, point and track should help here to I hope

Edited September 20, 2023 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

fixed my Ascom connecting issue by reinstalling my earlier skywatcher ascom driver v130

I may try again with the later one as it should work

EDIT: I tried again with 140 and no joy, I am back using the skywatcher 130 ascom driver, still a bit flakey dropping the ascom connection

EDIT2: using ascom 130 driver this is note to me for order to connect using synscan dongle 1- connect pc wifi 2- connect mobile wifi 3- start  mobile app and connect 4- start ascom and connect 5- start phd2 and connect mount etc. 6-sharpcap and connect 7- start stellarium and connect 

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by happy-kat

[happy-kat]

Went through the above using 140 and got a bit further but it got flaky and dropped connection, went back to 130, I'll keep an eye on an updated driver, we'll see

[AndyM001]

I couldn't get on with the red dot finder so decided to upgrade it, and sorted out a dew shield as well. Almost ready for my trip to Cornwall.

 

[AndyM001]

Hi, I'm looking to add the EQ parts at some point in the future, and will look at getting the M8-M12 thread reducer for the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Counterweight Kit. Can someone who has the Counterweight Kit do me a favour and measure the length of the threaded part of the bar please, thanks.

[AstroNebulee]

4 hours ago, AndyM001 said:

Hi, I'm looking to add the EQ parts at some point in the future, and will look at getting the M8-M12 thread reducer for the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Counterweight Kit. Can someone who has the Counterweight Kit do me a favour and measure the length of the threaded part of the bar please, thanks.

I've just measured one of mine and it's 9mm of thread. 

Lee 

[AndyM001]

4 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

I've just measured one of mine and it's 9mm of thread. 

Lee 

Thank you.

[AndyM001]

On 25/07/2022 at 14:17, Elp said:

Just thought I'd put this in here, I had issues connecting the AZGTI to Sky Safari Plus 7, general process is as follows, this was done on O/S Android 12:

 

1. Switch on your AZGTI, make sure your phone/tablet/pc is connected to the AZGTI wifi network once it's booted,

2. Start Synscan Pro app, choose altaz or equatorial mode (if you have this firmware uploaded onto the AZGTI),

3. Align as per Synscan Pro alignment routine,

4. Start Sky Safari Plus/Pro, go to Menu > Settings > Telescope heading > Presets,

5. Press add preset button,

6. Select "other connection",

7. Select "Skywatcher Synscan", click next,

8. Choose your mount operation mode, "Alt-Az Goto" or "Equatorial Goto (German)" (I haven't tried the latter yet),

9. Select "Connect via wifi", make sure your phone/tablet/pc running synscan pro is still connected to the AZGTI network,

10. For IP address, this is the address of the controlling device running Synscan Pro (IE phone/tablet/pc), NOT the IP gateway or device network of the AZGTI - this is where I was going wrong even though this would be the logical choice,

11. Enter 11882 for the port number, press "check connection" button, it should confirm at the top of the screen that it has been able to connect, click next,

12. Enter the name for the preset you want to save it as, can leave everything else on default, and press "save preset".

13. On the main screen press the "connect" button if its on, or you should see the telescope controls "goto, align, lock" etc, you'll know the telescope is connected as they'll be a light blue/cyan coloured reticule on the screen.

 

And I think that's it. Haven't used it outside yet, next step will be to connect it to the asiair setup when I get around to it.

 

 

I have just downloaded Sky Safari 7 plus and spent about an hour trying to connect it to my AZGTi. Initially I got a message that the software could connect to the mount, but the mount would not respond. In the end, I found this to work, so thought I'd post an edited version in case others have the same issue as me. I'm using an iPhone with IOS 17.0.2.

1. Start Sky Safari Plus/Pro, go to Menu > Settings > Telescope > Presets,

2. Press 'Add Preset' button,

3. Select "Other Connection",

4. Select "SkyWatcher SynScanLink", click next,

5. Enter the name for the preset you want to save it as, or you can leave everything else on default, and press "save preset".
   (Make sure the new preset is selected as default 'Use This Preset')

6. Switch on your AZGTI, make sure your phone/tablet is connected to the AZGTI WiFi network once it's booted.

7. Start Synscan Pro app, choose Alt/Az or equatorial mode (if you have this firmware uploaded onto the AZGTI).

8. Align as per Synscan Pro alignment routine, and leave app open.

9. Start Sky Safari Plus/Pro

10. On the main screen select 'Scope' and then press the "connect" button. You will get a popup asking to connect to SynScan app, after confirmation it will then open the app, minimise it and then take you back to Sky Safari.

 You should see the telescope controls "GoTo, Align, Lock" etc.

The "SkyWatcher SynScanLink" preset doesn't ask for the IP address, and not sure if this is a new preset in a recent update.

[AndyM001]

Okay, so here is a weird one. While playing around with setting up the AZ/GTi and Sky Safari, I added the Synscan app on my iPad (which has WiFi only), and it appears that the initial alignment process is A LOT more accurate using the iPad than my iPhone. When doing the alignment on my iPhone, I have to slew the mount quite a lot to centre the object, but using my iPad, I don't have to slew anywhere near as much. Any ideas?

[Soupir94]

Possibly down to the iOS version. I don't have an iPhone to compare with my iPad but I have been using an up to date Android phone with the AZ-Gti and the initial alignment, mostly three-star, is normally reasonably accurate. But the last time I was out I used an older Android phone which has not been updated in a while and used Capella as the first star. The mount slewed way past Capella, nearer to Jupiter in fact. 

[AndyM001]

Thanks for the reply, both my iPhone and iPad were on IOS 17.0.2, although today I've updated both to 17.0.3. I'm going to mess around with them both next week some more before my trip to Cornwall to see if maybe there is a difference regarding the cellular network and WiFi.

[happy-kat]

On 27/09/2023 at 20:37, happy-kat said:

Went through the above using 140 and got a bit further but it got flaky and dropped connection, went back to 130, I'll keep an eye on an updated driver, we'll see

retested and this method for me worked fine, tested with ascom driver 140 

order connected using synscan dongle

1- connect pc wifi

telescope was facing north level and horizontal, turn on az-gti

2- connect mobile wifi

3- start  mobile synscan pro app and connect

I did a one star alignment

4- start ascom and connect

5- start phd2 and connect mount etc.

6-sharpcap and connect

7- start stellarium and connect 

every thing is connecting and staying connected

[Soupir94]

Hi,

I use a SW ed80 and Bresser Mak 127 with my AZ-GTi in Alt-Az mode (although I have updated it to AZ/EQ dual mode). Both scopes work fine with the mount in Alt-Az but I am wondering if they are too much for the mount in EQ with an ASI120 camera for unguided AP? I tested the lighter ed80 in EQ mode indoors and I just didn’t like the feel of it. With the counterweight it is over 5kg, although I read somewhere that the CW doesn’t count when calculating the load.

But I think I should realistically be looking for a mount with a higher load capacity with a sturdier tripod? 

Grateful for all advice.

Thanks

John

[AstroNebulee]

13 hours ago, Soupir94 said:

Hi,

I use a SW ed80 and Bresser Mak 127 with my AZ-GTi in Alt-Az mode (although I have updated it to AZ/EQ dual mode). Both scopes work fine with the mount in Alt-Az but I am wondering if they are too much for the mount in EQ with an ASI120 camera for unguided AP? I tested the lighter ed80 in EQ mode indoors and I just didn’t like the feel of it. With the counterweight it is over 5kg, although I read somewhere that the CW doesn’t count when calculating the load.

But I think I should realistically be looking for a mount with a higher load capacity with a sturdier tripod? 

Grateful for all advice.

Thanks

John

Hi

Your ED80 will be to much really for the az gti in eq mode, along with the length aswell as the weight.  The 127 mak would be ok but with the focal length with the zwo 120 attached wouldn't be worth it for dso imaging. Best stick to az mode for the 127 and do planetary and lunar imaging with your zwo120. 

I don't think you include the cw when working out the payload capacity of the mount. 

Though I happily run a sw 72ed with zwo asi294mc pro for imaging, zwo asi120mc-s and guidescope, with asiair pro for imaging. This is slightly over the 5kg but I can guide at around 0.7 rms. All on a sw 1.75inch steel tripod as this makes it much studier. 

Lee 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by AstroNebulee