Nexstar SLT & ASCOM

[MishMich]

Being a bit GAGA with two weeks with hardly more than a fleeting glimpse of sky, I decided to get the synscan upgraded HED5 working through the laptop. Spurred on by the apparent success last night connecting Stellarium using ASCOM, and scaring the dog in front of the fire as the mount slewed from Uranus to Pleiades, today I did the same thing with EQMOD.

So, after a viewing session tonight that was terminated before it began, I decided to see what I could do with the Celestron NexStar mount. Got it connected via ASCOM OK, and used the GUI paddle control to set off in slow motion. But, Stellariurm told me it could't go to M42, because the mount wasn't aligned. Duh! Who said Alt-Az GoTo's were easier than EQ's. I just pretended the EQ was aligned with Polaris, but the Nexstar wanted me to align it - presumably with some stars. Not easy, sitting in front of fire. So, I guess that'll have to wait till I have a clear sky with nothing else to do (camping in 3 months, probably).

Anybody else figured out how to get round this, to test out Nexstar Alt-Az GoTo control indoors?

M.

[yeti monster]

You could position a couple of dots on the ceiling and tell it theyare the stars it wants aligning to...........

Indoor planetarium...... perhaps?

[MishMich]

I thought of that, but they'd need to be positioned quite accurately, otherwise the alignment would fail. Not sure how I'd do that without some kind of planetarium projector showing me where they should be. But, you have given me a clue - I was thinking of a 3 star alignment, but it can work with a single-star, I think. I might try that - just point it where I think Betelgeuse might be about now.

M.

[MishMich]

That worked.

Close thread, please.

M.