Many thanks for video I have just purchased my star discovery P150i after 40 years from having my first taste with a tasco 6 inch reflector it was a bit of a beast to set up. experience never forgotten. so back again worst nightmare live in the City. but not to be put of even if my sky view is limited i will be thankful. thanks Dave for the setting up of the scope appreciated the hand books that come with the devices or not always explained easily.
Nice job, you cleared up a few things that I was missing like how to change the centering speed! It defaults to 5 which I find a bit to fast especially if you have anything but your widest field eyepiece! Thanks!
You can of course do this and I have both with the Alt Az Mak (which I no longer have) and my Evolution mount (on which I now fit a 150mm Skymax Mak) and the HEQ5 on which my 9.25" SCT now sits, the virtue of the dongle is many fold, not least of which is the fact it can be moved from mount to mount given that most of the older mounts do not have their own WiFi (as the Evolution does). It can also be useful to link to such programs as PHD and APT and, of course, the ASIair which are becoming particularly popular, everything has its place and its use!
As you will note on the video on this scope, which I no longer have albeit I still use the dongle on my main scope, I had a standard 9 x 30 finder rather than a "red dot" (EZ finder in your case) personally I favour using a combination of red dot for course alignment with a Right Angled 9 x 50 optical finder for final positioning ahead of final alignment in the eyepiece (with a reticule). Obviously for star alignment the red dot needs to be switched on. The reason for using an optical finder is that it will show faint objects not visible to the simple unaided eye as used with a red dot.
On this particular "AltAz" mount alignment commences with the OTA level and facing North on an equatorial the mount must be "Polar aligned, i.e. set for your latitude and aligned on the celestial pole (slightly different from Polaris) my equatorial is pier mounted so is permanently aligned and with this all I do (normally) is a two star alignment and it tracks and "goes To" without issue.
I have subsequently sold this scope not that there was anything at all wrong with it (in fact I would recommend it as a first scope for those interested in Lunar and Planetary study) it is, of course, "AltAz" which means that whilst tracking it has "field rotation" making it unsuitable for anything other than limited short exoposures of deep sky objects, perfect for Lunar photography...
Thanks heaps Dave!!! You saved me a mountain of grief! Good clear instructions even though I am using my laptop with the program. There are no videos on how to use a laptop with the Wifi adaptor but you helped a lot. Thanks. Now if I could only run the adapter through Cartes du Ciel.
It certainly works with Sky Safari and several of my friends use it in conjunction with Astro Photography Tools (ATP) albeit requires the correct Ascom driver to be installed...
If anything you have a wider choice on the dongle using Synscan Pro and the alignment will be more accurate, you should be presented with a extensive list of alignment stars when you choose you alignment option (1 star, 2 star, 3 star etc)...
Thank you so much I just bought the sky watcher az gti to use with my camera for filming sunspots and every other video I have watched made it so confusing. 😊
Not an issue with the type of mount shown here, equatorials with the need to "polar align" can be an issue dependent on the method used although for visual as long as the latitude is set correctly magnetic North can be enough...
I have a silly question, for your telescope to align North, does it matter if you have any obstructions in the way, say a building, and you can't see the sky behind it. I'm gonna try this tonight to see saturn and jupiter, which are not obstructed. Begginer here 😊
To setup the telescope is necessary turning on the EZ Finder? If I want to change that Finder, when I have to do it? Before to turn the Mount on? I appreciate your comment.
I cant see Vega feom my location . So does that make it impossible to Center for me , because it Centers on Vega . On my system Classic Hand controller you can chose what Star you want to Center on and align . ITs strange that here you dont have a choice . Or am i wrong . Thanks
It's a Skywatcher 127 Maksutov, I have subsequently sold it to a friend but highly recommend it for ease of use, portability and Optics that "punch over their weight" particularly good for the Moon and Planets and the brighter Deep Sky Objects, these scopes have a high Focal ratio so offer good magnification. These days if ou are buying new this is the model I would recommend which has the WiFi built in (no need for a Dongle): www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/skywatcher-skymax-127-azgti-telescope.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZT5BRCdARIsAGEX0zlqhxOyoB6cfo6zQQU13ya7cLWgRFa3ks0zGtErdsQ_Vy8ErloIlR4aAudhEALw_wcB
I just took delivery of my 127azgti. Downloaded SynScan app to my iPhone but after connecting it only gives me 2 options for alignment even though I’ve dot an az mount?
Hi there thanks for sharing! Question, does the app/adapter after setup and successful alignment keep track "fallow" desired selected star/planet on its own? Or is it only got-to (no follow) option?? Thanks in advance!!
Like most "GoTo" systems once the target is acquired the mount (whether Alt AZ or Equatorial will hold the object in the field of view). With AltAz there will be "Field rotation" and with either format it is essential to check the right rate is chosen, for stars etc. "sidereal" should be selected "lunar" (logically) for the Moon and "solar" for the sun (only when using the correct filter and the app will require a small test before allowing solar observation). There is also a "No Tracking" option for use on terrestial objects or when aligning the finder or a polar scope.
@@dettie1948 OUTSTANDING!! Thank you David for the prompt reply with the clarification!! Just ordered the Adapter for my Sky watcher Alt-AZ Mount!! :) Once again Huge Thanks! : )
When you start out with your scope "pointing north" do you mean the scope pointed on Polaris? I'm having difficulty getting my mount aligned with the app.
Why not just hook up with skysafari? That's the beauty my Evolution SCT 9.25 hook up stright to sky safari and control the whole scope. I beleive SW you can do the same as its listed in sky safari
You are more than welcome, if you like Astro info then search Sunderland Astronomy Channel in UA-cam, its the channel for the club I belong to lots of info on imaging and astronomy in general. Aslo join the Sunderland Astronomy Facebook page and get invites to Zoom talks and workshops plus lots of Astro chats with friendly, and Knowledgable, Northern folk
Outstanding tutorial, Dave. I knew NOTHING about how to operate SkyScan, now I am ready to give it a try out on my Nexstar mount. Thanks! Maybe do a follow up for one of the other alignment methods?
the most helpful video! You included bits of info that I had been wondering about, but I suppose was "known" information with other users!
Many thanks for video I have just purchased my star discovery P150i after 40 years from having my first taste with a tasco 6 inch reflector it was a bit of a beast to set up. experience never forgotten. so back again worst nightmare live in the City. but not to be put of even if my sky view is limited i will be thankful. thanks Dave for the setting up of the scope appreciated the hand books that come with the devices or not always explained easily.
Great job Dave and thanks for going the extra mile to explain it. Brian
Excellent informative video. Particularly liked the hibernation explanation. Well done.
Nice job, you cleared up a few things that I was missing like how to change the centering speed! It defaults to 5 which I find a bit to fast especially if you have anything but your widest field eyepiece! Thanks!
You can of course do this and I have both with the Alt Az Mak (which I no longer have) and my Evolution mount (on which I now fit a 150mm Skymax Mak) and the HEQ5 on which my 9.25" SCT now sits, the virtue of the dongle is many fold, not least of which is the fact it can be moved from mount to mount given that most of the older mounts do not have their own WiFi (as the Evolution does). It can also be useful to link to such programs as PHD and APT and, of course, the ASIair which are becoming particularly popular, everything has its place and its use!
As you will note on the video on this scope, which I no longer have albeit I still use the dongle on my main scope, I had a standard 9 x 30 finder rather than a "red dot" (EZ finder in your case) personally I favour using a combination of red dot for course alignment with a Right Angled 9 x 50 optical finder for final positioning ahead of final alignment in the eyepiece (with a reticule). Obviously for star alignment the red dot needs to be switched on. The reason for using an optical finder is that it will show faint objects not visible to the simple unaided eye as used with a red dot.
On this particular "AltAz" mount alignment commences with the OTA level and facing North on an equatorial the mount must be "Polar aligned, i.e. set for your latitude and aligned on the celestial pole (slightly different from Polaris) my equatorial is pier mounted so is permanently aligned and with this all I do (normally) is a two star alignment and it tracks and "goes To" without issue.
I have subsequently sold this scope not that there was anything at all wrong with it (in fact I would recommend it as a first scope for those interested in Lunar and Planetary study) it is, of course, "AltAz" which means that whilst tracking it has "field rotation" making it unsuitable for anything other than limited short exoposures of deep sky objects, perfect for Lunar photography...
Very good review. Thanks for the intro! Well done!
Thanks heaps Dave!!! You saved me a mountain of grief! Good clear instructions even though I am using my laptop with the program. There are no videos on how to use a laptop with the Wifi adaptor but you helped a lot. Thanks.
Now if I could only run the adapter through Cartes du Ciel.
It certainly works with Sky Safari and several of my friends use it in conjunction with Astro Photography Tools (ATP) albeit requires the correct Ascom driver to be installed...
If anything you have a wider choice on the dongle using Synscan Pro and the alignment will be more accurate, you should be presented with a extensive list of alignment stars when you choose you alignment option (1 star, 2 star, 3 star etc)...
Thank you so much I just bought the sky watcher az gti to use with my camera for filming sunspots and every other video I have watched made it so confusing. 😊
Not an issue with the type of mount shown here, equatorials with the need to "polar align" can be an issue dependent on the method used although for visual as long as the latitude is set correctly magnetic North can be enough...
I have a silly question, for your telescope to align North, does it matter if you have any obstructions in the way, say a building, and you can't see the sky behind it. I'm gonna try this tonight to see saturn and jupiter, which are not obstructed. Begginer here 😊
This helped! Thank you very much! 😀👍🏻
To setup the telescope is necessary turning on the EZ Finder? If I want to change that Finder, when I have to do it? Before to turn the Mount on? I appreciate your comment.
does this mount track well enough for a bit of AP ? Cheers
Some useful information. But I was looking for how to track an object?
I cant see Vega feom my location . So does that make it impossible to Center for me , because it Centers on Vega . On my system Classic Hand controller you can chose what Star you want to Center on and align . ITs strange that here you dont have a choice .
Or am i wrong . Thanks
WHAT IS THE MODEL OF THE SCOPE AND TRIPOD YOU ARE USING [LOWER RIGHT IN YOUR VIDEO]... I NEED ONE OF THOSE
It's a Skywatcher 127 Maksutov, I have subsequently sold it to a friend but highly recommend it for ease of use, portability and Optics that "punch over their weight" particularly good for the Moon and Planets and the brighter Deep Sky Objects, these scopes have a high Focal ratio so offer good magnification. These days if ou are buying new this is the model I would recommend which has the WiFi built in (no need for a Dongle): www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/skywatcher-skymax-127-azgti-telescope.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpZT5BRCdARIsAGEX0zlqhxOyoB6cfo6zQQU13ya7cLWgRFa3ks0zGtErdsQ_Vy8ErloIlR4aAudhEALw_wcB
I just took delivery of my 127azgti. Downloaded SynScan app to my iPhone but after connecting it only gives me 2 options for alignment even though I’ve dot an az mount?
Hi there thanks for sharing! Question, does the app/adapter after setup and successful alignment keep track "fallow" desired selected star/planet on its own? Or is it only got-to (no follow) option?? Thanks in advance!!
Like most "GoTo" systems once the target is acquired the mount (whether Alt AZ or Equatorial will hold the object in the field of view). With AltAz there will be "Field rotation" and with either format it is essential to check the right rate is chosen, for stars etc. "sidereal" should be selected "lunar" (logically) for the Moon and "solar" for the sun (only when using the correct filter and the app will require a small test before allowing solar observation). There is also a "No Tracking" option for use on terrestial objects or when aligning the finder or a polar scope.
@@dettie1948 OUTSTANDING!! Thank you David for the prompt reply with the clarification!! Just ordered the Adapter for my Sky watcher Alt-AZ Mount!! :) Once again Huge Thanks! : )
When you start out with your scope "pointing north" do you mean the scope pointed on Polaris? I'm having difficulty getting my mount aligned with the app.
Why not just hook up with skysafari? That's the beauty my Evolution SCT 9.25 hook up stright to sky safari and control the whole scope. I beleive SW you can do the same as its listed in sky safari
You are more than welcome, if you like Astro info then search Sunderland Astronomy Channel in UA-cam, its the channel for the club I belong to lots of info on imaging and astronomy in general. Aslo join the Sunderland Astronomy Facebook page and get invites to Zoom talks and workshops plus lots of Astro chats with friendly, and Knowledgable, Northern folk
I could not see a mouse pointer on the screen. Otherwise, i found the information very informative.
Thank you ,I thought I wasted my money on this because of the 0 information on use with a pc in the literature that came with the adapter.
tuitorial?
Don't understand your comment, stikes me as probably negative, just sharing my experience no claims to perfection...
Outstanding tutorial, Dave. I knew NOTHING about how to operate SkyScan, now I am ready to give it a try out on my Nexstar mount. Thanks!
Maybe do a follow up for one of the other alignment methods?
@@dettie1948 That person means you had a typo/misspelling. It is tutorial ;-)