Astrophotography Japan / AM5 Alt-Az Visual Astronomy (Episode 10)
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- Visual astronomy with the AM5 mount in ALT AZ mode (set-up instruction is described) is employed for tracking with the SVBony 80ED refractor. Target identification is driven by ASIAIR plate-solving and viewed through the Baader Morpheus eyepiece, which is compared to the Astronomics Paradigm ED eyepiece. A specially customized accessory-compatible OTA ring set for visual astronomy is described and discussed regarding its utility in the ALT AZ tracking configuration. Planetary images and scenes from the night-time viewing session at Kawawafuji Park in Yokohama (Japan) are provided.
- Наука та технологія
Commentaire - Part 2 - I am so happy ! I was looking for a video about Alt Azimutal mode for AM5 for a long time. I was discouraged until I Find this one. Congratulations for the job. All the explanations are clear and simple. Thank you very much
Hi Thierry, thank you for the nice comments! BTW, since making that video, I have learned that precise alignment with North is not necessary. After the first one or two star alignments with your mount (or with the GoTo function), it works fine. Just estimating North is good enough to start with. Best wishes and thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
@@jpastroguy It's funny to read your comment because just now I wished to see your video again about the Alt Az. alignment. Indeed I've read 2-3 days ago that multiple star alignments were possible since.....april - ZWO comment - And just now, you give me the same information ! Have a nice day
@@thierrymotteu8884 We all continue to learn new things in this hobby; mostly by experience (successes and failures)!
Simple, with an accents on important, clear explanations! Thank you so much!
I am glad you found it useful, Andre! Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan! Paul
Great subject matter, great presentation, great review. Glad I found you. New sub here!
Wow, such nice compliments! You will find my channel to be data and information rich with practical explanations. I am no subject-matter expert but I like to explore and speculate. My images are decent at best. But my focus is really the pursuit and adventure. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
This is a brilliant tutorial! I had given up on even trying to do visual astronomy, since it was such a headache to find targets. Thanks for putting it together!
I was really surprised to see that the GoTo function worked in AZ mode. That is not common among all mounts. This way is more set-up time, but it certainly makes it easy to zip between targets! Glad you found the video useful. Oh, BTW, I subsequently learned that doing such a detailed alignment to the North is not required. Just eyeball it. The star alignment function (sync to mount) is enough to compensate. Clear skies! Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
A great video and very educational, which is what I need. I bought an AM5 mount about 1 month ago. I have only used it a handful of times due to clouds here in S. Texas. I am still learning and really didn't understand the difference between Equatorial and ALT AZ. Thanks again.
Hi Jim, I am glad to know you found the presentation useful. I exclusively use my AM5 mount for all my telescopes from focal lengths of 560mm down to 135mm and also Canon lenses. You made a good investment. Clear skies and thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
Thanks for this video of not only setting up alt az, but the idea of attaching the ASIAIR with a camera for plate solving and finding objects! I did not think of using it this way!
I am glad you found it helpful. Actually, I was a bit surprised that the mount could operate GoTo in both EQ and AZ modes with the ASIAIR. The AZ-GTi mount cannot do this in AZ mode for example. One thing I learned since this video, is that you do not need to pay such close attention to the initial NORTH directional alignment. Just level the tripod accurately; that is all. The star alignment process will automatically determine NORTH no matter which direction you initially point the mount toward. Other than that, all the other points are valid. I have used the ASIAIR for assisting in star hopping on manual ALT AZ mounts too. Episode 13 is a good example of that. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan! Clear skies! PAUL
Another thing, I really like all your ideas of how you connected the devices you use so that they sit on top while in alt az mode
@@808musicman808 Finding a ring set that fit and buying all the necessary clamps and accessories was a challenge. But I finally got my SV48P and 503 80ED set up exactly like I want it. The additional cost involved was not insignificant, but I think it was worth it. Best regards!
Quite different from previous episodes but always very informative! I only have experiences with equatorial mounts including forkmount. But I learn good aspects of Alt-Az from this episode. Feature of switching between EQ and Alt-Az is very nice but seems tedious. It seems quite challenging for this old man to remember every steps without making any mistakes. I am always amazed your very broad interest in astronomy. Mine is instead very limited to nebula photography which start to expand to galaxies thanks to your influence, but am not sure for visual observations. Please keep stimulating me. Old men need a good push. Keep uploading interesting ones!
Thanks Katsumi-san. Old dogs like us CAN learn new tricks!
Excellent content, demonstration, visuals, and pace. Thank you for your efforts - very helpful.
I appreciate your kind comments, John. Thank you so much for watching! Clear skies and best wishes! PAUL
Thank you from Canada. Yours is the first demonstration I’ve seen of using the AM5 in it’s alt-as mode. I’m surprised you’re able to legally use a laser in an urban setting with aircraft about.
Hi Alan. Yea, having both the EQ and the Alt Az mode on a single high quality mount is very convenient! Regarding the laser, I believe there are laws on the wattage limit for unlicensed personal use and restrictions against using a laser as a weapon or to interfere with aircrafts (a very serious crime everywhere). To my knowledge there are no laws against shining a laser beam in public space. Of course, I am very careful to avoid all accidents of usage. Thanks for you concern and for watching Astrophotography Japan!
Thanks so much for this clear tutorial! Just what I needed to get into Alt-Az mode. Glad I came across your channel! Clear skies.
Hi Carol. I am glad you found Astrophotography Japan! The flexibility of the AM5 mount is great for AZ and EQ. The only thing I have learned since producing this video is that close attention to NORTH alignment is totally unnecessary. Just eye-ball it. The syc of your targets to the mount will take care of the accuracy. Best wishes and clear skies!
I very much enjoyed your video. I do astrophotography with the AM5 and have been very pleased with it but I have been curious how it might work in Alt-Az. I'll give it a try. Having traveled to Japan many, many times without ever seeing the Milky Way, I'm impressed with your enthusiasm for what can be seen in Bortle 8 - 9. Thanks!
Hello Mark, thanks for your kind comments. Well, I am not willing to move and unfortunately I cannot change the sky. But it's all about having fun and appreciating the beauty of nature; despite the challenges. The best experiences are my travel adventures; and I just returned from one today. It'll be an upcoming video soon. Clear skies and thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan.
Very nice (and timely!!) video, Paul. I've been searching for a comprehensive video on using the AM5 in Alt-Az mode and yours is the first I've come across. Thanks so much! In case anyone else has the same 'issue', the first time I put the AM5 in Alt-Az mode I couldn't get the top of the mount level, i.e., couldn't quite get it to 90 degrees. I had to be sure to move it as far as I could when transitioning to Alt-Az mode but still see the locking screws and be able to tighten them. Once I did that, I was able to put it all the way to 90 degrees and have it level. I haven't had a chance to align the mount yet with Polaris since the weather has been awful. The couple of times I've approximated aligning to Polaris, the Goto function was not all that great. But, from your video it looks like once it's properly aligned it works fine! Looking forward to trying it. Great setup, BTW. I, too, like having a lot of ancillaries mounted on my scopes to make finding things easier when doing visual observation. It really does make observing so much easier. Thanks again for another great video! Clear skies.
Hey Greg, thanks for the comments. After having shifted the mount to ALT AZ several times already, it it becomes second nature - easier than originally believed. I am not sure if there are better ways to do the polar alignment, but the tracking was superb with the method described. I probably should have tested to see if the mount GoTo was any good relative to the plate-solving, but the video was already quite long. Perhaps I will try that later. Clear skies and happy observing!
@@jpastroguy Agreed, Paul. I was dreading AM5 transition from EQ to Alt-Az mode before I had actually done it, and now it's simple and quick. You know, you mentioned something in your comment I wasn't thinking about -- I was using the mount's Goto functionality, and not the ASIAir's Goto. The reason for that was I didn't have a camera attached, not realizing until I thought about it more that I could use my guiding camera instead of my main camera, which I didn't want to attach since I was doing visual observations. Duh! (The ASIAir won't let you do a Goto without a camera running.) I'm sure the results will be great when I finally get clear enough skies to try it all out. Thanks so much again for the insights and the tutorial!
@@gregerianne3880 Yea, that is the main reason why I needed so many accessory clamps! Previously I had used my small cheap 30mm guide scope and ASI120MM Mini camera to do polar alignments and GoTo with ASIAIR in EQ mode. That gave me the idea. In the video I am using a better quality small astrograph (Askar FMA135) for nicer images and because I can put it into a ring set. The camera is an upgraded Planetary camera too (ASI678MC). Mounting the imaging finder (for plate solving) in a ring set is important because you have to align it to the OTA field-of-view. In astrophotography (EQ mode) alignment for guiding is not important, but for visual it is critical!
Thank you for a great video. I purchased a ZWO AM5 mostly because I’d become tired of dealing with excessive backlash and other issues with my previous EQ and ALT/AZ mounts. The AM5 arrived about a week ago and being fortunate enough to live in Arizona, one of the most cloud-free states in the U.S., I’ve been able to use the mount on five clear nights so far. But I do mostly visual astronomy, and I found that star hopping with the mount in equatorial was quite difficult. I spent several hours searching for information that would explain how to set up and use the AM5 in ALT/AZ and finally found your video. It was exactly what I needed. Thanks again for your efforts. Clear Skies!
Hey Richard - I am so glad you found the video useful! One thing to tell you is that I took a lot of care to align to the North in this video. It is not necessary to be that accurate with the Azimuth. After you do a two or three star alignment and SYNC to the mount;, the ASIAIR will know very well the true North. So a general eyeballing of North is all that is necessary. But be sure the mount is level! Welcome to Astrophotography Japan! Thanks for watching / clear skies! PAUL
Somehow I accidentally deleted a comment by Martin ???. My apologies Martin; I hope you see this message. You are correct that using the ASIAIR is not necessary for GOTO in Alt Az (AZ) mode. Frankly, I was not even expecting it to work, thinking that the navigation in ASIAIR was designed exclusively for EQ mode. But it works fine on the AM5 in AZ mode, too. Incidentally, the ASIAIR does not work with the SkyWatcher AZ-GTi mount in AZ mode. Indeed, the AM5 mount has its own sky navigation feature. However, when I tried it at the time of making this video, that GOTO function was no better or worse than the SkyWatcher AZ-GTi mount which cost 75% less! The bottom line is that mechanically, GOTO mounts are usually only accurate on finding targets near to alignment stars. Depending on the magnification, "near to" could be 10-degrees or 40-degrees. So the best practice is to identify a bright known star near to your target and do a one star (mount) alignment on it first, then tell it to GOTO your target nearby. That is the best practice and it is usually spot-on! But if you want to avoid all that, then plate solving with the ASIAIR is fool-proof and 100% accurate anywhere in the sky. Also, regarding the Jupiter moon shadow, you may be correct.......there is a possibility that the dark area is the Great Red Spot and not a shadow. That is indeed an equally plausible explanation. Again, sorry about accidentally deleting your comment. I cannot seem to retrieve it.
No problem JP. I finally have a tripod that seems to work fine in the Alt Az mode with the ZWO. AM5. The ARTCISE AS90C. It seems to be a good bit taller than the regular one sold by ZWO. (I had this on back-order from OPT who went bust). Anyway I had a nce view of the Moon tonight
Excellent tutorial. Thanks for all of your effort.
Thanks. That was a fun effort. My next video is doing something similar with a manual-guided ALT AZ mount. So stay tuned!
Wonderful video and nice story telling again! Loved the kids in the background as hanging out at night like that does not sound very Japanese to me... :)
Thanks Matthias.....its all about having fun and enjoying life! Time to change your opinion of high school kids, I think. I encounter them quite often; they are usually polite and respectful, and just having fun....
@@jpastroguy Thank you! Yes, the kids here are indeed polite even when they try to look wild. In the end, they are still Japanese and it is good to see that also the kids here get more freedom.
Well-presented video!!! Thanks so much for creating this video!!!
Hey Gary, thank you so much. BTW....in a few days my newest video will be released. It is also about alt-az visual astronomy, but this time manual. I used a similar set-up with taking guide-photos and plate-solving, but all searching and movements were done by hand. Coming soon! Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan.
Very interesting video with a nice setup Paul. 👍🏼 Enjoyed it very much. I also saw many other potentially interesting videos on your channel to check out myself. Clear skies
I appreciate the feedback. Thanks Tully. I am glad you think there is some interesting content on my channel! Clear skies!
Thank you JPAstroGuy! Been to Japan 1 time and went and saw the Snow Monkeys! I also have the AM5 and picked up the SVBony 102 scope.
Great minds think alike!
Excellent presentation and very useful for visual observation . I am getting my new Esprit 120 ED this week and this video is a gift 😊
Thanks for the encouraging words Mazin! I am envious of your new scope!
@@jpastroguy I have already learned a lot from you! I am going to get AZ/EQ 6 by sky watcher, but waiting for few months, may be April 2023.
@mazinalmoumen All my learning came from UA-cam as well. Glad that I can be a part of that. I try to be practical and not technical, because I am no expert. If I step outside of the ASIAIR environment, I am lost. But that is OK, because it is all about the adventure and appreciation of the beautiful universe and pursuit of art/images that I can say "I made that"!
Always good to watch. Very informative. I always enjoy your videos. In my estimation it was too long between nine and ten.
Thanks so much Melvin! You're a tough customer; it was only 6 weeks! :-)
Excellent and educational video again, thank you. I really like the details on how to, and where to buy stuff that you show in the video. Also like the calmness in your presenting. Bortle 7+ sounds horrible 😮. Keep it up 👍
Glad you enjoyed it! For visual, you are right, Bortle 7+ is awful. Perhaps I can someday get out to the mountains or coastline for a better visual experience! As for astrophotography, there is enough in the sky and the power of narrow-band, keep me busy and happy even under such light-polluted skies!
Thank you for this video! Excellent tips for Alt Az viewing
Glad it was helpful! And thanks for watching!
@@jpastroguy Thanks JP. I was watching again to get the names of some of the equipment. One question. Since the upgrade to the SW on the AM5 do you think you need the ASAIR for guiding? I can se it would be useful for identifying where you are pointed or for Polar Alignment. I just wondered if once the AM5 knows where it is then guidance within the app should be good. Also on that image of Jupiter I don't think the moons are large enough to cause that shadow. I thought it might be the Giant Red Spot. I hope you have clear sky's for future viewing!
@@mvdeehan You are correct that the ASIAIR is not necessary for GOTO with the AM5 mount. You can use the AM5 application all by itself to do that, but only after doing multiple star alignments. Actually, I suspect the mount is no better or worse than other mounts at blindly navigating the sky using its gyros and computer memory. If a target is "near to" one of the original alignment stars, it works great all by itself. I can confirm that. Based on my experience, I suspect that "near to" means something like within 30 to 45-degrees of sky-arc. But if further than that, the target may not be in your FOV. So, if you have the patience to identify a nearby bright star to each of your targets, and first hop to that star and do a visual alignment......then the AM5 will accurately find your nearby object. It is a slight inconvenience. The ASIAIR simply lets you use plate solving to skip around the sky with the supreme precision of plate solving and not worry about visually missing any target. Perhaps soon, I will make a video illustrating and documenting and illustrating this limitation in the future.
Regarding the Jupiter moon-shadow theory, you may indeed be right. When I published this video, I did not think about that. But afterwards, I regretted not mentioning it as another potential explanation. In retrospect, I think you are probably correct.
Best wishes, PAUL (JaPan ASTRO GUY)
@@mvdeehan Martin, this UA-cam comment thing has me a bit confounded. I wrote a reply to you earlier after thinking that I deleted your comments. But now I see them in this window. Anyhow see my recent comment under the text. Cheers! PAUL
@@jpastroguy Thanks again Paul. I think ultimately I’ll go with the ASAIR you have to both improve guiding and to wet my feet on imaging. I have a Takahashi 120 and the AM5 and was waiting for OPT to ship the ZWO triod which was on backorder but unfortunately OpT have gone out of business! I’m waiting on input from Meade onnthe suitability of a heavier but available tripod.
Also, can you tell me where you sourced the laser pointer and laser pointer bracket. It looks pretty sweet! Thanks!
It might be best if you send me an email so I can provide the links and explain how I have modified the laser to keep it engaged (on/off) without pushing the spring-loaded button. PAUL. jpastroguy@gmail.com
Hello from Osaka. At last someone with similar problems and conditions. What you are seeing with the Jupiter is the dispersion of light by the atmosphere. And there seems to be a solution. I.e. "Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector" by ZWO, ZWO ADC 1.25”大気分散補正プリズム. They sell it on kyoei and syumitto. I see same fringing as you do with my reflector, so I'm considering to get such an ADC. Keep it up!
Hey Phadeezz, thanks for saying hello. You mean I need another gadget? Is there no end to this money pit hobby? Frankly I am not sure that and ADC will give me any more visual pleasure than without it. So I will save my $150 for another toy, perhaps.... Clear skies!
Thank you for sharing
And thank you for watching! One thing I learned recently, is that you do not necessarily need to align the Azimuth with the North. It can find targets easily after a 3 star alignment. That star calibration works fine if you are/ or are not using plate solving. So accuracy in Azimuth is not critical. You could even point it South and it will calibrate. I think having a level mount head is critical for optimal tracking however. Clear skies!
Great video. Really enjoying these.
Perhaps the CA was from the Barlow?
Jason.
Hey Jason (again), you could be right. But regardless, pushing an 80mm aperture up to 1600mm focal length is bound to give some chromatic aberration somehow.... You actually barely see it visibly at that magnification. Definitely not a bother. Without the Barlow, no CA. And as I mentioned, performance in astrophotography at F7 or F5.6 (for which the OTA was designed) shows no issues (in my opinion).....
Extremely helpful video for me. I am a new AM5 user w long history of visual astronomy, but minimal Astro photography. Can you comment on your use of the counterweight in your rig. What does it weigh? Also, any suggestions regarding using the mount for solar eclipses, EQ or alt/as? Thanks again.
Hello Henry, For the Alt Az configuration, I simply used my old bar and counterweights that I was previously using on my AZ-GTi mount. The weights were only 2 x 2kg. That was simply all that I own and no other thought was put into it. I just wanted to ad some horizontal stability. I do not use any weights on the AM5 for any EQ mode work; it works fine with my heaviest set-up (~7kg). For all astrophotography that I have ever done, which is DSO, lunar and solar system objects (planets, comets, asteroids, etc.), I have always used EQ mode. I have never attempted solar photography; it scares me without dedicated special equipment. I do not think there is anything to be gained by employing AltAz in astrophotography, but have never tried it. That is just my opinion. And thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
Had a look at the video for the AM5’s Alt-Az capability. It is a little expensive for me but it is indeed a nice mount.
Yea, I struggled with the decision to buy one; especially a pre-order. I worried a lot about the performance. But I am very pleased with it overall and glad I bought it. Hopefully it will have some longevity - we shall see. I heard that SVBony is designing a new ALT AZ mount, if that is something you are interested in. No information yet, but they mentioned it on their UA-cam pages. Also, check out Episode 13 for more visual astronomy with a manual ALT AZ mount. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan. Clear skies!
Hello, I would like to use Am5 in alt az mode for visaual observations and with Asiair only. Correct me if I am wrong:
1. First-I set Am5 in alt-az mode.
2. I use-for example Asi120mini (with Zwo or Svbony guidescop), connect it to Asiair and align it with the view from the eyepiece(used for visual) with large magnification, so that the image from the camera corresponds as much as possible to the view from the eyepiece. Connect Asiair with am5
3. I set Am5 in home position for alt az mode (but I dont understand why You point telescope to the Polaris and name this home position-19:40) -and turn on the mount
4. I do NOT enter the Asi Mount app, ONLY: I turn on the Asiar app.
5. In the Asiair app I select Asi 120mini as main camera, guidescope as main telescope, Am5 as a mount, coordinates came from phone
6. I select an object from the sky atlas of Asiair
7. Am5 leads to an object, Asiair performs plate solve and center the object in camera FOV (because the camera and eyepiece are aligned, image from the camera is compatible with the image from the eyepiece). Am5 performs tracking in alt az, does not use the camera and asiair to do the tracking.
Asiair in this configuration is only used to find objects. Will Asiair do this job when am5 is in alt az?
After selecting an object from the Asiair sky atlas, won't the Am5 start going crazy in alt az mode? I ask because I always thought that Asiair works only with equatorial mounts.
Thanks in advance!
(1) Correct, of course. And on the ASIAIR appli, the mount menu should say "Alt Az mode".
(2) Correct. And I suggest you align the camera sensor with the horizon. On ZWO cameras, the camera name printed on the top should be upright and parallel to the ground.
(3) Actually, you have a good point. Aligning it with Polaris is not necessary. The ASIAIR will determine North with your first image plate solving. Roughly pointing it North is convenient and will quicken the synchrinization, but precise alignment is absolutely not necessary. I did not know this at the time of making the video. My bad.
(4) Correct. You do not need the AM5 mount appli for the GoTo activity. You do not need to turn the appli on at all. BTW, the AM5 mount and ASIAIR is rather unique in this way. The mount can be controlled by the ASIAIR in both EQ and AZ mode. If you try to use the ASIAIR to control another GoTo mount in AZ mode, it will probably not work. I tried this with the Skywatcher AZ-GTi mount in AZ mode. It did not work.
(5) Yes, the guidescope will be used as the main camera. If you live under Bortle class 7 or higher skies like me, sometimes the number of stars seen by the guidescope might be insufficient for platesolving. So the bigger the camera or sensor you use on the guidescope, the better off you will be. Or set it for longer exposures like 5 seconds.
(6) Yes, or you can use the finder function (magnifying glass icon) under the Preview mode to do the Go To action, too.
(7) Correct. The tracking activity is all AM5 mechanical tracking. No guiding takes place. This is also why it is important to make sure your tripod is LEVEL and the top head of your AM5 mount is level (both!). It will track better when the Azimuth is parallel to the horizon.
(8) No issues. As long as the mount menu on the ASIAIR appli is displaying AltAz mode, the GoTo tracking will perform perfectly......just like EQ mode. Frankly, that is why I made the video....I was not sure that GoTo would work in Alt Az mode......and when it did.....I was pleasantly surprised! Bravo to ZWO for that feature and coordination with the ASIAIR program! Again, the ASiAIR only works in EQ mode for OTHER MOUNTS. For the AM5 and presumably the AM3, it will work in both EQ and AZ modes. Pretty cool, huh?
Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
PAUL
jpastroguy@gmail.com
@@jpastroguy Thank you very much for these practical tips!
ad 1. I didn't know that mount menu in Asiair contains the "submenu" am5 alt az. I thought there is only one item to choose from in this section - am5, so Asiair may not know that am5 is in the alt az position and this may generate errors in the object search.
ad3. I will make observations from a balcony facing south. I can't see the northern sky at all. But of course my home position is the telescope is horizontal and facing north. So my first object will be on the other side of the sky than my home position. I understand that this will not generate suche big error and everything will be coordinated after first plate solve ?
ad4. I also have a Sky Watcher gti (SW gtix actually) and I connected it to Asiair with an appropriate cable. In the Asiair menu I selected "alt az wegde" (which is recommended by Zwo support on the zwo forum) but then tracking does not work. The mount leads to the object, Asiair performs plate solve, center the object,but there is no further tracking and everything falls apart. That's why I'm wondering whether Asiair will work in alt az mode with a much more expensive toy like am5 :)
ad.1 You are misinterpreting my meaning. In the selection menu for mounts, there is only AM5. But if you go down further into the menu options below that line, it will tell you what configuration your mount is currently in. It will say either Equatorial Mode or AZ mode. It is simply a status report in the menu. It is good to check it after you have put your mount into the mode you selected. It is a confirmation.
ad.3 You are correct. It is best to just guess at north with a compass and align your mount home position there. Then for your first target select something visible in the southern sky and the ASIAIR will find it! The first platesolve will get your mount synchronized, assuming of course you press the SYNC button in the Mount Menu screen.
ad. 4 Are you using a EQ-mod cable from the Skywatcher AZ-GTi to the ASIAIR? If so, then the proper selection is "EQ mod" for the mount, I think. It has been a while since I used the AZ-GTi, but that is what I remember. It worked perfectly fine with my AZ-GTi in EQ mode. The ASIAIR go to does not work in AZ mode.
BTW, feel free to email me with questions or comments. It is a bit easier than this comment section.
Best,
PAUL
Very nice video explain altazimuth mount and visual observation👍
I was curious altazimuth mode can track stars or not, but it seems it track without problem
So, I have question
How did you align guide scope (FMA135) with main telescope?
Is your mounting bracket have room for adjustment?
What specific mount are you using?
I also have FMA135, but using original feet that don't have room for adjustment
Thanks
You are correct that plate solving and go-to will function in Alt Az mode with the ASIAIR. I believe that it automatically detects that the mount is in Alt Az mode and finds the star using X:Y coordinate movements. I was surprised and pleased that this works well! But you need to have good alignment of the guide scope to the OTA! I am well aware that the FMA135 bracket does not allow for physical alignment with the OTA. So you have two options. Option 1 is to get a guide scope X:Y aiming device (astromaniaoptics.com/collections/guide-scope-mount-463). This Astromania option is the cheapest I can find. ADM Accessories has much better ones, but they are very expensive (www.admaccessories.com/product-category/miscellaneous/altaz-aiming-devices/). Option 2 is to buy a simple 3 pin ring set (50mm diameter) and use that. I give some tips on this Option 2 in APJ Episode #13. It is the more cumbersome option, but it is far far cheaper. I also recently found and ordered a relatively affordable guide scope that comes with a ring set. It is the only one that I found! I expect will work perfect for this application as well (www.highpointscientific.com/apertura-32-mm-guide-scope-red). I ordered it because I did not want to have to keep using my FMA135 (high quality) scope for this simple purpose. I hope that information helps. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
@@jpastroguy Thank you for responce!
That hepls a lot!
XY aiming device I see,
I decided to use 「Vixen フィールドスコープ 微動雲台」for alignment since it's cheaper than other option
I also watched episode #13 thank you
@@satoshimuny31 Interesting. I have one of those Vixen devices. It is a bit tall, but I never considered using it for that purpose. Great idea!
Hi Paul: Just found this video in an attempt to obtain accurate targeting with the AM5 in Alt-Az mode. I am a visual observer too and this video is very informative and I appreciate you for doing it. You have a very nice setup well thought out and planned in order to obtain great results. As a matter of fact I'd call it near perfect.
My question has to do with your software settings in the asiair with regard to plate solving in Alt-Az mode. When it asks for camera information, it asks for main camera input and guide camera input. Since you are using only one camera on your setup to plate solve, how do you input your camera information on the asiair software and is there any other pertinent information needed with regard to entering software information regarding your setup. Thanks for all your help, much appreciated, I think you do an excellent job.
Hi Anthony, thanks for the appreciation comment. The ASIAIR camera menu screens are capable of recognizing any ZWO camera and do not care if they were designed for DSO, planetary or guiding. In my set-up, I am employing the ASI678MC planetary camera. For plate solving you need to be using the main camera menu. Ignore the guiding menu. Guiding is useless and unnecessary for visual astronomy in AZ mode.. Even if you are using a guide camera on a guide scope for GoTo, you should control the camera through the main camera menu. Of course, as always, it is critical to get the focal length parameter and camera identification properly set, or it does not work. Other than that, if the AM5 mount has been properly switched to AZ mode (as described in the video), then the plate-solving and GoTo will automatically detect and adjust for that tracking mode. You do not need to do anything else. But be sure to check the Mount menu to verify that it says "Alt Azimuth Mode" before you execute any GoTo. One final point, in the video I took good care to identify the true North. In reality this is overkill and unnecessary..... just eyeballing the celestial North setting is enough. Once you find a target and hit "Synchronize" in the Mount Menu, it will instantly know True North and be calibrated. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan!
Hello again Paul: I have one more question. You may have answered it in your previous reply and I may have misunderstood, so if that's the case I apologize. Does the plate solving scope have to be aligned with the main scope or does it matter? Thanks for all your help.
Hey Anthony, the answer to your question is YES. The more you can align them, the better. But inevitably, the guidescope field-of-view is much wider than the OTA field-of-view. So, a perfect alignment is not so critical. The other thing I like about the plate solving is that you can use the ANNOTATE button on the ASIAIR Preview screen to circle the object of interest on the photograph. If it is a dim nebula or such, the annotated photo (on the smartphone) can be helpful to find the dim object in the eyepiece. Clear skies!
thank you very much for this tutorial ...Im wondering though , once your mount is in home position and you are plate solving ..is it necessary to point it up to polar north since the plate solving will allgn the target ...i ask this because my view is blocked to the north...
Hi James, It is best to start off with your mount in the AZ home position and roughly point it toward the northward direction. After making this video, I have learned that doing a precise alignment is not really necessary. No harm; just not necessary. Home position, point the OTA north, level tripod. That is enough. When you slew to your first star, center it (manually or automatically with ASIAIR) and plate-solve; go to the MOUNT menu and press SYNC. Then do this for at least one more star, or after every target, and the computer (ASIAIR or in MOUNT) will calibrate the direction and know precisely where is north. Hence, doing a good north alignment at the beginning is NOT NECESSARY AT ALL. The software will figure it out as long as you SYNC after plate-solving..... Thanks for watching!
I noticed you installed a counter weight bar , did your rig exceed the mount specs, I didn’t think it did because the ota is only 80mm
You are exactly right, the total weight was well below the capacity of the AM5 mount. Frankly, I had no concern about the strength of the mount or the accuracy, but rather the weight being distributed all on one side. It was a precaution to provide balance so it would not tip. It was highly unlikely to happen, but I just wanted to be safe.
Hello from France, Paul...
Thank you very much for this video about altaz Am5 configuration, ...
You have clearely explain how to do that, and maybe you are the only one...
Just one question about when you were in the Park, please...
Did you use Asiair app and Am5 App both on smartphone to pilote Am5 in altaz mode ? or only Asiair App to pilote the mount and making plate solving slewing automaticaly to the target ? I understand that Asiair pilote Am5 in altaz mode without problems... ?
One more time, thank you Paul....
Clear Sky... 🙏
Laurent.
Bonjour` Laurent, that is a good question. Actually, I was only using the ASIAIR application to do all the plate solving and Go To movements. If the ASIAIR application is clearly set in the ALT AZ mode (in the Mount Settings), it works fine by itself. The AM5 mount application can be open or closed at the same time; it does not matter. I pretty much never use the AM5 application for anything except firmware upgrades. My belief is that the AM5 application is designed and useful mostly for people that do not have the ASIAIR; some prefer NINA or other control softwares. I hope that answers your question. And thank you for watching Astrophotography Japan! Ciel dégagé !
@@jpastroguy
Thank you Paul... 👍🙏
I have to test this... soon... 😉
I'm enjoy... 🤗
Thierry from Brussels
Learn many things, thanks.
Can you tell me the 3D Astro shop and the Aliexpress items please
Hello Jorge. Interestingly, the company - 3D Astro - does not seem to have a website anymore. They do however, seem to supply products through Agena Astro, but I could not see the SVBony mounting plate in that portfolio on the Agena Astro website. You may want to inquire directly to Agena Astro about it. Or try thomasc@3d-astro.com (info from my previous direct order with 3D Astro). As for other AliExpress products, can you kindly be specific and tell me what you want? I will email you the information. (Note - I believe some of it is integrated in the video already). Please send me your information request to jpastroguy@gmail.com. Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan! Clear skies. PAUL
@@jpastroguy
I could not find the website that is why I asked you, thanks very much.
Thanks for this video. I’m entirely new to Astrophotography AM5 is my first and only mount. I was waiting for some to make a video for two things about AM5. One is this, how to change Alt-Az mount other one how to plate solve when don’t have north view at all. Becoz I don’t have north view from balcony, tried few times to do plate with facing the mount north and slew the scope to south and plate solve. But it seems I’m doing something wrong. If you can make video of AM5 with ASIAir all sky alignment it will be great. Thanks
For your first mount, you made a great choice! I used and analyzed ASIAIR All Sky polar alignment in Episode 8. It does not specifically tell you how to do it, but is is very automatic and simple. Under the information and experimental section you can find the activation switch on ASIAIR. For some reason that application gives me problems but for others it works great. I think it might depend on your tablet or phone, but that is just my guess. They still have bugs in the software to work out.
Just thought of another thing. Check that your longitude and latitude are properly set for your location.
I am not the handiest guy so could you recommend a place to buy a ring mount setup like yours for visual purposes, I own a televue 85 scope.
Hi James, it is always tricky to find something that fits. Unfortunately there is no easy answer. I buy all my accessories on AliExpress, where the catalog search capability is fantastic and prices low.. There are many telescope ring options there, but getting exactly the right size is rather challenging. May I ask what is the outer diameter of your OTA?
does this process work for solar observing?
Interesting question. The AM5 mount / ASIAIR combination certainly does offer Sidereal, Lunar and Solar tracking. However, I am not sure if all three of those options are available in both AZ and EQ modes. Hang in there for a few more days, and I will check..... Thanks for watching Astrophotography Japan! PAUL
@@jpastroguy Thanks for your reply. reason why i ask is because i just got a Lunt solar scope. I'll it out today. was just wondering if you knew off the top of your head. Thank you
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