HOWTO: Setup your Smart Telescope in Equatorial Mode, like a PRO!
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2024
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there is a problem with the bottomplate that people should be aware of if you tilt it to much there is a risk that it will broke and the telescope will fall to the ground there have been some discusssions about this phenomenon in the FB group
Apparently, it's been addressed in the newest batch that were manufactured
@@ntt2k I guess that’s a price you have to pay when you are an early adopter that the products are still under development when you receive them
@@user-ik9nf8so6c yeah.. I'm finding that the community is also working together (as well as with Dwarflab) to fix these issues, instead of being a Karen about it. Rare in this day and age
My dwarf2 fell to ground and base plate was broken. Support team said just glue it back on.
Watch out!
Pinned
The best part of this technique is that even if you are off a little, you will still have much less field rotation. Thanks, Cuiv!
Dwarf Lab should hire you as a consultant. You have provided them them with so much feedback for product improvement, and for helping users get the best experience. Polar align is icing on the cake. Well done.
Oh man I wish!!
I would like to thank you for this video! I went to a dark sky site last night and finally attempted to polar align the Dwarf. I was able to (because of you) to get it it aligned and take some nice shots without the field rotation. Such an improvement, again I thank you!
I just received my Dwarf II yesterday and I am learning a lot from your videos. I installed Siril on another PC so I can watch your Orion Nebula video and follow along on my PC. A lot to learn with Siril. Thank you for your efforts.
It's great to see that you are actually having fun with the the dwarf 2, it makes me want to go out and buy it.
Greetings Cuiv. Thank you for another amazing video. I have already received my Dwarf II but no clear skies. In the meantime, I continue to learn from you. Thanks again. You are truly a pro at this. I really appreciate your clarity, sense of humor and attention to detail. All the best to you.
Outstanding video! Super awesome. You made it so simple to follow and setup! Thank you.
Thank you for this, Cuiv. Excellent video! I've ordered my Dwarf II, can't wait to start using it. Cheers!
Have fun!
Thanks again for this well explained instruction . You are the greatest!!
Excellent explanation. Exactly what I've been looking for as I await delivery of my Dwarf2.
Glad I could help!
Thank you for the clearest explanation I’ve come across on why and how to polar align.
You are so welcome!
Cuiv, I am being to suspect that you are not, in fact, very lazy in the slightest.
Brilliant explanation as always sir. Thank you.
*Gasp* don't you dare insult me like that haha
Awesome! I knew you'd come through with another great tutorial. I have been waiting for this one!
Glad you like it!
I was hoping for this one too.
hallo,wieder mal super erklärt,liebe deinen kanal,weiter so
Thanks Cuiv. As always your work and exploration in the hobby is leading the way for less experienced guys like myself.
Cheers.
Justin Harris
Thanks Justin, glad this is helpful!
Look forward to using my Dwarf in equatorial mode. Have really enjoyed its capabilities, and think future smart telescopes will get better and better at astrophotography, including sophisticated post processing.
so smart ! and perfectly well explained !
Cuiv, thank you from a total newbie who did not have a clue where to start (even with this alignment process). Your video was straight forward, easy to follow and expanded my knowledge already. Many thanks
Glad it helped!
Great explanation, thank you!
Thank you so much Cuiv, I've been thinking about it lately and thought you might talk about this subject, which you did 👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻❤️
Glad it was helpful!
Useful counsels! Thanks!
Thank you so much for the video. I happen to have an EQ wedge and a Dwarf II on the way!
Thanks a lot Cuiv. I requested this guidance and you did it! I guess you could cope with an approximate alignment because if you then get some image rotation it will be a lot less than with a horisontal alignment. Thanks again.
Yep, approximate alignment should be more than enough!
Thank you for the fab advise 😊😊
thanks for the just received my Dwarf 2 , this will help a lot!
Have fun!
thanks for the tutorial, looking forward to receiving my D2
Hope you enjoy it!
Top video Cuiv. Interesting I was out in the morning when it’s still dark just before sunrise in Tasmania and thought I was being stupid for thinking the southern Cross or Crux was upside down. It makes sense now.
Hahaha indeed it makes sense :)
Thanks for the awesome tutorial! Going to give this a go tonight!
How did it go??
Thank you
Awesome! Thank you!
You're welcome!
When the Dwarf 2 arrives, I'm going to try polar aligning using the adapter from Skylabs in NZ with Sky Safari 6. Thanks Cuiv for all the tips. Cheers. 🙂
Have fun!
Fantastic
Awww merci beaucoup !
Super usefull.
Aucun problème !
Incredible! - Man this little device really looks quite cool haha :-D
Thank you, I will be trying that when the slow boat from China docks.
Haha mood, waiting too
Aren't we all
Lol. Love how there's already a sub-culture formed around this device. I feel your pain
I saw on the website that it takes 15-20 days to arrive in your country for the tracking number to finally work. I'm really looking forward to this!
How long did you have to wait after ordering to receive the tracking number?
Great thanks.
Its good to see more tutorials for it. Even as I have some experience its nice to see it to know if there are any specific tricks or problems :) ... I wonder if it can be somehow "easyfied" with technology ... I suppose lack (I guess) of gyro sensor would make it problematic but there has to be some way :)
I have EQ mount for my Celestron Powerseeker 80EQ but one of reasons I bought Dwarf II was that that was too heavy to transport on foot/bycicle :) ... There will probably be some cheaper lighter EQ mount (as this does not need as stable one as telescope does) but it takes away part of the ease of setup for beginers.
I think for most, just using the Dwarf 2 in AltAz is enough overall though ;)
This is great information. Thank you. I just received the Dwarf Lab 2 yesterday. Now if you could part the clouds please..
Thanks again
Always welcome
Mine said it's being shipped! But no changes since then. I do have a tracking number at least.
Hope it arrives soon!
Thanks!
Thank you for the support!!
Bedankt
Thank you for your support!!
Any chance you can make a vlog showing the polar alignment in practice and in use to photograph an actual DSO?
Great explanation of the Dwarf II polar alignment mechanics. Any suggestions of the settings of the Dwarf II - exposure, gain, Photo or Astro Mode, telescope or wide-angle view would be helpful. I am still not very successful or comfortable with the actual calibration process. Thanks.
This is smart, why didn’t I think of this 🎉 ? Super super…
I am a relatively new Dwarf II owner/user, received mine in October, 2023. Love it after only a few nights except the cropping effect (esp. a pain for big targets like Andromeda), so was excited to try this. I am at a lower latitude (~29 degrees, in Texas, USA), so I tried this by eyeing it using the Sky Tonight app to get a close approximation of alignment, figuring it would be better at least. However, the Dwarf II then did not calibrate location correctly and could not find Andromeda. (It said calibration was successful, but then when used Auto GOTO, pointed to the wrong part of the sky). Tried it a couple times. Wondering if this is just my unit, or something with the current app/firmware - have you or others seen this? The instruction do make a point of saying the Dwarf II has to be level... Regardless, I ended up putting it back to level and recalibrated it and it found Andromeda just fine. (Apologies if someone else mentioned this - I didn't see it when I skimmed the comments).
I have a professional tripod with tilt on it, so I think I'm good to go. Great Advise.
Have fun! Check the pinned comment though, apparently one batch has weak base plates...
One of Alwyn Wallace’s / Move Shoot Move Z or V plates would be perfect as a stable platform on a Tripod. Alternatively a wedge.
That's true! Those mounts are intriguing
Thanks
Thank you for your support!!
Hi. For use as eq do you focus on anystar before setting up to polaris or after setting up to polaris u rotate lenses to point to bright star and focus with wide lens at 1/164.tks
Thank you for your informative video. I'm a stargazer in Tokyo and started using Dwarf II a few month ago. Do you think this method also works good for increasing tracking accuracy? I'm going to see the total eclipse in April in the US and would like to make sure Dwarf II tracks the sun during the whole ecliplse like three hours.
Is there a smart app we could use to help point the scope at exact celestial north like Star Walk but something you could place the phone on the side of the scope?
Besides the base problem this is my concern. Will the gears and motor hold the torsional forces caused by carrying 2 lbs at an angle after long periods of time using it that way?
Really cool... I wouldn't have thought of using it in EQ mode... Order status for mine is still showing as "unfulfilled" but I will definitely use it this way when I get it.
Hope it gets shipped soon!
A Lazar pointer would work great for rough PA . Fix it to the body in line as best you can.
Yep, but illegal depending on the country! I don't think it's allowed in Japan for instance :)
Under
Under stand. In Ohio U.S we can use it. Just watch out for air traffic It's not used for very long. Love your Vids. @@CuivTheLazyGeek
Would something like the iOptron Alt-Azimuth Adjustable Base on a tripod work well?
Cuiv, does the notches on the base face north or face south. I need polar alignment. Please! 🙏 Thanks a million!
Best of skies for you in Tokyo!
Ron & Maryellen 😊
Great video! Im curious why you cant simply calibrate using Polaris after getting Polaris centered on the D2 screen all via the tripod. Eg) the scope is still parked, and once calibrated to Polaris you could go gazing with the app, and fully calibrated with an EQ setup. Am I missing something here?
I wonder if Dwarflab will allow longer exposures to take advantage of polar mounting the dwarf2? Of course you could stick on a cheap Skywatcher Wedge.
Should the base notches be facing north or south? Thanks.
Ron & Maryellen 😮😮😊
One should be able to use the phone GPS while the phone is in a mount to point to either celestial pole while in an app like Starwalk, no? Then just unscrew the phone w/bracket and screw on the Dwarf 2.
Related question, assuming a meatier, larger tripod, would the equatorial alignment scheme benefit the Seestar z50 - especially in removing associated noise?
Nice!
👍🏽
Thank you! Cheers!
Do you have a link to the target thing that fits on the side ?
I wonder if this works with Stellina / Vespera as well. Stellina has mechanical plate solving build in (rotating the camera)
Will having the dwarf sitting at this angle cause a lot more strain on the internal motors and gears? (Which I’m guessing are made of plastic)
Would anyone recommend an arc plate for attachment to the tripod?
I'm late in the game, would a wedge work on it, rather than a ball head? Especially since it's just a rough polar alignment?
Can we drift align it?
Is this possible with the SeeStar too?
what tripod model did you use here
Great video Cuiv I wonder if they could add a reticule in the app so it could be used in EQ mode ?
That would be cool
i just want to make sure that people who try this method be aware of some of the early units have weak base mounting and this could cause more of a strain and cause the base plate to break off.
I pinned a similar comment!! I now saw that a batch had such base plate issues...!
Just me or are you mixing the direction you aim the dwarf throughout your video versus the direction you point the straw to align?
what tripod is this?
Brilliant explanation as always is there any way for the actual dwarf lab to calculate its own polar alignment ..ie find polaris . then you could use just a protractor to find the angle required and this could be added as a software update if so dwarf lab could add a routine to set this angle via the software
You could just first use the Dwarf to point to Polaris, so you know where it's located, and yes a protractor can work. Overall with the Dwarf 2 the objective is to get rough polar alignment to get rid of most of the field rotation, and so being approximate should work too
is this required or does the dwarf perform this alignment by itself?
name tripods?
Thanks Cuiv! I'm looking forward to see the results with polar alignment.
I wander if it's possible to connect the Dwarf 2 to Sharpcap and use it to polar align.
Maybe in future versions they could have an equatorial mode with polar alignment procedure.
I think that if Dwarflab will add equatorial mode, polar alignment and guiding (using the wide angle camera) it will be a great for dark locations and wide field of view.
Provided the field of view meets the requirements of SharpCap Pro and you can adjust the tripod's alt and az finely enough it would be possible.
@@stevenickolls8016 the Dwarf is not in the list of Sharpcap supported cameras, and I don't know if it's not ASCOM
Ahh that's sad to learn. Maybe Robin will produce a fix for it.
Nope Sharpcap won't work with it. Dwarf lab would need to implement direct USB control of the camera, or add a PA routine in their smartphone app!
Hi Cuiv, a digital protractor can also help to aim Polaris.
Good call!
Mine shipped 3 weeks ago. The good news is since I’ve watched all your videos, I’ll hit the ground running❤. Thinking about how much of the souther sky you’ll miss in the Northern hemisphere in eq mode…How far can the altitude point below the azimuthal plane? If it can only point to 0 the horizon, then in equatorial mode the part you will “miss” would be your latitude minus half the field of view along vertical axis. I think😅.
The higher the latitude, the less you lose! I'd say from 45 degrees latitude, nothing is lost!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek great!
Actually I think I meant 90-latitude + 1/2 field of view. Still, I don’t think it changes your response! Thanks for all you do!
I'm still skeptic about putting this in equatorial mount without some an equatorial wedge.
Does the dwarf image collection in the app max out at 15 seconds or can you choose several minutes?
I've limited myself to short exposures, although my understanding is that latest software allows for long exposures. I haven't tested that yet though!
I like the side mounted sight but the same thing with a green laser pointer would be even better and would save your neck.
I can't bring myself to shine a light directly into the sky haha
@@CuivTheLazyGeek even in in your city? Don't forget that laser light won't be visible off axis and it would only be on for a few seconds for alignment. Great teaching aids too. Teaching supersedes astrophotography at all times and in all locations.
@@CuivTheLazyGeek aber es funktioniert mit laser tadellos und beugt nackenschmerzen vor
Did Dwarf Labs conform this works?
Hello friend, your videos are great, and they have been very useful to me... I have a question, I don't live in the northern or southern hemisphere, I literally live in Ecuador... how do I do the polar lineup in my country?
Your angle is essentially 0 deg and parallel to the surface of the earth. You probably need to be on a high hill or at the ocean to see Polaris.
Hi Cuiv, would you recommend this telescope for a intermediate astronomer, I wanted it for shooting some rewarding deep sky objects.
My goal is to use it for astrophoto on the go. The tracking can be meh, the optics can be meh, but it is small and light, so will allow me to capture images I wouldn't be able to otherwise!
So yes for intermediate observers who want a no fuss all in one platform, why not!
Thanks a lot Cuiv.Your videos are awesome and your captured are great.
Can you see Polaris with the naked eye from Tokyo?
It's definitely tough to see...
Dec 1 2023. I just got my DL. Are you saying the DL can be placed on a standard EQ mount? (I was recently given an older Orion scope with an EQ mount. Not sure if the attaching screw is the same size.)
hallo aus bremen,habe für eq ausrichtung am zwerg seitlich eine aufnahme für laserpointer grüner laser gebastellt, funtioniert super
Cuiv, are you getting a beta version from Dwarf Lab? This is the Dwarf ll telescope. Very interesting for RA and Dec will it work in their user app? Do you have any photos of equatorial mount images? I too have been very patient to see the beta version. So I gave them many ideas on the 2X telephoto lens issue. They apparently know that the filter holder with the magnets will not hold a 2X lens. So I thought about it and came up with idea that has been circulating around that a 2X lens would work on planetary objects like Jupiter. Problem is that they feel that the filter adapter can't support the lens weight. My lens is 85 gm. I suggested placing a thumb screw mounted in the center of the filter holder. So in theory this screw will act as a physical adaption of the holder and the rotator barrel. Can you share any thoughts on this?
As far as EQ, that would dramatically improve photo performance. I have a lot of software suggestions. One of them is zebra lines for focus and exposure. Red lines for highlights and blue lines for the shadows. Green, like Dwarf green zebra lines to focus on hard edges. It should be so that you can use what is called focus assist. This zebra line colors are an industry standard so it won't confuse the photographer. Phones or DSLR users can make better images. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks. Ron and Maryellen
I see you were on their live stream chat on their birthday!
We both saw and heard many questions and ideas. I will promote your video in my shares. Thanks.
Ron & Maryellen
could you please put a link to the 3d scope for polar alignment so that i can print one?thank you
It's in the Files section of the FB group I put in the description!
Total overkill but you could clamp a (vixen style) dovetail plate into a polar-aligned EQ mount, attach one leg of a right-angled bracket into that plate and attach the Dwarf II to other leg. Maybe not such a crazy ideal for those that already own a light-weight EQ rig.
I wonder if this could be done for the ZWO SeeStar S50?
ZWO was asked, and apparently not;
Please help! We just got our dwarf a couple weeks ago and we were loving it so far for looking at the stars, but when we took it out in the day to look at wildlife, everything looked very deep pink/magenta colour. We made sure to NOT point it directly at the sun. Even now, indoors and in the shade all the colours look way off. I've tried changing the hue and somethings look better when the hue is at 0 but other things look better when the hue is at 100, for some reason it defaults at 180 and that makes everything look bright pink. I can't find any guidance anywhere for this issue. I've also tried messing around with the gain and white balance and brightness. This is scaring me! We were loving it so much and we spent a LOT of money on it in Canada for the Deluxe. (Close to $900 with shipping) i would like to see if this is maybe some easy fix user error before I contact the dwarf support team.
Try switching the IR cut filter off and on (you should hear a small click) - if the image color doesn't change there's likely an issue with the IR cut filter and you should contact Dwarflab
Even with the field rotation (shown after 858 images) you were able to stack the images accurately and produce an excellent ( relative to your Bortle 8 location) image of M42. What would you have been able to do differently if the scope had been polar aligned? Would the resulting image be noticeably better? It would be useful if someone were to show an example of 2 images using the Dwarf 2 in Equatorial mode vs Alt-AZ mode.
Espeically with longer imaging sessions the field rotation will show up pretty strong in your image as the object rotates at 15° per hour (360°/24h). Targets with a roughly 1:1 aspect ration like M42 are not a big problem as you will mostly crop the image. But with targets that are wider like M31 or some nebulae, you will have problems due to the field rotation. So reducing the fieldrotation, even with only a rough polar alignment will make longer imaging session easier.
@@0815mkl Thank you. Very clear explanation.
@@0815mkl Since the binning is done in the software...couldn't the field rotation of Alt / Az movement be compensated for in the software with an algorithm applied to the binning or cropping?
@@PowerScissor The field rotation is already compensated in software during the stacking. This the registration part. Each new image needs to be rotated to be aligned with the pevious ones to counteract the field rotation. But as you sensor in an Alt-AZ mount does only moves up/down and left/right and never rotates it will image a different part of the sky on the edges with each frame as it stays stationary and the field of view rotates. There is one photo camera that has a special astro mode and can rotate the sensor a bit to compensate for the rotation during the exposure, but it would also suffer from the fieldrotation between the images as the rotation angle is limited. In software with binnig would not work I guess, as the field rotation is already happening during the exposure and also you would have a problem at the edges where you don't have any pixles left to use.
@@0815mkl hallo,die felddrehung fällt wenn der zwerg polar ausgerichtet ist weg,
👍🏽
Hopefully you can help me. I've been having a problem calibrating my DWARF II. The first few weeks I wasn't setting up the grain and exposure of the wide camera, once I realized that I adjusted the settings appropriately and it calibrated first try and I got my first picture of the whirlpool galaxy! However since that one time it has simply refused to calibrate no matter what I've tried. Any tips or thoughts what could be wrong?
Focus could be the culprit... Or having the filter holder installed (can't calibrate with the filter holder on)
No filter is used, but auto focus has been difficult to get right so I focus manually. The focus doesn't seem to effect the wide angle though only the telephoto. Is it supposed to focus both?
@@xSOVEREIGNx07 How’s this going for you? I got my Dwarf a few weeks ago and have yet to get an image out of it other than terrestrial…. My calibration and gotos are finicky but i can get them to work…. however, taking images often fails, never stacks and it has crashed several times. I thought i had a good session one night… wasn’t able to live view/stack but thought it was at least capturing images only to find no images the next day.
@@davehudson5589 still no luck at all. Only thing I can do is brute force the problem by putting the dwarf on my star tracking mount and use it as a manual telescope. Doing that works well enough and haven't had an issue with the imaging and stacking, but it's a pain in the ass to need to use my whole astro rig for what's supposed to be an all in one device.
Or you could use a protractor and get close to the degrees of latitude where you are setting up
That works too :-)
Hi Cuiv, great channel and I have been a follower for years. You introduced me to GSS and I have never looked back. I travel the world often and usually take a small scope and Equatorial mount.
This Dwarf 2 looks like a nice package, especially with the Solar filter option as I enjoy tracking the Sun also.
Can you please advise if it is capable of seeing Geostationary Satellites? I film those often, intentionally, especially around the Equinox as they eclipse in and out of the Earth's shadow. This is the deciding factor for me. If you can see those satellites easily enough I will buy one.
I can show you samples of my satellite eclipse observations if that helps you get an idea of what I need.
Cheers and thanks in advance for any response.
It just a matter of time before we start using a small laser for positioning.
That's another possibility! I don't like lasers because even though it's temporary I never want to be putting more light in the night sky haha
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Also against the law in many jurisdictions
hallo, nutze ich schon länger und funktionert und erspart unnütze verenckungen und nackenschmerzen😊😊😊😊