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Bright Moon and some moving high clouds this evening, but fine for my purpose. Goals for the evening was to play more with my AzGTi, to sort out the disconnect issue I was having, and also to try 6” SCT on it. The result was negative for both.
No matter what I tried, SynScan app on my phone kept dropping connection to the mount every 20 min. The only workaround I found was to bring SynScan up front every 10 min. This prevented it from dropping connection and allowed me to control the scope from SkySafari. That should do for now before better solution is found.
Typically, I am using SV102ED with AzGTi. The scope is about 10lb loaded but rides nicely on the mount. Celestron 6” SCT is a bit lighter (8.4lb on paper). I thought I would be able to use it on AzGTi to. Does not seems so. While it weighs about the same, the weight distribution is different, and AzGTi can’t handle it. It straggles to align and locate targets. I may try again with counterweight but for now let’s stick to SV102ED.
I had some time left and thought I would hunt some asteroids. It has been a while. Bright Moon, passing clouds and small aperture (I was hoping to use 6” SCT) made it a challenge but I still managed a dozen.
There are a few notables on this list. Astraea completes top 10 asteroids on my log, and I am only two asteroids away from top 20. Aethra is my first Mars crosser asteroid, and together with Peitho are second and third smallest asteroids I have observed. It is mind blowing that something small like this can be observed 160,000,000 km away.
ARock wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:26 am
Nice report !
Do you have a power saving mode on the phone? Look under the battery settings, if its on, turning that off might help.
Thanks AR! Yes, I have tried that already, I also turned on "never put to sleep" for the app. I am pretty sure it has to do with one of the advanced management settings which control the behavior of the apps running in background. I spent hours looking through all setting on the new phone, but have not find the right one yet. Could be hidden. Learned tons about new phone though, so not a complete waste of time.
You've got me interested in looking for asteroids again, so thanks Andrey! Haven't observed from home (front driveway) since the end of April last year.
I've never observed using an app - I don't own an IPhone.
Scopes: Reflectors, refractors, and 1 catadioptric. Ranging in aperture from 50mm to 150mm.
I hope that you got your connection issues worked out. Glad that you found a workaround. Seems like I usually have some kind of workaround going every session.
That really is a nice haul of dim targets. Fine evening and a fine job of reporting!
Thanks,
Jim
Jim
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), ZWO OAG, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, ASI 220mm mini , IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
I hear you Jim. When I am using Goto there seems to be always an issue or two. I tolerate it, because there are too few stars visible from my home location to do manual star hopping.
[mention]terrynak[/mention] When it works I really like to control the mount from SkySafari. It gives an option to click on target and mount goes there. Also, I can find many obscure targets not in the mount database.
Synscan team did not offer anything beyond bringing the app up front every few min. SkySafari team is working to bring native support in 2020 for SW and Orion Synscan-operated mounts. Fingers crossed!
