Software for Electronic Finder

[Xio1996]

Hi all,

I have my telescope configured for remote viewing with a main camera using Sharpcap and a finder consisting of an ASI ZWO 120MC and 60mm CCTV lens. Up to now, I have been using Firecapture to view the finder image as this software allows me to set a reticule position and it remembers it between restarts. That way I can mark the centre position of the main camera in the finder view so that I can manually align via CPWI.

I was wondering if anybody knew of an alternative piece of software that was lighter (PC resources) or more suited to this task?

I have attached my screen setup when I am remote operating and the finder.

Many thanks

Pete

[JayTee]

Hi Pete,

The two pieces of software I use for video acquisition are SharpCap and FireCapture. There may be others, but I'm unaware of them.

Sorry,
JT

[ARock]

Can't you use plate solving with Sharpcap, using your main imaging camera, to position your mount on the target?

https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap/fea ... te-solving

[Xio1996]

Hi ARock,

That's a great idea, then I can remove the finder camera completely.

I have used nova.astrometry.net to plate-solve images so I can calculate true field of view etc. I read the Sharpcap manual link and it sounds great.

So, would my workflow be?

1. Tell CPWI to align on star. The star is outside the FOV of my camera.
2. Use Sharpcap to take an image and plate solve.
3. Sharpcap syncs mount and slews to correct location. Star inside FOV.
a. Manually centre star and add alignment.
b. or Plate solve until centred.
4. Repeat until mount is aligned.

Sharpcap and my camera become a semi-Starsense. I will give it a go.

Many thanks

Xio

[ARock]

I don't have SharpCap (I am on Linux) or your mount, so I cannot give you the exact steps, maybe others can.
All I know is that platesolving in Sharpcap is used to frame objects accurately.

So it is not just alignment, as in Starsense, but also an accurate goto. A goto usually takes you close to the target and platesolving helps your goto accuracy to the last mile (ok, maybe last lightyear ) From the videos, it looks like it can talk to your mount using ASCOM drivers, and uses a third party platesolver to achieve the accuracy.

There is another software called N.I.N.A which people seem to be fond of lately, which can do the same thing.

[JayTee]

There are 3 stand-alone plate solver titles that I know of:
1) Astrotortilla
2) Platesolve 2
3) All Sky Plate Solver

All 3 of these titles are free, so pick the one you like best and see if it "solves" the issue you are having. (pun intended)

Cheers,
JT

[starfield]

As a relative newbie, I've found plate solving to be a real game changer helping me align my mount as well as helping me reframe my shots when I shoot on successive night. For what's it's worth, I found installing All Sky Plate Solver to be a bit easier, but to each their own. Like you I use SharpCap and have found this a good match.

[Xio1996]

Hi guys,

I had a try last night using plate solving in Sharpcap. I had already installed All SKy Plate Solver and downloaded the index files.

Using it for alignment did not seem to work. I used Polaris as my first align point in CPWI and after the initial slew I could see it in the electronic finder (4.84 x 3.63 deg FOV) but not in the main camera. I carried out a plate-solve which was duly solved and the scope slewed again but not near Polaris. I stopped there and finished the alignment by hand using the finder. Too much to look at and too much wind and rain recently.

However, during the evening after the alignment I used plate solving a few times (experiment) and it all solved and slewed right back to where my target was (not much of a surprise).

I will give alignment via plate solving another go. I wonder, as Sharpcap sends a sync and then slews if that messes with the alignment model in CPWI when you are actually creating the model? I came across a comment in CCDCeil ,that rather than send a sync command (mess up mount model) it can be configured to just slew the required offset to the object. It would be cool to select target, slew, plate-solve, slew and align or I could stop being so cheap and buy a Starsense

Thanks again for your help. So much to learn, but super fun.