TheSkySearchers

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Hey , I felt like I accomplished something this morning, and it wasn't the camera.
I set up on the deck... Since my target was Jupiter , the lights were on so I could see what I was doing.
I used the phone as a compass to take a stab at North.
This was the first time I was able to "Track" something.
The angle across my Lense wasn't what I expected... but as I walk away and come back , I only needed the DEC to catch up.
My little motor should be back today...
Later, I got a head start on Jupiter , went inside to make a cup of coffee ( cream & Honey )
came back outs side , turned the one adjuster (DEC) and Jupiter was back in the lense.
Wow I said... and kind of smiled .
This is the basics I want to learn before a computer does it for me.
That's enough for today ,
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The Dark has nothing to do with the camera , I just have to do more reading about the settings.
My first attempt , Jupiter was a bright dot , and the flash kept going off...
It's got a timer also, if I'm not fast enough, it shuts down...as "Sleep" mode.
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Anywho,
It's a different view of the sky as this tool will help pinpoint spots in "The dome"
I need to tie it together with "Time" for crosshairs to focus on...hmmm need to check a star chart.
Are they like charts I fly with ? New ones are needed every 3 months
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Well, enough babble , time to make more coffee.
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Gotta Fly...
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PS Saturn , Jupiter and Mars were in a big arching line ,
Even though were in the woods , there are some areas I can get a good swing of travel.
What makes it worth it is because it's so dark...brightest thing is a bugg zapper ( I need to shield it my direction )

OK,
After another coffee , Jupiter was drifting into some of the trees.
But , in the pictures , you might see it if you look close.
I'd say a half hour went by , and just for fun I thought I'd see if my settings were off.
It was a long way to travel , I was thinking I should loosen the thing and swing it.
It wasn't that far to just crank it , The DEC brought me right to it
I did need 1/2 turn of RA ... NOT BAD for a beginner , and I patted myself on the back.

Thinking about it... My bubble was slightly off...this would explain my tracking drift...
That's Burning a Plossi 32mm and a shorty barlow
So caught up to it with 16 , more narrow
Although , it's not precisely mounted. That's a good ballpark.
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Just some pictures... look for Jupiter
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Gotta Fly...
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It sounds like your polar alignment is close. However, the declination drift indicates that you have a way to go yet before it is accurate.

I'll mess with it more when the little drive motor gets here.
It's a kids toy now that my EQ5 is coming.
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Gotta Fly...

Well using the North Star (polaris) will give you much better alignment that a phone , for visuals in North hemisphere its fine , for AP not so .
I also use a phone in RSA for quick visuals but its not that good and after years of using it at home I have learned where South is so ok for around 10 min

Dodging Buildings and trees , I can see them both , not at the same time.
But that's close to the house.
Even then , it's hazy around the North star
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planecrazzzy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:27 pm Dodging Buildings and trees , I can see them both , not at the same time.
But that's close to the house.
Even then , it's hazy around the North star
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North star is the same as Polaris

planecrazzzy wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 9:37 am EQ Tracking Jupiter (1).jpgOK,

I'd say a half hour went by , and just for fun I thought I'd see if my settings were off.
It was a long way to travel , I was thinking I should loosen the thing and swing it.
It wasn't that far to just crank it , The DEC brought me right to it
I did need 1/2 turn of RA ... NOT BAD for a beginner , and I patted myself on the back.


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Gotta Fly...
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Nobody noticed I got the RA and DEC backwards
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I didn't realize it until looking through my AVX manual...
Now I need to unlearn it.
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Another thing I learned is turned around.
Some Utube the guy said to point one of the tripod legs North...
Now my mount came with it opposite , But with a tapped hole if I want to change it...
But I notice more people using them with the leg pointed South.
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Babbling

Changing the leg orientation is for support of the mount/ counterweights.

If you live at higher latitudes it is best to point 1 leg north so the arc of the counterweights stays inside the tripod footprint.
As you get to lower latitudes there is a chance the counterweight bar will strike a leg. Then you change it to 1 leg south.
If your counterweights clear the leg go with the 1 leg north, a more stable configuration.

Be skeptical of most youtube videos, the majority I have seen are done by people with not much knowledge but are happy to share their expertise anyway.

Yeah they mentioned the counter weight hitting.
So if the weight is better with one leg North ,
I think I'll convert this to do that. ( Just move the "pin" )
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I already got used to setting it up that way.
Thanks for clearing that.
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Gotta Fly...
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Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 5:56 pm Be skeptical of most youtube videos, the majority I have seen are done by people with not much knowledge but are happy to share their expertise anyway.

I always thought youtube video worth a Sorry, off topic!

Back to the tripod leg pointed North...
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Like I said , it was just a tip I picked up on utube...I did it...pointed it north
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Since it doesn't matter with my small scope , I'm leaving the leg pointed south like it came from Celestron.
I was going to change it when I realized I could get close to the telescope better.
Dodging one leg in the back is better than dodging two.
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Doesn't matter so I pick what I like...
Just didn't know what it was til now.
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Gotta Fly...
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So I had a little fun tracking Jupiter this morning.
The EQ-1 and a little 9V motor from Orion.
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I took a stab at north...pretty close.
I set up on Jupiter... Well , I'll get there.
Seems the Drive motor can be in the way sometimes.
Besides that , When it was finally sighted in , the little motor worked great.
That was using the 90MM and a 32mm Plossi .
Later I put a barlow on it, good detail for a small scope.
I noticed Jupiters moons seemed "High" ...
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I think this one is ready for the Grandson to start using.
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Gotta Fly...
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PS Got a fancy AVX last week , still can't alien it.
I keep reading and trying ... I need to search utube again

planecrazzzy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 11:30 am PS Got a fancy AVX last week , still can't alien it.
I keep reading and trying ... I need to search utube again

Read the AVX manual instead. The AVX has something called ASPA for polar alignment. It is explained in the manual and is useful indeed but requires iterations. I recommend doing the polar alignment first not using ASPA. You can use (hardware) a polar scope, a PoleMaster, iPolar, or (software with a camera) Sharpcap or Ekos for AP quick quality alignment. Then do the goto alignment either using the AVX controller or plate solving (AP). For visual use an eyepiece with cross hairs will help with the goto alignment. When there are problems, it is usually due to erratic information entered into the hand controller.

I've got it in the living room...
I keep reading , keep trying.
I need to make copies of the controller labyrinth.
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Trying to do it myself , it's supposed to be easy...What's that say ?
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Gotta Fly...
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