Automatic Re-Centering

[pjwack]

By way of background, I have a Celestron 5se . As it's not the best mount/weight combo, I'll get a fair amount of drift over 5 minutes. Adding more weight with autoguiding only makes matters worse.
So, when the driftgraph shows too much drift, I pause stacking and then use the scope controls to move the object towards the center of the driftgraph--like a video game:)). However, it's a bit tedious and imprecise. Automating this feature based on a certain drift tolerance would enable much more precise re-centering and less time staring at the screen (assuming your scope is connected to sharpcap). In my opinion, this would avoid the need for an autoguiding setup, which is just another layer of cables, software, etc. that creates friction in the imaging process.

[admin]

Hi,

If you have connected your mount to SharpCap via its Ascom driver then you can use the plate solving button in the mount controls to perform the re-centring step automatically – SharpCap will take a frame, plate solver it and then make the mount go to the correct position (the one that it was told to go to via the initial go to from the handset or planetary application).

There's no way yet to automate this in a sequence intermixed with live stacking, but maybe that will become possible with the sequencing tool being added in the next version.

Cheers, Robin

[pjwack]

good idea! BTW- Having just started this hobby a couple years ago, I must say that the live stacking and integrated plate solving are fantastic!!