Image AND scope controls are mirrored?
Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 4:57 pm
Hello, I recently bought an Altair camera and have started using Sharpcap Pro. I am running into a frustrating problem. With AltairCapture I have an erect image but in Sharpcap, the image is mirrored. What makes it very strange is that this mirroring also affects the scope controls in Sharpcap!
Let me explain:
Focusing on text at a distance.
In Altaircapture and Synscan App: Text is legible. Using the Synscan App, moving mount left makes bboth mount and image move left, right to right. ASCOM mount controls also behave the same way (tried both with Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel). No flip or rotation flags checked in AltairCapture.
In Sharpcap Pro: Text is mirrored. Telling the scope to move left moves the mount physically to the right, moving right makes the mount move to the left! Image is only flipped horizontally, up and down is correct and mount moves up when up, down when down. To be clear: commands sent to the mount from Sharpcap are physically mirrored.
My system specs:
Altair GPCAM3 385C on refractor (432mm f6), attached with star diagonal
Skywatcher AZ-GTI in AZ mode, EQDIR FTDI USB cable for AZ-GTI, connected via ASCOM
Windows 7 Pro 64bit, Skywatcher Mobile driver (Synscan Pro App 1.19.0 running, scope connected and aligned)
SharpCap Pro 3.2.6473.0 - 2021-01-02; AltairCapture 4.10.17729.20200922
Further thoughts:
[*]Isn't it strange that I am getting an erect image in AltairCapture in the first place? Since I am using a refractor and a star diagonal, shouldn't the image be mirrored? (Not using any rotation / flip controls).
[*]Switching between RAW/RGB has no effect. Flipping the image (in RGB) does not change the mount behavior.
[*]Does the fact I am using an AZ mount (no EQ wedge) have anything to do with it?
[*]Farfetched theory: could it be that Altair implements a horizontal flip for this camera by default (for convenience?9, but that Sharpcap does not read such a flag correctly?
[*]I'm still a newbie. This is my first astrocamera so maybe I am missing something obvious?
TL;DR: Sharpcap mirrors both image and scope controls, Altaircapture does not. Quid?
Let me explain:
Focusing on text at a distance.
In Altaircapture and Synscan App: Text is legible. Using the Synscan App, moving mount left makes bboth mount and image move left, right to right. ASCOM mount controls also behave the same way (tried both with Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel). No flip or rotation flags checked in AltairCapture.
In Sharpcap Pro: Text is mirrored. Telling the scope to move left moves the mount physically to the right, moving right makes the mount move to the left! Image is only flipped horizontally, up and down is correct and mount moves up when up, down when down. To be clear: commands sent to the mount from Sharpcap are physically mirrored.
My system specs:
Altair GPCAM3 385C on refractor (432mm f6), attached with star diagonal
Skywatcher AZ-GTI in AZ mode, EQDIR FTDI USB cable for AZ-GTI, connected via ASCOM
Windows 7 Pro 64bit, Skywatcher Mobile driver (Synscan Pro App 1.19.0 running, scope connected and aligned)
SharpCap Pro 3.2.6473.0 - 2021-01-02; AltairCapture 4.10.17729.20200922
Further thoughts:
[*]Isn't it strange that I am getting an erect image in AltairCapture in the first place? Since I am using a refractor and a star diagonal, shouldn't the image be mirrored? (Not using any rotation / flip controls).
[*]Switching between RAW/RGB has no effect. Flipping the image (in RGB) does not change the mount behavior.
[*]Does the fact I am using an AZ mount (no EQ wedge) have anything to do with it?
[*]Farfetched theory: could it be that Altair implements a horizontal flip for this camera by default (for convenience?9, but that Sharpcap does not read such a flag correctly?
[*]I'm still a newbie. This is my first astrocamera so maybe I am missing something obvious?
TL;DR: Sharpcap mirrors both image and scope controls, Altaircapture does not. Quid?