CPWI and Sharpcap

[KiwiFPV]

Hi everyone,

I hope this question is not too "basic" and/or I have missed reading an article somewhere ( I have tried searching for the answer). My simpple question is if I need ASCOM Platform to be installed in order for SC to be able to connect to my Nexstar 8SE mount via Sharpcap and do plate solving with GOTO. I have been able to do the basic plate solving with more or less success (but I understand that is my own doing of providing the right brightness etc for the stars) and so far I have manually slewed the mount in one or another direction and then plate solved again (mainly because the alignment etc is not that great and I seem to miss the desired object by a little bit - whole different issue there). Trying to progress to the next stage and ASCOM Platform doesn't install on my laptop (work laptop with local admin access but controlled folder access). Thanks for readign the lengthy and probably trivial post (noob here). Clear skies to everyone

Cheers
KiwiFPV

[admin]

Hi KiwiFPV,

yes, sadly you do need the ASCOM platform installed for SharpCap to be able to talk to your Nextstar mount via CPWI (or any other ASCOM driver for the mount). I'm not aware of a way to do this without admin access on the machine, but it might be worth asking on the ASCOM user group forum (https://ascomtalk.groups.io/g/Help) to see if there is any workaround for that.

If you can't get the ASCOM platform installed then you can still use the 'PushTO' tool in SharpCap - this is really designed for people with manual mounts, but will work just as well for a GOTO mount that is controlled by the handset. Basically you select the target and SharpCap uses plate solving to tell you how much further to move and in what direction, which you can do using the handset.

Hope this helps,

Robin

[KiwiFPV]

Hi Robin,

thank you for your reply (yet another feature I didnt know existed in this brilliant software.. - managed to actually install and configure ASCOM in a VM on the laptop..yay...now I did finally receive my OAG (have focused it manually during daytime)...last question - when I use plate solving (with the full featured GOTO functionality and PHD2 guiding) do I still need to allign the mount first or is the plate solving enough for Sharpcap to know its place in the universe/Earth..?

Cheers and clear skies

KiwiFPV/Harry

[admin]

Hi,

I think with the NexstarSE mount you will still need to do at least some sort of alignment initially. However, because plate solving can correct for small/medium sized errors in GOTO position, you can do one of the quicker alignment methods rather than using the more complicated 3 star ones. A one-star or solar system align should work fine. Some AltAz mounts have a 'level + pointing north' alignment which would also probably be fine, but I don't think the Nexstar mounts do that.

cheers,

Robin

[carlomuccini]

>>>>>>>> ...last question - when I use plate solving (with the full featured GOTO functionality and PHD2 guiding) do I still need to allign the mount first or is the plate solving enough for Sharpcap to know its place in the universe/Earth..?

I
One thing is to "GOTO" and center the object, another is to "chase" the object.
For GOTO plate solving works perfectly but for tracking you need to do AT LEAST a 3 star alignment in AZ mode.
in EQ a single star is sufficient but ONLY IF the mount is correctly oriented to the pole

Carlo

[KiwiFPV]

Thank you all for the kind replies - this had been probably asked before but I just didnt know how to formulate the question to search for - so thank you for being patient and kind with a fellow (beginner) astro enthusiast.

Cheers and ka kite ano from Aotearoa/New Zealand

Harry