Last night after what I thought weas an excellent PA I slewed to Viga, plate solved and recentred, then same on another star in the east.
My target was Pinwheel so I then slewed to Arcturus in the western sky. It said it had plate solved but then an orange band appeared saying platesolvce rejected. I have had this when close to the meridian but this time I wasn't.
After an hour of frustration rebooting laptop and mount and starting again I got nowhere and had to give up and go to bed,
Any ideas?
Equipent is HEQ PRO mount
Altair 26c camera
Celestron C8 telescope with quadband filter attached.
Platesolve rejected
Re: Platesolve rejected
My best advice is to always go into an imaging session with a Plan B. Like you, sometimes I experience plate solving failures. Try as I might, I still have problems with Cygnus, so here is what I do:
1. Know the declination of the DSO that you want to image. Let's say it is 35.4N.
2. I slew my scope to some point WEST of the DSO. In my example, I point towards Lyra.
3. Plate solve. Manually adjust the declination to exactly 35.4N. Plate solve again to verify.
4. At this point I have two options (a) turn the RA motor off and let the DSO drift into view, or (b) slew EAST in RA. I prefer the drift method since I plan ahead so the DSO is not yet high enough in the sky for imaging.
5. Use planetarium software (I use C2A) to keep tabs on where the camera is currently pointing especially when I get into Cygnus and plate solving no longer works reliably.
This technique has never failed me. Good luck.
Brian
1. Know the declination of the DSO that you want to image. Let's say it is 35.4N.
2. I slew my scope to some point WEST of the DSO. In my example, I point towards Lyra.
3. Plate solve. Manually adjust the declination to exactly 35.4N. Plate solve again to verify.
4. At this point I have two options (a) turn the RA motor off and let the DSO drift into view, or (b) slew EAST in RA. I prefer the drift method since I plan ahead so the DSO is not yet high enough in the sky for imaging.
5. Use planetarium software (I use C2A) to keep tabs on where the camera is currently pointing especially when I get into Cygnus and plate solving no longer works reliably.
This technique has never failed me. Good luck.
Brian
-
admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 13361
- Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:52 pm
- Location: Vale of the White Horse, UK
- Contact:
Re: Platesolve rejected
Hi,
just to add some context - I suspect that the message was something like 'SyncToCoordinates RADecSync rejected' - this is EQMOD refusing to accept the co-ordinates from the plate solving because they are too far from its current position.
When it happens, it's worth noting down the mount co-ordinates (RA and Dec as shown in SharpCap's mount display section) and the plate solve results (will be shown in the notification bar, or if you miss that in the log). If these are quite different to each other then the difference is what is causing the problem. The other possibility is that there are various options about Sync in the EQMOD setup (or for some other ASCOM drivers) and these options may have been set in a way that causes problems.
cheers,
Robin
just to add some context - I suspect that the message was something like 'SyncToCoordinates RADecSync rejected' - this is EQMOD refusing to accept the co-ordinates from the plate solving because they are too far from its current position.
When it happens, it's worth noting down the mount co-ordinates (RA and Dec as shown in SharpCap's mount display section) and the plate solve results (will be shown in the notification bar, or if you miss that in the log). If these are quite different to each other then the difference is what is causing the problem. The other possibility is that there are various options about Sync in the EQMOD setup (or for some other ASCOM drivers) and these options may have been set in a way that causes problems.
cheers,
Robin
-
woldsweather
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:07 pm
Re: Platesolve rejected
Thanks Brian, 2.apply even if your target is in the East?oopfan wrote: ↑Sat Jun 03, 2023 12:41 pm My best advice is to always go into an imaging session with a Plan B. Like you, sometimes I experience plate solving failures. Try as I might, I still have problems with Cygnus, so here is what I do:
1. Know the declination of the DSO that you want to image. Let's say it is 35.4N.
2. I slew my scope to some point WEST of the DSO. In my example, I point towards Lyra.
3. Plate solve. Manually adjust the declination to exactly 35.4N. Plate solve again to verify.
4. At this point I have two options (a) turn the RA motor off and let the DSO drift into view, or (b) slew EAST in RA. I prefer the drift method since I plan ahead so the DSO is not yet high enough in the sky for imaging.
5. Use planetarium software (I use C2A) to keep tabs on where the camera is currently pointing especially when I get into Cygnus and plate solving no longer works reliably.
This technique has never failed me. Good luck.
Brian
Re: Platesolve rejected
Hi,
The Earth's rotation makes stars appear to move from east to west. So if you set the initial position of your scope west of the DSO then you are assured that the DSO will drift into your field-of-view when the RA drive is turned off. Once the DSO comes into view then turn on the RA drive to track it.
For a DSO rising in the east, point your scope higher than the DSO. However, for a DSO setting in the west, point your scope lower than the DSO. Of course you can't just choose any random point west of the DSO. It must at the same declination as the DSO. Achieve that by plate solving. So in my case with difficulties in Cygnus, I point west towards Lyra where I have no problems. Once I find a good point at the same declination then I turn off the RA and let the stars drift until the DSO comes into view. Over time I've learned where my trouble spots are. It's always good to have a Plan B when the unexpected should happen.
Edit: To answer your question, when I say "west of something" I'm talking in relative terms. No matter where you look in the sky to the east or west, there are always points west of another thing. Choose a point relatively nearby so you don't waste a lot of time waiting for the DSO to drift into view. You just want to be far enough to the west where you can get a good and reliable plate solve.
Brian
The Earth's rotation makes stars appear to move from east to west. So if you set the initial position of your scope west of the DSO then you are assured that the DSO will drift into your field-of-view when the RA drive is turned off. Once the DSO comes into view then turn on the RA drive to track it.
For a DSO rising in the east, point your scope higher than the DSO. However, for a DSO setting in the west, point your scope lower than the DSO. Of course you can't just choose any random point west of the DSO. It must at the same declination as the DSO. Achieve that by plate solving. So in my case with difficulties in Cygnus, I point west towards Lyra where I have no problems. Once I find a good point at the same declination then I turn off the RA and let the stars drift until the DSO comes into view. Over time I've learned where my trouble spots are. It's always good to have a Plan B when the unexpected should happen.
Edit: To answer your question, when I say "west of something" I'm talking in relative terms. No matter where you look in the sky to the east or west, there are always points west of another thing. Choose a point relatively nearby so you don't waste a lot of time waiting for the DSO to drift into view. You just want to be far enough to the west where you can get a good and reliable plate solve.
Brian