PushTo direction

[admin]

Hi Peter,

thanks for the feedback - some of the items are relatively simple (the east/west/north/south for the required adjustments for instance and others need more thought (like the interaction with the ASCOM Simulator mount - to make sure that the interaction works in an easy to understand way).

You are correct that the latitude and longitude are required to calculate altitude and azimuth. SharpCap will use the co-ordinates entered for the plate solving settings (if you have set those up), or fetch the location from the ASCOM mount if it supports providing that information. If those two are both unset then the altitude and azimuth will not show.

cheers,

Robin

[admin]

Hi,

just to let people know that I made some improvements to the PushTo tool based on feedback received here. These are in the latest version now available on the beta download page.

Capture.JPG (99.36 KiB) Viewed 5306 times

There is a new option to take the target co-ordinates from a connected ASCOM mount, and also an option to update the mount position after each successful plate solve. Note however that some ASCOM drivers (even simulated ones) will reject a 'Sync' request if it is too far away from the current location - if that happens then SharpCap will not send any more sync requests for the current pushto session.

I have also added the N/S/E/W indications to the RA/Dec movement guide text.

cheers,

Robin

[Gfischer]

I installed the new beta version of sc then astap with d50 data. I turned on the ascom virtual telescope. I tried it out tonight. I was able to get a successful solve when doing a solve only in sc. when trying push to or solve and sync I get a solving fail. Many times I had a message of 21-27 stars increase gain and exposure. Due to my light polluted skies I couldn’t get any more stars to show. Any ideas? I’m not really sure I’m set up right. Is there any instructions out there.
12”dob, equatorial platform, Asi183mc
Thanks for any suggestions
George

[admin]

Hi George,

best thing to do is to save an image (use the snapshot button) and share it with me. I can then investigate what might be needed to make things work for you.

cheers,

Robin

[Gfischer]

Hi robin,
I have the push to working now using the m42 image in the practice camera. I enter m41 from catalog and plate is solved and correct horizontal and vertical correction are given. Now to use on the real sky
George

[Gfischer]

Robin,
I’m using stellarium to set position of virtual scope then using push to to solve and give directions. When sc is solving I can’t move to a second target in stellarium and get new coordinates in push to window. If I stop solving and close and reopen window new coordinates are there.
George

[admin]

Hi George,

I think that is expected behaviour - the target is set initially when you start the process and it is not expecting to update it. If you change your mind and want a new target then you have to close the PushTo window and re-open it.

cheers,

Robin

[Gfischer]

Sounds good. I used push to on the real sky last night. I had mixed results sometimes it worked great other times solving failed. I thought of something to consider. After successful solve you push scope and you get a few blurred frames which cause a solving fail. How about a built in delay maybe 5 sec before next solving run

[admin]

Hi George,

yes, that could be an approach, or maybe I could do a pre-check on the image to look for decent stars and only send it to the plate solver if they look OK (ie blurred stars = frame ignored).

If you are using Astap then you can cancel the solve on a particular frame by right clicking the Astap icon window that pops up in the taskbar and choosing 'close window'.

Maybe I could make a way to cancel on a given frame, or try 3 frames locally before going back to global searching.

I will have to think about it!

cheers,

Robin

[Gfischer]

Hello Robin,
I used push to last night and i actually took an image of the veil nebula using only push to to locate it. Quite a feat with a bright moon and bortle 7-8 skies. I really think this tool is going to be a real winner! I noticed that the initial solving run starts at the position the ascom mount is pointing to. This requires the user to "move" the virtual mount to a close position so the solve time is less. I tried using stellarium to do this but it was to glitchy. I decided to use the virtual paddle to move mount.

I use my setting circles to get close to the object I am searching for and if mount is level they work fairly well. The problem is the scope is sitting on a eq platform and when I get ready for an exposure I reset the platform to get the longest time on target. This throws the setting circles off due to the tilt. But I am still maybe 10 Degree from target.

If the first solve would use the coordinates from the object selected from catalog in push to window as a starting point the solve would be more of a local solve. I hope i'm thinking of this right. When solved the mount could be updated using button in push to window, then next solve run can start from there. Thinking more on this would the virtual mount even be needed? you could use the catalog coordinates and the solved coordinates. The location coordinates could be entered once with telescope Focal length in sc program.

The data base for the objects is great but could the list be sorted? Maybe Messier objects on top. Then Icould scroll directly to target and click.

One other possibility. When setting camera for best solving I saved settings in a profile. That way I can switch settings from iaging to solving by changing profiles. Could you have the switch be automatic when starting opening pushto window then back when closing it ?

Thanks for all the great work you do. All us star gazers appreciate it.

George