Plate solving question

[Moonstruck]

For those of you with experience using Sharpcap's plate solving function, have you found it useful? I sometimes have a hard time getting a planet or deep sky object "on chip" with my asi 224 camera, and am wondering it it would help. My camera has a tiny sensor and very small field of view.

I have just learned of plate solving, and have no idea if I should explore this further. I also don't know if I would need additional software, if it is difficult to set up, or difficult to learn. Any advice on whether or not I should look into this further?

[Menno555]

Using plate solving with a small(er) FOV is indeed challenging. Not only with SharpCap but in general too.
With my ASI385MC camera I know I will fail with plate solving in regions with less brighter stars when I do short exposures.
So I made a habit out of it to first make sure it's all in focus and then make longer exposures (32 seconds for example) with that camera for plate solving.

As for plate solving itself: like with almost everything in our hobby , at first it looks utterly complicated but once you get the hang of it and understand it better, it will become easier.
A nice starting point for info and understanding is here: https://www.sharpcap.co.uk/sharpcap/fea ... te-solving

Menno

[Moonstruck]

Thanks menno - I appreciate the info and link.