Hi,
when I connect the telescope to SharpCap, the coordinates in the SharpCap telescope control box are completely different to those showing on the telescope handset. How do I get them to sync up again... as plate solve etc shifts telescope to the wrong place.
eg when parked to home the handset controller is showing
Dec +88°10'14"
RA 05hr 24m ...sec
the Sharpcap telescope control box shows:
AZ 319:04:
ALt +47:02:02
RA 14:25:17
Dec +63:24:30
HA +05:42:36
I am at W +3° 11' N 52° 34'
Thanks
Julian
Telescope coordinates have become unsyncd
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Re: Telescope coordinates have become unsyncd
Hi Julian,
It would help to know what model of mount/handset you are using and also what ASCOM driver you are using to talk to it.
There are also a couple of things worth checking:
* when you move the telescope around a bit with the handset buttons, do the values in SharpCap change too (even if still badly wrong, do they seem to alter when you move the telescope and stay the same when you are not moving it?). If that is happening then at least we know that there is somehow communication going on between the ASCOM driver and the handset.
* Are the location settings (lat/long) the same in the handset and in the ASCOM driver you are using?
* Is the time set correctly on the handset?
If the location or time are different between the handset and the ASCOM driver then that could explain the difference perhaps.
thanks,
Robin
It would help to know what model of mount/handset you are using and also what ASCOM driver you are using to talk to it.
There are also a couple of things worth checking:
* when you move the telescope around a bit with the handset buttons, do the values in SharpCap change too (even if still badly wrong, do they seem to alter when you move the telescope and stay the same when you are not moving it?). If that is happening then at least we know that there is somehow communication going on between the ASCOM driver and the handset.
* Are the location settings (lat/long) the same in the handset and in the ASCOM driver you are using?
* Is the time set correctly on the handset?
If the location or time are different between the handset and the ASCOM driver then that could explain the difference perhaps.
thanks,
Robin
Re: Telescope coordinates have become unsyncd
Robin
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-4 with Synscan controller firmware version 04.39.19
Ascom Platform 6.0.6262.14792
Yes the values in SharpCap change as the telescope moves
Lat, Long and time all properly synced
One odd thing is that I had two SkyWatcher Telescope control boxes showing on the control panel.
and the other is that on doing a three star alignment the scope would slew to the first two stars with a very good degree of accuracy but the third would be way off.
The good news is that I have done a couple of start ups and 3 star alignments in the daylight - and and both times the third star alignment looks very reasonable based on where I think the chosen stars should be based on their position in Stellarium. So I live in hope that it has "unconfused" itself.
I have the scope pointing at Caldwell 34 with handset showing 054° 38...and tracking 12°23' and tracking
SharpCap is reporting
Az 54:52:... and tracking
Alt +12:21:05 and tracking
RA 20:45:44
Dec +30:44:15
HA -0.7:25 and tracking
Which seems to confirm that communication is working well and pretty good alignment between the numbers
However if you have any thoughts as to why the system became confused - gratefully received - so I can avoid it in the future.
Regards
Julian
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-4 with Synscan controller firmware version 04.39.19
Ascom Platform 6.0.6262.14792
Yes the values in SharpCap change as the telescope moves
Lat, Long and time all properly synced
One odd thing is that I had two SkyWatcher Telescope control boxes showing on the control panel.
and the other is that on doing a three star alignment the scope would slew to the first two stars with a very good degree of accuracy but the third would be way off.
The good news is that I have done a couple of start ups and 3 star alignments in the daylight - and and both times the third star alignment looks very reasonable based on where I think the chosen stars should be based on their position in Stellarium. So I live in hope that it has "unconfused" itself.
I have the scope pointing at Caldwell 34 with handset showing 054° 38...and tracking 12°23' and tracking
SharpCap is reporting
Az 54:52:... and tracking
Alt +12:21:05 and tracking
RA 20:45:44
Dec +30:44:15
HA -0.7:25 and tracking
Which seems to confirm that communication is working well and pretty good alignment between the numbers
However if you have any thoughts as to why the system became confused - gratefully received - so I can avoid it in the future.
Regards
Julian
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admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 13350
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Re: Telescope coordinates have become unsyncd
Hi Julian,
right now I've no idea what might cause that sort of thing. It could be related to the alignment procedure going wrong I suppose. I must admit that I have only ever used my Skywatcher mount with the handset completely removed and the computer plugged direct into the mount, using EQMOD. In that mode there's a bit less scope for confusion I suppose.
I have seen a similar thing with a Celestron AltAz mount - in that case it was the time being wrong that was the problem - the handset was converting AltAz to RA/Dec using its internal time, then the RA/Dec was being sent to the PC, which was converting back using the correct time and getting different values. Of course, since yours is an EQ mount, it can't be that.
Anyway, I hope it stays fixed when the skies next clear!
cheers,
Robin
right now I've no idea what might cause that sort of thing. It could be related to the alignment procedure going wrong I suppose. I must admit that I have only ever used my Skywatcher mount with the handset completely removed and the computer plugged direct into the mount, using EQMOD. In that mode there's a bit less scope for confusion I suppose.
I have seen a similar thing with a Celestron AltAz mount - in that case it was the time being wrong that was the problem - the handset was converting AltAz to RA/Dec using its internal time, then the RA/Dec was being sent to the PC, which was converting back using the correct time and getting different values. Of course, since yours is an EQ mount, it can't be that.
Anyway, I hope it stays fixed when the skies next clear!
cheers,
Robin