SharpCap Forums

Hi!
I just checked out the livestacking feature and found the "platesolving and regoto" (I think I forgot the name ) and I got some questions about it:

1. Does this work while ditherig with ASCOM Pulseguiding?

2. What if I pointed the telescope towards east and move the mount to the eastern meridian (So the mount doesn't need to meridian flip because the plate solve and regoto command in the advanced sequence editor didn't work last time). Would the mount stay on this side or would it do a meridian flip, because the coordiates are on the other meridian?

I have had many clear nights since July and I never got a good image, because every time I only got 1h exposure time, because something failed. But nevertheless, I think Sharpcap is the best Software for imaging with a ZWO ASI camera .

Kind regards,
SternwarteOrion.

Hi,

you cannot use the auto re-center when you are guiding via PHD or a similar application (with or without dithering) - that's because when you are guiding, there should be no need to re-center... The guiding will keep the image centered.

SharpCap does have an option to do 'Mount only dithering' which adds dithering without any guiding (it just uses small, random, mount movements to dither). This can be used alongside the recenter option.

I'm not convinced that putting the telescope across on the wrong side of the meridian is a good idea - lots of bad things can happen...

* On the wrong side, the counterweight can be higher than the telescope, and the telescope/camera may hit the tripod or pier base

* If the mount ASCOM driver knows the mount is on the wrong side, it may stop tracking or otherwise behave oddly - lots of ASCOM drivers are designed to try to stop this happening

* If you fool the ASCOM driver by unlocking the clutch and rotating in RA, plate solve and sync will probably fail, because the reported pointing from the mount will not match the real direction the telescope is pointing.

Some mounts are designed to allow tracking past the meridian by an hour or two - those should also be happy to be on the wrong side of the meridian an hour or two early - I think! I'm afraid I haven't any personal experience of these mounts, so I can't be sure.

cheers,

Robin