SharpCap Forums

Hi Robin,
I'm using a 10" Dob on an EQ platform
I try to use the Push-To Plate-Solving feature - where SharpCap displays suggested movements in ALT/AZ
I've noticed - whatever direction UP/DOWN LEFT/RIGHT SharpCap indicates - I need to move my OTA in the opposite direction

I have the camera set in the OTA such that when looking at a land object ( for example a house in the distance) the image is upright as one would expect.

I'm guessing movements are in the opposite direction because of the way a Newtonian is designed to produce a mirrored image.
Is that the reason why I must move the OTA in the opposite direction SharpCap indicates?


Also - after I move the OTA to make a correction - in some instances SharpCap will produce a new platesolve and update the movement values.
But there are times when after moving the OTA SharpCap continues to display the previous values
And when that happens - the Push-To feature does not appear to work for me.

Any suggestions or hints on what I might be doing wrong?

Sincere thanks

Hi,

the directions indicated should be correct (providing that SharpCap knows your latitude and longitude - enter those in the 'Plate Solving' settings). You also have to work with the directions from the point of view of looking along the telescope towards the sky (note: not in terms of the sky view on screen). The orientation of the view in the camera shouldn't make any difference to the left/right/up/down directions.

For the failure to update when you move, that sounds as though the plate solving is sometimes failing, which might mean that a higher gain or exposure would help (easier to detect stars). SharpCap tries to solve each frame from the camera. Once SharpCap has got one result then it will initially search just nearby to that position, but after a few failures (3 or so), it will start searching the whole sky in case you have moved the mount a long way. That whole sky search can take longer. It's worth watching the notifications about plate solving to see if they show failures happening that coincide with the times that the co-ordinates are not updating.

cheers,

Robin

I see!!
Thank you Robin!!