SharpCap Forums

Hi,
I am considering buying an electronic camera rotator (CAA) for my Esprit 100ED telescope, and have a few questions. I would only be using it to frame an image.

1. First, how is the rotator controlled- which Sharpcap menu is the controller located in? Is it a simple "left-right" type of control (or forward and reverse)? That's all I really need, I think.

2. I have heard the ZWO CAA is a good option (link below). Is it compatible with Sharpcap? Here is a link to ZWO's rotator: www.highpointscientific.com/zwo-caa-cam ... e-adjuster

3. I first tried to find a manual (non-electronic) CAA, so I wouldn't have to mess with electronic connections, settings, etc. They are also a lot cheaper. However, I couldn't figure out what spacers/adaptors to get with the various models to create the required 55mm backfocus for my telescope, and it was turning into a big hassle... So, is there a manual CAA you know of that is easy to install?

I could use your opinion in general about using an electronic vs manual CAA, and which you think would work best with Sharpcap (for either option).

Thanks,
John

Hi John,

SharpCap should work fine with electronic rotator devices as long as they have an ASCOM driver (and pretty much all of them do, since they need that to work with all the other software as well as SharpCap). Personally I have a Pegasus 'Falcon' rotator and I haven't had any trouble with it (except when I managed to leave the 12V supply to it disconnected once - then it connects OK but doesn't actually move - my mistake). I am sure that the ZWO CAA would work nicely too.

The user interface to adjust the angle is a pair of left/right buttons - one for coarse movements and one for fine. Additionally you can just type in the angle you want to move to a specific angle - see https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/4.1/#Rotator%20Control or alternatively you can use the ASCOM 'simulator' rotator device to have a play before you buy a real one. There are also more advanced uses of the rotator in SharpCap - for instance with a GOTO mount and rotator installed, you can get SharpCap to load an image, plate solve it then move the mount and rotator to get the image in view to match the loaded one (position and orientation of the camera) - but you don't have to use that sort of thing if you don't want to.

I must admit I don't have any experience of the manual sort of rotating device, but I guess you will need adaptors/spacers for the electronic device too... Most likely the device will come with adaptors that get you to a standard T thread on the camera side, and hopefully something to fit to your telescope on that side. Then the trick is just to have a range of T-thread tubes that you can tinker with to get the exact amount - they come in various lengths from about 5mm up, and there are also spacer rings that you can buy in 0.2, 0.5mm, etc for fine tuning. I think that you can also get adjustable t-thread parts that you can use.

cheers,

Robin

Thanks. Once I enter the CAA's info into the hardware tab, where can I find the CAA control screen (with coarse and fine controls)? Is it somewhere on the main capture screen, or in another tab?

Hi,

it will be in the stack of controls on the right - along with the focuser, mount and filter wheel controls if you are using any of them.

cheers,

Robin