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Odd azimuth
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2026 7:52 pm
by galljj
When I connect my AM3 mount to SC, it appears to connect fine. And when I launch Cartes du Ciel, it shows that the scope is pointed at the NCP ( approximately) . But the mount section in the control panel shows an azimuth of 180 degrees, not due north. The mount has recently been sent to the home position using the AM3 hand controller.
Do you have any thoughts on this ?
Attached is the log, if that provides any useful info.
Thanks
John
- log.txt
- (101.58 KiB) Downloaded 1 time
Re: Odd azimuth
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2026 12:41 pm
by admin
Hi John,
unfortunately the log in the standard form doesn't give any information on the mount co-ordinates (although it does confirm that the mount time is set correctly and that the mount connected with no error).
SharpCap typically reads the altitude, azimuth (and RA/dec) direct from the ASCOM driver and then reports the values that it gets on screen without changing it, so I suspect that the ASCOM driver itself is creating the value of -180. You can if you want turn on additional logging of 'Mount hardware communications' in the SharpCap settings, then connect to the mount - that will record in the log all of SharpCap's communications with the ASCOM driver for the AM3 mount and would show if the bad value comes via the ASCOM driver.
From the point of view of Carte-du-ciel and moving the mount around the sky, most applications (including SharpCap) really work mostly with the RA/Dec co-ordinates, so if those are coming through correctly then the mount will show in the right place and move as required. Very little actually uses the mount azimuth value as the basis of how the functionality of the software works, so this sort of glitch wouldn't easily get noticed unless you spot the odd Az readout.
I suppose it is worth checking that your lat/long in the AM3 ASCOM driver is set correctly - a southern hemisphere latitude might confuse things somehow? Another thing to check is to see if the altitude is showing as more than 90 degrees (say 130 or so) when the azimuth is 180 - that would kind of make twisted sense as a set of co-ordinates referring to the NCP.
cheers,
Robin