Newcomer to SGP

Sequence Generator
1

Hi
I am new to SGP after being DSLR astroimager using. Backyard EOS. I have recently started using an ASI 1600 MM PRO. In the plate solver box, there are boxes for latitude and longitude coordinates. Do I need to enter this manually or will it be obtained automatically when connect to my mount through ASCOM. I assume correct coordinates are necessary in order to plate solve and skew to the target?
Thanks

2

Which plate solver are you talking about? The two most common are Astrometry.net and PlateSolve2. If you access either of these from SGP there is no boxes for latitude and longitude. So exactly where are you seeing this? What steps are you taking to get there?

3

Thanks,
I am using plate solve 2 and this is how I got there
Control panel----select plate solve2 then click on the settings tab— this opens the plate solve box, then click on the Edit parameters box. The latitude and longitude is at the bott of that box under default location.

4

You don’t need to set anything there. When you start PlateSolve2 via SGP, SGP tells PlateSolve2 what it needs to know to get the job done.

5

Thanks but can i double check, there are latitude and longitude values already generated in those boxes, i don’t know where they came from but they do not correspond to my location. Should i not worry about those or change them? Will this not affect my plate solving if it thinks i am located somewhere were i am not?

6

Anything you enter there directly is not going to be used. The only values that matter are those that come from SGP. PlateSolve2 works best when the telescope is already close to where it thinks it is. If you see PlateSolve2 solving for more than say 100 regions, I suggest you cancel it. In fact, I give up if I see more that 10 regions.
Astrometry.net will blind solve although it will take somewhat longer. Let’s reframe this question to whatever problems you are having with plate solving in general. What are you trying to do and what is the result? When plate solving fails it is often because you don’t have the scale factor set correctly for your telescope/camera combination.

7

Thanks again. I tried it yesterday and the SGP kept skewing my telescope to the opposite side of the sky i.e. Towards the floor. Really frustrated

8

Try to do a sync somewhere away from the pole. Solving near the pole generally tends to create this type of behavior.

Thanks,
Jared

9

Thanks can I just check what you mean by not syncing near the pole? I normally sync my AVX mount first with all star sync hand controller and then connect to SGP. I assume the mounts calibration is then picked up by SGP. Or do you mean not to slew to a target near the pole?

10

Hi @Mostafa_Metwally

Welcome to SGP, it’s a great piece of software but it does take time to learn.

I’m not sure of your setup but here’s what I do when I’m out in the field with my CGEM mount. I simply make sure my polar alignment, (PA), is correct. I use a QHY Polarmaster for that. Once PA is done I use the NexStar HC and do a quick align. Once the quick align is done, I move the scope to someplace other than North, usually to the Southeast and I let SGP do a Sync there for me. The reason I do the Southeast move is that after the sync I need to get PHD2 up and running so I need the mount pointed in the southeast anyway so PHD2 can do its calibration. After PHD2 is done I can have SGP go to my intended target for the night and watch SGP do it’s magic.

A couple of things I’ve noticed

  1. Makesure you are in somewhat good focus before starting anything.
  2. After you are polar aligned, I’m assuming you are using the NexStar ASPA, I would recommend not using the NexStar HC to sync your mount. I would let SGP do that.
  3. When I hear something like the mount pointed to ground the first thing I think of is the Hand Controller. Is it setup for the correct hemisphere? Maybe just a dumb question on my part but thought I would ask.

Hope this helps,
Mark

11

Most common problem when using Hand Controller and computer at the same time is issuing a bad sync. For example, if you slew to a star or object with SGP and sync with Hand Controller, it’s a HUGE BIG NO-NO-NO. Never ever sync on a star or object with a different device that was slewed with another device.

In other words, if you slew to an object with Hand Controller, sync with a Hand Controller. Likewise, if you slew to an object with computer using planetarium software or equivalent (i.e. SGPro), sync with the SAME software that you slewed in the first place. Never ever mix Hand Controller and software for slewing and syncing otherwise the scope will be pointing to very wrong position (i.e. pointing to the ground).

Peter

1 Like
12

Thanks very much for the tip.

13

Thank you Mark. Somehow everything fell into place nicely last night and I was able to plate solve flawlessly. Thanks for these valuable tips