I see this is an old topic, but never clearly answered. I have read all the topics on this I could find as well as the help file and still am not sure if Direct Mount Guiding in SGP will do dithering for me without a guide scope. Mount is the ieq45p and all is ascom. Anyone?
Correct me if I am wrong, but am I correct that with that option selected there is no guiding going on at all? That is my understanding. If correct, this is only intended to randomly bump the mount and create a dithered image when imaging w/o a guider. That is what I use it for and it works great (assuming, of course, that your mount can track for the required exposure times w/o trailed stars).
If the above is correct, “direct mount guiding” is a bad label for this option. It should be called “dither by mount” or “direct mount dither”. Using the term “guiding” as part of the description is misleading.
I would also add that (as per my other post on the subject) for short focal lengths (200 mm and below) this option could use a method to give larger dithers than is presently possible.
Hi Greg
As stated by CCD Man, SGP instructs the mount to move an amount (there are options for the magnitude).
I have used this dither method for the last nearly 3 years with a 10 Micron mount and it works well.
Yup, good to have this confirmed. It REALLY needs a name change and I suspect that the OP would not have been needed if the description had avoided the use of the term “guide”.
As far as size of dither, I am already set at the max but that is still not really enough for short focal lengths like camera lenses - hence my request.
On another topic, is it my imagination or has there been much less posting/replies by the developer this year?
Ok great, and Thanks much. And I agree, since this dither function is to be used when not guiding it would be a good idea the name it something other than guider like I don’t know maybe dither?
New name suggestion: "“UNGUIDED DITHERING”
Sounds good to me - says what it does and when and how.