Synscan Stars

[pjphilli]

Hi
I guess there is some reason that the Synscan alignment stars do not come up in alphabetical order which makes it hard for me to select a chosen bright star to align to?
Alternatively, has anyone got a complete list of the Synscan alignment stars so I can at least see whether my preferred star is on Synscan rather than scrolling through an apparent jumble of alignment stars?
Perhaps (as usual) I am missing something?
Cheers Peter

[DJDD]

Hi,

In the SynScan setup choose Alignment Stars and then Sort by Magnitude rather than by Auto-Sort, or Sort Alphabetically (I think that is an option).

cheers,
DJDD

[Terry B]

You can choose in the setup to have either alphabetical order or magnitude order.
The controller will only give you a selection of stars that are visible at the time so the list of all the stars in the database isn't terribly usefull.
I found it to be a pain as sometimes it wouldn't give me any stars that I could actually see due to trees etc.
I gave up and exclusively use an EQDIR and my notebook.

[pjphilli]

Thanks Terry and DJDD - So I had missed something - I should explore Synscan offerings more thoroughly and now at least I will be able to get the stars in alphabetical order. Yes Terry, I too am inclined to choose the one alignment star option in Synscan and then sync up in Starry Night and proceed with star hopping from there. This has the advantage of first hopping to minor stars (say with mag 4-6) near the required object to improve accuracy of the final step. Cheers Peter

[rider]

here is the list of synscan stars as a PDF...

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-501-0-0-1-0.html

regards Rider

[lacad01]

Thanks for that info and also for the list of stars, must admit some of the star names were obscure to me when I first started exploring the alignment setup :doh:

[pjphilli]

Hi Rider
Thanks for this reference, however I don't think it is a comprehensive list of all the stars contained in SynScan eg what about Alpha Crux and Alpha Centauri for instance which I recall using some months ago?
Cheers Peter

[rider]

hi Peter, I suspect it's from an early version of the synscan software.. look at the date, its been on IIS for quite a while. better than nothing though.

Rider

[SMR]

I don't think it's a version problem -- the list is missing Canopus, too. I think they just couldn't be bothered producing charts for the "deep south", and concentrated on the constellations visible from mid northern latitudes.

Steve.

[Terry B]

The Synscan gives a differnet selection of alignment stars depending on where you are and what is in the sky at the time. The list above was clearly made in the Northern hemisphere and I found it of little use.
Better would be to print out an all sky chart for your latitude(ie 180deg circle for say 2100 hrs) and write the proper names next to the brightest stars. This will usually suffice.

[Merlin66]

I found about 99 in the V2 database. I haven't re-checked after upgrading to V3.21 ( should do that!)
The attched Excel listing shows the ones I found. Almost 25% are below -25 degree dec.

[Merlin66]

What I thought would be a 10 minute job is already over an hour!!
I've already got over 200 named stars from the V3.21 database and I haven't finished all the north/ south every couple of months variations!!
You need to set up the controller as if you are at, say, -37 deg and look at the star data base, which changes every month; likewise for the northern hemisphere. I haven't found an easy way of being able to display ALL the available stars!
I'll upload the file...... soon!!!!