Poor mans Argo Navis

[vaztr]

So, being as cheap as I am:D, I thought I'd see if I could get an app to do the 'push to' that an Argo does on my Samsung S3 without spending a fortune...

I ended up with SkEye (free) and Field Compass (free) both for Android

I use SkEye to get the Alt/Az for an object of interest, then field compass with the phone strapped to the scope to point in the general direction and the finder scope for fine tuning (field scope does heading and 'tilt' angles at the same time).

The verdict - Field compass seems to need a 'shake' occasionally to align itself, but seems to get the objects within the finderscopes FOV and from there it's pretty simple to get it in the scope. It works fine for 'finder scope visible' objects, but will be pretty useless for 'deep' objects, but all in all not bad for $0

VAZ

[Chris85]

Nice work, Andrew!
How did you attach your s3 to your tube? I used a hands free holder to attach mine to my solid tube 8", but without much success as I constantly get magnetic field warnings!

[vaztr]

my S3 is 'attached' with velcro (using a second cover for the phone) - not V precise but good enough for now

The mag field warnings are a pain - so I turned them off in the settings menu - maybe that's why it needs 'aligning' every so often

VAZ

[DJDD]

thanks for the idea.
I have downloaded apps and will test as soon as the clouds disappear...

[mark3d]

I plan to use these Cloudy Nights azimuth degree circles (http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/937949/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1/vc/1) (a few dollars to print at Officeworks) together with a Wixey WR300 altimeter from Amazon for $40, together with an Android app (Skeye), and should be able to get any object in the sky into the viewfinder!