We went for a short weekend brake to a place near lake Eildon in Victoria and the sky cleared one night for a change.
I wanted to test my motorised Alt-Az mount for panning and set it to turn at the sidereal rate. No matter what direction buttons I pressed on the Synscan handpad it only turned one way. Only the next morning I figured that Synscan simply ignores the direction buttons if the tracking speed is set at 0 and turns according to the configured hemisphere. To make it turn the other way I needed to change S to N in the coordinates.
Although the result is not quite what I had in mind but is nice nonetheless. The first part of the time lapse is illuminated by the gas torches around the house.
I like the effect. Can I just clarify how did you have the tracking set - did you have the mount set in alt-az mode and just let it track an object in the sky? Or is it just swinging in azimuth?
I like the effect. Can I just clarify how did you have the tracking set - did you have the mount set in alt-az mode and just let it track an object in the sky? Or is it just swinging in azimuth?
DT
Thanks, David.
I had it set swinging in azimuth with the arrow locked. It didn't matter though which arrow I pressed it would only move following the stars in azimuth. To change the direction Synscan needs to think I am in the Northern Hemisphere.
I got it from the USA as it is not available locally. It's the same mount as Skywatcher, just with a different handpad. Orion is considerably cheaper too.
Not to take anything away from Alex (He is Da'Master), but if you like time-lapse, another great place is http://timescapes.org/ They time-lapse using rails and dollies, giving you an eerie sense of motion.
Simply AWESOME!
Last edited by OICURMT; 13-01-2011 at 10:45 PM.
Reason: Spelling
Thanks, David.
I had it set swinging in azimuth with the arrow locked. It didn't matter though which arrow I pressed it would only move following the stars in azimuth. To change the direction Synscan needs to think I am in the Northern Hemisphere.
So did you just tape down the arrow key? (Just thinking of how I might achieve a similar effect)
Very nice work Alex. Beautiful colours and well lit foreground. Lovely indeed.
Martin, Paul - thanks heaps for the encouraging comments!
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
Gorgeous. Well thought out and planned and very beautiful.
Greg.
Thanks, Greg.
I had planned something totally different, but had to interrupt the series because the head turned the wrong way, then the lens got dewed although the forecast was for a dry and warm night.
I just received my Orion Teletrack today. Can you please let me know how you got it to "manually track"? I can't figure it out. Do you have the new "GOTO Mount"?
I just received my Orion Teletrack today. Can you please let me know how you got it to "manually track"? I can't figure it out. Do you have the new "GOTO Mount"?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave,
Mine came with the standard SynScan handpad. You go through the initialisation phase, set your coordinates and skip the alignment process. Tracking is disabled by default. Then press 2 to set slew speed. The speed is from 0 to 9.
0 - sidereal rate (360 degrees in 24 hours). At this rate the handpad ignores which Az direction button you press and turns according to the location coordinates - following the stars if you set S and opposite direction if you set N.
1 - 2x sidereal rate. Direction buttons work as expected
2 - 16x - too fast for night time
Lock the desired Az arrow and it is slewing at the chosen rate. I lock the button by pushing it under the plastic cover.
I don't know how to operate one with a non-goto handpad, but I suspect all you need to do is set the tracking rate and lock the arrow button.
Hope it helps,
Alex
Edit: My instructions were for the Southern Hemisphere and I later noticed you are in Canada. For the Northen Hemisphere it should read:
"Following the stars if you set N and opposite direction if you set S."
Mine came with the standard SynScan handpad. You go through the initialisation phase, set your coordinates and skip the alignment process. Tracking is disabled by default. Then press 2 to set slew speed. The speed is from 0 to 9.
0 - sidereal rate (360 degrees in 24 hours). At this rate the handpad ignores which Az direction button you press and turns according to the location coordinates - following the stars if you set S and opposite direction if you set N.
1 - 2x sidereal rate. Direction buttons work as expected
2 - 16x - too fast for night time
Lock the desired Az arrow and it is slewing at the chosen rate. I lock the button by pushing it under the plastic cover.
I don't know how to operate one with a non-goto handpad, but I suspect all you need to do is set the tracking rate and lock the arrow button.
Hope it helps,
Alex
Edit: My instructions were for the Southern Hemisphere and I later noticed you are in Canada. For the Northen Hemisphere it should read:
"Following the stars if you set N and opposite direction if you set S."
Thank you so much for the quick response... I feel stupid now! LOL I didn't try it on a fast speed so it never seemed like it was moving. Also, i skipped the set-up part.
Thanks for the help and again, great work. One of the best nighttime time lapses I have seen.
