Get polar aligned in minutes

[Octane (Humayun)]

Allan,

Looks like I have a similar set up to you (Losmandy G-11 + Gemini).

Do you use a Shoestring GPUSB in order to communicate to the mount?

I haven't downloaded the software yet, but, have connected successfully using the GPUSB in the past with PHD Guiding.

This sounds like an excellent product and I would be happy to pay for it if it does as promised.

Regards,
Humayun

[allan gould]

Humayun
For the Losmandy mount all I do is use my planetarium program to control the mount through ASCOM. I connect to the rs232 port and a serial to usb converter and I use the Gemini 4.2.22 driver, as the Gemini 4.2.27 driver doesnt work for me for some reason. Then I set the ascom control in Alignmaster to the gemini setup in ascom and away you go.
Hope this helps
Allan

[troypiggo (Troy)]

G'day Allan,

Haven't tried the above software, but read the website about it. Looks like it's very similar to the alignment component of EQAlign. Just thought you might be interested in that. It's also free, and has a guiding component etc

[allan gould]

I guess that I should have been more explicit in that if you can control your mount using a planetarium program and an ASCOM driver then thats all the connections you need. The Alignmaster program uses the same connections/cabling to send the mount to the stars it requires. You need nothing else - such as a GPUSB cable for guiding.

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

G'day Allan,

Haven't tried the above software, but read the website about it. Looks like it's very similar to the alignment component of EQAlign. Just thought you might be interested in that. It's also free, and has a guiding component etc

Troy
EQalign is similar to WCS ie you do a long drift on a star in the North then do a correction and the a long drift on a star in the East or West and then a correction. With Alignmaster you goto a star center it, it then goes to the next star and you correct it with the handpaddle. It then works out your position from where it should be if true polar alignment existed. The program then offsets the position of the star where it would be if properly aligned you then tweak the Az and then the Alt (in 2 moves). There is NO time consuming drift analysis to get the error from the true pole. As i said I can do 2 iterations (one East and one west) to get polar alignment. The second iteration is just to check the accuracy of the first iteration. Guidemaster also free has an alignment procedure similar the EQalign, but Alignmaster is far more accurate than either WCS or EQalign and heaps faster.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Allan,

Thanks for the information. I will give it a go as soon as I get the chance.

I have a serial-to-USB converter and I'm quite sure I have the relevant serial cable.

Laptop -> serial-to-USB -> serial cable -> RS232 port on mount.

I will have a go tonight and see if I can get it working without the GPUSB. Never tried it. Is there provision for GPUSB should I require it? I'm at work at the moment and can't download the software to try it out.

Regards,
Humayun

Originally Posted by allan gould

Humayun
For the Losmandy mount all I do is use my planetarium program to control the mount through ASCOM. I connect to the rs232 port and a serial to usb converter and I use the Gemini 4.2.22 driver, as the Gemini 4.2.27 driver doesnt work for me for some reason. Then I set the ascom control in Alignmaster to the gemini setup in ascom and away you go.
Hope this helps
Allan

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by Octane

Allan,

Thanks for the information. I will give it a go as soon as I get the chance.

I have a serial-to-USB converter and I'm quite sure I have the relevant serial cable.

Laptop -> serial-to-USB -> serial cable -> RS232 port on mount.

I will have a go tonight and see if I can get it working without the GPUSB. Never tried it. Is there provision for GPUSB should I require it? I'm at work at the moment and can't download the software to try it out.

Regards,
Humayun

Humayun
You have it correctly. You dont even need the planetarium program just the correct ASCOM driver. As I said I use Gemin ver 2.2.24 not 2.2.27 which is the latest. If you have the same problem as me with the latest driver then PM me your email address and Ill send it to you. Ive had it working seamlessly with both mounts and find I can even do it using the spotter scope with x - hairs.
Allan

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Originally Posted by allan gould

Troy
EQalign is similar to WCS ie you do a long drift on a star in the North then do a correction and the a long drift on a star in the East or West and then a correction. With Alignmaster you goto a star center it, it then goes to the next star and you correct it with the handpaddle. It then works out your position from where it should be if true polar alignment existed. The program then offsets the position of the star where it would be if properly aligned you then tweak the Az and then the Alt (in 2 moves). There is NO time consuming drift analysis to get the error from the true pole. As i said I can do 2 iterations (one East and one west) to get polar alignment. The second iteration is just to check the accuracy of the first iteration. Guidemaster also free has an alignment procedure similar the EQalign, but Alignmaster is far more accurate than either WCS or EQalign and heaps faster.

I see. Thanks for the clarification.

[mldee (Mike)]

Hi Allen,
Just a quick update on my newbie efforts....

Since I have a pretty heavy SBS setup on my EQ6, decided to balance and level it carefully, which took up most of today. Looks good now.

Marched out about 6pm to try the alignment - clouds everywhere, went back inside in disgust.

Peeked out about 8.30pm and all was clear. Opened the RO roof and started looking for the listed stars using CdC and Stellarium. After about 30 minutes I located one of the listed pairs. Cranked the scope around and got the first one in the cross hairs of the finder scope, moved to the C8 and - nothing. Dew everywhere.

Gave up and went back inside as the alignment star was heading for the trees. There's always tomorrow and the finder scope x-hairs

[netwolf]

Thanks Allan, another good alternative option, will try it out. There is also PolarAlignMax, which is free but requires CCDSoft+TheSky or MaximDL. It uses a CCD to capture a field and plate solves it for the position, to work out the misalignment.

[allan gould]

From comments made in relation to Alignmaster. I do not synch when using EQMOD and running Alignmaster. A good point was recently raised on this point. You need to have raw uncorrected data for alignmaster to work properly. If you align 3 points first with EQMOD then you have a corrected pointing model which ameliorates the effectiveness of alignmaster.
I had forgotten to mention this.
When I use my losmandy G11 with gemini I only do a one star synch and then use alignmaster.
Regards, Allan

[White Rabbit]

Totally put my scope out of wack lol.

Now I cant get it to slew to the second star it only slews to one star and want to start correcting. It looks like a really great program easy to use and quick but in my case not very accurate. I'm well balanced and leveled my clock on the pc is set correctly all gps info in correctly as well. I could be missing something in my set up thats causing the issue. I'll uninstall a reinstall it tomorrow and try again.

I'll wait a while before I plonk my money down.

[pvelez (Pete)]

I gave it a go this evening - seemed to work quite well with the EQ6 and EQMOD. Only issue was one of the default stars in most of the pairs was close to the horizon - which isn"t easy when surrounded by houses.

I'll give it another go and if it continues to work ok, will buy.

Thanks for the initial tip Allan

Pete

[allan gould]

As a heads up, a new version of the program has just been released (V1.3.30)

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by allan gould

As a heads up, a new version of the program has just been released (V1.3.30)

Allan, the web site has 1.4.32?

[allan gould]

Last night it was 1.3.30 - Iguess he was very busy with a few suggestions from testers about the program. Ill have to try it out tonight.
Thanks for the heads up David.

[mldee (Mike)]

Originally Posted by pvelez

I gave it a go this evening - seemed to work quite well with the EQ6 and EQMOD. Only issue was one of the default stars in most of the pairs was close to the horizon - which isn"t easy when surrounded by houses.

I'll give it another go and if it continues to work ok, will buy.

Thanks for the initial tip Allan

Pete

I have the same problem, only it's trees, so finding a pair with a usable low-angle star can take some time, but I still like the concept, so will plug along until me, the stars, clouds and the trees find a sweet spot/time

[allan gould]

Originally Posted by mldee

I have the same problem, only it's trees, so finding a pair with a usable low-angle star can take some time, but I still like the concept, so will plug along until me, the stars, clouds and the trees find a sweet spot/time

One new feaTURE THAT HAS BEEN ADDED BUT NOT PUT INTO THE HELP OR INFORMATION FILE IS THAT YOU CAN APPEND THE STERNE (STAR) AND CITIES TXT FILES TO ADD NEW ALIGNMENT STARS OR LOCATIONS.

Sorry bloody caps lock bungle fingers strikes agin.

This should solve people's problems that have a tree lined aspect that may stop them finding suitable stars.
Also if you have several sites that you regularly go to you can add them to the top of the file and they will stick there and be the first choices presented.
But make sure you follow the entry styles exactly or it won't work.

[h0ughy (David)]

care to come up with a list for southern observers?

[cookie8 (Vincent)]

Hi Allan
Does this software work with my humble eq5 mount?