Using alignmaster

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

After seeing all the positive reviews here about alignmaster I finally requested a trial key

Unfortunately for me it didn't work

I gt a message saying I didnt have the right drivers to slew the mount

I have the latest ASCOM platform

I was connected to the mount through a GPUSB

Am I doing something wrong?
where can I find this missing driver?:confu sed2:

I also downloaded the latest EQMod, even though I dont use it..but didn't seem to help

Thanks in advance for any help

[troypiggo (Troy)]

You need to be able to slew and sync your mount with ASCOM for it to work. Can you do that? How are you physically connected to the mount? Ie just the GPUSB or do you have an EQDIR cable etc?

[Marke (Mark)]

Are you selecting GPUSB as the mount type

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

Originally Posted by Marke

Are you selecting GPUSB as the mount type

Yes I did. But Matthias has responded saying alignmaster won't work with GPUSB

It still doesn't explain the driver problem I am having..will reinstall EQMOD. And try agian

[troypiggo (Troy)]

That's what I was getting at. GPUSB is a guide port interface. You need a telescope control interface such as Shoestring Astronomy's USB2EQ6 cable. This plugs into the hand controller port on your mount, not the St4 guide port.

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

there should be a little cable that came with your mount that has a RJ12 on one end and a DB9/RS232 you then need a USB to Serial converter and your away.

[mymoon (Aziz)]

I find this useful

Click video of polar alignment using alignmaster

Cheers

[alistairsam]

Hi,
I've requested a trial key as well, but I use the EQDIR cable which is USB one end and other end is RJ12 I think which plugs into the mount.
will this work with alignmaster?
what I don't understand is that normally, the 3 or 2 star alignment routine is required for the goto's to work correctly, how would you do this with alignmaster, as without correct goto's it may not center the star as a result of unsync'd goto, rather than polar misalignment?

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

The EQ dir cable works fine with alignmaster

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

alignmaster on the first pass it will ask you to centre the star in the eye piece/camera, as soon as you hit next it will save a sync in eqmod. you then do the same for the next star and it will place the 2nd sync in. when it asks you to align both axis at once you do it with the mount adjustments not touching the controller. once centred you hit done and it saves the 3rd one.

Now i don't know how anybody else does it but i then go into eqmod and clear all syncs. the reason why i do this is simple, because then you are 100% relying on your mount and alignmaster to get you the closest you can get!

[Peter.M]

I set eqmod to "dialog based" instead of "append on sync", which im pretty sure is what they tell you to do. This means that eqmod wont collect any sync data.

[alistairsam]

Found this while going through the eqascom doco related to alignmaster
http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/faqs/alignmaster.html

[technofetishism (Nick)]

useful to note if i ever get a chance to use alignmaster anytime soon. damn house.

[alistairsam]

Hi
I finally tried out alignmaster with my heq5pro and eqascom, my goto acccuracy improved and I think I was less than a min on both axes from scp
which can be improved
Only issue I found is that the choice of best stars were very close to the horizon and unusable
I had to use the good pairs
Is this normal?
I thought it'd offer stars above horizon since it knows the time and location
Am I missing something?

[Moon (James)]

Now i don't know how anybody else does it but i then go into eqmod and clear all syncs. the reason why i do this is simple, because then you are 100% relying on your mount and alignmaster to get you the closest you can get!

Yep I do the same.

Only issue I found is that the choice of best stars were very close to the horizon and unusable
...
Is this normal?
...
Am I missing something?

It seems to like stars low in the south for some reason, which is fine when I'm away, but at home have have a bunch of trees there
James

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Moon

It seems to like stars low in the south for some reason, which is fine when I'm away, but at home have have a bunch of trees there
James

You can add your own star lists to get the stars you prefer.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=73052

[alistairsam]

Thanks Peter
Will try that out.

[Peter.M]

I have added my own stars using the below method but it still picks low ones most of the time. If I cant see the stars I just drift

[terrycorridan (Terry)]

Can anyone please help? I have recently purchased the AlignMaster software. I have seen the video about how to use this product and in it they use GoTo software (EQMOD). I do not use any GoTo software with my setup. Do I need to purchase some GoTo software to be able to use AlignMaster effectively or can I just slew to the alignment stars manually?

Also, what should the initial orientation of the scope be?

[redbeard (Damien)]

Hi Terry,

The goto is the hardware in the mount. ie - motorised mount RA and DEC. You also need a guide scope setup and the ability to setup your telescope in polar mode. Alignmaster communicates with the motorised mount to make its adjustments when setting up your scope. If you do not have a telescope with built in goto then Alignmaster wont work as it's got nothing to communicate with. If you do have a goto polar setup, then Alignmaster is a great tool for getting polar alignment. I have a lx200 on a wedge with a guide scope and QHY5 mono camera.
What equipment you are using, that will give others an idea to your setup and hope to get more help.

Cheers,

Damien.