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LX200 12" GPS alignment problem
I don't suppose anyone out there has come across this issue have they? I
follow the instructions implicitly and once the alignment is complete (any option - 1 star, 2 stars, etc) and I choose go-to for an object such as one of the obvious planets so I know I've got the object correct (!) it points somewhere close (same area of the sky...just about) but not in the same field of view through the scope. The GPS location is set correctly and if I use manual alignment with known stars it is still wrong. Sometimes (not always), even the tracking/slew rate seems to be incorrect, and as I'm all geared up for astrophotography that kind if spells failure from the start. Anybody got any ideas???? Any at all???!!! :-) Through my LPI I can get a decent image of Jupiter say, but it jumps a lot which I guess will make stacking the images pretty near impossible, or is there something with image processing software I can use to avoid this. I want to by the new Deep Space Imager but with longer exposures these problems will make my purchase worthless! |
#2
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"Carl Wrightson" wrote in message ... I don't suppose anyone out there has come across this issue have they? I follow the instructions implicitly and once the alignment is complete (any option - 1 star, 2 stars, etc) and I choose go-to for an object such as one of the obvious planets so I know I've got the object correct (!) it points somewhere close (same area of the sky...just about) but not in the same field of view through the scope. The GPS location is set correctly and if I use manual alignment with known stars it is still wrong. Sometimes (not always), even the tracking/slew rate seems to be incorrect, and as I'm all geared up for astrophotography that kind if spells failure from the start. Anybody got any ideas???? Any at all???!!! :-) Through my LPI I can get a decent image of Jupiter say, but it jumps a lot which I guess will make stacking the images pretty near impossible, or is there something with image processing software I can use to avoid this. I want to by the new Deep Space Imager but with longer exposures these problems will make my purchase worthless! did you train the drives? -- md 10" LX200GPS-SMT ETX105 www.xs4all.nl/~martlian |
#3
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Carl Wrightson wrote:
I don't suppose anyone out there has come across this issue have they? I follow the instructions implicitly and once the alignment is complete (any option - 1 star, 2 stars, etc) and I choose go-to for an object such as one of the obvious planets so I know I've got the object correct (!) it points somewhere close (same area of the sky...just about) but not in the same field of view through the scope. The GPS location is set correctly and if I use manual alignment with known stars it is still wrong. Sometimes (not always), even the tracking/slew rate seems to be incorrect, and as I'm all geared up for astrophotography that kind if spells failure from the start. The usual remedy for this and other Autostar scopes is to calibrate and (re)train the drives. If you've recently upgraded the firmware you'll probably want to de a reset first to be sure everything's properly initialised. Calibration is a short, automated process, but it pays to take your time with the largely manual training part - high magnification and a reticle eyepiece will help a lot. The tracking rates are something you can always play with *after* calibrating and training. Anybody got any ideas???? Any at all???!!! :-) Through my LPI I can get a decent image of Jupiter say, but it jumps a lot which I guess will make stacking the images pretty near impossible, or is there something with image processing software I can use to avoid this. I want to by the new Deep Space Imager but with longer exposures these problems will make my purchase worthless! The jumping sounds unusual to me, but it may well have to do with backlash (or the compensation thereof) which should be fixed by the above procedure. Another thing to check (and train the scope for) is periodic error. Rapid jumps will probably only cost you a frame or two when imaging planets and stacking software can compensate for this kind of movement during the registration (i.e. "frame alignment") process. As you've however identified, such glitches will be a major nuisance during longer exposures. AFAIK the LX200 tracks pretty well though, when set up properly. Best of luck, Steve |
#4
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Carl Wrightson wrote: Anybody got any ideas???? Any at all???!!! :-) Through my LPI I can get a decent image of Jupiter say, but it jumps a lot which I guess will make stacking the images pretty near impossible, or is there something with image processing software I can use to avoid this. I want to by the new Deep Space Imager but with longer exposures these problems will make my purchase worthless! Hi: Is this only the planets? If so, check (in the Autostar) to make sure your _time zone_ is set correctly. Also, with planets, make sure you hit enter before goto Peace, Rod |
#5
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wrote in message ups.com... Carl Wrightson wrote: Anybody got any ideas???? Any at all???!!! :-) Through my LPI I can get a decent image of Jupiter say, but it jumps a lot which I guess will make stacking the images pretty near impossible, or is there something with image processing software I can use to avoid this. I want to by the new Deep Space Imager but with longer exposures these problems will make my purchase worthless! Hi: Is this only the planets? If so, check (in the Autostar) to make sure your _time zone_ is set correctly. He said the GPS worked fine, so the time/location will be ok. Also, with planets, make sure you hit enter before goto that's a good tip, I made that same error 2 years ago when I used my ETX for the first time. -- md 10" LX200GPS-SMT ETX105 www.xs4all.nl/~martlian |
#7
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On Mon, 3 Jan 2005 09:24:28 +0000 (UTC), "Carl Wrightson"
wrote: I don't suppose anyone out there has come across this issue have they? I follow the instructions implicitly and once the alignment is complete (any option - 1 star, 2 stars, etc) and I choose go-to for an object such as one of the obvious planets so I know I've got the object correct (!) it points somewhere close (same area of the sky...just about) but not in the same field of view through the scope. The GPS location is set correctly and if I use manual alignment with known stars it is still wrong. Sometimes (not always), even the tracking/slew rate seems to be incorrect, and as I'm all geared up for astrophotography that kind if spells failure from the start. I don't know about the GPS model, but the classic LX200 has never done a very good job of hitting planets. You definitely can't use them for any kind of accurate alignment. How does your scope do at hitting stars after you align it? Anybody got any ideas???? Any at all???!!! :-) Through my LPI I can get a decent image of Jupiter say, but it jumps a lot which I guess will make stacking the images pretty near impossible, or is there something with image processing software I can use to avoid this. I want to by the new Deep Space Imager but with longer exposures these problems will make my purchase worthless! Well, you are at high magnification on a tiny chip, so you see every little tracking error. The best solution is to put your scope on a wedge and use it equatorially, so only one axis is tracking. This will also eliminate field rotation, which makes stacking difficult (it is hard to detect a small amount of field rotation in planetary images, unlike in images with star fields). If you continue to operate in altaz mode, make sure you have the PEC trained on both axes to minimize the amount of jumping around. You can have a lot of shifting between frames and still get good stacking results. _________________________________________________ Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com |
#8
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Why does the GPS model need the time zone other than to display local time? I would think the calculations would be based on UT and position, both available from the GPS data. Hi: No, apparently not. If your time zone is incorrect, your initial alignment stars as well as the Moon and planets will be "off". Peace, Rod Mollise Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_ Like SCTs and MCTs? Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers! Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html |
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