Hello all, I'm an astrophotography beginner, running into some issues - I've posted a similar post to the Cloudynights forum but coming here as it seems to be ASIAIR specific.

I’m running into a problem with the Goto function on my ASIAIR Plus controlled astrophotography setup. Full gear list is below, but I’m using the ASIAIR with a Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro mount connected via USB. I did not run into any issues with the EQ6-R Pro being recognized by the ASIAIR App (plugged into mount via USB-B, set up in app as "Skywatcher AZ-GTi/SynScan WiFi" at Baud 115200). My issue is that the Goto feature does not seem to know where it’s going and takes many, many tries (1 hr+) of repeated plate solving and Goto’ing to successfully find and center on a target. I have not updated the ASIAIR OS per the stickied post in the forum since I was able to connect and control the mount successfully.

I’m shooting from my backyard, and so have a limited field of view due to trees and my house, including Polaris which is obscured by some trees. As a result, here’s my process:

-Set up the mount to face North
-Power up mount, update date, time via the hand controller, other settings like GPS coordinates, altitude, etc were set up initially and have stayed static. Set “park” location to a neutral position facing North. Turn off the mount per the hand controller instructions. Disconnect hand controller.
-Turn on the mount. Turn on the ASIAIR.
-Face the scope roughly south, autofocus.
-Use ASIAIR’s “all-sky” polar alignment feature to polar align (since I can’t see Polaris). Adjust screws until smiley face achieved in ASIAIR’s PA mode.
-From here, I have tried directly plate-solving and using the goto feature, I’ve also tried going “home” via the mount menu and then progressing from there per recommendations from a few CN threads. Both have the same outcome - platesolving and choosing “sync to mount” and then using the goto feature result in the mount slewing to seemingly random parts of the sky, attempting to center and then swinging around often until it faces the ground or bang into a tripod leg. Occasionally it will target where I know the target roughly is, but more often than not it’s nowhere close.

Generally resetting to “home” via the mount menu doesn’t work as expected - the scope doesn’t return to facing north, instead it will slew to a different angle. If I platesolve and goto from there, no luck. There does not seem to be any consistency with where the mount slews to (i.e., it does not always point to the ground or something similar). Based on reading a few other threads, it seems that the home setting might have something to do with this. Since facing my scope north and setting that to home has it directly facing some trees, I wonder if I’m setting myself up for failure with that home position but not sure what the alternative is.

I’ve managed to get a few targets centered (Andromeda, The Pleiades) by using the ASIAIR app’s manual mount controls to get the scope pointed in roughly the right direction, plate solving, syncing to mount and then goto’ing many times - eventually the mount seems to move towards the target and successfully center, but only after many failures and only when it starts relatively close to the target.

Any troubleshooting advice is very appreciated, this has been a super frustrating issue as I’ve had to call it quits on a few nights with really great conditions, and otherwise my setup seems to be producing some great photos. Thanks in advance!

Full gear list:
ASIAIR Plus
EQ6-R Pro
William Optics GT71 71mm f/5.9 Apo Refractor
William Optics 6AIII Reducer / Adjustable Field Flattener
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
ZWO EAF
ZWO ASIAIR Plus
ZWO ASI120MM-Mini Camera
ZWO 30mm f/4 Mini Guide Scope
Astrozap dew heaters and controller