PMTeam@ZWO You only need to do this tripod adjustment in Solar mode, when there are no visible stars, otherwise the S50 autolevels itself using a 3-star method. I found adjusting the tripod legs very challenging so I bought something like this:
https://www.amazon.ca/NEEWER-Leveling-Adjustment-Panoramic-Photography/dp/B0BS5TQ5YW/ref=sr_1_5?crid=34IMQI4AFTGUC&keywords=3%2F8+tripod+leveler&qid=1707836847&sprefix=3%2F8+tripod+leleler%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-5
or this:
https://www.amazon.ca/NEEWER-Leveling-Adjusting-Compatible-Camcorder/dp/B0CG5JT85F/ref=sr_1_7?crid=34IMQI4AFTGUC&keywords=3%2F8+tripod+leveler&qid=1707836847&sprefix=3%2F8+tripod+leleler%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-7
but not from Amazon, where they are overpriced, you can find them less than half that price on AliExpress. The main drawback of these is that the tripod will no longer fit in the case, you have to take the thing off every time you pack the telescope. Since you only need this for Solar mode, I do not think you should buy one, I mention it here just in case.
The star mode self leveling process can be extremely frustrating for the first time user, it fails often and you have no idea why. I found this to work very well for me after much head scratching and YouTube watching:
- place the S50 on a flat piece of ground with at least 50% sky visibility
- choose a bright star that is at least 45 degrees up in the sky - if you cannot recognize and name at least a few major stars maybe the S50 is not the right toy for you ;-)
- the star must be well away from any obstructions like trees, buildings, as the S50 will have to move to the left and right of it to calibrate; the S50 does not have to point to the star initially, any orientation should work
- find the star in SkyAtlas and GoTo it, after a few tries the S50 will find it and will show the star in live view mode
- press the big red circle button and S50 will start the auto-leveling process, followed by a sensitivity calibration, once this too finishes it enters enhance mode, you can press the big red button and stop that - all this should take no more than 2 minutes and it will repeat automatically every time you move the telescope
- now use SkyAtlas to search for whatever you want to see and enjoy
- do not forget to use either AF or manual focus before any acquisition; if you find that AF gives you consistently the same number (+/-10 variations are OK) you can program that as your initial focus value and skip this step in the future, I highly recommend to do this since it is easy to forget and you will discover it immediately after you complete a one hour capture
- use the light pollution filter for nebulae, (they look orange in SkyAtlas), do not use it for stars, star clusters and galaxies, unless you live in a really high light pollution area (Bortle 7 or higher); the LP filter helps a bit in those cases but more or less doubles your exposure time
I do not understand why clear instructions like the above are not displayed in the SeeStar app just before the self leveling step, that would save a lot of people a lot of wasted time and frustration with the process. It is obvious that whoever created the specifications for the app has never used the S50. Whoever coded the app did it very well but they just did what they were told to do. The whole usage model for the S50 is flawed and needs a lot of rework.
We will have to see if somebody at ZWO is indeed reading these posts and is willing to listen, otherwise we will have another brilliant product with a huge potential that will fail to live to the expectations.