Using SkyWatcher Synscan

tvr

Hello,

I was hoping to get a little clarification on this topic. I searched but could find only some specifics. I just spent a frustrating night trying to get an EQ6-R working properly with the ASIair and would like to understand a few of the known "peculiarities" with this setup.

1) Selecting the mount driver - There are two options here "Skywatcher SynScan" and "Skywatcher SynScan Beta". What is the difference here? What functionality is in beta?

2) Hand control firmware - I see a popup on connection to ensure the hand control firmware is updated to a certain revision. Is it OK to run firmware of the latest revision or is that specific firmware needed?

3) 3 star alignment - Why is this required for this mount? Does it need to be an accurate alignment or just "faked" to get the mount tracking and then synced with a plate solve?

In my case I had an older firmware revision in the hand control so I need to update this (could not do it in the field). I was able to connect to the mount but was unable to plate solve, sync, and point accurately. In fact the mount would make random movements that made me very nervous to take my eyes off of it. It also was unable to calibrate for autoguiding (star did not move).

I would like to understand the 3 items above, I will update the firmware and give it another try.

Thank you!

tvr

Also, so it is known... I connected to the mount through the hand control serial cable ---> RS232 to USB ---> ASIair

celestromel

Must I connect to the mount via the hand controller cable? I have trouble accessing a Synscan RJ12 (?) to USB A cable.

Thanks

tvr

Any responses to this topic would be appreciated. Thanks!

tvr

Any responses to this topic would be appreciated. Thanks!

tamachi

>3) 3 star alignment - Why is this required for this mount? Does it need to be an accurate alignment or just "faked" to get the mount tracking and

>then synced with a plate solve?

According to my understanding from FAQ ZWO or facebook Goup technical knowledge,

He doesnot recommend Synscan interface, ,because sync field of Synscan Syanta EQ mount is too narrow to do Plate Solving.

He says It's difficult to get accurate alignment.

You had better change eqmod interface ( use EQDirect cable inluded with your mount or buy new　for your Synta mount)

For me, to be difficult to set accurately three stars aligment ,

So, I am using eqmod. It's very good for my AZ-EQ5GT mount.

tvr

I am unsure where to find this information. SynScan is listed as supported and tested.

power1001

I have a EQM-35 and could never get it to work correctly with the Synscan controller. I got rid of the hand controller and just use an EQDirect cable and it works great. The Synscan alignment tolerance requires a very good 3 star alignment (IE time consuming) to work. Get rid of the hand controller and then you can get rid of any star alignment. Just polar align and slew to target, plate solve, sync and repeat a few times and you're centered on target and very quickly can begin imaging. SkySafari doesn't play well with EQMod so just use the ASIAIR database. This method gets rid of cables and saves time which is what ASIAIR excels in.

PMTeam@ZWO

Hello TVR,

1) Beta version has Tracking and Goto Zero Position control;

2) Recommend to update to the latest HC FW version, at least 03.39.04 and 04.39.04;

3) The 3 star alignment is required cause the hardware limit of mount.