At focal lengths of 200mm+, capturing an image of 3-minutes or more requires a precise polar alignment of the mount. The North America Nebula in Cygnus is a large, bright, and beautiful target thats located in an area full of hydrogen gas including the impressive Pelican Nebula. Hi Trevor, Nice upgrade from iOptron. Your polar alignment app should have a button to adjust the view to inverted. Being as minimal as possible on gear/weight for trekking is important. Once you know this it's fairly easy to align your scope without an app at all. iPolar is a smart electronic polar scope for everyone. The closest function to what you ask, is if in the DSO Database you go to Sorting->Configure and press "select by pointing" - then pointing the phone to the sky and clicking "Select Point" will list the objects from the catalogs you have selected that are closest to where you are pointing. - When the moon will rise and set ? Edited by ecuador, 31 May 2019 - 02:06 PM. - language (Russian, English, Hungarian, Spanish, German, French, Romanian, Croatian, Italian, Sinhala, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, PoleMaster Polaroid is a pole-mounted, handset-mounted tool that enables one of the most direct and simple ways to align the pole axis with your phone and is available in a fraction of the time Very accurate alignment of the PolarFinder is an useful tool for helping you in polar alignment of your mount. Here is a look at the image I was able to capture using the iPolar for polar alignment on the iOptron SkyGuider Pro: Results using the iPolar for polar alignment of the iOptron SkyGuider Pro. Today we're proud to provide quality products direct to your doorstep through an experience you'll enjoy. It displays Polaris' hour angle, local, sidereal and UTC time and GPS coordinates. Several functions may not work. I knew that feature was coming to the ASIair and thats an excellent option for those that want to keep their rig travel-friendly! I see you have what appears to be the William Optics wedge, rather than the OEM wedge from iOptron. Polar scope align is the one i used (got a pole master), as it has different polar scope reticules have look at the app in play store and the featureare ther for you to see if you have the same reticule (not all reticules are the same). maybe not the answer you were expecting, but I renewed my interest in astronomy after some 15 years, and upgraded my gear. If you have ideas for features, I am more than happy to discuss them. There is no menu button. I am leaning towards the SkyGuiderPro or SkyTracker Pro. Light Pollution Filters for Astrophotography, The Best Lens for Astrophotography (That You Probably Already Own), Astrophotography in Costa Rica (Carina Nebula). One issue is with the color of the Polaris When used with phone wrapped with red Gelatin sheets, to preserve dark adaption, green is completely filtered and the star disappears. PolarScope is a polar-scope alignment app that runs on your Windows Desktop, Tablet and Phone. Install a VNC client app into your smartphone This app helps you to align your equatorial telescope mount toward the celestial pole at daytime.But you know it does not guarantee high-precision adjustment.When the white circle is the center of target, the surface of your device is toward the Vor dem Alignement des Teleskops mssen zunchst Uhrzeit und Position genau eingestellt werden. The process of removing the stock illuminated polar finder scope inside the iOptron SkyGuider Pro. In this video we go through the simple steps involved in setting up and using iOptron's iPolar digital polar scope. I just wondering maybe I can ask for advise with what euipment i have. A William Optics RedCat 51 Refractor mounted to the iOptron SkyGuider Pro. Buy a raspberry pi + powerbank + ultra small usb wifi router Now you gave me something new to consider. If you google "Polaris hour angle" you'll get a bunch of CloudyNights resultsdiscussing the method behind it. By this point, the telescope mount should be roughly aligned with the height of the North Star. Focus on Stars using various dimming hats. Let me know what do you think. Thanks for the great video and text review from AB. For polar alignment, iOptron sells their app for $1.99 but I have downloaded a free app (there are some ads at the bottom) called the Polar Scope Align. Required fields are marked *. or you did the polar alignment with all the combo on the mount? The app's name is Polar Clock, the link to the store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.astrotools.polarclock, You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. As for the ipolar, I saw a mention in one advertisement that bipolar could be used when one cannot see the pole star. Meanwhile, alignment is via a precision polarscope with an impressive eight brightness levels, as well as a smartphone app (iOptron Polar Scope for iOS (opens in new tab) and Polar Finder for Android (opens in new tab)). If you have a skywatcher polar scope then 'polar finder'is the best and simplest one. It's the other way around. Setup your usual location (Lat & Long) at your site by clicking the change button on the settings dialog. Polar alignment is an essential first step towards a night of visual observation or astrophotography. The iPolar installation process was interesting. We'd love to hear from you! My question for you is this: I am looking for a tracker to be able to get into astrophotography more than I already have been (photographed the Great American Solar Eclipse, attempted to capture the lunar eclipse in January; using a few different Nikon cameras-film and digital, and a 500 mm lens with 2x teleconverter), and feel the iOptron SkyGuider Pro is the correct guidance system. 10 chart . It can handle up to 14 lbs of gear, which means that small refractor telescopes like the William Optics RedCat 51 are no problem for the SkyGuider Pro. The Polar Scope Align app for iOS was designed to make polar alignment easier and provide an alternative method of aligning with polar scopes to improve their precision. Hi! This is the coordinate we will use to adjust the position of the telescope mount to align with the North celestial pole. No matter what app you use,you need the "hour angle" of Polaris to determine the relative position (rotation) of Polaris to the north celestial pole (NCP). iPano AllView Pro Camera Mount. I have used this with my iOptron Sky Guider Pro and my AVX mounPS t many times. If I get 4 minute exposures, how will I deal with the light? This can be accomplished by physically moving your tripod and mount at dusk, and aiming the polar axis in a general North direction. I would definitely get the PA dialed-in as best you can using the built-in polarscope first. For Polar alignment you don't really need an app, however, there's an app for Android called 'Calibration' which will clibrte your phone's accelerometer then give you a compass so you can see where 'north' is. There are various methods for aligning the orientation of a telescope mount with the pole, but one of the most popular A beginners guide to using a Polar Scope for Polar alignment. The SGP comes with a built-in polar scope, which will allow to you precisely align to the north star, provided you have the smartphone app. For some reason, it is very easy to point the polar scope at the wrong star, especially if you are in a hurry, usually one on at a similar altitude. Hi For anyone that has used the QHY PoleMaster, this experience should feel very familiar and comfortable. I'll be looking up some of those apps mentioned myself now. It can also help an equatorial mount user do polar alignment with the ASICAP is a capture application on android devices for ZWO ASI USB3.0 cameras. for the Great Red Spot and Olympus Mons: I presume you are looking through a polar scope? If you've used an older version of SkySafari, here's what's new: Cube-II/CubePro with 8408 Hand Controller, 8401 Hand Controller Star Catalogs Reloading, 8408 Hand Controller CEM25 Catalog Data Upgrade, iPolar Electronic Polarscope Software (Windows). Unlike the PoleMaster, the stars are displayed as exaggerated black and white blobs that the software uses for plate solving. Its a rather simple process for German equatorial mount (GEM)owners. Now, Stellarium and Polar Scope Align both calculate the effect of atmospheric refraction, so they will give you a different position from the most simplistic apps (the lower your Latitude, the lower Polaris will be shown lower - for an inverted reticle), so you are not to compare it with those, although if they are correct, at the 6/12 hour mark $2.99 in the App Store What is it about? Big fan thank you for all the information you share with us! Powered by Invision Community. Hit the connect button and the IPolar camera should connect to your laptop - the usb driver should auto download and install the first time you use it but might be a good idea to do this before being away from the internet, just in case! Home | My second question is whether to not to go with the ipolar? iPad Polar Scope Align will calculate the position of Polaris or Octantis in your Polar Scope reticle for your location (using your phone's GPS or manually), allowing a quick and accurate polar alignment. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Sign up for a new account in our community. Your job is to align these two indicators with each other by making adjustments to the alt-az adjustments knobs on the mount wedge. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The free version simply called "Polar Scope Align" includes: Wizard to calculate your reticle centering offset and correct or compensate for it. A step-by-step walkthrough of my deep-sky astrophotography process. Make sure your polar alignment is correct. All in all, it took about 15 minutes to remove the standard polar scope and install the iPolar on the SkyGuider Pro. Everybody tell ioptron to sort it out! It is really a great app. Polar Alignment - Polaris hour angle A simple and easy to use application for determining the location of Polaris relative to the north celestial pole. You write: remember that you have given up your ability to polar align the mount without software assistance.. In early May 2020, I decided to purchase a Canon EOS Ra camera from B&H photo. Using the iPolar also requires you to replace . The iPolar Electronic Polarscope in the RA axis of the SkyGuider Pro. NigelM Step 2 - Dark Frame I could use the stick with IPolar. Compared to the ease of polar alignment with the SkyTracker, Ive been a bit intimidated about the alignment due to the way the polar scope rotates in the shaft, thus potentially off-setting the alignment. Yup, you guessed it, you move your altiude and azimuth bolts until you align the red dot and cross over each other but wait, when you get close, the red dot is enlarged to help you, fab! The cross in the middle of the circle is the North Celestial Pole (NCP), and the ring that circles it is the path of Polaris throughout the year. Use this app to program the SkymemoT for astrophotography and time-lapse photography. I like the Polar Scope Align app as it has other reticles if I ever get something else (unlikely). eVscope, new android stacking app, a bit of a curve ahead. Turn the knobs a few times while looking through the polar scope. 2) Tonight at a OnStep is a DIY computerized GoTo controller for Telescope mounts. Windy night I had a really bad night when the wind was gusting so much it was all over the place and I could not tell when I was aligned, the cross kept on moving off the dot why I thought I could even image and guide that night was beyond me, doh. 3. I find adjusting the polar alignment with it to border on insanity-inducing. Alternatively in theory you could do this: Now you can get familiar with Astronomy by identifying stars, planets, and constellations. I guess I will stick with the stock mount. After the polar alignment process is complete, you can unplug the cable and put it away. Developers can show information here about how their app collects and uses your data. You need to hook a computer up to your telescope to use a polemaster I believe. Should be officially released soon as foc upgrade to ASIAir app. 8402A Hand Controller. Achieving an accurate polar alignment is relatively easy with the SkyGuider Pro. Use this app to control the AZ GTi mount or other Sky-Watcher or Orion telescope mounts fitted with a SynScan Wi-Fi adapter. Features include one touch night vision - touch the heading of any page to toggle night vision on and off. These knobs work in the same way that the altitude adjustment bolts did. I like the Polar Scope Align app as it has other reticles if I ever get something else (unlikely). Images captured using the SkyGuider Pro with the RedCat 51 and DSLR attached. Its free and you can use it wherever you can take your android device, travel, outdoors, hiking and more.. Thanks for the additional information. As you may already know, the SkyGuiders job is to accurately track the apparent motion of the night sky for long-exposure astrophotography. These are unguided sub exposures at 250mm (thats actually 400mm when you factor in the 1.6x crop factor). Contact | so its not possible to Dither with SkyGuider Pro + iPolar? instead of my full name pls. The field of view of the iPolar is 13-degrees, with a resolution of approximately 30 arc-seconds. The beauty of a permanent setup in an observatory is, that the polar alignment process only needs to be done once. This will be great info for me too as I progress especially about Polaris needing to be off centre for photography. This app is targeted for amateur astronomers and astrophotographers that use a telescope with a German Equatorial you can get the calculated result to align your mount with a small error. Now the fun part roughly align your mount to Polaris (or the Southern Pole) and turn on the camera. The overall weight of the telescope attached will determine how hard it will be to turn the bolts. sink into the grass, gets knocked by your foot) after completing the polar alignment! You will be amazed. EQ5 Pro - Polar alignment & Scope aligment out. Does the i-Polar only connect & work with a PC/Laptop? The sensor control will also enable you to identify a SkEye is an advanced Planetarium that can also be used as a PUSHTO guide for telescopes. No matter what the weather conditions or surrounding scenery were, the SkyGuider and RedCat 51 combo have given me some of the most memorable astrophotography imaging sessions of my life. Thanks for the review. Its this level of accuracy that users of the SkyGuider Pro have been asking for. - Does my mount level? PolarFinder shows you the actual of the Polaris or the Sigma Octantis using the system time and GPS Polaris is a cool mobile compass which can be used with or without Wifi/GPS. Hi Trevor And the stunning images! Hello, i really enjoyed watching your videos and im inspired. Wide angle view of the polar region: A wide field of view of 118 degree makes it very easy to locate the pole star. Thoughts? When the red dot fully covers the red cross, you are all done. The SkyGuider Pro has proved to be an incredibly reliable star tracker that only takes a few minutes to set up. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. MySiderealTime is a useful Sidereal Clock utility to assist you while you use your telescope and mount during your astronomy viewing session or for your night of astrophotography. No human interaction required when iOS devices can using location service normally.iOS users can manually enter the location when location service is unavailable. Hi, You also need to set the rotation center of the mount, which can be calibrated after clicking the clear rotation center button on-screen. Raising review to 4 stars. Not to mentioned saving the sore knees, cricked neck, minutes/hours of cursing and fiddling etc etc. The altitude adjustment bolts can be a little difficult to get the hang of. The app is free, no contributions or ads and I have several upgrades already in the queue. As seasoned veterans will tell you. Because the Polaris is not exactly coincide with the Earth's rotation axis but rotates around it, one should know the exact hour angle of the Polaris to adjust (rotate) the finder. No matter how good you are at manually aligning the mount through the polar scope with your eyes, I think its safe to say a camera has got you beat. That seems counterintuitive unless they were suggesting that maybe just the North Star was obscured but the other stars around it were visible. Polar alignment doesnt just help you take better images, its absolutely imperative for success. I have a small min-PC USB stick that I have used with Sharpcap to take my images. You put a ballhead on the top and add a clip from a small phone tripod. I have sometimes shone a green laser through the polar alignment scope to see if it hits Polaris. For Polar alignment you don't really need an app, however, there's an app for Android called 'Calibration' which will clibrte your phone's accelerometer then give you a compass so you can see where 'north' is. A polar scope makes aligning the polar axis of this mount with the North celestial pole much easier. If you use stellarium or a star chart to locate Polaris you will see that it can be found by drawing an imaginary line through the two stars that form the end of the big dipper (the bowl end). Community Forum Software by IP.BoardLicensed to: Cloudy Nights, This is not recommended for shared computers, Morpheus Eyepieces on sale at EyepiecesEtc.com, Dual-band 7 nm instead of uv/ir cut for quark, OTA to suit CGX with view to Astrophotography, The NEAF Report from nPAE Precision Astro Engineering. Edited by Ishtim, 02 May 2019 - 10:39 AM. The official iPolar manual states the following: You may also manually enter the rotation center, X=480, Y=640, for rough alignment if you are sure the iPolar center is not far away from the mount RA axis. Late June may have the shortest nights of the year, but it sure beats spending extended periods of time outside in the cold winter months. You may be able to crouch down and see Polaris through the polar scope reticule at this point. Then its just a matter of taking a few test shots at 20-seconds each to frame it up nice. I use it for iOptron Skytracker pro. If so then use the star adventurer mini console. Best regards With my Astrotech 72 ED and Sony A6500 I can currently get two minutes with my skyguider no star trails. They recommend taking a new frame each time you Polar Align but I havent and it works just fine I tick the auto-load last dark frame option for this so I never have to worry but do always make sure I keep my IPolar protected from dust. Also what is the great advantage to using the Williams Optics wedge? Get the Polar Scope Align App. They were mainly implemented because people would distrust the app since it gave different results than older apps, so I went "all the way" in order to exactly match US Naval Observatory published transit times, or software like Cartes du Ciel, so that it is easy to see Polar Scope Align is the correct one. The LighTrack II is easy to set up and polar align. But longer exposures put a higher demand on tracking accuracy and polar alignment, and thats where the iPolar comes in.