The whole thing took less the a minute and I just starred at the screen for minute because I could not believe how easy it was. Needless to say everything worked perfectly, I was zeroed in and framed on the object quicker than I have ever been before. The next night provided the perfect evening to yield complete control of my camera and mount over to APT and I chose M101 as my test subject. I can tell you it was incredible, I have never been so accurate before and I consider this a crowning achievement. I then bounced around to other objects to see how this worked. Upon readjusting the settings, I ran the PlateSolve2 by pressing the solve function and within 20 seconds my image was solved, I synced it to my mount and that was it. When I started PHD2, the Skywatcher slew controller popped on my computer screen. It was only after I turned the mount off and on did know the new version did install.
#Backyardeos vs sgp update#
After more research (another frustrating night) I realized I had to update the V3 - SynScan Hand Controller firmware - that was fun especially because it looked like it did not work. Naturally this did not work with my four-year old Sirius Mount with the Version-3 SynScan Hand Controller. The first major hurdle was getting rid of ST-4 telephone wire connection for the autoguider, with SGP and APT you can connect PHD2 using the ASCOM mount driver. I learned a lot in the first week of getting used to this program and downloading supplemental software as well as upgrading firmware. I also needed the cords to connect the Skyview Hand Controller to the computer.īefore going directly into into APT I wanted to look into the popular SGP software especially since they give a 45-day free trial. In my case I have an Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ5) so I needed the ASCOM Skywatcher SynScan Mount Controller driver.
#Backyardeos vs sgp driver#
To do this I had to download the ASCOM driver for my mount. I switched gears a bit and I started using Stellarium to control my mount (see Controlling an Equatorial Mount with Stellarium). If successful it is possible to calculate exactly where the telescope is pointing, image orientation, resolution and etc.
Plate-solving is a method that detects the stars from an image you take and then tries to identify them using catalogs of know stars. The other big thing that these programs do on an internal level is Plate-Solving. To start, I used APT on a basic level (controlling a camera) only for couple of months. I decided on Astrophotography Tool (APT) since it was given high praise, inexpensive ($20), and very similar to BYEOS. I absolutely love Backyard EOS (BYEOS) for its power and simplicity, however, I am planning on getting a dedicated astrophotography camera and will need to use a new camera control program as BYEOS works only for specific DSLRs. Why Switch From Backyard EOS for camera control? At the bottom of the page I listed what I thought were the most helpful links to me to getting started with these programs. There much more in depth reviews and tutorials on the web.
#Backyardeos vs sgp generator#
It is a limited review of things I discovered during while installing and using both Astro Photography Tool and Sequence Generator Pro after a short period. This is by no means a complete review or tutorial.
The time has finally come for not only controlling my camera but also my mount.