ASIAIR All Sky Polar Alignment Walkthrough
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- I used the ZWO ASIAIR All Sky Polar Alignment feature for the first time. I had very good results with it while shooting the Witch Head Nebula right outside my front door. I was also able to use Station mode successfully for the first time since my mount was so close to the router using the All Sky Alignment tool. Very impressed with this feature, and will definitely be using it again! #astrophotography #newvideo #tutorial
I would say this is the best video on polar aligning GTI using ASI AIR
@@TushitNag-yg7lm thanks! The all Sky polar alignment is a great feature on the ASIair!
Well Done Danno. Finally there is someone else who lives in a forest and does astrophotography. I am surrounded by oak trees although I do have a view of Polaris and a small opening to the south. I also use PSAlign for quick alignments but did not know about that daytime alignment feature. Nice job with the Witch Head especially considering your Bortle 5 conditions. Cheers
Thanks, Kurt! I watched several of your videos back when I was trying to figure out APT when I got my first Equatorial mount! I have only used a laptop a handful of times since I got an ASIair. The daytime alignment tool on PS Align Pro is an awesome little tool! I think I might try using that and the All Sky alignment with no view of Polaris at all next time to see how well that works. Thanks very much, and clear skies!
@@AstroDanno Yeah, I have migrated to NINA for the Laptop setup and ASIAIR for the portable stuff.
@@AstroQuest1 I was just about to try NINA out, and then I got the ASIair, and I’ve mostly been using it ever since. I’ll have to try NINA out one of these days.
Thanks, should get first light to try this out with my ioptron Skyhunter this week. The all sky polar align is especially important for my mount as it only has a sight hole instead of a polar scope so there no option for a solid rough alignment.
That PS Align Pro app can help you can close to alignment without a polar scope. I used to not use the PA feature in the ASIair, but I think I’ll be using it every time I use my smaller mount from now on. I have a pole master on my EQ6.
Great tutorial Dano! Please do me (maybe others) a huge favor. A slow methodical tutorial on guiding with the ASIAIR Plus. I've been into astrophotography 3+ weeks not. The other night I got a smiley face on PA, ran the autofocus routine, but when it came to guiding I got nothing :(
Is your guide cam in focus? What are you using?
You sir, have earned my subscription
Thanks!
Your supposed to move your mount to the south by driving it with the buttons on the app. Just saying.
I started slewing the mount southwest of the meridian after I made this video. This video is from my first time ever trying all sky.
Just to confirm - if you use the controls on the ASIAIR App to move the mount, rather than using the clutches/knobs, then the Home position stays correct (i.e. the position the mount was in when turning on the ASIAIR for first time). Is that right?
Yes, that’s correct. I now slew to an area close to the meridian on the west side of the meridian(for me) and that gives it enough room to rotate without aiming into the trees around me. After completing polar alignment, I return it to home and goes back to the normal position.
Danno, thanks again for a great video. I am yet to play with the GTi and my camera rig on it. I don’t want to get a Redcat and a guide scope until I know what the heck I’m doing. Lol. Till then I plan to use my Canon RP and my 2 telephoto lenses-the Rokinon 135mm and the Canon 300mm prime with a 1.4TC. Now forgive my silly questions but I am a bit confused about 2 things. Please indulge me.
1. Currently I have a long nodal rail on the declination clutch of the GTi on to which I am mounting the camera and the ASIAir Plus. At the time of polar alignment process (with the PsAlign Pro for initial ballpark alignment followed by the AllSky Polar Alignment), does the camera need to also point towards Polaris in the North prior to that process? I see in your video that the AllSky PA prompts you to turn your scope towards the south and you did by loosening the RA clutch as well as the DEC screw. Would I be able to do that being that my camera will be on a fixed nodal rail in the RA clutch and not on a ball head?
2. After you rotated your scope rig manually to the south, you tightened the RA clutch as well as the DEC screw. When I tell the GTi to go to a target, the RA clutch and DEC screws needs to be tight or loose so the mount can rotate?
3. The GTi mount remains polar aligned and pointed north at all times while I shoot targets in all parts of the night sky. Right? The mount will rotate in both the RA and DEC axes simultaneously to GoTo the target, right? That is why I needed to confirm whether the RA clutch the DEC screw needs to be loose or those should remain tightened at all times and still the mount will rotate to your target yet remaining polar aligned and tracking.
I am so nervous about experimenting that I wanted to make sure I don’t break anything. Thank you for your help. I look to peers like you to help me in my Astrophotography journey🙏🏻
Since making this video, I use the sky atlas to slew to the south on the western side of the meridian for me. I don’t manually turn it anymore. Yes, your Dec and RA screws should be tightened so you can go to objects. It’s good practice to set your camera and scope/lens lined up to Polaris(home position). If you have a clear view of Polaris, you won’t need to use the all sky feature. You can just use the regular polar align routine and you won’t have to turn your scope facing south. I used my 135mm the other night on mine, but I have it mounted to a standard vixen dovetail plate. I only loosened the screws in this video, because it was my very first time trying the all sky polar align. It’s all I use now in my front yard. I love it!
Oh, and if you do use the all sky PA, always tell your mount to go to home position before you GoTo a target.
Thanks for the amazing content! I hate trees too brother but what I hate even more are satellites and planes. I'd venture to say that all 3 are an astrophotographers biggest enemies along with light pollution!
Don’t forget the clouds! They’ll be hovering around here for the next week or so!
Hell yea can't forget about the clouds 😂 We really have a lot of variables to contend with. Temperature, bugs, LoL. Even with all those things we still persist and overcome. That says a lot about us as individuals.
@@josephbradley7216 summer is the worst for me. Mosquitos are awful here.
@@AstroDanno I know the feeling I've got a pond out front of my house which just so happens to be a perfect breeding ground 😂😆🤣
@@josephbradley7216 they will carry you off into the sky down here! 😂
Did you figure out why the home feature messed up?
@@damainsmith1084 yep! It’s because I was manually moving the mount. I now slew to a target on the western side of the meridian to the south. It goes through all the movements no problem, and then returns to home when polar alignment is done.
I hope I can explain this clearly. The SA GTI, which you and I have, has it's built in illuminated polar scope. Since it seems like this guider has no home position, how do we make sure the imaging scope (which is where asiair gets information from) is in line with true north (within reason), so this procedure works. You saw Polaris, so could get it close. What if you can't see Polaris at all?
I use an app called PS Align Pro if I can’t see Polaris at all, but a compass can get you fairly close to the north celestial pole. PS Align Pro has a daytime tool, I guess it’s for people who do solar or can’t see their pole star. Even if you are off just a bit, the ASIair will know where it is by plate solving. I was off to the right of Polaris just a bit last night, and the mount found my target and auto centered just fine.
Thanks!
Is this available for Android?
When I look for
"polar align pro"
in App Store, "Polar Aligner Pro" is first in list, just trying to be precise. I saw a video from "Chasing Luminence", where "Photopills" a smart phone and bracket from MSM where used for precise polar alignment without seeing Polaris. Different, but maybe useful here.
I'll get there,
THANKS again, clear skies. This winter has been very unkind in Wisconsin.
I need to correct my mistake. App I looked for was "PS Align Pro", as you stated. Sorry.
@@mikehardy8247 I’m not sure if it’s on android or not but it should be. That tool uses a gyroscope so you can set your phone on your saddle and it shows you a little crosshair, and that’s Polaris. There are probably similar apps. Just look and see if they have day time polar alignment in the description. There is a free version of that app, but it doesn’t have that tool.
Did you just unlock the Dec and RA to manually return the mount to the proper home position?
Yes, that’s what I’ve been doing. I think I’ll start using Sky Atlas to slew to the south. That way, it should rerun to normal home position. It will have to be a section of sky just west of meridian so the scope will be in the correct configuration for all Sky polar align.
@@AstroDanno Thanks, I have the Star Adventurer GTi on backorder and it looks like I will get it next month. I plan to use it with the ASIAIR mini, so you videos have been and will be a great help!
It’s a great setup! Looking forward to using mine again when work allows.
I've had the same problem as you, I don't see polaris it's behind a roof. So I pointed my scope north as best as I could using a compass. Then I pointed the scope south and did the PolarAlignment, but then pressing GoTo Home Position, put my scope in the wrong spot as well. And then my GoTo did not work. How do you think it could be done better ? Instead of pointing it SOUTH by releasing the clutches and moving the scope by hand, would it be better to point the scope south using the mount controls in the app ? Would it then go to HOME POSITION correctly ? I've been fighting with it for 2 hours, and couldn't get it to properly go-to, having to give up eventually. If you can give me any pointers it would be great :) Once I have a clear night I'm going out right away
Also is it very important to have the mount completely level ? I did buy a 20cm water level to properly level it
Yes, after I made this video, I started using the sky atlas to point to a spot just right(west) of the meridian for me. I have to go kinda high to avoid a tall tree in the south. Then I go through the polar alignment from there. Once I’m done, I hit go to home, and it goes back to the normal home position. I just use the bubble levels and get as close to level as I can. The bubble seems to be slightly off center on my GTi. I don’t think it has to be perfect, so I just try to get close. Only takes about a minute or so. When starting from the home position, just use your sky atlas to go to a star for all Sky polar alignment. That will get you back to normal home position.
Awesome thank you, can't wait to give it another try :)
Hi danno, why did you turn the scope east side to do the polar alignment?
When you do either kind of polar alignment with the ASIair, it’s going to rotate a few times to the west. If you start on that side, your scope or camera could hit the tripod legs if it rotates far enough.
@@AstroDanno Tnx for replying, now I understand! Tnx
Is it possible to do this with the star adventurer 2i? I know the rotation should be manual in my case, but dunno if its even possible
I’m not sure if you can do it with a 2i or not. You could try it and see if it lets you manually rotate it when prompted.
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