This is the first Android app predicting whether SynScan Photo can control a Skywatcher AZ-Mount(i.e. There's also a "Wiki Align" section, useful for beginners - which details a . Since we are not connecting via Ascom, these have to be entered manually. Seeing as how this mount was designed for portability and simplicity, its an upgrade that may not make sense for you. All users should download a new copy from the link below. Trevor, Nice review . How do these compare? The arm holding the polar scope can swing out to a position that is comfortable to the user, and this simple and ingenious design is one of my favorite features of the mount. SmartStar-PR and GOTONOVA Kit. This guide originally appeared in the February 2022 issue of BBC Sky at . Before you converted did you do a polar alignment with your gear hanging on it ? The version of the iPolar I have came with an adapter to externally mount the device to the SkyGuider Pro. You can control the all ASI USB 3.0 cameras as well as mini series cameras and selected DSLRs, an equatorial mount to GoTo and Guiding, Focusing with ZWO EAF, capture with your phone or tablet when connected to mPolemaster is a software for aligning the polar axis mounted on the mobile phone. Old Review for Historical Purposes: Useless on a Pixel 3 with Android 9. Polar Scope Align Pro by Dimitrios Kechagias - AppAdvice Youll need to enter in the lat-long coordinates of your location, which you can easily find online or using the GPS on your phone. If you havent yet gone down this road, its worth looking into the new iPolar. To maximize the benefits of the iOptron polar scope for polar alignment, you need to know where the Polaris is in . The altitude adjustment bolts can be a little difficult to get the hang of. This article assumes you would do the it the same way although you can connect to it via Ascom as well if you needed to so I suggest you check out the IOptron installation guide if you want to do it this way but I have not found this necessary. The next time it is clear I will see how well it did. The method how we achieve it is called polar alignment and it starts with a rough alignment of the RA axis. If I travel to South Texas, say the Texas Star Party (29 degrees), I need the low latitude version. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The Drift align method can be used in either hemisphere by using free software called PHD2 guiding. In fact they are the same: you just need to change the position of one piece. Note: This app is a companion for the Polar Loop, Polar Loop 2, Polar Loop Crystal, Polar A300, Polar A360, Polar M200, Polar Polar Beat is the ultimate free sports and fitness tracker app from the pioneer of wearable sports technology. Otherwise, youll have to rotate the tripod and possibly re-level. Review: List - ioptron.com I often use them as their graphics are better than the HC display. Step 6. The app is helpful to match orientation of the DSO Planner Free is an astronomy observation planning tool with excellent star charting capabilities made by active and experienced amateur observers with a passion for visual observations. It comes in Low Latitude (7-34 degrees) and High Latitude (32-59 degrees) versions. Polar scope chart on an iPhone Figure 13. Make sure your polar alignment is correct. Thank you for the awesome, and very thorough, review of the iOptron SkyGuider Pro with iPolar! IPolar will take an image based on the frequency and gain you set I raise gain to 6x and take an image every 500ms which works for me. Features include one touch night vision - touch the heading of any page to toggle night vision on and off. Astrophotography at this time of year means limited dark-sky time to collect light on a deep sky target, as were almost at summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere. Accurate polar alignment is essential for all types of long exposure astrophotography from wide-angle nightscapes, to high magnification deep-space imaging. Firmware/Software - ioptron.com The only pre-requesite is to install the IOptron software from their website (3339_iOptron_iPolar.exe) on your laptop. I was about to try to customize my skyguider pro with a polemaster, before I saw this video. Thanks. Trevor thank you for your excellent review. iPolar Electronic Polarscope Software (Windows) Let StarTracker guide you to explore the universe. 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. Sorry for the novel and thank you so much for your opinion! Since then Im looking into sturdier trackers (skyguider pro ipolar in particular). Troubleshooting/FAQThe Map doesn't move/points Hey, get outdoors with your friends and enjoy star gazing! Focus on Stars using various dimming hats. 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. 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. Couple that with the fact that these astrophotography filters can be expensive, and youve got some, Continue Reading Light Pollution Filters for AstrophotographyContinue, In my opinion, the best astrophotography lens is one that can capture a variety of images of the night sky in a reliable and consistent way. Please Note: The database has recently been updated. It shows a realistic and accurate night sky map, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. I rather not have to pay for an app but if the iOptron app is more precise, $2 isn't going to kill me. Hi, Polar alignment doesnt just help you take better images, its absolutely imperative for success. The imaging camera in PoleMaster has a resolution of 30 arc second, so the best polar alignment that can be achieved by PoleMaster is also in the order of 30 arc seconds. Once the plate solve has succeeded, you should see a red cross, and a red dot on the screen. ** The Polaris application Use this app to program supported motorized camera mount for astrophotography and time-lapse photography. The iPolar electronic polarscope uses a small camera to understand the mounts positioning, and tell me exactly where it needs to be so that it is perfectly aligned with the north celestial pole. Thanks for the additional information. 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. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. 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! Deep Sky Tracking: iOptron's SkyGuider Pro Tracker Polaris can be spotted in the sky quite easily, as it is much brighter than any surrounding stars in the immediate area. Hi! I rather not have to pay for an app but if the iOptron app is more precise, $2 isn't going to kill me. Aligning to Polaris is far more accurate. Restore the portability of the SGP. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Contact | The iPolar software is available to download on the iOptron website. Thank you very much Trevor. As you get closer to being perfectly polar aligned, the red dot and cross-hair will enlarge. The iOptron SkyGuider pro includes a built-in polar scope, and you should be able to achieve an accurate polar alignment by eyeballing it. 1. This will be great info for me too as I progress especially about Polaris needing to be off centre for photography. Copyright 2023 AppAdvice LLC. In the meantime since more people asked I did check the current status of the iOptron app and it doesn't look good And a quick tip: To ensure your 12:00 position is spot-on, center Polaris on the center-line and then adjust your latitude up and down. Edited by Ishtim, 02 May 2019 - 10:39 AM. 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. I found an old Contax that has the same threads but find myself at a loss as how to put it all together. (did you catch that in the video?). The nice part about the PoleMaster is, you dont need to kneel down or contort your body to look through the polar finder scope, or worry about entering the time and date to the handset. As you can imagine, I had mixed feelings about disrupting this proven configuration to upgrade it with the iPolar device. The telescope mount should have a latitude scale posted on one side, with an indicator of what latitude your mount is currently in line with. It is mandatory when you want to track with 400mm focal lenth for 4 min. A beginners guide to using IOptrons IPolar mount add-on for Polar alignment. Polar aligning an iOptron SkyGuider Pro with a QHY PoleMaster Light Pollution Filters for Astrophotography, The Best Lens for Astrophotography (That You Probably Already Own), Astrophotography in Costa Rica (Carina Nebula). That's a key advantage of mount modeling like TPoint or 10Micron. I think that you have highlighted in your video a good point: by replacing your polar scope with iPolar you are loosing the possibility to use it without a PC. With my Astrotech 72 ED and Sony A6500 I can currently get two minutes with my skyguider no star trails. would you please edit my name in the comments to Mel You may be able to crouch down and see Polaris through the polar scope reticule at this point. No human interaction required when iOS devices can using location service normally.iOS users can manually enter the location when location service is unavailable. Today we're proud to provide quality products direct to your doorstep through an experience you'll enjoy. Is it better that I upgrade my Skyguider pro with Ipolar or ASIair as you use a phone with ASIair. This is more than enough for a sharp 2-minute image using a camera lens with a focal length of 100mm or less. I think that that iOptron should develop a smartphone app and connect to the camera with wifi or bt. Slew mode for quicker framing of celestial images without knocking the camera out of alignment. They just need to hire one developer. For those that set up and tear down their equipment each night like me, youll quickly become a master in polar alignment through experience. At this point, Polaris should be very close tothe exact position for a near-perfect Polar Alignment for the night. Rather than going through the rotation center calibration process (that involves confirming 3 positions of the mount), I opted to enter the rotation center using the manual input rotation center button. I have used the iOptron SkyGuider Pro with the RedCat 51 extensively. Should be officially released soon as foc upgrade to ASIAir app. The app supports almost every polar scope used in the field including ones from iOptron, Astro-Physics, Takahashi, Orion, Celestron, Meade, Vixen, AstroTrac, Losmandy, Kenko, Avalon, even early 80's designs like the Tuthill .