GoTo question

[dw310]

I'm wondering if I can rig my dslr to a skypod mount, without a telescope, and use the goto function. So my question is: does the skypod have to look through a vixen scope to get oriented to where it is in space, or could I select the alignment stars through a camera lense?

Hope this question isn't too dumb.....Just not sure how the Starbook S is orienting itself.

Thanks for your help.

[jimt]

Should work like a charm as long as you have a bracket to attach your camera. You could use your scope to align it with then swap out the camera if you have trouble doing the align with your camera. The software doesn't know if you have a scope / camera or bicycle attached to it btw.

Jim

[alsetalokin]

The Starbook and other systems do not look through the telescope. They rely on the operator to look for them. In other words, they make a model of the sky inside their little software brains, and they rely on you to look at the sky for them and tell them if they are right or not, when they guess where the scope is pointed.

You set up the mount facing North and aligned with the earth's axis of rotation, and you tell it what time it is and where you are on the Earth. Then it guesses where the first alignment star is and moves the telescope to that position, and asks you to "center the star in the finder" or something like that. So you do, and then you press "enter", and this lets the mount revise and correct its model, and then it is closer on the second guess, and by the third alignment star it has its sky model corrected and then it can "go-to" anything you like...even though the mount itself is blind.

So yes, you can put your camera on the mount by itself, as long as you have some way of aligning the mount per its procedures, using the camera. Best is to "piggyback" which means to put the camera on top of the telescope on the mount.

[sxinias]

Like the others said, yes you can attach your dslr directly to your mount and use it to align, then goto objects. One accessory that will make the task much easier is a right angle 3.2X finder on your camera. You can get one from China for next to nothing .... eBay has several vendors. The right angle finder makes viewing through the DSLR much easier and the 3.2X magnification makes focusing easier. The second attachment is a dovetail rail for your camera so you can directly attach it to your mount.

[dw310]

Thanks again, for your help!!