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61
5.4
StarGO and SkySafari in Alt
-
Azimuth
mode via Bluetooth
or WiFi
When the mount is used in Alt-Azimuth mode, almost exclusively for visual observations, it
is possible to operate it using an Android Tablet (or Smartphone) equipped with the
SkySafari application, without the need of a PC connection.
However, as described in section 4, it is first necessary to set up the Alt-Azimuth operation
mode using the StarGO software on the PC (or, if Bluetooth is available, on the Android
device using StarGO-BT – See chapter 6). This choice is done only one time and needs to
be repeated only in case of another change of operating mode.
All the Bluetooth pairing and Wi-Fi connection and SkySafari setup are the same as
described in the sections from 5.1 to 5.3. The only difference is that when choosing the
mount, the Alt-Azimuth mode shall be chosen instead of the Equatorial in the Safari setup
page.
The first operation to be performed on the field is to put the telescope in the Home position
after having scrupulously levelled the tripod. The “Home” position, for the Alt-Azimuth mode,
corresponds to pointing the telescope in the direction of the Celestial North Pole. Since the
polar-scope is not available in this mode, this operation is not trivial. A certain degree of
error is acceptable and will be compensated in the following alignment by placing Polaris,
the North Star, in the center of the telescope FOV. With the telescope in this position,
perform a Goto to a well known bright star, centring it in the eyepiece field of view using the
StarGO keypad or the directional commands of SkySafari. Using an eyepiece equipped
with a cross-hair reticle would improve the accuracy. When the star is well centred, the sync
command to this star will be issued using the “Align” button of SkySafari. At this point the
telescope will have performed a “One Star” alignment. The precision of the succeeding Go-
tos will be determined by the precision of the previous operations, especially by how
accurately the tripod plate is levelled.
NOTE: When the “Use Multi-Star Model” is checked in the StarGO (see section 4.2.5,
fig. 4.6) and therefore the multi-star modeling is enabled, the first and each
successive sync, up to 24, contributes to build the model. To maintain the StarGO in
Multi-Star Model enabled status it is necessary to check it during the last
computerized section, switching off the mount in this status.
