Advice for telescope mount control

[StarBru]

Hi, I'm hoping anyone can give me advice on how to do the following:

I'm wanting to control my Skywatcher EQ6R-Pro mount with an app such as Stellarium or similar app using my android phone or laptop. When not using the Stellarium app (or similar), I'd like to control the mount through the Synscan Pro app rather than using the Synscan hand-held controller, which I don't care for. I know the Synscan Pro App needs the wifi dongle, which I will need to buy. For now, I'm thinking visual, but want to keep photography in mind for the future.

I guess my questions are:
1. Can I connect to Stellarium using the wifi dongle?
2. What apps are the most popular for telescope mount control?
3. Would any other apps be needed besides the two apps mentioned above?
4. If I am at a remote location such as a star party, is a network provider usually available?

Thanks!

[AstroBee]

I'm afraid the only question I can help you with is #4. And the answer is, Don't count on it!
I guess it really depends on where you are, but most of the star parties I've attended did NOT have a WiFi network available for public usage.

I've never had or used any SkyWatcher products so I'm no help for the other questions.

I'm an Android guy myself and love Sky Safari Pro.

[StarBru]

I'm afraid the only question I can help you with is #4. And the answer is, Don't count on it!
I guess it really depends on where you are, but most of the star parties I've attended did NOT have a WiFi network available for public usage.

I've never had or used any SkyWatcher products so I'm no help for the other questions.

I'm an Android guy myself and love Sky Safari. Not sure if it's available on iOS.

Thanks for the info! I guess I'd better learn the hand-held controller better if I want to use the mount at a star party! Darn it.

[AstroBee]

I'm afraid the only question I can help you with is #4. And the answer is, Don't count on it!
I guess it really depends on where you are, but most of the star parties I've attended did NOT have a WiFi network available for public usage.

I've never had or used any SkyWatcher products so I'm no help for the other questions.

I'm an Android guy myself and love Sky Safari. Not sure if it's available on iOS.

Thanks for the info! I guess I'd better learn the hand-held controller better if I want to use the mount at a star party! Darn it.

I guess I misunderstood your question regarding wifi. You shouldn't need WiFi to control the mount with the wifi dongle. It should, at least the Celestron WiFi dongle did, create a sort of hotspot that you connect to.
I've used my tablet, running Sky Safari to control my old CGX mount from inside Death Valley where there was no wifi signal.

[SkyHiker]

I was just looking at a Synscan Pro app video. Very nice for visual! It confirms that you don't need a WiFi network, just a hotspot on the scope.

I doubt if you can connect with a Stellarium app. On PCs you have Indi and Ascom that make it possible to limit the work that app developers need to do but there's no such thing on mobile devices AFAIK.

If you want to do AP later on you will need something else too. I recommend mounting a small Pi or Windows stick on your mount for running Ekos, Nina or what have you. You can remote connect to it from any platform using VNC, RDP, TeamViewer and so on. That way you have a unified interface, since it is not tied to your client platform.

[AstroBee]

I doubt if you can connect with a Stellarium app. On PCs you have Indi and Ascom that make it possible to limit the work that app developers need to do but there's no such thing on mobile devices AFAIK.

When I had my CGX I used my Samsung phone and tablet to control it all the time. I haven't tried it since switching to an iOptron mount and like I said earlier, I've never used a SkyWatcher mount so I'm not sure about that product. But you definitely CAN control some mounts from mobile devices. I know Stellarium and Sky Safari both have that option. I just preferred Sky Safari because the graphics were so much better.

[yobbo89]

2. What apps are the most popular for telescope mount control?

Thanks!

for windows setup on the skywatcher mounts i use eqmod,stallarium scope,stallarium

https://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/

https://stellarium.org/

https://welshdragoncomputing.ca/x/index ... ariumscope

you can get 12v windows pc, i'd probs look at linux setup for travel, raspberry pi's are very small and only need 5 v and is easy to install a little touch screen lcd, i've not tried this route yet ..


edit: turns out you don't need stellariumscope anymore, i havn't updated in awhile ... well a few years for some apps ...

[StarBru]

I guess I misunderstood your question regarding wifi. You shouldn't need WiFi to control the mount with the wifi dongle. It should, at least the Celestron WiFi dongle did, create a sort of hotspot that you connect to.
I've used my tablet, running Sky Safari to control my old CGX mount from inside Death Valley where there was no wifi signal.

So are you telling me your Celestron WiFi dongle enabled your tablet via Sky Safari to control your mount from inside Death Valley and did not need an internet provider to do so, just the WiFi connection? If so, then the Skywatcher WiFi dongle would or should do the same using Stellarium or Sky Safari.

[StarBru]

I was just looking at a Synscan Pro app video. Very nice for visual! It confirms that you don't need a WiFi network, just a hotspot on the scope.

I doubt if you can connect with a Stellarium app. On PCs you have Indi and Ascom that make it possible to limit the work that app developers need to do but there's no such thing on mobile devices AFAIK.

If you want to do AP later on you will need something else too. I recommend mounting a small Pi or Windows stick on your mount for running Ekos, Nina or what have you. You can remote connect to it from any platform using VNC, RDP, TeamViewer and so on. That way you have a unified interface, since it is not tied to your client platform.

Yes, the Synscan Pro app looks a whole lot better and easier than using the hand controller for the Skywatcher mounts. I will definitely go this route. I will then maybe try Stellarium or Sky Safari Pro as well to see what works best for me. Thanks!

[AstroBee]

Yes, the dongle creates an AdHoc wifi source that you connect to with your tablet or phone. Obviously, no true Internet connection.

[StarBru]

I just bought the Skywatcher Wifi Dongle. Thanks, everyone, for your advice and input. Can't wait to try it out!

[Kilohertz]

Hi Bruce,

Did you get this working yet? I am getting the smaller version (NEQ-3 PRO) next week and will be going thru the same process. It comes with the Synscan hand control and wifi dongle and the ST-4 cable/port on the controller. I hope to have it figured out soon so if you still need help, I may be able to help you.

Cheers

[Bigzmey]

A bit later to the discussion, but I use both SynScan Pro and SkySafari Pro to control my SW WiFi-enabled mount. You don't need internet or even phone signal to do it. My dark site has spots with no service and the mount connects to my phone via WiFi just fine.

First I connect my mount to SynCan Pro, do 2-star alignment using SynScan Pro and then switch to SkySafari which utilizes SynScanPro to control the scope. I like to use SkySafari because it is point and click operation and it has the most comprehensive database of all possible targets: DSOs, doubles, comets, asteroids, planets, etc.

[KathyNS]

4. If I am at a remote location such as a star party, is a network provider usually available?

Not likely. I have never been to a star party that had networking available. The one I used to go to out west had electricity, which was a real luxury. The one I go to here has electricity, but it is limited to charging devices in a central location. There is none on the field. And networking? Heck you can't even get a cell signal!

If you want the dark sky, you have to rough it.

[OzEclipse]

Hi Bruce,

Most star parties are in remote locations where internet connection is not a priority. I use a Takahashi EM200 with a SkyFi3 and a tablet running Sky Safari. I imagine your hardware works similar to mine because I think I've heard that the SW wifi dongle is a SkyFi with restricted mount compatibility.

Mine works like this:-
1. Set up and polar align the EM-200 mounting and mount the OTA, connect the SkyFi via serial cable.
2. Power up the mount and set it to southern hemisphere drive mode.
3. Power up the SkyFi.
4. The Sky Fi creates its own hotspot.
5. Power up the tablet and launch Sky Safari.
6. Use the tablet wifi to connect to the SkyFi hotspot.
7. The tablet contains a GPS which provides location and time sync info to Sky Safari.
If not, then this info needs to be provided.
8. With the mount polar aligned, I perform a 1 star alignment in Sky Safari.
You can also perform 2 or 3 star GOTO calibration using the EQ6 handset. Sky Safari will use that multi-star alignment.

The system works very well. The EM-200 has no smart handset so my only option is the one star alignment. It mostly works pretty well. One of my OTA's (ATM 6 inch newt has significant cone error and the tube has rotation rings for viewing comfort). When I do a meridian flip or a big move across the hemisphere, or a big tube rotation, I have to re-calibrate on a bright star (60s job) before jumping to my object. This is not a problem I have with commercial OTA's that are concentric and don't have cone errors.

When using my Vixen VC200L 1 x 1.5 deg FOV, objects usually appear in the inner 1/3 of the field of view.

I have Stellarium, I prefer the interface for Sky Safari, possibly because I have used Starry Night Pro since 2005 and Sky Safari for about 10 years.


cheers

Joe

[StarBru]

Thanks Kilohertz, Bigzmey, Kathy, and Joe!

Yes, I have started using the Wi-Fi dongle on my EQ6R Pro mount and connected to it using the Synscan Pro app on my phone. Wow! What a difference! I have been enjoying it very much. I am not missing the hand controller at all.

I haven't tried Sky Safari Pro with it yet but plan to eventually use it. From some of your descriptions, it is exactly what I want to do!