This is NOT what was described in every posting I could find on the internet. Here are the symptoms:ġ) After aligning the two starts in the camera cross hairs and going into the "align AZ" step, BOTH AXIS MOVE. At first, since I am new to all this, I thought I was just being dumb and not doing it right. At first I decided that I needed to learn how you go about aligning the mount roughly so that Alignmaster is not complaining about being more than 10 degrees off the first time you go through the alignment stars. Once I was able to resolve the basic communication issue, the next set of issues I found occurred on a semi-regular basis but not every time. Fixing this, I was able to get Alignmaster to communicate with the LX-200 mount (firmware version 4.3). Once you start AUTOSTAR suite, the COM port remains locked until you reboot or power the scope on and off. If you align the scope with the Meade polar alignment method first, and use the AUTOSTAR suite, then it locks out Alignmaster from communication with the mount. The communication issue was eventually resolved. Power up the scope, skip out of alignment and then run Alignmaster.
Imagesplus vs backyardeos software#
I did read that you do the Alignmaster software first before using the Meade alignment. I changed the COM port, rebooted and could get nothing to work. I check and made sure that it was looking for the right COM port. It would say that only one controller program can run at the same time and it could not find the COM port. Every time I tried I got communication errors. I did the one-star alignment and it work well. I could get the scope to connect to Meade AUTOSTAR suite and align through the Meade software and the hand controller without issue. I had just got may Meade x-wedge and using it for the first time. My first issue was with connection issues with Alignmaster and my LX200ACF 10" scope. I will go through what I have learned so that others might avoid the issues I have faced. I have MaxIm DL DLSR that I have only briefly tried out with PEMpro since I wanted to get Alignmaster going first before using MaxIm DL and PEMpro to address my PEC. I started with Alignmaster since Dion had such a great video on Alignmaster and it looked perfect for someone without a permanent setup. I have combed the WEB looking for any information on Alignmaster with Meade LX-200 mounts and read everything I could find but the information is few and far between. I have had many issues that I have eventually resolved, but I still after more than 2 months of effort, I have not successfully polar aligned by LX200. However, astrophotography is a huge challenge and polar alignment for a Meade LX-200 is pushing my limits of patience. I am quite handy and not afraid of digging deep to fix problems. in physics and have 30 years’ experience in engineering which included 11 years in the lab doing experimental physics research. Although I am new to having my own telescope and to photography, I am not new to astronomy or astrophysics.
With a fork mount on a wedge like the LX-200, you don’t have the benefit of a polar scope so this process seems significantly more challenging for polar alignment than a GEM. It seems that most folks on this forum have GEM mounts and I should probably have gone this way, but will here I am and I need to get my system polar aligned.
I was going well until I got my wedge and started trying polar alignment on a fork mount.
I have a LX200ACF 10" scope and have done a lot to try and get into astrophotography. I am a new member to the FORUM but this has been the best forum I have found online.