I know this has be requested in the past but wanted to request if a Polar Alignment feature could/would be added to SGPro? I currently use PoleMaster and it works well but would be a nice to have Polar Alignment routine added to SGPro without the need to use another camera and software like PoleMaster requires. SharpCap has a Polar Alignment feature, but SharpCap requires a yearly subscription.
I looked into using NINA because of the Polar Alignment plug-in feature but I just can’t get past NINA user interface. The user interface just seems to be confusing for me. It may be because I’ve been using SGPro for such a long time SGPro interface just feels natural to me.
We do have a prototype for it, but it isn’t ready for release or anything like that. If enough folks are interested, I could be convinced to finish it up (but we have a long backlog of stuff we know for sure there is lots of interest in). You can see a screen cap here:
In my opinion, a polar alignment routine is essential for the future of SGP!
The new harmonic drive mounts that dominate the market today no longer have a polar scope, so we are dependent on such a tool above all other “nice to have” features. I now start each session with the polar alignment routine from NINA and then switch to SGP for the exposures. Given the few clear nights we have here, I am still afraid of the learning curve of a new program and stick with the familiar SGP. But I can no longer wholeheartedly recommend SGP to newcomers to our hobby. This way, you won’t gain new customers and you’ll lose the old ones. So please: prioritize a reliable tool for polar alignment!
I agree. It seems to me a SGPro polar alignment feature should be a integral process without the need to invoke a separate polar alignement software. I believe adding in a polar alignment feature only adds to the many SGPro excellent and unique features. I’m just surprised more people are not requested this feature.
I been using SGPro for around 10 years and I really like to UI and all of the built-in features the. I’ll continue to use PoleMaster, luckily every place I’ve been so far gives me a view of Polaris. I’m in the process of learning to use SharpCap Polar alignment since this allows for aligning the mount without the need to see Polaris.
We agree enough with you to have built a complete polar alignment prototype… The last part, which we have not done, which is arguably the most difficult, is public field testing. Kind of a mixed bag on this one in terms of necessity. Pretty much everyone without a permanent observatory I think would benefit, but we just haven’t seen that much in terms of requests as of late (and have a huge backlog of things to do).
That said, responding here is absolutely the right thing to do if you’d like to see something like this.
Also, feedback on the interface of the prototype is welcome as well.
Thank you for for bringing up again the topic of the pole alignment wizard! That would be a fantastic feature. I agree with flamidey in the post quoted below.
No need to manually move the RA/DEC, it should be handled automatically like NINA’s implementation (move RA/ take a shot / Plate Solve x3). They have nice parameters (choose side of pier, choose starting position, choose angle).
The direction and angle of correction. The direction looks perfectly fine but I would suggest to increase the visibility of the correction angle. More and more people are doing this in remote and that number will be very small on a tablet or phone in remote. Also, at this stage, the image is not extremely useful, I’d rather have a big block in the center telling me what to do).
The routine should be largely automated with few parameters, continuous and fast, and should also work without a view of the north or south pole. I control SGP remotely via tablet and therefore like large digits for the deviation in Alt/Az and total, and I prefer the DMS format. This way, I can put the tablet down and have both hands free. A small section of the camera image is enough for me to see whether the stars are sharp and the calculated value is usable. Slow data connections delay the loading of large images. An additional specification in revolutions would be a luxury. However, this would first require a calibration routine for each mount.