Skysafari 6 Pro is useless for astrophotographers if we want to use the field of view because in this version, and contrary to version 5, the field of view does not rotate.
Consider that once we install the camera to the telescope we must consider that the angle is fixed therefore when we move, in Skysafari 6, in the direction North-South, the field of view should rotate so it agrees with the camera.
So, now I am back using Skysafari 5 and I do not what to do with this version 6.
Nothing has changed in SS6 with respect to rotating the FOV. If is has, it is a bug. I just tested this and it appears to be working for me. If you are having a problem you will need to be more specific about what it is.
In Skysafari 5 once you set your field of view angle, for instance, top of camera North, then when you move your field of view to a diferent latitude (North, South), North is always on the same position or at the same side. On version 6, what moves are the S, W, E, N labels, they move around the field of view therefore the fiel of view does not match with the camera anymore.
I'm still not sure I fully understand you complaint. However:
1. If you have "Show Cardinal Directions" ON, the N, S, E, W will always point to celestial north, south, east and west. Thus as you pan the chart around to a different part of the sky (I assume this is what you mean by "move your field of view to a diferent latitude "), those markers will move. It has alway been this way.
2. If you have you scope type as an Alt/Az mount then the FOV indicator will not rotate as you move around in the sky. This is because you camera orientation will not change on an Alt/Az mount. If you specify a german equatorial mount, then theFOV indication will rotate because that is what your camera will do.
This is exactly how it worked in SS5
I apologize for my comment, in fact, I had the Alt-Az mount selected instead of the GEM mount
You are 100% right and my error was probably due to being using SS 5 for so long that I forgot to check all the settings. and jumped to fast without first checking all the settings but I though that my previous settings from SS 5 were transfered.
My apologies again!!!
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Glad it was an easy fix. It is a complex app and it is easy to forget things like this.
It is exactly as it was in SS5 ... but I see the issue. When I use a rectangular field of view (e.g. define a DSLR camera in any scope) it doesn't seem to matter if I pick the alt/az vs. equatorial ... the behavior is the same. But this is the same for me when I test SS5 Pro and compare to SS6 Pro. But for astro-imaging... it's the wrong behavior.
If you have an alt/az mount and the camera is installed so it's level relative to the horizon line, then Sky Safari visually behaves as you would expect. That is... if I am in the northern hemisphere (and I am) and I point the scope east to watch an object rising and track it all night long until it sets in the west, the camera frame will always remain level to the horizon, but the cardinal points will appear to rotate slowly as we track the object. And this is how it works with a real scope (for all locations on Earth except the true north or south pole).
But if you have an equatorial mount (assume it's properly aligned) then a movement in RA will move the scope exactly along east/west lines and a movement in Dec will cause the scope to move exactly along north/south lines.
If you were to align the camera so the frame is oriented "north up" ... then sides of the frames are basically square to the equatorial grid and will remain that way as you move the scope around the sky (this is the real life behavior... not Sky Safari's behavior). Objects do not twist as you track them from east to west (with the exception that an eq mount has to perform a meridian flip once the object crosses the meridian from the eastern half of the sky into the western half of the sky -- btw alt/az scopes mounted on an eq wedge don't do the flip.)
Any astrophotographer is almost certainly using a scope mounted in an equatorial orientation... either because it's on a german equatorial mount... or it's a alt/az scope that is mounted on an equatorial wedge. This is because if you don't do that, you get field rotation during long exposures and you'd need to use a field de-rotator (on an alt/az scope) to compensate for it -- and that gets complicated because the rate of rotation varies depending on where the scope is located and where it's pointing in the sky.
Bill, if you compare Sky Safari's behavior to Starry Night's behavior you'll probably spot the difference. In Starry Night the rectangular field of view indicator for a camera will rotate as you move around the sky ... so that it always remains in the same orientation relative to the celestial grid. In Sky Safari the camera frame remains in the orientation of the local alt/az grid.
For round telescope eyepieces this doesn't matter. But for rectangular camera frames, it does.
But I will say that my primary reason for using the field of view overlays isn't to track objects... it's to help me select equipment and composition. e.g. if I want to image an object or region of sky, I use the FoV to determine which scope + camera + focal-length multiplier combination will best "fit" that object... and also how I should orient the frame to fit everything into my composition. Once I've found the combination I like and install it on the scope... I'm doing my imaging run and it is less important that Sky Safari doesn't continue to keep the frame oriented correctly (because the scope does keep the frame oriented correctly -- so my images still come out right). Still... it would be better if Sky Safari's behavior was either (a) changed to maintain the frame to the celestial grid, or (b) users are at least given the choice (or have it match the scope display coordinates setting. I still haven't figured out what that changes when I switch the scope from Horizon to Equatorial).
Tim,
I'm confused. If you specify you have a GEM, then the rectangular FOV will indeed rotate as you move around the sky. I'm wondering if you thought the "Scope Display Coordinates" controlled this? Setting that to Equatorial doesn't affect that behavior. It is the mount type that counts.
Thanks Bill... I see what I'm doing wrong.
I was looking in the "Equipment" list ... which lets me specify the scopes (optical tubes) but not the actual "mounts".
I see now that the mount is still back in the "Settings" -> Telescope "Setup" -> "Mount Type".
When I set that to the "Equatorial GoTo (German)" selection it does behave correctly. I had my SS5 Pro set to my LX200 (which his an alt/az) and I had SS6 Pro set to the default 'demo' scope interface (I hadn't switched it over to Equatorial GoTo). Both those choices would do the alt/az behavior.
... so much to learn.
:-)
Glad you got worked out.