Seestar EQ Mode Trick: How I Get a Perfect Polar Alignment Everytime
Learn how to get perfect polar alignment with the SEESTAR in equatorial mode. Many users report star trails or rejected frames even when the app shows a near-zero alignment error....
Very very helpful. I am a beginner and found this explanation very well done. In fact I am one of those guys that do have a lot of discarded sub in the 60 sec exposure ;-)
oh - so let me know if you manage to improve that after implementing this!
So basically align it over and over until it agrees with itself.
Thank you - sometimes it's the simplest ideas that are most effective. This is so easy for me to implement. Thank you!
So, to recap: I start the alignment, adjust by getting close to 0.00 and 0.00, then I exit and start another alignment from the beginning, adjust by putting the cap (by hand). Correct?
you don't need to cover the lens with the cap or your hand - I did that just to prove that the Seestar is not actually checking the stars at that step. Just adjust close to zero, exit and redo it as long as it's needed until you get consistent readings!
I always wonder why nobody ever mentioned the huge other setting here "select the scope point". everyone just ignores it. It would be nice to know what this does when adjusting the eq mode.
that is mainly for people who have to set up in a location where they don't have a clear view of the sky. So if you have a high horizon towards the pole, you'd pick one of the higher options. Alternatively if you're on a balcony in an apartment complex and your sky is limited overhead, you could pick the lower options. If you're outside with an open sky you don't need to worry about it
Thanks for this, was helping a friend set his up this evening, and we were successful, but I sent this to him so he can get the best alignment. Thanks for your efforts!
awesome - hopefully this approach will help your friend get even better tracking
Very nice and helpful video. I see a lot of folks referencing it. In it you say that you can get "perfectly tracked 60-second shots with basically no frame rejection." Can you please confirm that holds true for you on objects that are close to 0 degree declination such as the Rosette Nebula or the Leo Trio? That would mean that you are experiencing zero or, nearly zero, declination drift, which would also mean that your PA is near perfect. And by near perfect I don't mean just 0.0 and 0.0 from the Seestar App which only has one decimal place resolution (arc-minutes). I means near perfect as measured with NINA's 3 PT PA process which provides feedback down in arc-seconds. I have clearly seen that declination drift can cause very high frame rejection rates on objects at low declinations (<30 deg) even when I PA to 0.0 on both axes with the Seestar App. But since I only have 1 Seestar S30 to test, maybe mine is not as good as yours. I have it set up on a ZWO TC40 carbon fiber tripod all the way down with a WO Wedge on a firm surface so it is not my setup. I would love to test multiple Seestars but it is not practical so I have to rely on feedback from others.
I confirm - I have imaged the leo triplet with the s30 and I still had a really low rejection rate.
@the_space_koalaAt 60sec?
Cheers for all the content, just got an s50 and what you have done is a great help,
Thank you
I've done eq alignments on regular motorised mount and one smart mount. And I never had to be that precise for 60s exposures especially with smart mounts that had no sensors just encoders. So my question is: Is the issue just with field rotation mismatch or is it the whole tracking because for 60s exposures even few degrees of misalignment were never an issue. For 10min it stated. And if it's the tracking doesn't seestar compensate for that misalignment solving geometry using star alignment like az-gti? Sure the rotation error would stay but no stat trails or drift because geometry solution would compensate for that and rotation mismatch was ver minor
You’d definitely get some trailing if you were a few degrees off - a few degrees is a huge amount of difference you could tell by eye even. I assume if you do stuff like Milky Way photography with short lenses you may be fine - but the Seestar is a telephoto lens so you’ll see the impact soon. The complicated process I show here is not because the alignment must be that precise, but because the error measurement it does is extremely inaccurate if you do it the “regular” way
@the_space_koalaI used 150 mm newton with 750mm focal length and essentially with motorized mounts despite being a few degrees off it didn't have trails for 60s exposures as it didn't move like ye old single or dual motor mount but compensated for misalignment in terms of tracking but obviously not for field rotation but that was insignificant at 60s exposures for that setup. So if there are trails the solver only is used to assist the physical alignment not to map motion characteristics Vs plat solving for compensation of motion. That's good to know. On my old setup I could do touch adjustment as I only had view of the southern part of the sky and 60s exposures weren't problematic. Guess I'll have to treat seest more like my old single motor eq3 mount where you actually had to be accurate and there was no compensation for misalignment when it comes to tracking. Thanks for clarifying that.
Thank you so much. You are a superstar.
Asair has similar issues.
Best explanation of PA process for the Seestar I have ever seen.
It would definitely help if you don't have your tripod all the way extended. It's more stable at a elevation .
Thanks for the video. I haven't tried eq mod on my S50 yet. Tonight is the night.
I struggled with polar alignment for several sessions. Never able to get over 20 second exposures using every method on YouTube. One night I thought “why not try polar alignment the old fashion way”? “The Star Drift Method” So I tried it and wow, 60 second exposures consistently. I have to polar align on each new object but now it only takes me a few minutes and I can image all night at 60 seconds no problem. I thought I would never figure it out.
wow that sounds really cool! I wonder why you need to polar align on each new object though
C'est rassurant, il existe donc une solution 🙂
Thank you, but I remain unconvinced that EQ mounting the Seestar smartscope range represents a rational upgrade for most users. Yes, an equatorial configuration eliminates field rotation at source. In theory that permits longer sub-exposures and avoids some of the rotational cropping inherent in Alt–Az tracking. But the S50 was explicitly engineered around short subs and aggressive live stacking. Within that design envelope, the software already compensates for rotation effectively. The marginal gain from moving to EQ – particularly at 10–20 second sub lengths – is unlikely to be dramatic in real-world use. What is not marginal is the added cost and complexity. A wedge or separate EQ mount, tripod upgrades, counterweights, and the time required for accurate polar alignment all erode the core appeal of the Seestar – portability, speed, and simplicity. Once those costs are included, one is approaching the price and logistical footprint of a more traditional astrophotography setup, at which point it is legitimate to ask whether the money would be better invested in a purpose-built EQ rig from the outset. For a minority of users seeking to push integration times well beyond the S50’s typical operating mode, an EQ configuration may yield incremental improvements. For the majority, however, the return on investment appears limited. Eliminating field rotation sounds compelling in principle; in practice, with this particular instrument, the cost-effectiveness case is far less persuasive than many affiliate-linked demonstrations imply.
It needs to be done every time I go on the rooftop or just one time. It is obvious that if I move to a different location like from New Delhi India to Rishikesh, Uttrakhand, India then i need to perform it again
everytime you move it at all it needs to be redone unless you don't touch the system at all
@the_space_koala .. i Got it. i put same Question to AI same answer. Both Mode is Good, But Accurate is EQ 🙂 which needs a lot time. Heads Off to ALL the Stargazers including You and Me 😊 ..
@the_space_koala .. i Got it. i put same Question to AI same answer. Both Mode is Good, But Accurate is EQ 🙂 which needs a lot time. Heads Off to ALL the Stargazers including You and Me 😊 ..
Thank you, very useful...