Seestar EQ Mode

Equipment

• Skywatcher wedge (Set to 90 - you latitude)  in my case I live at 50' so 90 - 50 = 40'

• Stable tripod with one leg pointing north.

My current Working Method

nstructions for Setting Up and Using Seestar

1. Level the Tripod:

   • Place the EQ wedge on the tripod.

2. Align Tripod:

   • Point the tripod to the north.

   • Turn on the Seestar.

3. Compass Calibration:

   • Perform compass calibration.

   • Secure the Seestar to the tripod.

   • Confirm the Seestar compass is pointing north (359 degrees according to the Seestar app).

4. Polar Alignment:

   • Polar align and confirm using a laser pointer on Polaris.

   • At 50 degrees north, confirm a 40-degree angle in the adjust level menu.

5. Stargazing Setup:

   • Open stargazing and manually slew to the north, near Phecda in Ursa Major.

6. Horizontal Calibration:

   • Press record and start horizontal calibration.

   • Once horizontal calibration is successful, press cancel.

7. Plate Solving:

   • After canceling the horizontal calibration, instruct Seestar to stack at the current position.

   • Allow Seestar to platesolve and determine the current pointed location, adding another point to the sky model.

   • Stop stacking after a few frames.

8. Sky Atlas:

   • Open the sky atlas and press "Go To".

   • Note that the Seestar may get confused occasionally. If this happens, try starting the horizontal calibration slightly toward the northeast, depending on your sky visibility.

   • If Seestar points near Virgo in the south and fails to find its position when "Go To" is pressed, recheck alignment and calibration steps.

Method Two

1. Spoof GPS Location:

   • Download and install the GPS spoofing app: Android Mock Location.

   • Set your latitude to 89.897957, -77.03556.

2. Setup Seestar App:

   • Open the Seestar App and verify that the location is set to the North Pole.

   • Go to advanced features and skip the horizontal calibration.

3. Star Gazing Mode:

   • Ignore the 'Adjust Seestar Level' message.

   • Navigate to around 70° and tap on 'Goto'. The telescope needs to locate an area of the sky where it can see stars.

   • Once it identifies some stars, it will start moving again. You should then be able to select a target from the database and begin imaging.

Reference: YouTube Video

Alternative:  

1. Disable location permission for the Seestar app (Android), and restart the app to choose your location.

2. Set the location to 89° 55' North or South, and set the longitude to your current longitude.

3. SKIP horizontal calibration in the advanced/initialization options.

4. Polar align your Seestar to within 2 degrees.

5. Use the app's level indicator to set it to 90° minus your latitude, and aim for Polaris by eye, sighting down the body of the Seestar.

6. Open the arm more than halfway and find stars *manually* with the joystick on the stargazing screen.

7. Open the atlas, tap sync without changing anything (enable sync in advanced options), then tap goto.

8. The app will plate solve immediately and figure out where it is pointing.

9. Cancel the goto, and you are all set up in EQ mode.

10. The Seestar uses plate solving for goto and re-centers every 5 frames, so drift is not an issue unless it is so much that it trails the stars in 10 seconds.

11. 2 degrees off works just fine, with no significant field rotation unless you are looking very close to the pole.

12. Using this location method also orients the star atlas correctly.

13. Use another app to determine where the object is in the sky in alt and az.

Reference:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/373417055173095