How good is the SW solar quest tracking wise?

[daniele_bonfiglio]

Hello, I am thinking of buying this mount for solar imaging. Presently I am using a SW AZ-GTi mount but the daytime tracking accuracy is poor and so it needs almost constant supervision to correct for drifts. On the other hand, I would like to have something that could run basically without supervision for a long time in particular for time lapses animations. Do you advise this mount? By the way, how easy is "navigating" the sun with the integrated buttons when doing solar close ups? The mount description says that it tracks the sun center but of course I guess that you can track any portion of the sun including its limb, correct?
Thanks a lot and best regards,
Daniele
PS I could probably increase the accuracy of my AZ-GTi, as typically a simply "point and track" the sun even without any alignment. But I doubt that in any case the daytime alignment accuracy could allow for precise tracking of the sun for a relatively long time. I cannot align by night and leave the mount outside for doing solar the next day.

[TareqPhoto]

I am in the same boat as you, in fact i did ask about the mount part in my thread if you follow it or check it out, but the Admin Mark already told me to just try to learn with AZ-GTi instead.

[marktownley]

I have Az GTi and the solarquest. Both mounts need to be perfectly level, the AzGTi needs to be pointing a particular direction (north I think), I found I got decent results with the AzGti when i used the hand controller. I find the tracking on the solarquest either works or drives me mad!

[Brroberts-23]

I have Az Gti. It does need to be very level like all alt Az. It is very easy to use with solar. Typically, I just level, point at sun, and track. I don’t bother with anything else. I only control from the app and don’t have the hand controller. The solar quest eliminates that one minute to locate the sun, but is limited to solar. It is a bit harder to level than my AZ mount pro due to not having leveling screws, but is so light, that for small loads, it is much faster to set up.

[daniele_bonfiglio]

I have Az GTi and the solarquest. Both mounts need to be perfectly level, the AzGTi needs to be pointing a particular direction (north I think), I found I got decent results with the AzGti when i used the hand controller. I find the tracking on the solarquest either works or drives me mad!

Thank you Mark, what happens when the solar quest drives you mad?

[daniele_bonfiglio]

I have Az Gti. It does need to be very level like all alt Az. It is very easy to use with solar. Typically, I just level, point at sun, and track. I don’t bother with anything else. I only control from the app and don’t have the hand controller. The solar quest eliminates that one minute to locate the sun, but is limited to solar. It is a bit harder to level than my AZ mount pro due to not having leveling screws, but is so light, that for small loads, it is much faster to set up.

Thank you. I follow exactly the same procedure as you with my AZ-GTi. It works well but it typically have some drifts that make impossible to accurately track the sun for say more than 10 minutes without making some correction from time to time. This is something I would like to avoid and I was hoping that the solar quest was the solution. Best, Daniele

[marktownley]

I have Az GTi and the solarquest. Both mounts need to be perfectly level, the AzGTi needs to be pointing a particular direction (north I think), I found I got decent results with the AzGti when i used the hand controller. I find the tracking on the solarquest either works or drives me mad!

Thank you Mark, what happens when the solar quest drives you mad?

The tracking goes off - tracks fine then just slews the sun half a couple of degrees or so, then centres again. I don't know if it is backlash in the system or clouds etc, just drives me crazy! Especially when there are times I use it and it's perfect.

[TareqPhoto]

Well, kind of need to do something with AZ-GTi then you make it perfect, when i tried it it never track anything in AZ/Alt mode, and while the scope is still there without the wedge so even when i choose EQ mode and solar tracking it never track, the sun is keep drifting, but i didn't polar align it or pointed to North, so i will try that, also i was using my photography tripod, the bubble on the mount wasn't perfectly leveled but not too much off center, so maybe i will perfect that and give it a try again.

I use Synscan app, no hand controller, i won't buy one, i bought a cable so i can connect the mount to PC if i have to, but i just used the app on my mobile for now, and i wanted to get SolarQuest so it will do things like in quicker mode so it will point to the sun without polar alignment and track it even for say 2-5 minutes, i don't care to keep it for 20 minutes tracked, as much it can keep it in center or in the FOV for longer than 2 minutes then i am happy, and recenter it will be even better for next capture and next and next, and i will use it only for the sun anyway.

[marktownley]

i didn't polar align it or pointed to North, so i will try that, also i was using my photography tripod, the bubble on the mount wasn't perfectly leveled but not too much off center, so maybe i will perfect that and give it a try again.

Yup, this is what you need to do!

[daniele_bonfiglio]

I have Az GTi and the solarquest. Both mounts need to be perfectly level, the AzGTi needs to be pointing a particular direction (north I think), I found I got decent results with the AzGti when i used the hand controller. I find the tracking on the solarquest either works or drives me mad!

Thank you Mark, what happens when the solar quest drives you mad?

The tracking goes off - tracks fine then just slews the sun half a couple of degrees or so, then centres again. I don't know if it is backlash in the system or clouds etc, just drives me crazy! Especially when there are times I use it and it's perfect.

Could be any disturbance from nearby electromagnetic sources like WiFi signals? I see on the internet some reports about this potential issue

[marktownley]

Could be any disturbance from nearby electromagnetic sources like WiFi signals? I see on the internet some reports about this potential issue

Absoluetly no idea on that one sorry!

[TareqPhoto]

i didn't polar align it or pointed to North, so i will try that, also i was using my photography tripod, the bubble on the mount wasn't perfectly leveled but not too much off center, so maybe i will perfect that and give it a try again.

Yup, this is what you need to do!

Ok