sgp & double telescope setup

Main Sequence Software Sequence Generator Pro (SGP) Acquisition Dithering Sequencing Deep Sky
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nuvolamax avatar
nuvolamax avatar
Hi,
we have a double telescope setup:
1 artec 200mm with  an asi 2600 mono
1 sharpstar 86q with an asi 533 mono
1 eq8-r

sharpstar is just over the artec
sharpstar has the OAG guide

both of them has rotator and filter wheel
in SGP how I should manage the sequence?
any suggestion?

if we use one telescope at time we know what to do and everything is ok
someone suggested me that I have to manage dithering in case I want to use both telescope at same time but I need more info
Tony Gondola avatar
Tony Gondola avatar
I have no idea but I do know that people are running dual setups using NINA which is a wonderful bit of free software. Cuiv has at least one video on how to setup a dual rig with it:

https://youtu.be/166AxhdrScI?si=lEjxOiEBXjXE2SuW
nuvolamax avatar
nuvolamax avatar
Thanks for the link, I would like to use SGP cause we've already tested all our peripherals anyway let's see if there's someone who has a double setup using SGP.
I still have to understand which are the cons using a slave session without synchronizing it with the master one, except for the frame ruined by flip
Tim Ray avatar
Tim Ray avatar
A many year user of SGP. I run it on 6 different rigs. It does NOT support what you are asking. Must use NINA. The issue, of course is dithering and waiting to dither until both cameras have finished the current sub (making the 1st to finishing wait…). SGP can't do this. They have no plans to support this feature…

CS Tim
nuvolamax avatar
nuvolamax avatar
Based on what I've read on various thread and due to:
1) we basically have different drivers between 2 setup (expect for the wheel) 
2) we do not need to merge the frame taken from both camera, focals are different so we want to get 2 separate photos just at the same time
3) in our case duration of frames of the 2 cameras are identical: 3mins for both 
we plan to place just some seconds of wait  after each frame in sequences and some wait even after focusing
in this specific case dither should not be a problem….
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Bill McLaughlin avatar
Tim Ray:
A many year user of SGP. I run it on 6 different rigs. It does NOT support what you are asking. Must use NINA. The issue, of course is dithering and waiting to dither until both cameras have finished the current sub (making the 1st to finishing wait...). SGP can't do this. They have no plans to support this feature...

CS Tim

Agreed! I used SGP for many years. It worked fine for single scope setups but they promised multi-scope for many years and never delivered. That is one of several reasons I moved to NINA. If you are going to charge more  then you need to be better than NINA or do something that NINA does not and IMHO SGP failed to do either.

I would invest the $0 to try NINA and spend the time learning it and it is likely you will never go back.
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Rainer Ehlert avatar
Rainer Ehlert avatar

nuvolamax · Feb 8, 2025, 04:46 PM

Based on what I've read on various thread and due to:
1) we basically have different drivers between 2 setup (expect for the wheel) 
2) we do not need to merge the frame taken from both camera, focals are different so we want to get 2 separate photos just at the same time
3) in our case duration of frames of the 2 cameras are identical: 3mins for both 
we plan to place just some seconds of wait  after each frame in sequences and some wait even after focusing
in this specific case dither should not be a problem….

Hi,

No problem at all to run two scopes mounted on one mount.

Here in the snip you can see on the left side my ASKAR 103 APO and on the right side my Takahashi TOA 130.

You will just need one scope for the guiding and so use the one with the longest focal length.

Set up one main imaging rig with all necessary commands like guiding and plate solve, etc. and the second one as slave just shooting images.

📷 image.pngimage.png

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ItsMeAstro avatar
ItsMeAstro avatar

The perfect software for double, triple or even quad setup is Voyager. Extremely versatile and stable and supports all available astrophotography software and hardware.

See :

https://software.starkeeper.it

Specifically for multiple setup :

https://software.starkeeper.it/#array_section