Hi Folks,

I am wondering how well EKOS tracks the moon.

Some mounts track the moon like it is a star moving at a different rate. There are 2 problems with this. One is that the rate is an average. Sometimes it is fine, and sometimes it isn't. The other issue is that the moon moves in two directions. It moves in both right ascension and declination because of the slight angle of the moons orbit around Earth. So the tracking is only good for a few minutes depending on the focal length. Or it may be good for a long time. At least that is my experience with the Skywatcher AZ-GTi. Some nights it tracks well, and some not at all. The theory I just wrote is my best explanation so far as to why.

I am using a DSLR to photograph the moon and at about 6 seconds a shot (to prevent mirror shake) it takes a long time to get a set of shots.

I wanted to try EKOS and last night went through the hoops. As a test it was a failure because the network connection between the Synscan app on my tablet and the GTi kept dropping out. For the little stretch everything worked it seemed to track very well. Finally it got so the GTi hotspot wouldn't show up at all. That is when I packed it in.

I think the wifi problem was due to the some dozen of wifi hotspots visible from my back yard. In which case the solution is an EQMOD cable. These run some $40 to $50, so I thought I would ask before investing the money.

So how does EKOS track the moon?

Thanks!