*Thanks again* to all you guys for your input and suggestions.??A few notes:
¡¤??????I did look at the Mac client for PoleMaster, last updated in 2018 as far as I could tell, and saw multiple complaints on its performance¡ and it would mean another device¡ Wouldn¡¯t want to spend another $300 to find out it just adds a new layer of problems.
¡¤??????I got out two nights ago under unexpectedly(!!) clear skies for several hours. I was finally able to work on two PA routines ¨C using the Losmandy polar scope with the PS Align app, and working the AAP PA with my guide scope (including a bug workaround - ¡®have to rotate my OTA *with the HC* 60¡ã since AAP will only rotate it 8¡ã¡¯). Both worked very well, and using the PS Align reticle orientation off my Apple watch made that method *very fast*. I have a third PA method w/in reach on the G2 HC, which I haven¡¯t yet tried.
¡¤??????I¡¯m aware that I could gain access to ASCOM drivers off a Mac virtual machine, and glad to know I could put a Windows mini-PC on my OTA if I am forced to repent of my stubbornness (wouldn¡¯t be the first time!). But it seems like the?KStars/EKOS/INDI suite is worth exploring for a while, and I would love to be free of a laptop and drive my viewing and capture sessions off an iPad, and several on and off this thread are doing the same thing and have helpfully offered assistance along the way (many thanks!!)
¡¤??????Practicing my setup and workflow inside has been very helpful for me with the new mount and its G2 HC, the AAP devices, and my Fuji XT3. And then having a clear night to do it outside was good. Even got some first photos of the Orion Nebula, and made a list of things to work on while I wait for the next clear night. Those first photos were so sweet! ;-)
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I have a further thought and a question¡
¡¤??????Thought: On Windows/Mac. In my own career I went to Mac about 25 years ago, often as the only one on the team, and made it work. I¡¯ve appreciated the Apple ecosystem and happily live in it, recently upgrading to a new M1 MacBook. B/c I have always found ways to make it work, and b/c I have so much already invested in that ecosystem, I am willing to try and make it work again. Along the way am glad to give a little more incentive to the astronomy developers to make things work across platforms.??I don¡¯t mind workarounds, am glad for helpful hints and don't mind supportive cautions...?
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¡¤??????Question: If you go down the AP rabbit hole, do you have to go all the way to the bottom???I was talking to a vendor this past week, and we got into this discussion. He described his own observatory to me, well supplied with devices and very good OTA¡¯s, all set up and ready to go.??Then he told me that these days when he goes out and rolls back the roof, he doesn¡¯t turn anything on. He just pulls up a lawn chair and grabs a set of binoculars and sits back and looks up. No scopes, no capture, no post- processing¡ His comment was that years ago he didn¡¯t get into this in order to spend hours and hours on setup, capture and post-processing. He got into it to look heavenward. Yep, I thought, me too. There is something about the immediacy of being out under the stars that I treasure, and do not want to lose to hours working with setups and a computer...?
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So a question: Can I get into AP a ¡®little bit¡¯, still spending most of my time looking up? I realize that the end product (AP photos) would suffer, but my enjoyment (speaking of my own interests here and realizing that others have very different interests) will likely be linked to the time I spend outdoors. Any suggestions for stopping places on the journey down the rabbit hole?
