AstroHelm

Hi. I have the Pro version, so please keep that in mind as you read this. I have been in the market for a plate solving solution for some months now. I was looking at the Hopper hardware/software solution, but it currently costs $325, and I am retired, and money does not grow on trees these days. I am an active member on Cloudy Nights, www.cloudynights.com, and saw where this was announced. I was one of the first to try it. The thing that shocked me is how simple this app makes my viewing. I live under Bortle 5 skies, so I must deal with a lot of light pollution. As a result, my conditions are not ideal for astronomy. I have an old iPhone XR mounted to my OTA with a cell holder. The holder cost me $13. I use Stelarium Mobile Plus on my iPad to access AstroHelm on the cell, and what I see is a crosshair where my scope is pointing in Stellarium. I can search for an object in Stellarium, and I am shown how to move the OTA to my target. It is just that simple. There is an AstroHelm app that can be loaded to an iWatch. It provides visual movement direction even if I am not using the iPad. I have developed the habit of using both the iWatch and the iPad. When I point the OTA to the target I hear a tone and get a haptic response from the watch. I cannot think of anything that could be easier. If you are chasing something like a comet it will likely not be in an object catalog. No problem. Just get the coordinates from a very current source. The upper right of the AstroHelm screen shows the current coordinates the scope is pointed to. Use them to move the scope as needed, and there is your comet. This holds true of double/multiple stars too. Many of the more obscure ones are not in common catalogs. Just look up the coordinates, and move the scope tube based on the coordinate data shown in the upper right. So here is an accounting for my plate solving solution: AstroHelm Pro $30 AstroHelm watch app $0 Cellphone holder $13 Stellarium Mobile Plus $20 (which I already had) I do need to mention AstroHelm Pro will also work with SkySafari in place of Stellarium Plus. Not sure of the version required, sorry. So in my case I spent $43 to acquire a very easy to use plate solving solution using an old iPhone I had sitting around. This makes a LOT more sense to me than spending $325. And it just works.