Index

Collaborate with Third Party Software

SynScan App can work with some third party apps to control mount.

To let a third party app that supports SynScanLink control mount:

  1. Perform mount alignment in SynScan App.
  2. On the same device, switch to the third party app. Choose “SynScanLink” in the connection setting, then connect.

Supported apps:

By Tethering to SynScan App

With tethering, the third party app and SynScan App run at the same time, and maintain communication between themselves using TCP/UDP connections. The two apps can run on different devices, or they can run on the same device, with an exception on iOS:

Third party app on another device Third party app on same device
SynScan App on iOS Yes No
SynScan App on Android or Windows Yes Yes

SynScan app will only allow third party app to tether to it after SynScan app had connected to the mount.

On Windows, ensure that you have not blocked app’s ability to run a network server, for example, in Windows Firewall settings.

When another app tethers to SynScan app, you must ensure that SynScan app continues to run and communicate with the mount, as detailed in [Maintaining Long Running Task].

Parameters to Enter in Third Party App

Enter SynScan App’s IP address into the third party app:

Additional parameters depend on the type of protocol used:

SynScan App ASCOM Driver

ASCOM platform is a very widely used telescope control interface used by many third party planetarium or autoguider apps on Windows. In this setup, a third party app supporting ASCOM (i.e. an ASCOM client) sends its requests to ASCOM platform which forward the requests to SynScan app, and SynScan app then communicates with the mount.

For ASCOM client to use this setup, the SynScan App ASCOM Driver must be installed on the Windows computer where the ASCOM client is. You can download this driver from http://www.skywatcher.com/download/software/ascom-driver/. After install, the ASCOM client can choose SynScan App Driver (previously called SynScanMobile Telescope) from ASCOM’s dialog “ASCOM Telescope Chooser” for connecting to SynScan app.

Note that SynScan App Driver is distinct from SkyWatcher Telescope, which is another driver that is used with the SynScan hand controller.

By default, the driver searches for SynScan app in the network. If searching fails or if you wish to have driver connect to SynScan app quicker, enter the IP of the device running SynScan app in the properties dialog of SynScan App ASCOM driver.

Developer Resources

Resources for developer can be found at http://www.skywatcher.com/download/manual/application-development/

Where: