Green Swamp Software

Point3D

Point3D guide

Point3D shows a 3D model of your telescope that follows the position reported by any Windows ASCOM telescope driver or hub, such as GS Server. Use it to see at a glance where the mount is pointing and which side of the pier the telescope is on.

Point3D main window

Requirements

  • Windows with the ASCOM Platform installed.
  • An ASCOM telescope driver or hub for a German equatorial mount. Point3D reads the driver's alignment mode when it connects and shows "AlignmentMode not supported" for alt-az and polar (fork) mounts.
  • The driver's site latitude. Point3D uses it to tilt the model to your latitude and to switch to the southern hemisphere compass and axis directions when the latitude is negative.

Download Point3D from the Downloads page.

Getting started

  1. Start Point3D and click the three bars at the top left to open the settings.
  2. Click Select to open the ASCOM Chooser, and choose your telescope driver or hub.
  3. Click the telescope button to connect. Its badge shows when Point3D is connected.
  4. Close the settings. The model now follows the mount.

The telescope button is also at the top of the main window, so you can connect and disconnect without opening the settings. Turn on Auto connect to connect to the selected telescope every time Point3D starts.

Point3D connects as another ASCOM client, so it can run at the same time as your planetarium, guiding and imaging programs.

The 3D view

Use the mouse to look at the model from any direction:

  • Rotate: drag with the right mouse button.
  • Zoom: use the mouse wheel, or drag with Ctrl and the right mouse button.
  • Pan: drag with the middle mouse button, or with Shift and the right mouse button.

Point3D remembers the view when it closes. Click the Reset Perspective button at the top right of the view to go back to the default view.

The compass under the mount shows north and south. Point3D uses the southern hemisphere compass when the telescope's latitude is south of the equator.

Information card

The information card at the top left of the view shows the telescope's position, updated at the update interval:

  • RA and Dec: right ascension and declination.
  • Az and Alt: azimuth and altitude.
  • LHA: local hour angle.
  • PierSide: the side of the pier the telescope is on.
  • Sidereal: local sidereal time.
  • RA° and Dec°: the angles of the mount's RA and Dec axes, in degrees.

Click the Edit (pencil) button on the card to turn it over and choose which items to show. Besides the items above, you can show the telescope's Name (the driver's description) and two 3D view helpers: Camera, which shows the camera position and direction, and Cube, a view cube you can click to look from the front, back, top or a side. Click the arrow to turn the card back.

To hide the card altogether, turn off Flip Card in the settings.

Settings

Click the three bars at the top left to open the settings. Changes are saved straight away.

  • Telescope: Select opens the ASCOM Chooser. The selected driver is shown next to it.
  • Connect: connects to or disconnects from the selected telescope.
  • Auto connect: connects to the selected telescope when Point3D starts.
  • Interval (ms): how often Point3D asks the driver for the position, from 20 to 5000 milliseconds. The default is 100. Use a longer interval to put less load on a slow connection.
  • Light / Dark: the window theme.
  • Primary and Accent: the window colors.
  • Model: the telescope shown on the mount: Default, Reflector, Refractor, Schmidt-Cassegrain, Ritchey-Chrétien or Ritchey-Chrétien Truss.
  • Language: English (en-US) or French (fr-FR).
  • Flip Card: shows or hides the information card.
  • Offsets (RA and Dec): rotate the model's RA and Dec axes by -90° to +90°. Use them if the model's home position doesn't match the way your mount reports its home position.

The check box in the window's title bar keeps Point3D on top of other windows, which is useful when it shares the screen with other astronomy programs.

Logs

Point3D writes a log to the Documents\GSPoint3D folder. Logs older than 7 days are deleted when Point3D starts. Include the log when you ask for help.

Troubleshooting

  • "No telescope selected": click Select in the settings and choose a telescope driver before connecting.
  • "AlignmentMode not supported": the driver reports an alt-az or polar (fork) mount. Point3D only supports German equatorial mounts.
  • The model points the wrong way: check the site latitude in your telescope driver, then adjust the RA and Dec offsets if needed.
  • The model has disappeared or is out of view: click Reset Perspective.

For anything else, ask on the GSS forum or see the Support page.