I recently got a iOptron SmartEQ Pro+ mount and while setting it up I was confused over the time. Should it be local time and then I set the UTC offset in minutes? What do I do with the DST setting?
One way I found of checking whether my settings is correct is
- Look up the altitude and azimuth coordinates of a bright star like Sirius using a planetarium app
- Command the mount to slew to that star
- On arrival the altitude and azimuth coordinates are displayed on the handset
- Compare the coordinates shown on the handset vs coordinates obtained in step (1). They should match to at least the degree. If not the time and location setting is wrong.
- Tweak settings and repeat from (2) onwards until there is at least degree level agreement between the mount and reference altitude and azimuth coordinates.