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Astro on Mac

Davey-T

By Davey-T
in Discussions - Software

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Davey-T

Davey-T

Posted
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I have been offered a Mac book not sure which one but it has a CD drive and is a current model.

As Microsoft has just wasted another few hours of my life I'm thinking of trying astro on it if possible.

I see Nick and James are having a hack at stuff but does any astro software run on the Mac.

Currently using PHD with SSAG and Loadstar,  Maxim, Artemis Capture with two Atik cameras, Fire Capture, Pipp, Autostakkert, PG B'Fly, Canon DSLR's

ASCOM 6.1 and other stuff .

Dave

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D4N

D4N

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There are quite a few native apps but some you will either need to use Wine or a VM to access.

I use PHD2, OACapture, PI, Gimp 2.9, Pixelmator & CdC natively.

I use AS!2 in wine.

Everything else I use a VM of XP to run.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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D4N

D4N

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Wine isn't really an emulator and doesn't run windows, it just provides a windows API. After a program is initially set up there is no need to do any updates as windows won't actually be running.

If you use a VM then you might need to do updates depending on how you use it. If you restrict its internet access via the host and just move the required files via a shared folder then there isn't really much point updating it. If you allow it to connect to the Internet them you will need to treat it like a normal PC and update it.

TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro.

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alfingido

alfingido

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Don't know if you worked this out yet, but the Option key is the alt key ( alternative = option!)

Voiceover settings are in System preferences > Accessibility > voiceover.

You can also toggle voiceover on/off using the "cmd" key and "f5"........probably.....

Allan

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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Don't know if you worked this out yet, but the Option key is the alt key ( alternative = option!)

Voiceover settings are in System preferences > Accessibility > voiceover.

You can also toggle voiceover on/off using the "cmd" key and "f5"........probably.....

Allan

Yes thankyou, sussed it all out, even managed to get rid of the row of giant icons along the bottom of the screen, still got to astro it yet :)

Dave

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NickK

NickK

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Negative, but TheSkyX handles lots and there's RegiStax and a few others inc StarkLabs, StarryNights, . It's always helpful to refer here for us People Of The Mac...

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/SOFTWARE.HTM

http://www.macastronomy.com/MacAstronomy.com/Software.html

I'm rewriting a new X2 mac plugin for TheSkyX.. the previous one used my OS X drivers but someone else wrote the plugin but there was a few serious issues with it. I'm currently working with the ATIK and Software Bisque folks to get this done - timeline is late January.. The plugin will then become part of the daily build from SB.

The new portable linx/osx driver took it's first image this morning with the 383L and Titan - although 'new' the heart of the code is the same as the long standing OS X Drivers.. but progress is in my ATIK OS X Driver's thread.. so I'll not mess this thread up :)

Craig (Stark of Nebulosity) has the OS X version of Nebulosity working with the drivers without this and is using the normal OS X drivers. I've been in contact with Craig a lot around support for legacy cameras and to test the latest Nebulosity 3 builds with the cameras I have. 

I'm sure that James will take the portable mac/linux driver (part of the plugin work) and add it to his application too.. along with a few others :) (INDI etc)

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cfpendock

cfpendock

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I have always used VMware Fusion to run XP on my Macbook, specifically because most astro software seems to be written for Windows.  As D4N says above, I normally switch off the internet in the windows system, and transfer files by a shared folder between Mac and Wndows.  It means I never have to update (no longer possible anyway with XP), and I don't need any antivirus software which always seems to take a lot of power.  The XP just works and is super reliable…….

Chris

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Gonzo

Gonzo

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There is also Siril

http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril

Mac install:

http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril:install#Installing_on_MacOS

I've installed it, it works quite well (despite a few minor crashes...), just need to learn how to use it correctly as the documentation is scarce.

Doc: http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril:Manual

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NickK

NickK

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There is also Siril

http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril

Mac install:

http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril:install#Installing_on_MacOS

I've installed it, it works quite well (despite a few minor crashes...), just need to learn how to use it correctly as the documentation is scarce.

Doc: http://free-astro.vinvin.tf/index.php/Siril:Manual

Only down side is that everything is 16 bit.. except for stacking.. so if you stack or use processing it could result in the image loosing data or worse being scaled to fit.

For example: 16bbp images in, then processed to correct the images through deconvolution could increase the image to a larger scale - resulting in a 24 or even 64bbp or larger image. Attempting to process could result in a problem.

Although GPUs are 32bit FP, this has both the mantissa and exponent with the number being represented in a 2^ format so the accuracy is never entirely there.. So like this - only if you're doing integer will you have a accurate representation .. but then you need to expand the range for intermediate values to make the result better..

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NickK

NickK

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Is there any consensus on which version of Windows to run on the Mac for astro use ?

Dave

I've run XP under VM - it works.. so does Windows 7 under VM however virtual box causes issues (i.e single CPU for usb and random crashes). At the moment I have bootcamp with Windows 7 64bit.

Parallels gets expensive.. it seems each release needed for OS X releases requires an upgrade fee.. so you're paying on a regular basis. So I stopped using parallels. It works but on principal that they forced the need to pay without even warning that an OS X update would require a new paid update..

There's a lot of OS X/cross platform packages out there.

Natively on OS X 10.10.1 I have:

* Nebulosity 2 (I have tried 3 and it's faster)

* PixInsight

* TheSkyX Professional + Camera addon (On loan for development)

* My own software

In terms of capture - at the moment I'm using the handset on the EQ6 as my runs tend to be short.

I'm hoping shortly that I can use Nebulosity/PHD capture with my cameras.. also give TheSkyX a try out.

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Davey-T

Davey-T

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As this thing (Mac Book Pro) has a good battery life and 13" screen I shall probably use it solely for portable image capturing instead of the 14" HP that has an abysmal battery life which means I have to plug it into my power supply.

Will need ASCOM , Artemis Capture and PHD2 as minimum.

Dave

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