APT - Astrophotography Tool - Jupiter and DSO

[MeSeany]

Having just bought my Canon 1200D - which I intend to use for both planet and deep space photos - I thought it wise to download APT.

I choose APT over BackyardEOS since the reviews seemed to pitch APT at being harder and more involved but able to deliver more control etc - so I thought it worth my while investing my time into a piece of software that would pay dividends further down the line.

Hope you agree?

Rather than getting carried away Im going to stick with my current project - imaging Jupiter; being a beginner I thought this a good place to start.

I have a couple of questions re APT and hope someone can at least point me in the right direction:

1. Using Cannon as a web camera - imaging Jupiter - using Liveview

I've managed set the 2 basic paraments  - iso and exposure time - which I believe are the only 2 I need worry about when using the canon to image Jupiter.

I then set the nummber of images to say 1000 and click start and wait.

My issues are 2 fold here-

i. it seems to be saving the images as jpg - but Id prefer a 16 bit format for quality? Is jpg good enough for planetary if so Ill leave this setting alone if not which format would you recommend and how do I change it?

ii. once the images are taken - all 1000 of them - I cannot locate where APT stored them? I have a QHY webcam which will take 1000+ images and save the lot as a SER file - ie 1 file.

I want to take 1000 images of Jupiter with my Canon and download them into registax - but I think Im getting confused on how to capture 1000 with my canon and stack them later in registax.

2. Using Cannon for DSO later - taking say 35x 30sec shots

Is there a way to tell APT to take 35x 30sec shots?

Also - the Canon does have a manual mode - but Ive heard Id need the bulb mode for long exposures but I cannot see it on my 1200D? WIll the manual mode do?

I know this is a lot of questions - and I do not expect answers to all - but some pointers would be good.

[Marky1973]

Hi MeSeany! Yes, I would say APT was a good choice, I use it and think it is excellent. And, for the price, and absolute bargain!

I don't use a DSLR for planetary stuff, so don't really know what I am talking about, but I think you would be better using the video mode on your DSLR (if it is suitable) or a webcam as planetary work is usually, and probably more easily done that way. By taking a short (say 90sec) video, you will get (probably) more frames and can then use a programme like AUTOSTAKKERT2 to stack the images and then tweak in REGISTAX

As for the quality of the image, in the main APT screen on the CAMERA tab, there four little drop down boxes - Exp: ISO: Qlty: and AV: - you should be able to set the Qlty setting to what you want, and RAW is in there if that is what you want. I don't know if JPG is any good for planetary, but then I've not done much of that!

When you have taken your images, if APT is set up the same way, there should be a folder called APT_IMAGES on your main HDD, in my case the usual C:Drive. In there, possibly under another folder named for your camera, will be a folder with the date the images were taken - the image files should be in here. Be careful you don't navigate to the thumbnails folder and try stacking them - it is easily done!

Bulb mode on my 1100d can bet set when in Manual mode, just by scrolling through the shutter times until BULB is displayed on screen. Set it on the camera and then plug it into APT and you should be ready to set up a plan - but you can set all this from within APT.

In the main CAMERA tab, under the CONNECT button is a drop down list for plans. Select the LIGHT TEST (I think it was called) and then choose EDIT just to the right to bring up the PLANS EDITOR. If you have loaded the test there will be one line of a plan already on screen, select that one and then just change the parameters on the right for EXP, ISO etc....changing them here will change them in the camera, so just put into APT what you want. The PAUSE option tells APT how long to wait between images, I usually set this for 5 secs, but you may want longer for longer images so that the camera has time to do its stuff in between shots.

You can also change the quality on this screen and, when you are finished, either "OVERWRITE" the existing plan - i.e. replace the one that is already there or you can ADD AS NEW, which will add your new plan to the old one. So you can do one run of 60 images at 90 second and 800ISO for example, or set it up to do that, and then a second run of 40 images at 30 seconds and 400ISO - whatever you need for the target you are after.

Just remember to click one of those buttons to save your plan. I've filled out the details and clicked out without thinking about found I have wasted time taking the wrong number of images of the wrong exposure and ISO.....very annoying! You can also name them different things so you can use them again later when imaging the same target on another night.

Oh, and at the bottom right of the screen, when in the CAMERA tab, there is a box for changing the exposure and also one where you can set where the images are saved - i.e. just on the PC, just on the CAMERA, or in both locations.

I have found APT to be fairly easy to get to grips with - so of the more complex stuff (when I get into guiding) will probably cause more headaches, but you can learn a lot of it from playing with the settings and reading post on SGL.

Good luck!

[MeSeany]

Wow Marky - thats some answers thanks a lot. Ive waited until later to properly go through it.

Im good with it all but would like a couple of points clarifying -

- How do i save the plan - just clock ok once done editing?

- on the plans I can see the exp iso pause count qtly but I'm not sure how you set the length of shot ie 90secs, 30secs etc - I can see bottom right bulb seconds which I presume is the length of shot - but I cant see how to set the length of shot in the plan.

Again - thanks a lot

[MeSeany]

Marky - what a muppet i am - i didnt connect with exposure meaning the duration of the shot - not entirely sure why I didnt make the connection. Think ill stick to etcher-sketch and put my camera away

[Marky1973]

Ha Ha! No problem - its just part part of getting used to the software! But, yes, just add your exposure in seconds into that box and away you go! And, as long as you clck UPDATE CURRENT or ADD AS NEW, you should be saved! Now all you need is a clear night!

[MeSeany]

Hey Marky - clear and not windy - my 8" newt is like a kite

Wonder if the 80mm skywatcher Evo would help.

How do you shield wind re the Dob?

[MeSeany]

Marky tell me about your starwave 70ed - is the aperture enough for dso? Got any images?

[Marky1973]

My 200p is mounted on a Dobsonian base, so I have not imaged with that - think it would probably crush my EQ3-2!

As for the 70ED, I think it is a great little scope. It is all I have used for imaging, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I think it was a good buy as a started scope. I'm still learning, but here are a couple of images I have come up with so far!

A heavily cropped and over-processed Andromeda....not the best target for my set-up, but will go back when I have a better mount and guiding sorted. (NB, I know the title says M42, I just can't be bothered to change it!  )

M81 and M82 cropped 

Orion - cropped

And an uncropped Andromeda frame to show you the scope field of view with my 1100D. It can pick up quite a bit of stuff, I just need to be able to take longer subs!

You can set your scope(s) up in Stellarium and project a suitably sized rectangle onto the screen to show you what you can fit.

[MeSeany]

Wow Marky - some great shots ill have to take a look at that 70ed. Hey - imagine a 5 min x 30 guided subs woah !!

Ive got stellarium and can connect my mount eq5 pro but the mount does not move when I click on a stellarium object.

[Pyrodave]

If I remember right in stellarium you click on an object to select it then press ctrl and 1 to slew 

HTH

[MeSeany]

If I remember right in stellarium you click on an object to select it then press ctrl and 1 to slew 

HTH

I tried all that

[Marky1973]

Wow Marky - some great shots ill have to take a look at that 70ed. Hey - imagine a 5 min x 30 guided subs woah !!

Ive got stellarium and can connect my mount eq5 pro but the mount does not move when I click on a stellarium object.

Ha, I guess you didn't look for long!  Have fun with the ED80!

[MeSeany]

Ha, I guess you didn't look for long!  Have fun with the ED80!

Ive been looking for several minutes - sorry weeks - actually Ive been looking for a long time - spotted this guys blog and his results are amazing so thought Id follow him