StevieDvd

Is the Broccoli Cluster near that bright star Veg A?

The mini does not report the output voltages on the app like the Plus does.

5 hours ago, Celerondon said:

Does the ASIAIR Mini really lack the power management features that the Plus has?  I thought that it merely lacked the indicator lamps.  I have a Plus so I cannot check. Doesn’t the ASI app allow software control of the four 12 volt ports like it would on any other ASIAIR device?  On my Plus I can control the current supplied to an attached dew heater.  It is difficult to tell from the feature comparison chart on the ZWO website if the Mini can do this as well.

Don

The mini does not support the output voltage (as per the table on the bottom of the page you linked).

Easier to learn from one of the many  videos on youtube like this one

Remember it uses the main camera to PA so best to get focus sorted first. Then it's the PA button that most people don't spot and expect to be the first screen, I guess that's because they forget it needs to be focussed first.

Seems an odd way of comparing sizes when the suited figure is larger than the earth, sitting in a city on a planet bigger than the massive suns illustrated.  It's own moon and logically it's own star are even bigger. And with all that it's a bit dusky.

Maybe I'm taking it too literally 😁

A lot of the discussions on this have veered off on the side of an over engineered design/cost for what can be a simple tripod substitute. Of course if you are building an observatory, that's going to shelter a massive mount and scope payload, and you are working/walking about in, then design for that. But using the same argument for the more modest setups just seems to suggest that certain piers, retail or diy, are not up to the purpose.

I think the cheap tripods provided in a mount package are more of an issue for most.

You can source the parts and build a diy one, all depends on your skills, tools you have and availability of the parts.

A rough guide on costs can be worked out here as they sell all the parts execpt the camera (usually a ZWO one is suggested) . If you check the prices for the case/dome etc they have obviously added their own profit margin so some can be sourced a little cheaper elsewhere. For clarity I have not purchased from them personally.

There are some others on the forum who have built their own and 3d printed the cases.

Working for me.

Polar Alignment

You are using tools/hardware/software to align the central RA axis with the North/South Celestial Poles depending on which hemisphere you are in. The manual method is to level your tripod and having it facing North (or South if you are in southern hemisphere) set the Altitude for your location and align the mount using the polarscope (if fitted).  From now on I'll just use North as an example.

You can also do this with the handset, it's in the  handset synscanHandset.pdfmanual, by a repetitive process of re-centering an alignment star (not Polaris).

Home Position

A start point for your setup by putting the mount in a known position. Typically the weights bar pointing down and towards (North) and the scope vertical and pointed towards polaris via the altitude setting for your location.  Your HEQ5 is a goto mount and has a handset that needs a rough starting position (it will assume it is set correctly) and it makes it's goto changes by adding/subtracting the number of degrees in RA/DEC based on the home position.  The home position is difficult to set accurately so the goto computer (the handset) can ask  you to make a goto and adjust it if not central in your view. These are stored for the session as 'corrections' . As mentoned above the PA process can be fine tuned by doing a goto and adjusting the Alt/Az screws which move the mount without affecting the current computer stored position.

As long as you let the handset know, you can have a different home position - perhaps with the scope horizontal instead.

Visual Use

You don't need to go overboard on the PA  a rough one is usually good enough.

Imaging

You are likely to need a good PA so that the target does not move during shortish exposures. Longer exposures need very good PA and possiby a guide camera (something to look at later when the basics are mastered). But software can be used to help you with PA and imaging - SharpCap comes to mind as good starter for both.

Any questions just ask, there are plenty who still use polarscopes and avoid computers and can image just fine. Some of us don't have polarscopes fitted and rely on software.  So there should be help which ever way your preferred usage takes you.

In Yoda voice:

"Furlong time have I metric been using."

Give me an inch and I'll take 1.60934km 😁

The DEC motor is used to perform the goto or motorised movement dictated by a handset/computer.  For visual users it would keep a target centred, for imaging and remote users it does the tracking and centering of new targets.

Tracking of moon, sun & planets use a special tracking routine as they are not as 'simple' as the astro (sidereal tracking).

I trust the addition of the cabling will be done to the same high standards.  Will it be connected to an on or off mount computer?

Not so clear here.  Slight chance of spiders.

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

I didn't have the patience to wade through 1.5 hours of video, but does the device kick out the finished image in real time or does it require significant post-processing work?  That, and did all the software used come with it with full online support for beginners?

The Dwarf II will do a rudimentary stacked image for those who just want to view the image on their phone/pad. That will also allow a stacked image to be saved to the phone/pad as well.

Fits files are also saved and can be copied from the sd-card (via the USB-c port in MTP mode.  This is what Cuiv did, these are then stacked using free software and post processed in Siril/Gimp and as a contrast via Siril/Pixinsight. If yo go to the end part of the video you'll see both images.

Most of the tutorials are online and Dwarf have a community forum. No software other than the ios/android apps are provided.

From using ZWO Asiair products that's about the same support that the ZWO Seestar will likely come with.

These products are aimed at the new to astro image capture (mainly EAA) and has features that the more advanced users can access to post process.

I have actually bought the Dwarf II as it fits a niche for me for portability and as an existing astro imager I want to get the best from it once back home.

Given the price of the ZWO it may be a good buy, but I bought the Dwarf as it has been reviewed/updated by a shed load of reviewers and the discount was available intil just recently. The reviews of the ZWO are mainly based on the specs and a few Facebook images,  and if the support/updates for the ZWO are anything like the Asiair changes then I would not be happy to take the plunge with it so early.

As it stands the Dwarf software is still a little unstable but usable, but they are quick to fix/improve the firmware. The Android app updates are ahead of the IOS app - but I expect that's because apple have more stringent acceptance procedures for changes.

And as for other astro purchases, these too seem to invoke cloudy skies.🤔

I think we need a 'Like very much' button now, for these.

Have a look at what can be achieved with it , albeit with post processing here, by Cuiv The Lazy Geek

I have my Allsky based setup running now. Using a Raspberry Pi4 4GB and ASI 290MC camera and running the thomasjacquin/allsky on Raspbian OS

It's saving images and creating the Timelapse & Keogram - not sure about the startrails but 2 images of clouds were saved for that.

Any tips on exposure settings, not worried about daylight capture it's the night captures I want to save. Unless I'm doing something wrong the daytime exposure settings seem to affect the night ones (based on the warning shown on the live view once changes are made.

I also need to orient the camera a bit better to make the most of the image size.

Current view - cloudy as can be expected.

I found this on CloudyNights forum

The same unit but with Celestron badge. It has a longer white lead so it is probably for the aerial, though I don't know if that would the one you have or if it should be soldered to anything.

But in any case that would not be likely to stop it all working.  Are you sure the +/- leads are connected to the battery correctly?  I can't say for sure but the images in the link look like the red positive lead is on the right and yours looks like a black lead. Though the cabling may have changed since that CN post.

It probably would not have solder on the bare end if it was for a radio aerial. There is a youtube video for a lower model that shows 2 white wires but the circuit boards differ from your model.  Perhaps a deeper google for someone who has opened the same model will give you a better idea.

As @malc-c has mentioned above check wht port gets set in device manager. You can plug just the usb eqmod lead in to your computer to see the port get activated/deactivate and note the com port number assigned and use that in EQmod instead of the auto option.

This is more likely a download needed for the eqmod cable. They come in several guises, the cheaper ones can be problematic and a false economy.

There are 2 types of chipsets they use, the FTDI (best) which can store the com ports last used, and the Prolific which used to be cloned a few years back.

Not known for them to be anything but free, I would not expect to pay for a driver for the HEQ5 anyway.

If you plug in your eqmod cable can you see if it appears in the device manager correctly. From there you can also see which chipset it uses.

Steve

12 hours ago, Oxize said:

I want tis EAF also eventually on my 62ED. But i dont want to have the EAF on the fine focus know. I want it like Stevie. Can that be reached with all parts which you get from ZWO EAF?

It should be okay.  Based on how @mamenyaka fitted it using the EAF box contents.  But I would double-check that the box screws fit in the tension screw holes wthout touching the recessed allen heads of the tension screws.

The coupler will protrude a bit more but the bracket should still fit if you use the same as @mamenyaka but on the coarse focuser side.  I bought the Tak/Esprit adapter as I wanted to avoid any issue with the tension screws - if I did it again I'd remove the fine focuser knob as it's not usable with the EAF fitted.

The bigger problem is likely to be that the scope won't fit in the case whichever way you do it.

Yes you could get a Stellarmate or Astroberry setup. They both use the same Opensource platform that ZWO uses, the ZWO has restricted theirs to own brand equipment.

Astroberry is free and runs on your own Raspberry Pi

Stellarmate has a small fee for the OS only and is coming out with some very nice equipment which makes the Asiair pale in feature connections.

You can also run Astroberry/Stellarmate on the AsiAir Pro as the OS is on the sd-card for that model.

The Mini is a bit more basic apart from the lack of USB3 ports. Missing the network, usb-s port, sd-card port and power management the Plus has, and has a less powerful cpu.

I would rather go for the AsiAir Pro than the mini as it uses an sd-card so can easily be used with other Linux astro software. I mainly use the AsiAir Plus at the moment but am keeping my Pro.

But if you want to give the AsiAir Mini a try there's one listed on AstroBuySell for £165

Would it be advisable to have that access rule reflected in the code of conduct to avoid confusion?