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JamesF

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Posts posted by JamesF

    All sky Raspberry setup with Altair Astro camera?

    in DIY Astronomer

    Posted

    21 hours ago, kmaslin said:

    Thanks James - it can see something under lsusb as MSC, and can identify altair178c3 in message tail

    But still new to raspian and can't figure out how to run oacapture - a zip file has downloaded but what now? I try to install and nothing seems to happen?

    Also the libaltaircam file won't download?

    That it shows up in lsusb is a good sign.  Not sure where the zip file comes from though.  I think the source code is the only file that's ever produced as a zip.

    Not sure why you can't download the files.  I wonder if it's something to do with HTTP vs. HTTPS.  Can you try downloading these:

    https://www.openastroproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/raspbian-10/oacapture_1.8.0-1_armhf.deb

    https://www.openastroproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/raspbian-10/libaltaircam_1.47.17497-1_armhf.deb

    If you already have INDI installed (for example) then you may not need the second one.

    It may be that the download process will automatically prompt you to install them which is fine.  Otherwise they can be installed from the current directory using the command 

      $ sudo dpkg -i oacapture_1.8.0-1_armhf.deb libaltaircam_1.47.17497-1_armhf.deb

    (just leave the second one out if you don't need it) or you can probably install them from the file browser if that's easier (I'm a very long-term UNIX/Linux geek, so I still tend to use the command line for everything :)

    James

    All sky Raspberry setup with Altair Astro camera?

    in DIY Astronomer

    Posted

    I've definitely tried Altair cameras on the RPi, though not specifically the 178.

    First thing is probably to check that the RPi actually sees the camera as connected.  If you enter "lsusb" at the command line you should get a list of connected USB devices back.  I think for the Altair 178C you should see a line containing "ID 0547:4000" if it has connected ok.  The output of "dmesg | tail" immediately after plugging the camera in might prove informative, too.

    If you do see that the camera is connected then perhaps it's worth installing oacapture and the Altair library (if you've not already done the latter) from here:

      https://www.openastroproject.org/downloads/

    to see if that works.  If oacapture does work then the allsky code probably needs a closer look.  If oacapture doesn't work either then I may be able to move you forward a bit.

    James

    Shocking price rises!!??

    in The Astro Lounge

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, dobblob said:

    I hope we can now see decreasing prices because of this or is my naivety showing?

    Showing?!  Sounds like it might have a big neon sign over the top saying "Get your naivety here" whilst a full marching band complete with majorettes parade around it playing "When the saints go marching in" :D

    James

    • Like 1
    • Haha 6

    Tecnosky FPL-53 ED Doublet

    in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, John said:

    I'd love to be able to understand these charts !

    I didn't understand it either, so I've tried to do a quick bit of research.

    The lines represent different wavelengths of light, which I'm sure you've already understood.  It looks to me as though the horizontal scale is a measure of the deviation from the "correct" focal length of the actual focal point of that wavelength.  The vertical scale appears to be the percentage of the pupil radius at which the measurement was taken, because the position of focus of any given frequency may vary across the focal plane.

    I guess ideally you want the lines to be as close together as possible over as wide a range as possible for the best image.

    James

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 3

    What did the postman bring?

    in The Astro Lounge

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

    Today I received a couple of jigsaws. Each are 1000 pcs.  One is astro related.

    Impressive.  The ISS is in orbit above Mars, the shuttle is landing on the Moon, astronauts are racing moon buggies and the Earth appears to be responsible for the hole in the middle of NGC6369 :D

    At least the comet tails are pointing away from the Sun :)

    James

    • Haha 3

    ST120 with dual speed focuser asi224

    in Getting Started With Imaging

    Posted

    The colour correction on the ST120 is not brilliant by the way (as you'll almost certainly know if you've used it to view the Moon, for example).  I imagine you'll find that stars are a bit bloated as a result.  If that's what you've got to work with however, then that's what you've got to work with, so give it a try and see how you get on.

    James

    • Thanks 1

    ST120 with dual speed focuser asi224

    in Getting Started With Imaging

    Posted

    Ok.  From the back edge of the main tube (not the focuser adapter) to the camera sensor is about 235mm in my case, or alternatively it's about 600mm from the join between the dew shield and the lens cell.  I added a 60mm (T2, I think) drawtube extension to reach focus after removing the clamp and 2" to 1.25" converter that is normally on the end of the drawtube (I think that's what's normally on the end of the drawtube -- I no longer have the stock focuser on my ST120, but I believe in that respect they're the same).  My preference is to have everything screwed together rather than clamped in place by a few screws with the potential to drop out or not be square to the optical axis.

    James

    Last Night Lowest temperature since 1955?

    in The Astro Lounge

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, DAVE AMENDALL said:

    Like many others, I have a C11xlt permanently sited  under a dome. Last night was so cold the main mirror was fogged up on inspection this morning. I don't think a dew heater would have made much difference even if it had been on all night. Any comments welcome.......Dave

    No, I don't think dew heaters would have made any difference there.  The problem surely has to be water vapour in the warmer air inside the OTA condensing on the mirror as it cools even further?  Fans to keep exchanging the air in the OTA with ambient might help, but even then the mirror can presumably cool even further because it's facing the open sky.

    James

    Driving Multiple Kits with Kstars/Ekos?

    in DIY Astronomer

    Posted

    Just now, kbrown said:

    Another hacky way to get around the potential config clash problem might be to run the other Kstars session under a different user. That way they would have completely separate configs...

    I quite like this as a possible method.  More than using two virtual machines, anyhow.  It makes the configuration etc. easier to copy/back up if you want to upgrade or something.

    There is also a "virtual X server" application that effectively appears as a display to any applications connected to it.  That might provide a way forward  that doesn't mean switching between virtual consoles.  Possibly it would be easier to get the virtual console method (with two different users) working first however.

    James

    Concrete Advice

    in DIY Observatories

    Posted · Edited by JamesF

    Yeah, I don't think that anything special is required.  For smaller jobs I often get a dumpy bag of 20mm "all in" ballast from the builders merchant (20mm stone down to sand, basically) and use standard cement.  I can't really suggest a mix though I'm afraid.  I tend to throw a dozen large shovels of ballast and half a bag of cement into the mixer and then add a bit more ballast and water until it "looks right" :)

    James

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