Dark Raven

4 hours ago, MichaelBibby said:

Can I use the Uranus-C as a guide camera with PHD2? Can anyone see any reasons why not?

Although certainly possible, the PH2 author recommends that mono camera be used for guiding. 

You can find his presentations on YT by searching for "bruce waddington phd2"

On 11/11/2022 at 21:55, Marvin Jenkins said:

Are you speaking a language that no one understands?

Use a small, cheap PC mounted on your telescope or mount instead of running long cables. After that, you can control it remotely.

Good for you. 👍  Enjoy.

I will be there as soon as they come out with sub 3 um APS-C camera.

20 hours ago, MG01 said:

Do people just leave their focus control units at the scope and operate only via the PC?  Or is my situation more complex because I'm using older tech?

Yes. Time to upgrade.

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/eaf-5v

https://pegasusastro.com/products/motor-focus-kit-v2-universal/

https://eu.primalucelab.com/esatto-2/esatto-2-robotic-microfocuser.html?RgExcludeLocationDetection=true

16 hours ago, MG01 said:

Would this reduce noise in the dc signal

Yes, it will. However, this kind of noise, although present, is not your primary noise concern. Far greater noise influence will come from thermal and sky glow. Data / power separation is done (mostly but not exclusively) to mitigate data dropouts or equipment disconnects during (slewing) power spikes.

16 hours ago, MG01 said:

Previously I have run my power flex and usb (now ethernet) in a shared braided sleeving to help with cable management, but sounds like this should be avoided?

Yes, at all costs.

16 hours ago, MG01 said:

Would it help if I used shielded ethernet cable?

Yes

16 hours ago, MG01 said:

Although I'm not clear on how to terminate the shielding

How To: Terminate a Shielded Cat6/Cat6A Standard Load Bar RJ45 Connect (truecable.com) or buy readymade shielded cables.

4 hours ago, MG01 said:

I would still need to rig up some power distribution

PRODUCTS – Power and Data Distribution – Pegasus Astro

4 hours ago, MG01 said:

One concern I did have about the minipc was that I've had significant amounts of dew on my mount before and would be concerned about them getting wet.  Especially the Eagle you linked...its covered in holes!

MiniPCs from MeLE are passively cooled. Meaning that they are far above dew temp at any point in time. Eagle is AP dedicated HW and (any normal amount) dew should not impact it. 

You do not need longer cables, you need acquisition mini PC at mount or OTA. You could go for MiniPCs from MeLE that accept NVMe SSD: Quieter3Q N5105 8GB 256GB. Make sure to go with Pro version of the OS in order to allow for remote-in. Don't forget, winter is coming. ❄❄❄

Patriot Astro has three-part YT series on this exact topic where he tests hardware and goes through the entire Astro SW setup. 

BTW, do yourself a favour and bin the ZWO cabels. Buy proper ones.

23 hours ago, MG01 said:

if bundling all the cables together (12v lines, ethernet and/or USB) is going to cause problems.  Should I make sure they are separated?

Yes, always. Not just in AP equipment but as a general rule. Also, upgrade your data cables. If you have ZWO cameras, bin those flat cables and get proper ones.

You can also Peltier cool DSLR/M with Tilta’s Canon EOS R5, R6 cooling fan. 

And you can Peltier cool uncooled planetary AP cameras with Black Shark Magnetic Cooler

Neither will be as good as a dedicated cooled AP camera but it may help if you are already invested in DSLR/M or planetary cameras.

I tested the second option, and you can hardly beat the price.

There is a mid-way between cooled and uncooled AP cameras. One could use uncooled back illuminated AP camera like ZWO ASI533MM/MC and combine it with Smartphone cooler. Main reason I use it is weight optimisation. I am a mobile imager and I have to travel to dark sites without any access to AC. Having all my gear in backpack limits the weight I can carry. This is of course a compromise, as you can't exactly reproduce the same temperature in order to take advantage of dark libraries, but you still get somewhat cooled sensor.

For now, I get by with 2.4 kg LiFePO4 12 V 18 Ah Battery. Using dedicated cooled AP camera would drastically increase power requirements and subsequently battery weight. Some tests and results are here on forum. In short, you will not be near dedicated AP cameras and 36W cooling but you could get up to -10 'C compared to ambient.
It can get your camera nice and frosty.

To simplify your setup, you could go for MiniPCs from MeLE that accept NVMe SSD: Quieter3Q N5105 8GB 256GB. Make sure to go with Pro version of the OS in order to allow for remote-in. Patriot Astro has three-part series on this exact topic where he tests hardware and goes through entire Astro SW setup. He is also good source of instructional videos on N.I.N.A.

How reliable are they? It appears quite a lot. Cuiv, The Lazy Geek left his setup ON for nine (9!) months, came back and just casually picked up where he left off.

This would enable you to have everything on 12V and remote-in from indoors. Perhaps start with this as the initial step. 

PrimaLuceLab Eagles are far superior, and cost accordingly.  

17 hours ago, StevieDvd said:

And a little googling shows the insides of the mini in this Internal-Photos-6169166.pdf(PDF from ZWO)

And in summary if you don't read the PDF the Asiair Mini has 2 bespoke ZWO boards with a Rockchip RV1126 processor

Cool find! Thank you for this. 👍 I stand corrected, totally custom board. This makes even more sense. They are distancing themself from Raspberry PI Foundation supply bottleneck.  

Don't get me wrong, I DO think it is overall a "lesser" product. 

25 minutes ago, powerlord said:

can't really see the problem they are try to solve tbh

It is probably "the art of possible" regarding the demand at the current point in time with supply chain disruption. Thing to remember is that ZWO is not OEM, they are system integrator. In contrast to Canon that develops their own CMOS sensors, control boards, housings and optics. ZWO integrates from other OEMs on the market. CMOS from Sony, CM4s from Raspberry PI Foundation with their SW (well parts of it at least). Similar situation in car industry ATM, get your car without the touch screen infotainment now or pay now and wait 8 to 10 months for it.

33 minutes ago, powerlord said:

For stuff like focusing, PAing

This on the other hand is thing of optimising acquisition process. I learned that when I was starting with my old Canon DSLR that had only USB 2.0. Way around that is to bin X2 or even X3 for PA and use Bathinov mask for focus.

As to storage, it appears to be a limit of RPI CM4 (32 GB), it leaves approx. 20 GB for subs and there is USB C for offloading. ZWO ASI2600 has files approx. 52 MB. To fill 20 GB you could take 350 lights with 30 flats, and if you average 3 min per sub you are over 17 hours of lights exposure per night. For darks and biases, you build calibration library. Although with back illuminated 2600, darks are of questionable value.

My point, where there is a will, there is a way. But you are perfectly right in stating that this is not advancement, and it is a step back in fact. I do not expect any significant advancement till CM5 is on the market. There is no question that USB 3.0 is far more convenient, and I would not go back. Life is soooo much easier with AA+.

13 minutes ago, powerlord said:

Alll usb2 - why ?

Chip shortage and satisfying demand. Perfectly fine for DSO and nightscapes, only thing that is not suitable for is planetary / solar imaging.

From technical perspective it is most likely just RPI Compute Module 4 (CM4) without USB/Ethernet hub chip. Size and features seem to mach. CM4 natively supports eMMC storage, external antenna, USB 2.0 only. PCI Express lane that is (in ZWO case) used for USB/ETH hub seems not to be used. In AA+, hub is shared between USB and Ethernet, hence only 2 USB 3.0 ports.

Below is CM4 shown with the antenna on the first photo and (one of many) CM4 adapter board on the second.

You can nicely see the internals of different generations below.

On top there is original ASiair which is "nothing else" but stock RPI3 with control software.
In the middle there is ASIAIR PRO, basically RPI4 with proprietary 12v distribution board seen on the right. Given that RPI4 has no external antenna connector this was the main cause of poor WIFI connectivity.
On the bottom there is ASIAIR PLUS, essentially CM4 in proprietary carrier board that integrates USB/ETH hub and 12V power distribution board.

Interesting thing about ASIAIR PRO is that 12V power distribution board can be bought separately, and even combined with Stellarmate.

I was heading this route, but Stellarmate got me frustrated and with RPI4 price hike, I just gave up and bought AA+. Do not get me wrong Stellarmate is powerful and capable peace of acquisition software, it was my impatience and lack of time that got me to ZWO. I still use it for my secondary rig. I have not regrated switching to ZWO for a second.

BTW Stellarmate has developed a monster of AP controller kit that is on hold due to chip shortage. IMHO they should optimize the footprint of the board for easier mounting.

For ZWO, introducing ASIAIR Mini makes perfect sense in current point in time. Due to chip shortage, they have modified their product in order to fulfil the demand (with simpler and cheaper device) and they keep you nicely locked within their ecosystem. Quite smart from their perspective.

50 minutes ago, Elp said:

Seems like a result. Has the BS funcooler got a TEC built in?

What if you get condensation/frost build up on the sensor?

Both coolers have TEC Peltier elements, visible in the teardown videos linked below. 

For now, it appears to be external build-up of condensation, a bit stronger than regular dew. No evidence of dripping. I make sure to wipe the camera before storing it away together with hefty number of desiccant pouches.
First sign of condensation within camera would probably be fogging up and that would be visible on subs. This is also reason why I test it, and report on findings.

Finally, I had some chance to test. 
Starting temperature was 15.1 °C

Magnetic cooler managed to get it down to 6.3 °C just before I started taking calibration frames.

It managed to achieve ΔT just a bit shy of 9 °C 

Important to note is the level of condensation visible on the images below. ZWO ASI585MC with magnetic cooler and ZWO ASI120MM without any cooling on the same rig at the same time.

After I manage to process images, I hope I will be able to give final comparison and conclusion.

47 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

I keep looking at the Optolong L-eXtreme as a possibly better alternative to the Astronomik UHC and OIII filters but it's expensive

It sure is, but who knows, it might get you hooked on AP as you are stacking already.  Not that big of a leap in the acquisition process. Post-processing is another story and perhaps something to do in cloudy winter nights.

Might want to look in to IDAS NBZ as it has no star halos.

I strongly seccond Petzl Atick Core. Good stuff.

Yup, that should be an easy fix to do. However, I chose to go with 5.8 W and not with full 36 W due to condensation concerns. Stock cooled cameras have built in condensation management, through built-in desiccant tablets

and / or desiccant tubes,

planetary cameras do not.

It would be a shame to end the night early due to fogged up sensor in best and fried board in worse case. With new backlit sensors mild cooling should be sufficient to produce good results.
Cant wait enough to clear up and finally go out imaging and testing. 
 

Thought about it but the fan is DC 5.0 V...

After seeing this FLIR video I thought it might be enough with backlit sensor.

I had this below in mind as starting DIY idea, but than stumbled upon smartphone coolers and it took life of it's own.  
Might still revert to it though... This TEC1-12706 Modul 36 W, 12 V might be ideal for ASIAIR+ port limit of 3A.

Sadly, no... 

That makes sense, let us know how it goes.

39 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

as it features active cooling

Player One has Active Cooling System (ACS) for uncooled cameras

Active Cooling System (ACS) for uncooled cameras – Player One Astronomy (player-one-astronomy.com)

Alternatively you can use smartphone coolers. They will never be as good as dedicated AP camera cooling but they can help somewhat and do not cost much.

On 25/09/2022 at 13:59, the lemming said:

If I was to get a different MFT camera primarily for night time shots such as the Milky Way, which models would produce the least Hot Pixels?

I would prefer to stick with Micro Four Thirds as I have a lot of excellent glass that are f2 or faster.

For MFT Astrophotography, you can check Ben's channel: The Narrowband Channel - YouTube

In the video below he gets deep in new MFT sensor and camera tech. Bit long but worth a watch: