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pbmazda32

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  1. Last night was the 1st imaging run with the Stellarmate X. It was a good night for a new computer and new software. Had two issues, one I fixed and one I haven't figured out yet. At 1st I couldn't figure out how to force a refocus after a specified temperature change. Looked high and low for the checkbox and eventually found it in a place you wouldn't really expect it to be. 2nd issue, after the Meridian flip, it refused to turn the mount tracking back on so when the guider was trying to recalibrate, it kept failing because the guide star was moving considerably. I had to restart the imaging sequence to get it going again. I haven't figured this one out and may have to email Stellarmate for some help. Probably some obscure checkbox I missed. As far as guiding is concerned, I used the built in guider. I cant make heads or tails of the guide graph, and honestly, it looked horrible, but my pictures look great. It was very windy out here on the coast last night, I know it had nothing to do with Kstars/Ekos, but this Am5 mount does not seem to care if the wind is blowing or not. This mount is fairly new to me, but it is becoming an invisible mount very quickly. Nice to not have to mess with it all the time like my CEM25P. I got to try out the polar alignment routine and was impressed. I have been struggling with NINA to polar align this mount, I had it polar aligned under Ekos in a couple minutes. The USB WiFi antenna increased the range around another 40ft and was easy to set up. All I had to do was plug it in, connect to my home network under wlan1, then tell it to always use that connection for that network. One other thing I need to figure out is how to set the auto-dew on my Pegasus UPBv2. I don't think my dew strips were doing anything. And sometime this morning, after it warms up a little, I will be using the built in tools to generate some calibration frames. So far I'm happy. I can only assume the Pro unit is even better. Its like taking the X and the UPBv2 and smashing them together. Should work pretty seamlessly. And if you mounted the Pro unit on the OTA like I have my UPBv2 mounted, all you would have dropping down off the OTA for cables is one 12v power line. Right now I have the Stellarmate X attached to a tripod leg with a velcro cinch strap, so I have the 12v line and 1 USB 3 coming down. I was going to try the App out on my kindle tablet, but I got tired and went to bed. I'll try it today while I'm taking calibration frames. Hope these little reports help someone out.
  2. I have, but just long enough to put in the password for the home network and switch it over. Its pretty cool how it works though. If you turn it on and it cant connect to your home network, it automatically starts a hotspot. So if I need to set up in a remote spot, the hotspot will be used. Otherwise, everything just works off the home network. I could get some more testing done if the rain would go away. I think the pro unit may work better in hotspot mode since it has external antennas. I do have a USB WIFI dongle with an external antenna I was going to try and setup and see if I get more range. I may try it out today if the rain stops and I can get it working. I'm learning Linux as I go. If I can get the dongle working, then I don't think range will be an issue. They're are some pretty good USB directional WIFI antennas out there that could be pointed wherever you need for connection.
  3. It's set up about 100ft from my camper, but my WiFi network is kinda weak. I don't have a very good router.
  4. Just an update. I'm using the Stellarmate X and not the pro, but the software should be the same. After the initial troubles getting everything connected, all seems to be going smooth. It was too cloudy to image last night, but not so bad I couldn't do some testing. Pointing and plate solving is working, autofocus works really well and its fast (reminds me of Voyagers Robofocus) and easy to set up. I set up using PHD2 instead of the built in guider, also easy to set up. Built an abbreviated sequence and ran it with no issues. I need to watch some Youtube videos for creating sequences though. I think the next clear night I'll be imaging with this device. I need to try out the polar alignment routine and then use the built in tools for calibration frames. So far, so good. Oh, and I added a 512gb NVME internally for more storage. I took it out of my old mini PC and moved it to the X. Once I have a couple successful nights with the X, I'll get my tablet out and see how the App works out. So far my only gripe is a intermittent lag using the mouse on my laptop while remotely controlling the telescope. I have the telescope set up at the edge of my wifi range so not sure if its the device or the wifi.
  5. I just bought one of the Stellarmate X 128gb units. I already have a Pegasus UPBv2 so the X was a better fit for me. Its been a learning curve for sure. Spent 2 days trying to get all my devices connected too it. Had an issue with the X confusing ports between the UPBv2, a ZWO AM5 mount, and my Pegasus Focuscube. After scratching my head for 2 days and a few cuss words, the fix was to just remove the focuser from the hardware list you make in the setup wizard. Apparently the Powerbox controls the focuser without the need for the Stellarmate to know specifically what the focuser is. I am still not sure why that fixed the confusion between the Powerbox and the mount. Now that everything is working, I need to start watching videos to learn how to build sequences and take calibration frames, getting autofocus working, etc. Its like dumping the imaging software you've you been using for years and starting over with something new. I hope being Linux it is more stable in the long run. If the X and me end up getting along OK, I think the Pro version will be a good fit when I start putting together my long focal length setup. But that will probably be a few years from now. I haven't really fooled with the app other than just doing an initial connection to register the device with Stellarmate. I don't think I'll use the app much, but if it works ok, it will be nice to use my tablet to check on the nights progress and doing polar alignment.
  6. Some good ideas JOC, thank you. sounds like some saran wrap to the rescue.
  7. Hello All, 1st post here on Stargazers lounge. Question for any off you all imaging near a coast line. Next month I will have the RV parked on the east coast of Florida near Sebastian Inlet. The salt in the air there seems excessively high to me. Seems like all the metal outside gets a film of surface rust on it pretty quick. I'm hesitant to set my AP rig outside and I don't know if I should be concerned or not. During the night it will be imaging and during the day it will be under one of those 365 telescope covers. I would just leave the equipment packed up for the month but, I haven't got but a handful of hours imaging the last several months due to never ending cloud cover. So if I can get some imaging time, I would like too, but not at the cost of damaging equipment. What do you all think? I know most of the equipment is either aluminum or plastic or glass, but then there's the circuit boards inside the electronics, cable connections, etc.
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