freiform

Hi, there was a nice thread over at CN comparing different software with one set of raw images. And what dou you know? It was the user, not the software. People were producing amazing results using PI, PS, APP, DSS, GIMP, StarTools and whatnot. Also, different people using these exact tools were producing not so pretty images. You have to learn the tools. There's not really a shortcut. If you're put off by the UI, well, stick with it until you get it or use something else. If your're put off by pricing models (as am I for some of the software discussed here), use something else. But I cannot stress it enough, better is very subjective here... assuming there is no magic (there is none, although some tools of the AI variety make artefacts and interpretation appear very convincing), and further assuming that the tools in question implement the scientific and mathematical principles properly, it's down to the user interface, presets and/or the time you're willing to invest. I use PI and struggle constantly (but not with preprocessing ). I have access to PS due to my job but mostly refuse to use it. I tried the trial of APP and didn't see how I would benefit, already owning PI, and rather spend the money on something else. Highly subjective, all this. But then again, if someone comes and hands you a silver bullet, it's most likely a quack. CS Sven

You don't need 64-bit. Raspbian (and probably others) support LPAE, which allows to access the full 8GB with a 32-bit system. It is limited to 3 GB / process though, But I doubt that's a practically relevant limitation for 99% of use cases. Sven

Ah, I have, but apparently I had a knot in my brain. I was set on mounting it via the drawtube's base. But of course I can just as well mount it using a bracket screwed to the base of the focusing mechanism itself (where the lockscrew is located). Thanks for making me rethinking it! Sven

Hi, before re-inventing the wheel; has anyone a hardware adpation/bracket for a stepper to the stock focuser of a Skywatcher 150PDS? I have a few NEMA14 and 28BYJ-48 flying around and a 3D printer at hand. Thank you for any suggestions . Sven

And it is working! Using James Chambers benchmarks for the SD (Toshiba M203 32 GB): Category Test Result HDParm Disk Read 40.83 MB/s HDParm Cached Disk Read 40.55 MB/s DD Disk Write 7.1 MB/s FIO 4k random read 2978 IOPS (11912 KB/s) FIO 4k random write 115 IOPS (461 KB/s) IOZone 4k read 9293 KB/s IOZone 4k write 2083 KB/s IOZone 4k random read 7767 KB/s IOZone 4k random write 255 KB/s Score: 653 and for the SSD (Samsung 830 128 GB via StarTech USB3S2SAT3CB): Category Test Result HDParm Disk Read 258.46 MB/s HDParm Cached Disk Read 281.51 MB/s DD Disk Write 141 MB/s FIO 4k random read 17109 IOPS (68437 KB/s) FIO 4k random write 4303 IOPS (17213 KB/s) IOZone 4k read 26985 KB/s IOZone 4k write 20848 KB/s IOZone 4k random read 14347 KB/s IOZone 4k random write 23584 KB/s Score: 5969 While those are nothing new, the SD card is gone. Neat! Sven

I just updated the bootloader as described in the link proveded by @Doug , and the system boots sucessfully from the SD in an USB3 card reader. Now I just have to migrate the system to a SSD and I should be set (famous last words)... Sven

The video does not cover natively booting from USB3. The method described still boots from the SD card and then points to the SSD. CS Sven

This is 65 Minutes of Barnard's Loop (5x300s Ha, 4x300s OIII & SII), shot with an ASI183MM through an Nikkor 35/f1.8 on a SA. I just threw everything together quickly, no noise reduction or sharpening or anything like that. Nothing special, but I like how the Ha regions come out at even modest exposure times. CS Sven

Ah, I forgot about the required FOV. Thanks for clearing that up! CS Sven

A bit OT, but I am quite sure that you can do this with any camera connected to any scope. No need to use a guidescope for that. CS Sven

I am running a Linux system and INDI (the backend, like ASCOM for Windows) and KStars/EKOS as planetarium software and integrated solution for hardware control and image acquisition. There are alternatives, though; Cartes du Ceil is also available for Linux and CCDCiel is a capturing software by the same author. For planetary/lucky imaging there is oaCapture and FireCapture, although with limited support for cameras; not every vendor offers a Linux SDK, even less offer ARM binaries (Pi's CPU architecture.). If you do not want to start from scratch, there's pre-made images with everything you'll need; as a first stop, I would strongly recommend AstroBerry [1]. Copy the image to an SDCard, boot up the Pi, login to its WiFi Network (or connect it to you existing WiFI or Ethernet) and off you go. It's a tech demo at best. You cannot do anything reasonable with Windows on a RPi. Basically it's Linux or nothing. All the best Sven [1] https://www.astroberry.io/

I am currently using a Raspberry Pi 4 and have used a RPi3 before that. Both are perfectly adequate to guide, plate solve, image, autofocus and everything else you need for imaging. There are a few drawbacks, though. The internal WiFi can be a bit weak, depending on your infrastructure that might or might not apply. Also when using it with a SD-Card, transfer rates a a bit on the slow side which effectively limits its use for planetary or lucky imaging. But that might be migitated by using a fast storage (i.e. SSD via USB3). Anyway, even the smallest NUC currently available, which features a dual-core Celeron CPU, outperforms the Raspberry Pi considerably. Your only issue might be how snappy eveything runs, i.e. Windows itself, start times of apps, etc. But as I can just power my device on when getting ready for imaging, I really don't care about that. Why anyone would hang an i7 with 16 GB RAM on the scope is beyond me, but to each his own, I guess. I just ordered a NUC with Pentium J5005 (~155€) as I want to take a look at what happens on the Windows side of things. I am not particularly fond of ASCOM, but N.I.N.A. looks interesting and develops fast and then there's Voyager's siren call of carefree automatic sessions TL;DR They will all work fine for the basic tasks of equipment control and image aquisition. Maybe stay away from Atom Cpus. Great information, thank you! All the best Sven

I am using an ASI183, so that would work. The ES Scope you posted is interesting but not really an alternative. It is too heavy with 8 kg and a length of 700 mm. I don't think the GP can handle it for anything but the shortest exposures. It also costs more than twice as much as a 150PDS with corrector

Hi, do you have any recommendations for an OTA for imaging with a focal length of 700 to 900 mm that will play nice with my old Vixen GP? Currently I am using a 72/432 ED refractor but I would like to get closer to some targets. I also have a 127/1500 Mak, but with no proper reducers available it's simply too slow. My Vixen R135S Newton is great for visual, but it has a sliding focuser. that probably won't hold hold camera and filterwheel and I doubt that I can fit an coma corrector. So a new scope it should be. The current contestants are 130PDS, which only has 650 mm focal length but is only 4 kg at 600 mm length. 150PDS wich has 750 mm but weights in at 5 kg and has a length of 750 mm, adding quite a bit to the lever. 6" RC, with an 0.67x reducer for ~900mm focal length. It weighs 5.5 kg, but might be easier to handle with its 480 mm length. Of course , the 6" RC with reducer will be more than twice the price of the 130 or 150 with coma corrector. Any thoughts or recommendations on the matter? Last year I planned on getting a new mount, but found that my GP actually performs rather well and the next tier of mounts is too heavy for my (current) taste. Thanks Sven

Thank you, that is very valuable information 👍 Sven