BrendanC

Hi all,

Title says it all really!

My next big step is to think about guiding.

I have a Bresser Mikrokular which I initially used for imaging, but now use a DSLR instead. I know that the Mikrokular is picked up by PHD2, so if at all possible, I'd like to use it as a guide camera, with my Skywatcher 130PDS, which has a focal length of 650mm, mounted on my NEQ6.

So, does anyone have a recommendation for a suitable guide scope with this combination of camera and scope?

Thanks, Brendan

@warpout, did you get anywhere with this?

I have a Mikrokular too, whichI'm interested in using as a guide camera, and would also like to know whether there's a suitable scope & adapter for it.

Yep, Park Life. I never really liked Blur but I do like that line...! 

I guess it might. I'm using Astrophotography Tool, APT.

I'm building up a library of darks, flat darks and bias calibration frames, so that I have a set for each temperature. It gives me an enormous sense of well-being.

I've just been through them all and noticed something strange.

Of the hundreds of frames I must have taken over the past few days, none of them have been at 17, 19, 22 or 23C!

Not a single one.

I've noticed that the EXIF temperature can seem to skip a degree or two from time to time, but didn't realise it was always skipping the same temperatures.

So I just checked the many thousands of raw files I have in the archive. Again, none at 17, 19, 22 or 23C!

Is this... normal? It's beyond coincidence or a fluke, at that many frames.

I guess it doesn't matter, I can still match calibration frames to light frames. I just seems a bit oddddddddd.

Not double glazing, I agree. But I am concerned about during the summer months when people have their windows open.

I know we don't get much astronomical darkness at this time of year, but I'm still plugging away during what time I can get. So, given that my garden backs onto about five other households, I'm just aware that the clicking might annoy people. This is especially the case when the sound reflects off walls and the patio etc. I can hear it from my house with the window open so I'm sure they can too.

I'm just trying to be a good neighbour!

Interesting. I've been using 1600 but then again I am an idiot.

I might give 800 a blast. I might even try 200 with longer exposure times (I very recently acquired an NEQ6 which might help with that) and see what happens.

Came across this a while back: https://www.startools.org/links--tutorials/starting-with-a-good-dataset/recommended-iso-for-dslr-cameras

It says the best ISO value for a Canon EOS1000D (which I have), to maximise the signal/noise ratio, is 200.

I think it might be based on this: http://dslr-astrophotography.com/iso-values-canon-cameras/ - which adds that 800 should be tried out too.

I haven't actually tested ISO200 yet myself, but I am sceptical! 

Has anyone tried this? Maybe it works in some instances, perhaps for clusters or the Moon or some planets, but  can't see it being sufficient for much else, not even at longer exposure times.

I could be wrong though. It has been known. I'm wrong, aren't I? Go on, tell me I'm wrong.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I don't actually think my camera is louder than any other! I just think it could be a bit quieter, and I don't want to upset the neighbours.

I'd rather not spend more time and money investing in Backyard EOS, which I did trial but much preferred APT, and have since invested a lot of time in learning it.

I don't think it's affecting the images, no discernible shake.

I guess I could look at the foam near the sensor but I'm reluctant to start fiddling with it.

I might just buy that case and see whether it does have any effect.

If that doesn't work then it's either continue with the hats, or try Pink Floyd, but I think Dark Side of the Moon would be more appropriate.

Thanks for this. I knew about the simulation mode too, and don't want amp glow as a result. There must be a way to tame the sound of the camera! 

It is available, but apparently not via Astrophotography Tool (APT) for a Digic 3 model, which the EOS1000D is (unless I buy cables that again cost a wad of cash).

Nice idea though.

Hi all,

I have a Canon EOS1000D outside right now merrily taking shots of M64, the Black Eye Galaxy. Happy days (and nights).

Did I say merrily? I meant loudly!

I've put a couple of fairly substantial hats on it and that's made a difference, but I can still hear the shutter and mirror going from the other end of the garden.

Now, this doesn't bother me, but I am a little worried about it bothering the neighbours, especially as the nights get (hopefully) warmer in the UK and they might have bedroom windows open, and all they can hear against the still night air is click... click... click...

I've looked online and there are things called blimps and muzzles which seem to cost quite a lot. There are also DIY links that look fairly drastic with dremmels and the like, and also cost more than I would expect.

So does anyone have any recommendations for this?

Would something like this have any effect, with a hole cut in the side so I can attach it to the scope? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Camera-Case-Canon-1000D-550D/dp/B001C3Q07G

Or should I just stick with the hats?

Cheers, Brendan

Great, thanks for confirming. Already ordered, fingers crossed.

Hmmm, as it says here: "don't ever plug a usb-rs232 adapter into the mount itself" - https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/297417-connecting-neq6-to-desktop/

However, I think this cable might work, and still allow me to use the app: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astronomy-cables-leads-accessories/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-eq6-or-neq6-syntrek-pro-mounts.html

Any comments?

So, are you saying that I can plug my laptop using my USB-serial cable, directly into the mount, where the handset would normally go?

But isn't that a powered serial socket on the mount, because it powers the handset? Wouldn't I fry my laptop doing that?

I'm not sure it's as simple as that, is it?

Wouldn't this involve getting a new cable and using something like EQMOD?

I'd really like to avoid all that if at all possible. 

Thanks for the suggestion though.

BTW relay mode is when you flash the firmware with the Synscan Relay file. It's how Skywatcher recommend using the app. 

Hi all,

Got a second-hand NEQ6 recently.

All works fine, but when I flash the handset firmware so that it acts as a relay, then power it up, the display is blank and it emits a constant tone.

I can flash it back to the original firmware (v3.10), and I've since been able to get the ASCOM drivers to work. So, I have a workable solution - align via handset, then control via laptop. But I would really, really like to get it to work with relay, mainly because it means I can use the nice Skywatcher app rather than the clunky Synscan handset. It was such a reliable, clean solution.

Any ideas? I've tried several times, same result. The bootloader is v1.7.

Thanks, Brendan

Hmmm, just read the instructions again, says: plug the power cord into the hand control.

I hadn't done that. I'd left the power in the mount. I'll try that. Before I do however (and I'm going to leave it a while because I can't go through that panic again), if anyone thinks that could have been the problem - as in, you did exactly what I just did, with the same results, and plugging the power into the hand control fixed it - then please let me know!

Recently took delivery of new (ok, second-hand, but new to me) NEQ6. New power cable - Baader Outdoor Power Supply 5A - which should be fine. Fired it up, beep, all looks good, all works fine, very good, very nice.

Decided I want to run it just like I did my old AZ Goto mount, by changing the firmware to Synscan Relay and plugging it into the Windows 10 laptop. It just worked really well before, and I'm familiar with it. So, downloaded the firmware upgrader and the relay firmware. Powered up the NEQ6, pressed 0 and 8 on the handset, flashed it, no problem. Switched off NEQ6.

Switched it on again. Constant tone, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep - like the startup tone, but constant. Synscan LED is lit, but nothing displayed.

Panic. Panic like I've never panicked before. Have I just bricked my new (ok, second-hand, but new to me) mount?

Realised I could start it and press 0 and 8 again to see what happened. No tone, good. The display is working, says something about 1.7 (is this the bootloader?). Good. Quickly download the v3.10 firmware, flash it... and it works again. Powers up, beep, works fine. Panic over but I'm still recovering. I'm back to where I started, with the latest firmware, but I really would like to use the handset just as a relay if possible.

Before I try this again, does anyone have any idea what might have gone wrong? I know there might be other ways of connecting, which I'll have to investigate if I can't get this to work, but as I say, I used this method before and I'm just familiar with it. But I'd rather not run the risk of damaging the mount because, as I might have mentioned, even though it's second-hand, it's new to me.

I should add, I even tried the v4 relay just in case, but the loader rejected it when it realised the handset was v3, so that's not the issue here.

Agree with both comments.

Ivo did the same for me - went through my data, produced something better, explained what was wrong with my data and what he did with it.

Also, downloaded some pristine raw data from Jerry Lodriguss, and it all works so much better. 

So, I just need to improve my acquisition by learning from Jerry Lodriguss, and improve my processing by learning from Ivo!

It's really good isn't it? I saw that the other night too. He's great - quite eccentric, very funny, bursting with enthusiasm, and the production values are pretty high.

That's one thing I've found to be the case with astro software - really great support from the creators themselves. It's the same with APT who is, by amazing coincidence, also called Ivo.

Hello Ivo, thanks for such a comprehensive reply (and I can see you posted on the StartTools forum too, I didn't know you were on here).

I'll go through what you've said and see if I make more progress with it.

I'll give that a go, thanks. But, as I said, it's really not intuitive! 

I've been using StarTools for a while now.

At first I tried to use it 'properly' after following the tutorials, starting with Auto Dev. I sort of got it to work, but I've just decided - I really don't understand it.

I've been bypassing it and just using the manual Develop option, but I feel I should really understand what I'm doing wrong, if anything.

Whenever I use Auto Dev, I just get a horrible, overexposed mess, no matter if I select a ROI or not. I understand that it's supposed to show me the errors in my image, but it's unusable. I've noticed that if I then use Wipe, it gets even worse - but then, when I click 'Keep' after the wipe, it goes back to how it looked when I opened it, before the Auto Dev!

It's completely counterintuitive. There's no progression from 'bad' image to 'good', and frankly I don't get it. 

Does anyone else use StartTools, who can shed some light on this?