BrendanC

Hmmm, I'm wondering if this is what I'm talking about? 

Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga. I might need another shot at this one cos it's a bit of a 'blob' without the detail I was hoping to get. Perhaps I need to have another go, getting more exposures and more of the surrounding nebula. This was 100 subs of 30 secs, no darks or flats (haven't advanced to that yet), stacked in DSS which discarded about 50% of the subs once they'd been scored, and processed in Photoshop.

Yes, my original post was about captions on images, not accompanying text. I guess it's about three things:

1. What the image shows - helps general public know what they're looking at
2. How the image was taken and processed - helps people like us learn and improve
3. Who took it - helps the copyright owner! Having worked in comms in the past, I would always advise clients to add their logo to any graphics they produced, so that when they were shared, the attribution was shared too. I know people can remove this, but I'd like to think that if I posted a photo, and added a copyright notice to it, people would share the image without cropping out the copyright.

I guess captions added to the image would be good for 1 and 3, while 2 should be accompanying text.

Interesting, thanks for the thoughts.

Hi,

I hope this is the right place for this slightly odddddd question.

I just realised that I can remote control most of my setup using TeamViewer. My Android phone controls the GOTO mount, and my Android tablet controls the camera. I can then control both using my PC, with phone on one screen and tablet on another. Works really well, and I prefer the Android approach because I like the lightness of the mobile devices, they have longer life than my Windows laptop, and they just work very reliably whereas the laptop was a bit hit and miss.

It struck me that the only part that isn't controllable is the Sky-Watcher focuser I have installed. I know there's the Hitec DC focus controller which automates it, but that's Windows only (and I emailed them to ask about Android, they're not going to develop it). But I don't really need this automating: I just want to remote control it, as in, do what the fast/slow knob and the in/out buttons do, manually (ie not automatically), yet remotely (ie not locally, at the scope).

So, does anyone know a way to do this? I can almost imagine a Heath Robinson type contraption that has two fingers I could remotely control, to press the buttons, and another to turn the fast/slow one. There must be a way that the circuit could be accessed directly and signals passed to it, connected to some wireless-enabled device, which would then enable me to get a nice sharp focus without having to be present at the scope. Thing is, I expect this would need knowledge of soldering, low-level coding etc, maybe using a Raspberry Pi or some such thing.

Or am I completely bonkers in suggesting this? I'm bonkers, right?

Thanks! Yes, I stretched that corner a bit more to try and get more running man, but I'm not sure it worked out. I might crop it and just include M42, or I might have another stab just at the running man and add it at a later date. Would be nice to get some colour information too.

I think that's a good point - it helps other people to know how you did it. Thanks!

Second DSO, also my second attempt at M42. Nice clear night, a bit of wind (although the weather was fine). The very-much-photographed Orion Nebula M42 with a touch of the Running Man M43 above. 50 frames of 20 seconds each at ISO1600, stacked in DSS and then tweaked judiciously in Photoshop. I got nice colours out of M42 but couldn't seem to extract anything meaningful from the running man unfortunately. I've decided to add captions to photos because I feel like it.

Thanks! I think I'll just put everything until/unless someone tells me I'm being an idiot.

Hi,

I've noticed that some people like to include captions with their photos. It makes perfect sense to include the name/number of the object, plus maybe a copyright, but I've also noticed some people like to include details of the number of frames, stacking software used, scope, camera, ISO value, exposure times etc.

Is there a common consensus about what the most useful details are to include? I'd like to start doing this with mine, and I've looked but can't really find any real advice.

Ta, Brendan

Interesting, I didn't know that about JPGs, I thought they were just a compressed graphics format. I didn't intend to use JPG, I just hadn't set the camera up properly. Thanks for that. 

Also interesting that you prefer the previous version! It's so subjective. Anyway I'll leave it for now, I'm sure I'll come back to it in future. 

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks! Looking at it again I think I might have stretched it too far, so I've had another stab at it (I get the feeling this is yet another of those hobbies of mine where I never quite feel it's 'finished'...!) I've also decided to include the whole image because you get more of an idea of how far out the nebula reaches. I don't know how I managed to get it in portrait mode, but there you go, next time around I'll get it right! I'll also save the output in RAW file, for some reason I managed to save in JPG which will also have lost some detail. If you zoom in you'll notice that I don't have those much-coveted round stars, so I think maybe 25 seconds was also overcooking it. According to the NPF rule with my setup it should be around 7 seconds, so I knew 25 was pushing it but decided to go for it. Anyway, all good learning and hopefully I'll one day be able to achieve something remotely approaching the amazing images on this thread.

Thought I'd add my first stab at a DSO with my Skywatcher 130PDS on an AZ Synscan Goto mount, with a modded Canon EOS1000D.

40x25 seconds at ISO1600 stacked shots of the Pleiades, no flats/darks etc (as I say, it's my first), lights stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and then processed in Photoshop using a luminance layer to bring out the nebula and adjustment layers and blending modes to bring out the colours. I'm sure there's plenty wrong with it but I did a little dance when I saw the first shots appear on the screen.

Ah, now I understand. It was only doing that for one star alignment, obviously (now)  because one star still needs another reference point. Two and three star alignments behave as expected. 

They are indeed the two ways to do it.

Problem is, the hand controller did number 1 above. The app seems to do number 2, which both surprised and delighted me no end.

I've since found an info feature in the app that tells me the AZ coordinates when I plug the mount in, and it does indeed say zero for both values, ie the scope level, and pointing north. So, that's how I need to align it before starting in future.

It's a bit daft, I just do not understand why they would change the alignment method in the app, and not even explain this. Oh well. I think I've sorted it, I just need to make sure it's set up properly when using the app.

Thanks for the response.

I've just started using the Skywatcher Synscan app for Android, connected via wired USB/RS232 to a Skywatcher AZ GOTO mount. It works really well, but I don't understand how its alignment function works.

With the handheld controller, I would select, say, two-star alignment, and it would tell me to slew to a star, and then to confirm when it was in the centre of the view. However, with the app, if I select a star and select Begin Alignment, it starts slewing, and then asks me to centre the star in the view! This is the wrong way round! 

In the help it says that Alt-Az mounts have a default start position of 0-0. Is this why this might be happening? It seems counterintuitive, I thought the whole point of AZ mounts was that they're easy to set up and don't need any initial alignment for the mount, just aligning to stars. 

It's actually a bit dangerous. It started slewing to crazy angles, and I just don't understand why the app would make any prior assumption about the orientation of the mount before I start alignment.

Is there any way to override this, or basically just make the alignment function work the same way in the app, as it does in the handheld controller? Any ideas?

Thanks, Brendan

OK, major breakthrough.

Last night, on a hunch, I wondered whether the Android Synscan app connected via USB.

It does. I had no idea. I thought it was purely wifi.

One firmware update later, converting the handheld controller to the relay, I've got a fully-functioning scope, running off my tablet.

Next thing: I fired up Stellarium on the tablet. I select an object, just playing around with it. I notice there's a 'Goto' icon. I tap it - and the scope responds! Turns out there's a small server included with the Synscan app, which Stellarium recognises. Total surprise.

Next thing: I realise that I can do these split-screen, so Stellarium on one side, Synscan on the other.

Next thing: It all works through my hub too, so I just plug one USB into the tablet and I can then run the Synscan app to control the mount, and DSLR Controller to control the camera.

This all happened within about 15 minutes last night.

It's opened new possibilities. Not only can I just control everything with a nice little Android device, I can also consider, say, running Synscan on my phone, and DSLR Controller on the tablet. Or, I can dig out my old phone with the broken screen that still works, install everything on that, attach it to the mount and run everything via TeamViewer on the other devices, so that I've effectively turned it all into a wireless solution.

The only drawback is that DSLR Controller doesn't record video on my EOS1000D camera, but there's another that might. And apparently DSLR Controller doesn't work on the latest Android because the developer's stopped developing it, so that might become a problem in future. But for now, it works.

I still kind of wish the ASCOM drivers worked properly for me, but I'm genuinely thrilled to have stumbled across this solution. I haven't used it 'in the field' yet and I'm sure there will be teething troubles, but I have a strong feeling it's going to work. If nothing else, I'm just swapping out the clunky handheld controller with a cool Android app, and that's a major step forward.

So, just played around with the altitude settings, still the same result.

I think I'll wait and see what Skywatcher say. I'm kind of hoping I'll be able to send them some log files and they'll find something in there.

In the meantime there's always the Synscan app/mobile ASCOM drivers option. But I'd dearly love at least to have that option of unhooking the computer and 'going mobile' with a neat, simple system. Apart from anything, I'd just like this to work properly!

2 hours ago, stash_old said:

You can use the handset BUT just for directional movements BUT why would you want to ?

I'd quite like to have the option of using the handset on its own so that I can do this quickly and easily, with less kit and complexity. If I just have the handset as a relay, then I'll always have to use the computer with all the cables, power requirements and fiddlesomenessness that involves.

Hmmm, I could check that I suppose.

I just hooked it up to the desktop with exactly the same results - initially N/S works, then doesn't. So, it's nothing to do with the computer either.

Ah, I see what you mean - use the ASCOM Driver for SynScan App Version 1.2.3, then go back to using the app, with the relay firmware, but selecting the mobile driver in APT? I'll give that a go, thanks!

The problem then would be that I could only use the scope with the laptop - I wouldn't have that option to use the handset any more, unless I updated the firmware beforehand.

There really must be a way for the standard ASCOM drivers to allow multi-directional manual slewing with such a bog-standard setup as Windows 10 and Skywatcher mount! This is hardly exotic equipment.

Another test I'm going to try is rigging it up to my desktop PC, downloading ASCOM and APT and trying that.  If it works, it's the laptop that's at fault. Which of course involves lugging the whole rig upstairs... wish me luck...

Oh, and btw, I signed up for my local astronomy club a few months ago but they're a dead loss. None of the contacts ever reply to my emails and they don't even have social media! Their website is also a joke. I won't mention them, but I'm seriously considering joining another one down the road that might have more of a welcoming approach...

OK, latest is that I downloaded the Skywatcher Synscan Pro app for Windows, and updated the hand control to the Synscan Relay firmware.

It works! North/South works every time.

However - get this: I can't now use it from within APT because I guess the app has complete control which it won't share with other apps!

Two steps forward, one step back.

So I think this implies that, as I suspected, the actual hardware communication isn't a problem. It's something to do with the ASCOM drivers.

Time to get back to Skywatcher...

OK, I do appreciate the help here but I don't understand how to bypass the hand controller. I have a USB-to-RS232 adapter (the official Skywatcher one) that goes into the handset. I then have the factory-supplied cable running from the handset to the mount. I wouldn't know where to start with bypassing the handset and connecting the computer directly to the mount. Surely I can't just unplug the connector from the handset and plug it directly into the mount? Or is that what you meant about the voltages and the need to be careful? In which case, I'd rather be careful and not even attempt it!

Skywatcher have actually come back to me so I've told them all the version numbers etc. Let's see what they say. This is my first ever telescope so it's darned frustrating that I've had such a weird problem. I've tried changing the COM port, using different USB ports, using a different USB-to-RS232 adapter, uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, updating firmware, turning the mount off and on again, rebooting the computer - everything I can think of. Sometimes when North/South works, I think I've fixed it, but then it will stop working and I'm back to the old problem again.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll double-check with APT, but as I say, it's exactly the same behaviour on all other software.

I haven't changed the rate of movement - or, rather, I have, many many times, to try and figure this out, makes no difference.

I didn't know I could overflow the software. Still however, if that were the case, I would expect it to overflow East/West too, which it never, ever does. It's always North/South.

The Synscan app-only approach would involve changing the firmware, right? Which I might just do anyway because, as you say, I need to get down to basics. I still find it weird that slewing controlled by any planetarium software is fine, but slewing manually is not. Still, it's something I hadn't considered so I'll give it a go!

Really appreciate the help here.

I should add that Skywatcher support have got in touch so I'll be going through things with them too. I'll let you all know what transpires...

Thanks for this.

I'm using the official Skywatcher drivers for Synscan Hand Controller at https://skywatcher.com/download/software/ascom-driver/, and within those drivers there's a setting for AZ, which is selected.

APT also has indicators for alt and az. I see no reason why APT shouldn't control an AZ mount?

My real issue is that, when manually slewing, East/West always works, North/South sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. I just don't understand why it occasionally refuses to work. It's a consistent problem no matter what method I use for manually slewing the scope.

It slews with no problem to objects I select within planetarium software, for example Stellarium or CDC, so the actual communication between the drivers and the mount is fine. It's just whenever I manually slew the mount using an on-screen keypad, whether it's in APT, Backyard EOS, Sharpcap, or the ASCOM key pad. East/West is always ok, North/South either works then stops, or stops then works, or works fine throughout, or doesn't work at all throughout. I cannot find a pattern/workaround.

I'm going to check the firmware on the handset next because that's a good shout, thanks for mentioning it.

Meanwhile I'm trying to get a peep out of Skywatcher support some time in the next few days/weeks/months/years/millennia.

Isn't EQMOD something completely separate to ASCOM? The ASCOM drivers are most definitely able to drive an AZ mount.

You'll get field rotation but that's just a limitation of AZ mounts. 

I'm not sure my situation is the same as @Dinoboy because the mount works fine in all planetarium programs (CdC, Stellarium etc).

It's just the manual north/south control that doesn't work properly. It works, then it doesn't. Then it does. Then doesn't. Completely randomly, that I can tell.