The Admiral

I was out looking for Comet Pons-Brooks last night. Couldn't see it at all, just the very early Moon. I snapped it just before it went below the roofline. Taken with Lumix G80 and Panny-Leica 200mm f/2.8. Ian

I'm beginning to suspect that you've found a way to collect all ours as well. 😉 Ian

You never cease to amaze Goran 👏. Where would you be without those lovely dark skies to keep you, and us, amused? Ian

When I tried cleaning my conventional camera sensor I used up a lot of the cleaning sticks, but there's still a mote left behind! Turned into an expensive exercise. Have fun 😊. Ian

I am on Android, and having rolled back the software to the last properly working version I have turned off auto-updating. I did this by opening Play Store, searching for the App (ASIAir), clicking on the 3 dots at the top right of the page, and unchecking auto-updating. It does seem that since v1.9, all versions have 'issues'. Apple products may work differently of course. Ian

Whether the 32GB version has the fast frame rate as the 256GB one is a bit if a moot point. This was asked several times in the comments, and the reply was that it has. However, I suppose the only way to tell for sure is to open one up, but it would be logical for ZWO to adopt the same hardware for both versions. BUT, ZWO's advertising is somewhat ambiguous: "The larger eMMC storage brings faster data transmission speed". This implies that the 256 chip is faster than the 32. Ian

This is interesting. The NarrowBand Channel has looked inside. Ian

I think we need to be careful here, as if I understand correctly, the Plus (which is what I have) was launched using the standard RPi, before shortages caused ZWO to produce their own version using different chipsets. ZWO didn't change the model identifier, unfortunately. Please correct me if I'm wrong here. I run mine with a ZWO harmonic mount, so running with all ZWO products you'd expect it to perform without issue, as indeed it did until it was auto-updated to v2 and above. Initially I couldn't understand why things seemed to be going wrong. Now I've rolled back to v1.9 it seems to be working as before. With luck yours will work without issue. Ian

Well indeed that is a good start, but you certainly need to test for real. For example, the problems I had were things like PA alignment not seeming to work properly, tracking cancelled when trying to do all star PA, and failure to be able to successfully return to home properly after an imaging session, (but doing so before the session). I suspect everyone has different problems. Watch your mount like a hawk during the session. Good luck! Ian

Incidentally, re the card capacity, in the video link I posted he suggested 64GB rather than 32GB, as the latter don't necessarily have that capacity available. Ian

So, if I understand correctly, you are now on which version? Oddly, I don't recall having to do that to get it working, but never mind. Perhaps I only got as far as v2.0 before I gave up. Let's hope that the version you now have works like a charm. I'm not taking any bets though 😉. Let us know how it goes please. Ian

Ah, yes. I was just looking at https://youtu.be/ik7wtHlQYNs?si=jjs_po4zKMQWB3BC and discovered that they are different. I have the Plus version. My misunderstanding, sorry. I would have hoped that someone with the PRO version who has done the SD card backup could send you a copy of their file? Ian

I don't really understand what you are saying, I'm not that up on these things. I presume that you have reset the ASIAir to the default version using the reset button on the user interface, before starting the v1.9.1 app on the tablet? Ian

I've downloaded the two options from above, and they both have a size of 662,468KB, the same as my originally downloaded file (probably the Bonzer one). The update 2 version has the same file title, except there's a "tencent" between the final two sets of digits. Go figure. Ian

I agree, I avoided using those websites with their own installers. I did find one from a responder on the ZWO forum, and although I was a bit nervous using it, it does work OK. I've been trying to find it again, but will keep looking. ZWO has a new website which at first site doesn't have a forum, and even if it does somewhere, I wonder if the ASIAir user forum will be copied over. So use the old site, https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/. Reading through the forum is a bit of an eye opener to be honest, there's a lot of disquiet about ZWO's roll out of updates. Ian Update. I've found one offering by Bonzer2u, post 72, here https://bbs.zwoastro.com/d/15898-asiair-v21-has-been-released/73. I assume it's still there and I offer this without any guarantees. Update 2. Another one from and earlier ZWO forum thread https://bbs.zwoastro.com/d/15148-asiair-v20-has-been-released/128. Worth reading posts 116 to 123. Interesting that ZWO suggested the AKP Pure site, rather than post their own link? I think it can be sideloaded rather than using APK Pure. You can Google how to do that.

Possibly worth reminding that automatic updating of the ASIAIR can be switched off by going into the Play Store entry and turning off auto-updating. Ian

Just a heads up, should it be needed, is that there will not be any talks this year. https://practicalastroshow.com/speakers/ I see that FLO aren't on the exhibitors list. Is that correct? Ian

That's a good start, but like all of us the weather isn't being very helpful. Good luck. Ian

That first image is a rather spectacular one. In some ways I feel the light pollution is an integral part of the image, enabling you to silhouette the background which to my mind helps with the composition. I note that the star colours are quite saturated, presumably enhanced in post, but I like that, it's the artistic aspect which appeals rather than any scientific accuracy. Ian

Well in that case it makes sense. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. Ian

I assume that the rings remain static as you change the geometry of your viewing? I must admit, if there are any rings, then naively I would have thought they'd be in the centre, which is where you'd expect the lens surfaces to be nearest to each other. Then again, your star tests are OK. Ian

Newton's rings will be more evident with light sources having a line spectrum rather than a continuous one. Out of interest, are you using a fluorescent light or is it daylight? Ian

Ah yes, hadn't thought of that. The camera will be static so the foreground shouldn't be blurred, but I guess overexposure might be an issue. Ian

Surely it doesn't really matter whether it's a very wide angle lens or is multi-panel mosaic, so long as both celestial poles are in the image. Ian

But do note that although Cuiv mentions encoders, IIRC, I understand that this is essential for servo motor control in a feedback loop. It is not I believe the same as encoders used at the output from the harmonic drive, so it wouldn't correct for the variations which are characteristic of the harmonic drive. To be fair to Cuiv, this is really what he says. Anyway, I am no expert in guiding nor do I have extensive experience with my AM5, but like others I've found guiding generally in the range 0.5"-0.8" using a 50mm x 200mm guide scope, multi-star guiding, and with a 0.5s guide exposure. The load is only about 5kg, and I use the carbon fibre tripod with a ballast of a few kilos. It is advised to use a short guide exposure of 0.5-1.0s guide exposure on account of the rapid switch-backs one can get with harmonic drive errors, though I've seen folk using longer without a problem. I haven't tried longer exposures myself. Ian