Dazzyt66

40 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

Great image. You have managed to get M81, 82 and a few others as well 👍

I found this useful as well, as it also gives you sample data to download https://siril.org/tutorials/tuto-scripts/

Thanks, I am really pleased with the image. Yeah, I'm a big fan of using sample data - you know that you are starting off with something good and its just your stacking & processing skill that will be the variable.

6 minutes ago, Feccy said:

For £15 on Amazon I got a mains adaptor for my 550D to replace the battery - camera now goes all night

 

I did think about something like this but I'm running everything from a powertank (no mains) and I'm likely to switch to an ZWO at some point when funds allow. Good shout though! 😀

30 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Just to add to my previous ramble I have had some issues with auto focus lately which now has settled down and has worked flawlessly last 4 or 5 sessions.

Generally it needs to pretty much close to focus before letting it run or it can struggle.

Also there a a host of things you can change, things like parameters, exposure time, averaging over more than one exposure, algorithms.
And not sure which way to point you as I asked the question about what parameters work best .

ekos-auto-focusing-what-parameters-do-you-use

I also did a lot of searching Google and apart from ensuring it has all the correct settings for your scope, camera etc people seemed to use quite a differing variety of parameters and algorithms, some claiming they were the best , others to say just what they used.

So whether this is just a difficult process to get right anyway, or all these algorithms do the same job essentially I am not sure.

Some common things did seem to run through what most of them suggested:

1) needs to be manually focussed to be somewhere close first - can be done several ways but I found taking a quick image of stars and zooming in on the stars in the resultant image and if looked blurry moved focusser one direction and another quick (3 sec) image - if less bloated then continue in that direction or change directions until best image is seen. Sounds faffy but unless you are miles away then really doesn't take long and saves going out fitting the Bahtinov . I now also put the focusser lock on whenever I finish a session and power down to prevent the focuser getting moved when no power to motor, Just remember to unlock it at start of next session - becomes 2nd nature after a couple of sessions. It then always focusses and sometimes moves a little but not much.

2) Average over at least 2 images.

3) Keep guiding enabled.

4) if any issues use longer exposures. 2 to 3 seconds seems to be common.

Steve

Cool. Thanks Steve. I have used the focus module to focus manually and it seems OK - as you say you need to be close to start with - but I'm OK with that. As I'm doing it DIY I guess success will depend on how well I build it - but nothing ventured nothing gained. I don't use guiding at the moment, but I'm assuming (as with plate solving), when I schedule a repeated sequence (I usually do around an hour of lights as a sequence) it will focus again when the sequence begins again.

Daz

11 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

Looking good....How many images was that?

I think that was around 80 lights with 20 bias and flats. Using my ST80 and the tutorial above (200 lights 60 bias and flats) I got this:

15 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

...When you get used to using the full scheduler it is brilliant and amazing how it works every time without issue.
Just lately I was struggling to decide on a target to image but didn't want to wast the 3 or 4 clear nights I have had recently but having lots of data for Pinwheel Galaxy did not really want another galaxy and it was after 1:30 am before any real nebulas I wanted came into view from my patio but just set a time to start, set a loop of 1 Ha, 1 OII and 1 SII, gave it a link to an image I took the previous night, and a time to stop as the darkness would be fading and just went to bed an left it.
So at 1:10 am it all sprung into action and slewed to the just appeared target, auto-focused, then plate solved so the target was framed exactly like the image from previous night, started the PHD2 guiding (including calibration of PHD2) then away oit went running round that loop of 3 images until whatever time I had set and in the morning I had several images of Ha, OIII and SII.
It handles flips flawlessly as well and will check its position before the flip and ensure it is exactly same (but 180 different) after the flip...

 

 

 

 

Steve

I am amazed how easy the scheduler is to use - like you I just give it an image to reference that I'd taken on my first run and then off it goes and gives me another set of images that match - I've been doing M81/82 the last few nights with consistent images to stack. My next job is to make a diy autofocuser so that everything is automatic (I have to focus manually before I schedule atm). I do agree that the layout is great - super intuitive - and you just work your way through. Plate solving is a dream and the PA routine was a doddle! Also, the Youtube videos from Jasem explaining it all are great!

1 hour ago, Stuart1971 said:

Do you run it from your PC and just use the RPI as an INdI server or do you run all direct from the RPI over VNC or alike..?.

I run it all on a RPI 4 (2gig) with a 128gb microsd card (as I'd read and been advised that its quicker to do it that way with no dependency on network speed). I VNC into it from my laptop and off I go. Scope is around 5m from the house, but the router is at the front and I haven't had any issues with speed - yeah, VNC can be a little slow to respond sometimes but I'm now doing all of my captures using the scheduler, so once its set up I just leave it until the morning - the only issue Ive had at the moment is that the 1100d battery died last night but I had been capturing for 4 hours at that point and only lost about 80 subs before the end of the session anyway - despite that INDI/Ekos handled it all parked the mount. All I do in the AM is bring the RPI inside and copy across the images (I bring it inside so that its faster cos of better wifi - but I don't really need to do that either as the time it takes isn't an issue). I just cant believe its taken me this long to try it! 😀

15 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

A lot of people think because software is free that it will be not so good or difficult to use, but I think Kstars / Ekos is the exception to that rule, I have used it for a few years, and would never use anything else, there are easy and hard ways to use, and once you figure out the easy ways then it’s superb, just open up your PC set up a profile in ekos for your drivers, and connect to your INdI server on the mount, and that does the rest with all the hardware...what could be simpler.....👍🏼👍🏼

100% agree with this - I’m a true Ekos convert - LOVE IT! 😀

27 minutes ago, Len1257 said:

Unfortunately I have moved away from Astroberry. I realised that I had too many sporadic issues interfering with imaging time. I've moved to a NUC and NINA. A better knowledge on my part of Linux would undoubtedly have helped.

That is interesting. I really was expecting a lot of faff (having never used any of the software before), but its been pretty painless for me - even running everything over wifi hasn't caused a problem (yet). That said, my setup is really basic so I'm not pushing the hardware or software in any way. I think the moral of everything here though is: if it works for you then that's the way to go. 🙂

I just wanted to say out loud, to everyone, how happy I am I made the switch to the above packages. Not only have they transformed how I view the night sky, but I am now able to achieve images like never before, albeit unguided with manual focus. It’s so liberating to be able to quickly set-up (I’ve located my HEQ5 tripod permanently in the garden) and be able to quickly and accurately get to targets and either observe remotely (EEVA esque) or (as I do now) set up a schedule, go to bed and enjoy the benefit in the morning!

And all this with free software!

if anyone involved with those packages are on here - THANK YOU! You have rekindled my love of the hobby!

😁

Well I’ve done a few single shot DSOs (including M42) but I will always consider this my first DSO image - a wide field of M81/82 (plus others!) taken from my Bortle 8 garden with my unmodded canon 1100d and my trusty ST80 - around 200 lights stacked with 60 Bias and 60 flats 😊

8 hours ago, Clarkey said:

I think that is a great result with and ST80.

Thanks - I do love my ST80! 😊

24 minutes ago, tomato said:

Great wide field image, lots of other galaxies visible also.👍

Thanks! Yeah, I was really surprised with how much the ST80/Canon pick up - the more I stack the more details come out - I'm sure there's going to be a limit to that though - I cant just keep adding more... 😂

There were some artefacts on my first image so I re-stacked and edited and think this one is pretty good - want to do a few hundred more 30s subs over the next night or so to see if I can get any more definition...

My semi permanent setup tucked away in my greenhouse corner, with 1kg ankle weights to balance the ST80 with camera and mount... and disguised as a patio heater... 😀

Still trying out using Ekos scheduler and no autofocus on my ST80 and my best processing with Siril so far - I know it’s far from ideal, but I’m pretty impressed with what I can do from Bortle 8 back garden! 
 

240 lights with 60 bias and 60 flats all processed and stacked in Siril

I, like a few that have replied, started out using binoculars to explore the sky many years ago (in Birmingham). You will get to know the sky and your way around. If you decide to go for a telescope my advice for a newcomer it would be: invest in a better telescope rather than the electronics. There’s a good YouTube video here about what might be a good buy for any taste/budget: 

and I also own the ‘basic’ scope he recommends (skywatcher ST80) which I think I would say is my most used scope (and my favourite if I’m honest) cos it’s so easy to use anywhere. 😊

If like me you are new to Siril you may be interested in this. Gary does a great job of explaining the end to end process and even I managed to get a heartening image from just a few subs of M82 with my Mak!

8 hours ago, neil phillips said:

If astroboot was still running i would say no hesitation in trying this,  SW Capricorn 70mm refractor got the tube assembly for £30 they had a few. wish i had got two.   At Nearly F13 it has negligible false colour 

super sharp optics, best cheapest grab and go i ever got.  a scopetech F12 80mm would set you back over £400 

I miss Astroboot! Got my 150 dob and my Heq5 from there - both brilliant 😊

44 minutes ago, Dazzyt66 said:

That is a cracking job! Not sure mine will be to same standard, but that’s the type of configuration I was thinking of. Thanks for the image - it helps a lot!! 😊

I feel a right burk now! 😂 I just tried the rubber knob and it came straight off! 😂 I was worried about trying it in case it broke the focuser!

I’m also assuming that where you’ve fitted your extra finder shoe is where the two black screws are situated on the back plate? I always assumed they were redundant but again, had trouble finding a confirmation. Thanks again John. I’m actually looking forward to getting it up and running!

26 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Link to the short thread on it.

 

Thanks John. I’d looked for something like this but never searched on 180! 😊

22 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Under the rubber cover there is a metal “knob” that fastens on with a set screw as I remember.

Photo of a motorised focuser mod I did to a Skymax180.

That is a cracking job! Not sure mine will be to same standard, but that’s the type of configuration I was thinking of. Thanks for the image - it helps a lot!! 😊

2 minutes ago, johninderby said:

On the Skymax180 the rubber cover simply pulls off so would imagine the 150 is the same.

Cool - I thought it might but didnt want to try until I was sure it would! 🤔

That looks amazing to me! 👏

Hi,

I'm going to build an RPI autofocus soon and was wondering if anyone knows how the rubber cover comes off the Skymax 150 Pro focuser - I cant decide whether to try and take it off and fit a drive wheel somehow, or just to leave it as is and just run the belt round it as it seems to have good grip.

Ive seen on Youtube someone removed the knob from a Mak127 but I dont think the 150 is the same.

Any ideas anyone?

Does anyone know where Ekos logs using Astroberry are initially stored? - I tried my first scheduling the other night and one target didn't have any subs (the other was fine) - I just wondered why but when I went to the logs on the RPI running Astroberry it came up with 'directory does not exist' (I've since added the directories manually so it shouldn't happen again). I cant seem to use 'find' on the RPI successfully to check if the logs were created somewhere else because it would be nice to know the reason it failed.