Andyb90

Have you tried the focus aid: https://ideiki.com/astro/usersguide/focusing_aid.htm Looks like it's similar to what I use in SGP. You get a number for the star size and need to get it as small as you can by adjusting the focuser.

I'm thinking of going for Ha 5nm 1.25 and 3nm OIII. I have the funds for the Ha filter from the sale of other astro items. For the OIII I'd fund it by selling my Delos EPs. As when I do a session it's almost always imaging now. So I can't really justify keeping the Delos EPs.

Having just seen this I'm now very concerned about my bank balance ! 😉 https://www.firstlightoptics.com/astrodon-filters.html

Hi all, I just got the Actions for Photoshop CC. I'm processing a Ha image (around 6 hours of data) and did some basic curves, levels, noise reduction and high pass filter. I then ran the Local Contrast Enhancement Action (applied to whole image), but the end result seemed a bit 'overcooked'. Looked to have pushed the data too far. Could anyone advise on when you'd normally use the Local Contrast Enhancement in your processing workflow? Also do you have to ease off on the initial curves and level adjustments when using this action. Would the action normally be applied to the whole image. Or is it generally better to apply it selectively using a layer mask? Is there a way to see what the action actually does in Photoshop? I can see some layers getting created and deleted when the action runs, but I'm not sure which functions it uses in Photoshop. Andy.

I have an Esprit 80, which I'm very happy with. Its weight is very manageable being a smaller scope. That's important for me as I setup and tear down each session. Also the field flattener is optically matched to the scope too, which I really like. The flattener is screwed to the focuser and also has a thread for attaching spacers, camera filter wheel etc. So you don't need a push fit connection at all. If you prefer tube rings it is possible to remove the foot. I've done it for mine. I have it mounted in rings with a guide scope on top. I posted a topic about doing this a while back. Here it is:

Hi all, I was trying to do some darks last night. My lights were taken on Saturday at -20, but I struggled to cool to -20 last night as my rig was in doors due to rain. The best I could get was -18. Is it ok to have a 2 degree difference between lights and darks or do I really need to ensure the darks are exactly the same temperature as lights to get the best out of calibration? Andy.

After further testing it appears playing a video while the Polemaster software is working prevents the image freeze. It’s very odd. I hope qhyccd can issue a proper fix for the issue as this type of workaround is not ideal. If PHD2 can do a constant image refresh I don’t see why the Polemaster software can’t do that without playing a video in the background.

I just had the mount and polemaster connected. Normally it works fine. I saw a couple of posts mentioning playing a video to get it working. So I tried playing a video on YouTube. Then the polemaster video seemed to start working and I managed to complete the polar alignment. I’m not sure if the playing the video actually helped. I’ll have to do more testing.

Hi all, I'm trying to start my first imaging session in a long time and seems I'm stuck straight away. I've opened the polemaster software and can connect to the camera. I get an image with polaris in the middle as normal, but after a few seconds it freezes. I've not had this issue before, Up until now it has been fine. I'm on a Windows 10 laptop. I've just tried uninstalling and re-installing the software, but the same thing is happening. If anyone can help I'd be very grateful as I can't see what the issue could be. Thanks, Andy,

That's a beautiful image. I'd also be interested to know what exposure times and gain setting you used. I've tried high gain previously, but have moved to unity with exposures between 180 and 240 seconds for narrowband. Edit: I see the exposure and gain settings are on the Astrobin technical card.

As others have said I would advise keeping exposures to several minutes. I tried 30s exposures with my asi1600 and found the time between exposures for image download and dithering cut into my overall imaging time too much. With exposures of several minutes there is no issue.

Thanks very much for the info and pics. I think I'll order one. I've contacted FLO and they've said I could return the unit if I have any compatibility issues. Though hopefully I won't. Andy.

I use SGP and setup each session. I've also found with Platesolve2 you need to be reasonably close to the target for it to work. I normally do 'Solve and Sync Blind' first using Astrometry.net local. Then center on the target with Platesolve2. I find Platesolve2 always works then and is very fast 🙂

Hi Everyone, I'm interested in the ZWO EAF. I have a FeatherTouch focuser so I think it should be compatible. I will be using SGPro for auto focus. If anyone has used the EAF I'd be really grateful if you could share your experiences so far. Andy.

My typical RMS is around the same with the PHD2 guide settings recommended by Avalon.

I’ve been very happy with my Linear. It’s extremely well built and very manageable to carry. I set up and tear down each time so that’s important for me. The guiding performance is also excellent. So far I’ve not found I needed to adjust the belt tension. As a note of caution if you do go for the Linear and you are buying new the mount manual states: “Never modify the tension of the belts (by dedicated screw), these are set in the factory and any unauthorized change will void the manufacturer’s limited warranty .”

You need to be a bit careful when unscrewing nut 2 shown in the photo below. It is the inner nut and is behind an inner ring (highlighted in Blue on the photo). You wouldn't want to knock that ring as any damage could affect star shape. It's not high risk you just need to ease the nut loose. I used this Draper socket set to get over that ring and loosen the bolt. https://www.drapertools.com/product/16442/1-4inch-Sq-Dr-Metric-Socket-Set-(20-Piece) The ratchet is just the right size. Any similar set would work. You've probably seen in the earlier posts, but just in case you missed it the mounting foot has rubber stuck to it. That peels off to reveal 4 screws. Undo them and you can get to the 2 screw heads to hold them in place whilst you undo the nuts within the OTA. One other thing. I tilted the OTA to one side and this helped the inner nut stay within the ratchet head once released from the screw. Just avoids any risk of the nut falling into the OTA. Andy.

I posted a new thread as I have some beginner questions about compiling and installing the driver. This one: https://www.indilib.org/forum/mounts/4193-avalon-driver-setup.html Andy.

That's great. I'm wondering if it's best to create a new thread on the INDI forum Mount's section as I have some beginner questions about building and installing the driver. Rather than post into the above thread. Andy.

I got some clear skies on Sunday, so setup for some testing. Again connections to asi1600 (imaging cam), asi290 (guide cam), EFW and HEQ5 were fine. I skipped polar alignment as I didn't actually realise there was an assistant in Ekos. Normally I use a Polemaster. So I slewed to Capella and went straight to alignment. I tried an offline solve to begin with, but that didn't work. So tried online and it worked. I then had a look at the index files in options. It appeared I had some missing that were required, so downloaded them. I also thought it best to download the recommended files too, but got an error after the 3rd download. The error is documented on the INDI forum and adding the missing files manually is provided as a workaround. Before downloading further files manually I tried the local solve again and it worked this time so I think the previous errors were probably due to missing required index files. I'll continue testing next session to see how I get on. Next I went to the capture tab to focus the 1600. I used the preview button for that. It took me a while before I realised that I had to mark the stars on the preview image before I could get a HFR value. Once that was sorted focusing was straight forward. Next up was guiding and this is where I came unstuck. A silly mistake really, but I didn't see it. I had the Guider set to asi290 correctly, but the Via option was set to the 1600. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why the star wasn't moving during calibration. Then finally realised the Via option should be set to EQ MOD for my setup. Oh dear! After that calibration worked and guiding was up and running pretty quickly. Unfortunately by this point the wind was starting to pick up quite a lot and I was a bit concerned so decided to pack up. The initial guiding results were pretty good though considering the wind, just under 1 arcsec. Next session I'll see if I can get an imaging run going and then try to use VNC Viewer on my tablet to remote onto the laptop. I've tested the connection already so hopefully it should work. Will also be trying to Polar Alignment Assistant too. One gap that I didn't account for is with my Hitec Astro Mount Hub Compact. I normally use it for dew heater control and previously for focuser control, but unfortunately it looks like the software is Windows only. So I'd need another option for dew control. Also it would be really nice if I could use my Avalon mount with INDI. Looking on the forum I think it may be possible, but need to do some further reading. I do like KStars too. Its nice to have the planetarium functionality, including features like the DSS Overlay when exploring for targets. I also like the 'Whats Up Tonight' option. Andy.

I installed the basic indi library with this command sudo apt-get install libindi1 indi-bin I don't think it includes any 3rd party drivers so I then installed the zwo and eqmod ones separately. Connection to my heq5 worked well. I was able to slew to a couple of targets in kstars and track then park the mount. I've also saved my location now. Think I must not have saved it correctly before. I installed Astrometry.net today and the index files. All in all I'm pleased with how the setup and initial tests have gone. I may get chance to try an imaging run tomorrow ? Andy

I've got KStars up and running and Ekos too. I'm using an asi1600 camera for imaging and asi290 for guiding. I have a zwo EFW too. So I installed the zwo indi driver. I also installed the eqmod driver for my heq5 pro mount. Both cameras connected without any problems. I took some test exposures and could see the resulting images. EFW connection was fine too. Just need to check correct filter is being set. Does anyone know if you can set camera gain for targets or sequence jobs? I want to connect my mount next. I have a lynx astro eq dir cable. Should that work with the eqmod driver? Also I added a new 'Home' location in KStars with the co-ordinates entered manually, but when I re-started KStars it had disappeared. Is there a way to permanently save this type of setting? Do I need to setup a config file? Andy.

Will hold off on the full install then and try the nightly build as it would be good to get the full version.

Will try the fix, but if that doesn't work is there a command to uninstall indi and then a way to install 1.7.4? Andy.

Ok I'll try to re-run the full install with the fix switch. I installed the latest version of Ubuntu: Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS