Anthonyexmouth

2 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

Not sure about the ***D models but my 80D can control most functions over wifi it can even switch between stills and video, the only limits is that it cant change the mode dial so if you are in manual you cant change it to bulb for example.. The canon app and EOS utils are wi fi friendly and the former even lets you micro focus a camera lens while looking at the live view image... Its just a shame that these apps dont include a full intervalometer function but I have my Pluto trigger for that.

Alan

 

I remember using the app to control my 760d. I just like the idea of using the skywatcher app to control the camera and image session. Does the 80d have an intervalometer port?

2 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

How are your DIY skills?

There is wifi functionality in all these mirrorless cameras and I tested Canon camera control app for android - it let's you take images via wifi.

Maybe it would not be too hard to do arduino project that connects to snap port on star adventurer and wifi of camera and controls shutter release?

If it was a home setup it might be worth tinkering with that but really looking for something I can keep in the back of the car for simple setup when out and about. May have to fall back on an older DSLR. 

2 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Well, I don't do much DSLR astro imaging so it did not occur to me to check all those options.

My idea is to use computer to control DSLR / mirrorless much like I do with regular astronomy cameras.

What I do like with M200 is ability to do remote shooting via wifi (at least I think it can do that).

I originally wanted to get one of these mirrorless cameras for EEVA style imaging on AzGti mount which has wifi as well. It would be rather nice to have EEVA platform without cables - but it turns out that Canon largely disables advanced wifi features. For example my Canon 750D can't do remote shooting via wifi link - but I believe that to be disabled rather than non existent feature.

I was thinking more along the lines of using the skywatcher app with the new star adventurer and the snap port. just to keep things nice and simple. 

I had the 760d , got rid of it because of the horizontal lines in stretched images. 

1 minute ago, wxsatuser said:

Correct.

Is that common for all mirrorless? 

Just now, happy-kat said:

Connectivity I was thinking like DSLR Controller which is handy when no laptop is being used for example

so no connection for an intervalometer ? 

1 minute ago, nfotis said:

Most of the amateur scopes/correctors/reducers cover up to APS size sensor size, so it may be advisable you keep the size under control?

@vlaiv note that the Canon M3 has a very small battery. I wouldn't advise a long night of shooting with the battery only (maybe with a DC connection to a power supply)

 

N.F.

 

I always used a dummy battery and dc power with my old setup. would never rely on the battery. 

I hadn't considered mirrorless, could be very nice for a lightweight setup.  Wow, just looked on eBay, the M3 is super cheap

Not sure i'd go full frame as some of the cheaper aps-c lenses are nice and the cropped can also use full frame lenses. 

Whats the connectivity issue with M series? 

So, I sold my portable setup a little while ago and now regret it. Well, kinda, means I can get the new Star Adventurer but can anyone advise on the best s/h DSLR to look out for these days, ideally sub £700

Thanks, never had to install them before in the years of owning my mount. Windows must have dropped the drivers in recent builds. 

After a few months off due to bad weather and new boot drive in my laptop i'm having connection issues to my mount. getting an unknown usb error in device manager. Not sure if its a config issue or hardware, maybe the lynx cable or the Heq5 itself. Anyone come across this before? EQmod scans but finds nothing. 

4 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Reading through the info on Stellermate it does say not to plug ZWO cameras with USB2 hubs into USB3 port even though the camera itself is USB3.0.
So the usb 3 capability of the camera is lost.
Now, it maybe that is no big deal if the transfer rate of the usb 2 is faster than the transfer rate of the camera, on this I have no idea - can anyone tell me what i am losing running a camera designed to run on USB3 on USB2.

Steve

I may be wrong but I think USB3 is only really beneficial when using high frame rate planetary cameras. If USB2 can't transfer an image from the buffer in between 2-6min subs there's a problem. 

1 minute ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

So far all my imaging with RPi has been back yard stuff so used the official 240V 5VDC supply. Sor remote stuff you will need something like this. 
Step Down Module, 12V 24V to 5V 5A 25W Buck Converter

Steve

That's what I planned to do at the garden pier to avoid using an adapter. I do have 240v at the pier but I save that socket for my laptop on warm nights in the garden. Now if I could only get rid of the neighbours house. 

1 hour ago, rnobleeddy said:

Works fine here - no issues at all, other than ensuring a good WiFi signal when the Pi is directly behind the scope. 

I have the 4Gb version and it's never close to using all the RAM, so I don't think 8Gb would be useful for astroberry, but may help you if you also use the Pi for something else.

Mainly I'd suggest being careful with the hardware you use - not everything works well (or at all) with Indi, for example, a number of the ZWO USB2 planetary cams have issues.

At present i'm using a ZWO 294 for main capture and a 290mc for guiding due to my 120mm dying last year. plan on getting a ZWO EAF this year, does that work with INDI ok?

Pi will only be for astroberry, probably go for the 4Gb version then, spend the savings on a nice case/heatsink. 

The 15m USB cable has served me well for years, when i build the pier i laid conduit to the little workshop at the back of the garden with 12v / 240v and cat6 to the pier with the intention of running the setup from there but as it turns out I prefer my warm house and the reclining chair more than the cold workshop. 

I think Stellarmate is just a polished version of astroberry for with a £50 price tag which for simplicity in setup might be worth it.. 

whats it like operating remotely with the Pi, is there much lag? 

Thinking about installing a R/Pi with astroberry on my pier to be able to lose the usb cable into the house. To anyone using astroberry, is there any benefit to getting an 8Gb Pi? 

Any newbie pitfalls to avoid when setting up? Would I be better off putting my hand in my pocket and buying the Stellarmate OS? 

Just had a play with extended subs last night and got 18 600sec subs on the Wizard, seems like months since i've had clear skies, oh yeah, it has been. 

can someone have a look at the stack and also are 10 min subs worthwhile with the ASI294?

No calibration frames as don't have any 10 min darks 

Autosave.tif

1 hour ago, johngm said:

Hi Have convert your image to Jpeg for comparision with the image I took a couple of weeks ago with my SX 694 mono with 12nm Ha filter. This was only 1 hour 15mins of 5 min subs from my bortle 6 back garden. As Miguel says, mono is better for "fainter" DSO's

Nice, I was aiming to image the Western Veil last night but it was just behind a roofline and i needed to go to bed so opted for the Crescent as it was in view and close. I'll add more data at some point. this was 1h 50m of 4m subs. 

Tried imaging the crescent nebula last night, got just under 2 hours and rather disappointed with the data, or maybe my processing ability. Does this target need a lot of time or is it a poor choice for a OSC camera?

attached the stacked image if anyone wants a go at teasing something out of it. 

Autosave.tif

10 hours ago, goodricke1 said:

The great thing about this comet is you don't need Stellarium to find it! 😀

I only wanted it in Stellarium for easier telescope control. Much easier to plate solve on Capella in APT and then use stellarium to GOTO the comet. 

23 minutes ago, Corncrake said:

or even just  neo  in the search box and it should be at the top of the list.

which cat are you looking at ?

edit: here you go should be :-  MPC's list of observable comets

 

thanks, just copied and pasted the text file from the website into notepad and imported it. for some reason stellarium wasn't donwloading the catalogue

Can anyone help me, having trouble finding and importing the details for C/2020 Neowise into Stellarium. When searching it doesn't find it in the catalogue

1 minute ago, daemon said:

Cheers Anthony! I guess I was wondering mainly whether it was something that people only consider when the mount starts to degrade (i.e  milk it for now) or whether it was an upgrade to be considered from the get go. From your reaction I guess it has benefits regardless of how old the mount is. Cheers

I modded mine within weeks of taking it out of the wrapper. 

I wouldn't be without the belt mod, one of the best upgrades you can do. I had noticably less back lash and worth the £100 for the peace and quiet. 

1 minute ago, miguel87 said:

You're gonna ignore the circle that would be drawn by the sun within the article circle?

Or the fact that it is not a perfectly straight line unless you are on the equator?

It may well be rough but certainly not more accurate than the other methods mentioned.

1. dont worry about the line of the shadow, its ONLY the tip you need, and that ALWAYS follows a STRAIGHT line. It works within the arctic circle, why woudn't it? 

2. It's VERY accurate if done with a thin/pointed stick. 

Just now, miguel87 said:

At nest it will be very approximate. I mean of you are above the article circle the tip will draw a circle

it extremely accurately marks true east-west.