AngryDonkey

2 hours ago, Gasman said:

Is it possible to run two instances of Prism to achieve what you want?

I don't think so because then you loose the coordination between the two main cameras which would have been the whole point of changing software (I do appreciate that PRISM can do a lot more than just acquiring images but there wasn't anything else that I needed).

Hi Harry,

I'm sure Hamza will answer this better but one of the reasons I tried the software was to see if it could work with my dual rig. From memory the Pro versions doesn't support two imaging cameras but the 'Advanced' version does (on top of the guide camera). This also includes coordination between the cameras (including dithering) which was what I was looking for for the dual rig. Unfortunately I discovered that in this configuration it was not possible to use the automation features i.e. running a complete imaging sequence by itself, it would have only worked in a 'semi automatic' mode with manually solving and slewing to targets, flip etc. which was not really something I could live with.

So I'm still looking for a good dual scope software to sync my acquisitions on both scopes including dithering. I believe MaximDL can be used with a third party tool to achieve this but it looked far from straightforward and would have required two PCs or additional software (SkyX and CCDSoft). So in the meantime I'm sticking with two instances of SGP which works ok (but no dithering and some lost subs).

Hi Hamza,

Having evaluated PRISM in the past I can definitely say that it's a very capable and comprehensive product and your support is very good!

Maybe you have already discussed this with the SGL admin team in which case please ignore this line but I just wanted to say that if you have not then it would definitely be a good idea to see what posts are allowed as I think there are strict rules with regards to posting about commercial products as a vendor.

Sorry I'll try again:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/starlightxpress/info

Sorry if this has been suggested before (it's a long thread and I didn't manage to read it all) but I would ask your question on the SX Yahoo support group. Terry is usually very quick in responding and he does know most about this equipment, I'm sure he will be able to help or confirm that it is faulty (not sure about weekend support though, I don't think many suppliers do that):

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/starlightxpress/

Bring out your fracs.... Bring out your fracs!

Or I could just use the GNS app... 

Yes it's a life saver  (or saver of lost imaging time). Now that my mobile setup is running pretty good I can actually go to sleep in the tent during the night! Yay!

There might be easier ways of doing this but to ensure I get woken up when a problem occurs I've come up with two solutions:

• Internet Available -> Use email option and set the email sender as a VIP sender on my Android phone email app. Then assign a nasty alarm sound to the VIP email senders and get woken up by a submarine diving etc.
• Internet Not Available -> Let SGP run a script if the sequence comes to an end. The script will play a nasty loud audio file on the computer loud enough to wake me sleeping in the tent next door. Since moving on to an Intel Compute Stick this becomes a bit more complicated as it doesn't have a speaker. I've experimented with a Bluetooth speaker which seems to work ok but not tried it in earnest yet.

Have considered playing a meow sound to get the dog barking but that might be too much excitment in the middle of the night... 

Anyone else had any good ideas for getting woke up?

EDIT:

Just found a setting in the Sequence Options which allows you to play a sound when the sequence completes. I presume this will also be the case if it is aborted. Will have to try this out.

I'm in the same boat, version 3 really doesn't have anything to offer that would make me upgrade and 'upset' the working setup I have going just now.

Regardless I did buy a license for version 3 non the less. My reasons are that I think the software is great and offered at a fantastic price. The upgrade was 39 Dollar as I already had the add-ons which you now get included in the app as standard (otherwise I think it's 79 Dollar). I consider it a forward payment for things to come and a thank you for all the stuff that was added to version two for free without any charges. It's also a small contribution to ensure that the product will continue to be developed and supported. This is important to me as I wouldn't want this to disappear anytime soon (now that I finally got it to work the way I want it !). You only need to look back a few months in the forums to see a time when one of the developers (there are only two) was pretty much done with the thing because of the constant workload and little return. Luckily it seems now they have found a better way to see if they can make this work commercially with their new licensing approach - I sincerely hope it does, there aren't a lot of good alternatives out there.

Sorry not trying to sound high and mighty and in no way am I expecting others to think like that, just my reasons for doing it (I do this a lot with free software where there is an option to donate some small amount of money when I think it really helps me out).

My first year of 'real' astrophotography. What have I learned? It's a lot harder, it takes a lot longer and it's definitely a lot more expensive... :-)