teoria_del_big_bang

No problem resurrecting the thread at all but I can't really add to Stuarts reply.

The flap will not close tight enough for darks and I would not even bother with the heater it cannot replace a proper dew band placed correctly, but great panels though and very  lightweight.

Steve

57 minutes ago, chubster1302 said:

Hmm....I just trying to get away from putting "another" pc in the loop. So are we saying my plan won't work??

Where has it been said your setup will not work, as I said  on your other thread I had almost the same setup as yours, same scope, different DSLR, similar HEQ5 mount and same guidecam and it worked flawlessly from my PC some 40M away in the house. That was with APT not NINA I admit but that should not be any issue.

You just seem to be worried it will not work, I have not seen it said contrary to my suggestions, but maybe I have missed something, not unusual for me 🙂 .
Hopefully if you bought it off Amazon then try to connect it all in daylight and if not happy then send it back for a full refund.

Steve

27 minutes ago, Graeme said:

I asked on the Pegasus forum if my Pocket Pegasus could control the 12V outputs separately but my question remains unanswered. I would like to turn my flat frame light box on at the end of the session. I should have asked here! This thread tells me only the Ultimate can do that. 

There are Pegasus power boxes that can turn the 12V outputs on and off, the Pocket Powerbox certainly can ,and the Pocket Powerbox Micro, but these both do not have USB ports and are just power poxes for 12V and the dew bands.

If you need the USB hubs as well then it is only the Ultimate that can control all the 12V power ports individually, the Pocket Powerbox Advanced can only turn all off or all on and not each one individually, however it also has an adjustable supply that can be switched on and off without affecting the other 4 12V only outputs capable of 12V @ 3A which would work with your flat panel.

Steve

12 hours ago, chubster1302 said:

Apologies for jumping on this thread. Just waiting for my gear to turn up and making sure i've got everything covered.  Ive asked before on here and i "think" I had it sorted in my head but then this post has confused and worried me again.

So, my set up. 

EQ5 Pro Goto

WO ZS73iii

ASI120MM Guide cam

Nikon D7100

My Plan

Want to operate the scope from directly my main PC upstairs.  I've purchased the Startech USB2004EXTV 4 port USB 2 extender. Am i correct in saying that that is all i need to make my plan work ? Other than power to the mount itself. 🤔

 

Yes this setup should work fine even tough it is USB2, You will need power to the Startech units but as you have power at the mount then that should be no problem.

As you have seen from your previous threads, and this one, there is more than one way to operate your scope setup from a distance.
From my experience in my opinion (everybody will have different experiences or tried different things) the best ways in order are:

1. A good mini computer of some sort (ideally NOT a RPi, although I did use one for quite a while with some issues but it worked) and then hard wired ethernet back to PC in warm area.
2. A good mini computer of some sort and then use some remote desktop program to communicate with PC in warm area, (this is how I do it currently. This works fine for me but distance and a lot of brick or steel in the way can make this slow and can drop out occasionally.
   
   The advantage of both the above is that it is actually the mini pc that is controlling the equipment, running the sequencing software and collecting the images so any issues with communicating with the mini pc from your laptop or desktop in the house does not actually affect the imaging, it is just annoying.
   You can also transfer the images to your pc in the house when using NINA )probably other software too) and again this is great as it does it in the background so seed not an issue and it backs up images on the mount PC so you end up with two copies for safety.
    
3. If you really do not want a mini PC at the mount then a setup like yours using  a USB hub and then USB over Ethernet.  If the USB over ethernet has its own hub (some have 4 or more USB2 ports) and there are enough ports then no need for the hub.
   
   Like I said in your thread about this personally I had no success at all with long USB cables including active (repeater) and passive cables and so opted for this setup before I started using a mini PC at the mount but I know other well known member on this forum have used them very successfully so cannot rule them out but I could only suggest something that worked for me and it worked really well, never missed a beat. 

Many on this thread are mentioning the Pegasus boxes. There are several of these available with different amounts of ports and controllability.
They are brilliant pieces of kit, I have one and would not be without it, but they are not a method of controlling your scope / camera etc from a remote computer.
Basically it would hep with adding more USB ports (that can be turned on and off on the more expensive units) ability to control your dew bands (on some units) and are a good way to distribute 12V to all your equipment that needs it, again on some units you can switch these on and off, but at the end of the day you still need to connect your PC in the house to the USB port on the Pegasus somehow and the Pegasus will be on the mount so still a distance away from your PC.

Steve

Sorry but before my time in this hobby (unfortunately well within my lifetime though 😂) but there must be a few on SGL that have had experience of them so hopefully you can get some sort of info. I had a quick search but I guess have only found on Google what you found. There is an email address for a director, probably defunct now but have you tried that address >#

EMAIL

And there is an old thread HERE and the last post says the member will message the OP directly about this company so may be worth joining the forum and seeing if that member is still on the forum and message him.

Sorry I cannot help further but as I say I am sure somebody will at least be aware of these scopes and mount and can help further, I really hope so 🙂 

Steve

15 minutes ago, Captain Scarlet said:

It’s a bit like a second life sentence “to be served concurrently”: there’s already been 100% cloud cover for weeks!

Very similar here too, had a week early in January had around 3 clearish nights all in same week but nothing since.

Fingers crossed you get lucky 🙂 

Steve

1 minute ago, Captain Scarlet said:

I just opened my email and my heart skipped a beat or two:

How exciting, just be prepared for two weeks of cloud cover though, that's normally taken as read 🙂 

Steve

On 13/01/2023 at 18:23, Beulah said:

In my line of work it is astonishing to see how much human detritus is left in the landscape

Unfortunately you are so right and how shameful on mankind is this ?
I know to some leaving a few empty cans behind or a Mc Donald's bag full of rubbish behind is small fry in the world of seas full of plastic but how hard is it just to bring your own rubbish home ?
Unfortunately its the same everywhere, I go fishing a lot and saddens me to see what other anglers leave behind, I end up taking twice the rubbish home as I just cannot bear to look at the stuff others left behind. I do not understand why you would not feel good about leaving some part of the countryside just as it was before your intrusion. Its so easy.
Better stop now I can feel my BP going up.

Steve

17 minutes ago, chubster1302 said:

Thanks both, so to clarify (just to get it in my head.) 

USB hub tapped to the mount, this connects to mount itself, D7100 and guide scope. Then ethernet cable back from hub to PC.

This will then allow me to use the full potential of Nina as per his video

Yes that's correct but to clarify the ethernet does not go directly into the PC itself but into a second small bot that comes with the set and then a short USB cable from that box to the pc USB port.

Now to be honest I cannot vouch for the one on the link  as it was not the actual one I had. The one I have (although don't use anymore) as I could not find it but I have fount it now, it is THIS ONE.

Now why the one I bought is 3x the price of the one I put in the first link I do not know and that worries me but looks like both should work. The one I have is startech which do seem to be fairly reliable bits of kit maybe thats why it is more expensive.

Both are only USB2 but should work just fine and plenty fast enough transfer speed.

I guess if you get from Amazon can always return it if it doesn't work but I really cannot see why either should not work.

I did have loads of trouble getting reliable connections back to house in my early days and never had any real success using long USB cables, passive or active to be honest, long being much over 5M but having said that many do manage getting them to work, but until I used this USB over Ethernet had loads of lost nights, after this never put a foot wrong.

Steve

1 minute ago, catburglar said:

You’ll need usb cables for your cameras as well as the mount - but if you can manage with 4 or fewer then something like @teoria_del_big_bang suggested could work. 

Yes that's right, the item I put the link to is a usb hub so all usb cables go to that hub, which sits on the mount , so only need short usb cables, and then the flat ethernet runs from the mount into the house near to the laptop or desktop and then a short usb cable to the laptop or desktop.

But If you need more than 4 usb cables then just use a separate hub but always run the main imaging camera direct to the ethernet hub.

Steve

Then if you get a 50ft flat ethernet cable then it will go through a top opening window and you can usually shut the window to keep the warmth in.

50ft flat Ethernet cable

Steve

I used to do this with a USB over Ethernet setup very reliably.

USB over Ethernet

Steve

6 minutes ago, powerlord said:

I had that from a view folk. I pointed out - it's not the same... for example 23 million years ago (or no time at all ago if you're the photon), a photon was generated out of a star in another galaxy - it could have been headed anywhere, but over the next 23 million years it headed towards our galaxy. Not only that, but our solar system. Interstallar space, be it galaxies or solar systems withiinin them are mostly nothing.. but this particular photon happen to be on path that would make it hit earth - just as it revolved around the sun, and the solar system revolved around the Milky way... and it could have been obsorbed in earths atmosphere, hit a bit of dust, been absorbed by the sea.. but it hit land.. and of all the land it hit, it hit england. And Suffolk. And of all the suffolk, it happened to make it to my back garden... only a tiny fraction of a percent of which happened to be covered by a telescope at the point in time - but it headed straight down that through a few layers of glass before hitting my camera sensor and being absorbed.. ended it's journey after 23 milion years. And that's what you are looking at now - MY photons that I killed to make this picture. It's not the same as the one on the  internet.

When I got to the end of that they were probably still not in the least bit interested, but they stopped making further comments for fear of having to listen to another big explanation 🙂

stu

Pretty much how I think how amazing any DSO image is, or any astro image for that matter, and would never say anything negative to anybody's attempt at it, and lets face it most of our first attempts are not much more than a bright fuzzy image of Orion, or Andromeda and nothing like the spectacular images you strive for but like somebody told me on my first fuzzy attempt how amazing it was for the very reasons you state, albeit a bit more concise 🙂 

It's all truly remarkable, what isn't remarkable how once again I have managed to steer a great thread off track 🤪

Steve

2 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

my images get shown to family, and they love them and think I am well clever….😂😂, that’s all the reward I need….

I know exactly that feeling, it's not been often my kids (now in their 20's) have said I was good at something, best make the most of it 🤣

Steve

6 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Same here, I much prefer the capturing element. I even built a new machine to speed up the processing to see if it would spark more enjoyment but it hasn't much 🙂 🙂

Sounds like you want a time machine and hit the FF button for a few hours 🤣

Steve

A very warm welcome to SGL, you are in good hands here to learn, helped me so much over the few years I have been doing this 🙂 

Steve

8 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

To be honest I'm not really fussed one way or the other. 99% of the time I only show my pictures to my wife and I can assure you she doesn't give a hoot as to whether it's had any BlurXT or any other process used or not. I just get a "That's nice" regardless.....

Now if it was being submitted for scientific use maybe that would be a different story but it's just a hobby for me and I see plenty of images that are "better" than mine but hey ho I don't much care how they were done... 😀

Best attitude to have,  and I guess as a PI user  I am used to the sly comments now and again about its methods, and the almost Marmite sort of following but was still surprised to  see how BXT had the same but to a greater extent with some giving it high praise but others so opposed to it.

On 06/02/2023 at 08:55, tomato said:

Thanks for posting this, I learnt quite a bit. 
Early on, Russ Croman refers to an article by Patrick Cosgrove which the AI sceptics might find interesting. It provides an introduction into neural networks and for me provided an understanding as to why most of the concerns put forward about this processing tool are unfounded.

https://cosgrovescosmos.com/tips-n-techniques/blurxtermintor-a-breakthrough-for-decon

 

Yes I agree a great insight into how the tool works and I hope puts some of the mis founded ideas to bed.

I too have been quite confused to some of the comments flying about lately and some people seem very opposed to all of Russ Croman's tools with comments like processed without any Exterminators so I started to wonder myself if these were actually cheating or not.

I mean in a way aren't all of the tools some form of cheat anyway as we are transforming what is actually on out camera sensors, nearly all imagers will remove noise to some extent and yes you can overdo it, most will do some sort of deconvolution or sharpening, and again these can all be overdone, to achieve any decent image of most DSO's we will all change the ratios of brightness's, and these days we nearly all mess about with the colours. Technically cheating I would think but all acceptable if not done to extremes.

The biggest issue people seem to have is with the so called AI, neural Networks etc and even some suggestion it adds info from learned images to your data which I think this video firmly puts to bed, Well I believe it convinced me anyway 🙂 

I think I am quite happy to use this along with the other XT tools and realise that like many other PI tools it can be over used, also it may not work so great on all images, it is not a way to turn bad data into great images, at the heart of a great image it is still down to great data, but used properly can enhance your images.

Steve

1 hour ago, Stuart1971 said:

Is it 3 hours though, or just a 1 hour…. as it’s 1 hour of each filter, which is only the same as 1 hour of RGB….with OSC camera 🤔🤔

I never know what to count it as myself.

But my thinking is that if comparing to a OSC I think it is nearer to 3 hours because you are using the full complement of pixels for each filter for the exposure length,whereas on OSC only uses 1/4 of them of Red & Blue and half of them for Green, I believe that's the case in most colour matrixes.
However, does that mean that for an OSC  just has less pixels but bigger pixels when debayered ?

Confusing myself now, too much thought for a Sunday night 🤣

Best to go with your description of 3 hours data gathering.

Steve

For only 3 hrs there is some nice detail in there.
At first I was a bit in two minds about the darker colours but actually now I quite like them compared to more usual brighter blue and the more usual yellower gold outer.

All in all a very nice image 🙂 

Steve

Great image 🙂 

Steve

29 minutes ago, david_taurus83 said:

It never gets old, does it?!

No, always great to see these targets. I wish I could say the same for some of my joints which certainly are not ageless 🤣

Bothe great images, I do prefer the newer one though and I quite like the larger stars, I guess if you didn't then you would have reduced them with one of many ways to do so.

Did you use the original image to frame the new image as they are exactly the same, or are they both heavily cropped to achieve the same FOV  ?

Steve

https://stellarium.org/

Stellarium ?

Steve

What a horror story, both the loss in the first place then all this hassle.

Although I have not owned one I can't say I have seen any threads on SGL in past few years regarding this.
If this is new from a reputable dealer then I would be making a note of any serial numbers and demanding a new replacement. I  am not sure they are legally bound to replace with new but any decent dealer would do so.

Steve