don4l

This isn't much help, but my images are exactly the same.  I think that vlaiv is correct.  It is probably a mix of LP with other stuff.  I did some imaging from a very dark site once, and they didn't have this problem at all.

On 30/04/2019 at 20:56, han59 said:

This image was made two days ago when the M5 global cluster was near the meridian. The second image shows by annotation how many galaxies are hidden within the image. Most galaxies are recognisable. It is quite astounding how much is visible. Unfortunately I can post only compressed JPEG images, but the full resolution link is already  better. Annotation by the latest version of the ASTAP program using the HyperLeda database.

-- Han

Equipment:

Telescoop 100 mm APO astrograph APO100Q, F5,8
Camera ASI1600MM-Cool
Exposure: 28 x 50 sec
Software CCDciel, ASTAP
Datum: 2019-4-28

 

Hello Han,

I've been playing with this.  It's excellent!

At first, the labels were far too large, and overlapped each other.  However, if I zoom in before annotating, it uses a smaller font.  I mention this in case other people have the same issue.

Why do people think that the above image would benefit from darks? 

12 hours ago, Altocumulus said:

Why do I use POTH, because it fires up as part of CdC [I've only been using this software this last couple of months, and assumed it was integral and necessary] and is seemingly needed to connect to the telescope?

POTH is definitely not needed.

In CdC click "Telescope -> Connect Telescope" and then "Select".    There should be 2 EQMOD options.  The "Simulator" can be useful for testing.  Make sure that anything else that uses the mount also uses the same EQMOD driver.

If the mount is fixed in an observatory, then you can use PHD2 to do a remarkably good polar align.  Sharpcap also has an align procedure, but I've never used this.

3 hours ago, Altocumulus said:

Just a wild thought on another source of error, from where does CdC get the time? How does it know whether the PC is on GMT ( it is ) or BST?

I don't worry about GMT/BST.  It is important to make sure that the PC time is correct.

Why do you use the POTH hub?  I just specify EQMOD in everything that I want to connect.

11 hours ago, Merlin66 said:

A little OT but I use an NEQ6 mounted in an observatory with good PA.

I have a consistent park position, but even then the first slew is always a degree or so out of position. I’ve tried retaining the old synch positions and deleting them all - still get a first slew error. Why????

If the modeling of the motor pulses to the arc min movements is correct and consistent, you’d think that EQMOd should be able to drop the scope exactly on the required RA/Dec.....but this never seems to be the case.......

 

This happens to me as well.  However, I discovered that the error was exactly the same every night.  Recently, I did an accurate polar align with PHD2, and I had a few nights where it put my first star bang on the centre of the camera.  So I think that it can be very accurate, given the right circumstances.

3 hours ago, Altocumulus said:

Interesting comment about EQMOD. I usually end up with two copies of the panel opening, one from Sharpcap and one from CdC - there's a possible source of conflict! Although, thinking back, although I slew to Sun or cursor I haven't in recent weeks bothered about sync - largely because after the first time I was out the next and as the tracking was spot on I just left it. I do need to consider which of my setups is out, I suspect it more likely az...

Two copies????

You should not have more than one copy visible.  The two applications should both communicate with the same copy.

Are you using EQMOD to control more than one mount?

If you are controlling more than one mount, then you really need to watch the Youtubes that I mentioned earlier.  There are various configurable options that control what happens when you do a sync.  One of the options means that points are just added to the "model" and are used the next time that the mount is connected.  Of course, if it is a different mount, then some confusion is likely.  The good news is that you can have more than one sync file, but you will have to manually load it every time that you set up.

5 hours ago, Altocumulus said:

@David - Interesting idea. Though, no I don't have an Ha filter (except the one in the Lunt LS :D). That's a pricey filter too! Just had a look at the astrobackyard article... Enlightening.

@Don. Yes, CdC/Sharpcap open up EQMOD and POTH. I use to connect the mount.

To my way of thinking if CdC has coordinates, and the telescope has coordinates, there ought to be (!!!!) a mathematical way to calculate the error in terms of RA/DEC?

 

When you do a "sync" from Cardes du Ciel, the information is stored in EQMOD.  Depending on what options you have selected, EQMOD can end up with a lot of points,  some of which may be in conflict if they are from different days.

Chris Shillito has put up some youtube videos which are well worth watching.

I usually clear out any old sync data before adding a sync point near to my target.   This way, I only ever have one sync point.  I leave this saved in EQMOD, and this usually gets me very close at the next session.

Are you using EQMOD?

23 minutes ago, simondodd said:

Intresting to see this... How come the ASIAir and Stellarmates use a Pi if they aren't up to it speed wise...? 

I don't know much about the ASIAir or Stellarmate. 

I did some tests with the Pi, and the results were surprising.

Download speeds from the camera varied from 40 seconds, up to 1m33s for a single 12Mb image.

I did various tests, some with Wireless Ethernet, and some cabled up.

Cabled up performed better than wireless.

Even when using cables, there was a difference if the Pi's Wireless was enabled.  It looked as if the Pi was affected by any wireless traffic in the vicinity.  A friend has suggested that the Pi uses a single "bus" for all data movements.  This is entirely in keeping with what I saw.

Download to the Indi server on a Laptop is 25s, Indi on Pi - 40s,  CCDSoft on Windows - 17s.  

Once you are imaging, this isn't a huge overhead, but if you are finding, focusing and rotating, then it would add a significant amount of time.

I've been playing with this side of things.  I don't have a complete solution yet, although I am down to fine tuning.

Last night was my first "live" trial.

The system was a Linux laptop at the mount.  This had a 4 port usb hub plugged into it.  An SBIG6303e camera,  EQ6 mount, ZWO 120mc, and a Robofocus were all connected.  These were all handled beautifully by an INDI server. 

Accessing the equipment can be done locally or remotely.  For local control, I used KStars, EKOS and Cartes du Ciel.  All of this was easy to install and configure.

I can also access the system from anywhere with a network connection.  At the simplest level, I can use remote desktop from inside the house.

I also can use an INDI client (CCDCiel) from anywhere that is networked.  For the network, I have used both wireless  and I have also run a Cat5 cable out to the mount.  Both work seamlessly.

This all sounds very complicated, but has turned out to be much simpler to implement than I expected.

I bought a Raspberry Pi3+ starter kit a couple of weeks ago (£59.00), and used it to try everything out.  The Pi just doesn't move data quickly enough to be practical for handling large image files, but it does offer a cheap way to investigate this stuff.  Installing on the laptop was easy after using the Pi.

I hope that this makes sense. 

Wow!

That is  a good one!

Have you heard of UKMON?

https://ukmeteornetwork.co.uk/

It might be worth sending them an e-mail.

" into my 911, which I had purposely driven, as it's more economical than my other cars "

That comment made me smile.

I look forward to seeing some images. 

Synta/Skywatcher have revolutionised amateur astronomy market in their sectors in the  last 10 years.  Are we seeing the same thing with the RC market?

On 10/11/2018 at 20:26, ollypenrice said:

Within my own lifetime this would probably have been the best M42 ever taken. AP has made pretty incredible progress.

Olly

So true.  One must have huge respect for amateurs who took good astrophotos on film.

My first image was taken with a 35mm SLR.  It took over a week to get the developed photos back.  It was a photo of Saturn, however I had no idea about image scale, FOV or focal length.   These days, if I can get my stars that small I am pleased!

I immediately bought one of those modern Digital SLRs and was able to learn about my mistakes much more quickly.

That's beautiful.