Fivel

Hello to all. I have been (on a Mac) using Siril to merge ser videos. Siril is free and cross platform. It can also stack and do some post processing of the ser videos. I use Planetary System Stacker more though for the stacking. It works a bit like Autostakkert. It has wavelets and can re-align the color shifting caused by atmospheric distortion. So there are more decent, free apps available for the Macs. Also for the Mac, I may use Lynkeos for its post processing tools. Unfortunately it does not work with ser videos. Here is my recent Jupiter image. I have an 8" Meade SCT and captured with a ZWOasi 183mc and oaCapture. All this was done on a Mac mini. Merry Christmas to all!! Fivel

Hi scribblecrans. For planetary stacking and processing there is a free Mac app called Planetary System Stacker. The main issue is that it requires "terminal" command line installation and opening. I was able to install and try it out and I am not code savvy. Here is a link to the website: https://pypi.org/project/planetary-system-stacker/ It has great support on Cloudy Nights and some here. It should do well, once you get it (and the python dependency) installed. Good luck Fivel

In answer to your question, I use Siril for almost registering and stacking, and some post processing. Then I finish up with Affinity Photo (AF). Siril has some great post stacking tools for getting the colors correct, such as Photometric Color Calibration. That tool uses plate solving to get the star colors correct. AF is half price with the latest versions. It is equivalent to Photoshop and has some astrophotography specific tools, such as astro stacking and Background removal tools. It also has many color pallets and can work in 32 bit operations. May you get the colors you desire. Fivel

Hello to all, I hope everyone is staying healthy. To James or anyone else that can help, I have two issues. 1. How do I set the capture older? I can easily set it in oaCapture. 2. When I start the capture, I get this error "Output is not Writable". This could be related to the first issue. Is there a user manual for oaLive? When will there be more capture settings available, such as using "Darks", Noise Reduction and ROI settings for planetary captures? Thank you for any help here. Fivel

Hi again James. How is time in your observatory going? As to oaCapture ver. 1.7.0 for Mac, it just crashes when I try to connect to the camera. In your installation package for OSX (Sierra for me) is the a dependency missing for the camera? Has this dmg package been tested with Sierra? I did not have this issue with the previous 32 bit app, as to crashing. Do I need to re-install libusb for instance? Stay healthy. Fivel

Here is a smartphone adapter that was well reviewed by Mike Weasner on his website. Levenhuk A10 Universal Smartphone Adapter for Telescopes, Microscopes and Binoculars Just Google this to find vendors and prices. Fivel

Hello and welcome to this great endeavor. As to iPhone apps, check out Mike Weasner's great review of three new apps. http://www.weasner.com/co/Reports/2020/04/28/index.html Of course, there are several more apps available for the iPhone., such as Nightcap Camera. These are image capture pass, but you will need some others for guiding and post processing. A web search should help there. Enjoy the ride and stay healthy. Fivel

Thanks Frank for that info. I thought that the (now sadly deceased) owner of Astronomics, may have said that several months ago, when I was asking about spacing. I think he said that no additional spacers are needed. Yet, the info that comes with the reducer says to use the 55mm spacing. I am not using a "T" ring, but have some spacers of the same length. I hope that solves my issue. Dark skies for you. Fivel

Hello to all.I just bought an Astro Tech (AT) .8 focal reducer/flattener model ATR8 for my scope, and ZWO camera.I have the AT 80mm/F480mm ED triplet scope and the ZWO1600MC-C camera.The FR/FF is apparently made by GSO. The manufacturer recommends a spacing (FF rear shoulder to camera sensor) of 55mm.I tried some images, but that spacing seems to much. The stacked images show a large central bright image circle surrounded by a more normal brightness. Also the stars are showing coma. So it seems that the image circle isn't covering the sensor properly.Is anyone familiar with this FF/FR and the actual spacing needed for this scope and camera combination?Thank you for any help with this. Fivel

For Gimp, there is either Gimp 2.10 native or MacGimp 2.10 native. I have used both. Also I mostly use Affinity Photo. Fivel

Hello James and Happy new Year! I was wondering how the coding is coming, to correct the issues I previously posted? Is version 1.7 almost ready for primetime? The other capture app is still controlling my camera properly. But I hope to get back to using oaCapture soon. Fivel

Hello. I the app will not allow me to change the debayer matrix pattern, wether I set the camera to RAW or RGB mode. The app stays in the mono default and the other options are greyed out. My camera (ZWOasi1600mc-c) is an OSC camera. The matrix pattern is GRBG. I did ensure that any capture is stopped before trying to set the matrix. Please advice me of the correct steps to allow all the matrices to be effective. Thanks. Fivel

Thanks again James. Just as a reminder, it wasn't a crash, it just was inconsistent when controlling my camera. The last time I checked, I couldn't get longer than 1 minute exposures, even with 90 seconds set. The time before that, I had set 2 minute exposures to get 90 seconds. When the weather improves a but, I will reboot my Mac Mini to see if that helps. Maybe the computer and oaCapture have and issue, even though the others apps were fine at the low temps. Fivel

Thanks Lames, you are a real blessing. I look forward to trying that new version. Fivel

Hello again James. So, I know this is a busy holiday time and hope that soon you can figure something out. Merry Christmas to you and your family. How is your observatory doing so far? I just checked the ZWO website and there is no need for a MAC specific driver to download. I guess it is included with the OS. As I mentioned, but my typing did not complete, other capture apps have no issue controlling the cameras on my MAC. I saw a similar issue posted here a couple of years ago, with an older version of oaCapture. That individual had a memory trap or leak issue. I believe that was fixed by you in the later versions. Thanks again. Fivel

Thanks for your quick reply James. As to the ASI camera library, since at least to other capture apps worked properly. I am at a loss. It also makes me wonder -why now, when oaCapture was working well for a long while? I thought something might have corrupted the app, but the re-install did not help. I sincerely hope you can help me get this working again. It had been a great app. Fivel

Hello James. It has been a while since I posted, as until recently, all worked well. Within the last week the app stopped communicating the exposure and gain settings to my camera correctly. When I set an exposure, the actual exposure stops than what I set. For example I set the camera for 90 seconds, but it may run as little as 15 seconds or up to 1 minute, or it may not stop exposing at all until I reset the camera. I have also had issues with the gain going to a much higher level than what I set. I tried the same settings with a couple of other capture apps and they work OK. I even deleted and re-installed the app, but nothing changed. I thought it could be a bad powered USB 3.0 hub (flaky at temps below 30 degrees F), but I bought a better one and nothing changed. Do you have any ideas as to what could cause this problem? Fivel

Hello again Han. I did post the issue on the ASTAP forum and even gave you a link to the Astrometry.net solve of one of my images. Have you had a chance to look at that link/solve? Fivel

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I looked ta the Startech line and will look at Anker as well. The Startech only has a minor issue with the power connector (Phoenix type?). DArk, clear skies to all. Fivel

Hello to all. This may be an old topic, but here is my need. I have a Sabrent powered 4 port USB hub, but it is undependable in cold weather. It is mounted on my scope top rail, inside my observatory. Can anyone please recommend a better one, that is more tolerant of sub 30 degrees F.? I use it to connect my USB 3 cameras and a USB 2 focuser. The hub is then connected to my scope side computer via a 16" cable. It works well in warmer weather though. Thanks in advance for any ideas. Fivel

Hi James. I did the troubleshooting (bypassed) of my powered USB hub. It is definitely causing most of the issues in colder temps (near freezing and below). I will be researching to find a better hub. oaCapture though does tend to freeze up or vacillate between to high of gain or to low. It doesn't do it as much with the hub bypassed. When the app freezes (cannot make any changes) I then have to disconnect the camera and close the app. When I reopen the app I need to redo most of the settings (Gain,Exposure, WB, camera cooler etc.). Even with the issues, when I can get the camera settings correct, the app gives me excellent results. So again, thank your for your hard work on the app and your great support. Fivel

Hello again James. Last night I tried the app using just single exposures. It had the same issue. I am going to check my USB hub today/tonight by bypassing it. On a separate issue, the app does not save all the settings changes. For example, when I set up the camera cooling there is no "Save" button, it is greyed out. Could you ensure that with any settings changes that they can be saved? It does save some, but not all. Thank you again for your great support. Fivel

Hello Don. Here are a few more free apps to look at. 1. Stellarium (with Stellariumscope app) 2. kstars (with Ekos and Indi) 3. N.I.N.A. 4. Skysafari usin the Wifiscope app (lets Skysafari work via the laptop without a wifi device or Skywire cable) I have used all (on a Windows 10 laptop) except N.I.N.A. since I now use Mac only apps. Fivel

James, Here is my setup for the camera. 1. Gain was initially at 365, but reduced before the run, to 139 2. The exposures were all 30 seconds. 3. Brightness (Offset?) =10 4. I set the runs for 20 each with Autorun 5. Limit=20 Here is the text file for the settings Camera: ZWO ASI1600MC-Cool Time: 2019-10-18 21:43:36 Timezone: MDT (-0600) Profile: default Target: Other Brightness: 10 Blue Balance: 82 Auto Blue Balance: off Red Balance: 75 Auto Red Balance: off Gain: 139 Auto Gain: off Horizontal Flip: off Vertical Flip: off Exposure (sec): 30 Auto Absolute Exposure: off High Speed: off Temperature Setpoint: -40 USB Traffic: 100 Auto USB Traffic: on Binning: 1x1 Temp (C): -29.3 Dropped Frames: 0 Cooler: on Mono Bin Colour: off Max Auto Exposure: 0 Frame Format: not recorded Input Frame Format: GRBG16LE (16bpp raw colour) Image size: 4656x3520 Filter: None First frame: 21:43:36.767 Middle: 21:48:26.867 Last frame: 21:53:16.967 Duration (seconds): 580.200 Frames captured: 20 Frames per second (average): 0 Recording type: TIFF Limit (frames) : 20 Fivel

Hello James. Thank you for your great app and quick reply. The camera is a ZWOasi1600mc-c. This last imaging outing had 3 of those maxed subs out of about 80. Fivel