AstroMuni

Try inserting teflon strips into the gap(s) to reduce the rocking. Thats what I had to do on my Celestron Astromaster which needed 2 strips to reduce the slop.

On 14/04/2023 at 08:25, SmokeyJoe said:

After much research I have settled on the ASI 533 as the best fit for both of my scopes (Ed80 ds Pro and 200p).   I'm using the asiair so am stuck with ZWO camera's.

I have the ASI533mc Pro and I havent found the need for darks (yet) as there is no amp glow. Ref cooling, the noise due to dark curent is shown in their manual. In winter we are anyway talking about temperatures below 15deg so hardly any dark current.

Cooling is a nice to have (not a need to have) feature when your budget is stretched, IMO. So either opt for a second hand cooled version (like I did) or wait until Christmas 🙂

37 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

I doubt eqmod works with the old dual axis (non synscan) heq5. Probably also the asiair.

Thats sad. Any idea what is the ST port used for on the old model?

Before you purchase an ASIair, check if the mount works with your laptop using the cable.

On 31/03/2023 at 13:29, rwebb55 said:

Is there a good instruction manual for the ZWO ASI imaging software.  What I have from ZWO is pretty limited.

Is there a particular reason you are looking at the ASI imaging software? There are plenty of free software that are better at imaging - Firecapture, NINA, Ekos, Sharpcap to name a few

Thats sad about FC.

I did have a go at running Nou's script and managed to install Kstars on 64 bit RPi OS. I also tried out AstroPi3 and that didnt work well. Several dependencies and repositories are incorrect 😞

AstroPi3 has scripts for installing INDI web and PHD2 so it would be good to get an integrated script that did all.

On 25/03/2023 at 15:42, Avocette said:

Conscious and curious that there have been further ‘stable’ revisions to KStars 3.6.3 and Indi 2.0.0, I decided to try out a 64-bit Raspberry Pi Bullseye OS and install KStars using the method defined by ‘Nou’ (Dužan Poizl).

So do I download this script to RPi and run this script from there?

On 25/03/2023 at 15:42, Avocette said:

I would like to install FireCapture 2.7.11 for lunar and planetary imaging, but I am not sure if the present version which works well with 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS can operate equally as well in the 64-bit OS environment.

I think Firecapture is written in Java so should work in 64bit OS as well

On 18/03/2023 at 15:01, jsp56 said:

I wondered if I could ask what you think would be a good telescope for my 12 year old son? He loves reading about science in great depth and likes to know stuff. He saw telescopes in the science museum last week and thought they looked amazing. I think he would mostly want to look at the moon and planets and the stars. He might possibly be more interested in the telescope than the stars.

Have you considered buying binoculars? https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/best-binoculars-for-astronomy/

If your son is fascinated by telescopes then why not get a self build kit of some sort to help him learn about them?

On 18/03/2023 at 19:40, Enceladus Dan said:

Also note once the EAF is fitted the knobs can't be used while the motor is fitted, if you plan to always use the EAF and the fine knob slipping on the pin isn't effecting anything else, it could be left alone.

If I leave it like that I will forget about it altogether, so best fixed when I remember. Also not sure if I need this to gauge backlash. I recall seeing in the manual something to do with watching the knobs.

Its also interesting to see that you have fitted the EAF using 4 corner screws instead of just 2 supplied with the EAF. Different ways to skin a cat 🙂

15 minutes ago, Enceladus Dan said:

The whole plate then fits the other way round. 

Will do that once I fix the fine knob. I will need appropriate screw driver for those screws. Out of interest which ones did you remove - just the 4 in the corners?

And what exactly is the function of the countersunk screw (the video uses that hole for attaching the EAF)

34 minutes ago, FrenchyArnaud said:

You need to pull the casing out cautiously, unscrew the tiny allen screw to free the core, then when you have both parts in your hand, a drop of superglue on inside the edge of the plastic then push the metal core back in (making SURE the screw thread and the opening in the knob casing are aligned!) 

The bit that puzzles me is how did the fine knob get dislodged? I unscrewed the coarse one and realised that unscrewing the fine knob wouldnt do the trick as that side is different to the other side (i.e it has some kind of extra screw).

I cant seem to pull out the fine focuser knob at all. I tried a few allen screws that I have and none seem to fit 😞 Grrr.... One to take to The Repair Shop (read local astro club) as I am no DIY expert.

I was trying to attach an EAF to the 130pds by watching this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b19IQXB8Hz4 and noticed that he had swapped the knobs. So I unscrewed the coarse focus knob on the same side as the fine one in the hope that I could swap sides. I didnt manage to unscrew the fine knob so in the end just tightened it but now I have a strange issue. When I rotate the coarse knob the fine knob rotates but when I rotate the fine knob this has no effect on the spindle even after >10 turns. How do I fix? 😞

Help please.

On 06/03/2023 at 11:22, Bogmonster said:

Some people say do it during the day and others say to do it at night using the moon for best results.

I would recommend you get it coarsely aligned in the day using a distant object such as a TV antenna. The cross bars on the antenna really help. And then at night you can do a better alignment with an object that doesnt move too much (pole star is a good one).

13 hours ago, rnobleeddy said:

I've used Linux for years. My question was why is anyone needs a 64-bit version. Unless you need to use all the RAM on the 8Gb Pi in a single process, I can't think of another reason. And that certainly doesn't seem necessary for imaging.

My understanding is the latest versions of Kstars/Ekos (after 3.6.0 I think) arent supported on 32bit architecture. Hence until astroberry compiles and adds it to their repository I cant get it.

16 hours ago, wimvb said:

The current version of astroberry is very stable and fast enough on a RPi4 with a 64 GB SDcard. You can connect to it from a web browser.

I have and continue to use the older version and have no complaints about it. Its just that I cant use the newer features in Ekos.

19 hours ago, IDM said:

Great question. With regard to settings I really should be more systematic and write these things down. I  can say I have tried increasing the gain and or increasing exposure with really mixed success.  I have tried 2 camera a QHY183C and a Zwo 294MC. Binning so far has always been at 1. I had wondered about 2x binning, do you think it might help?

Binning helps when platesolving and a lot of software already do that before sending the image to ASTAP. Check your settings, it maybe called downsample image. Also check if you have the correct offline files downloaded for the platesolver. Try using astrometry.net instead of ASTAP and see if it platesolves. If the issue is only with ASTAP then the author @han59 is here in the forum. Good luck.

EDIT: Read this post https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/726834-speed-vs-resolution-vs-accuracy-in-plate-solving-what-the-the-tradeoffs/

36 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

Not quite. Let's say an imaging plan is started by you, via your Ipad, and you go out of range or switch it off, the plan will still be running and you can connect on the same device or another and see the process status as if you'd been connected all the time.

And that why I felt that Wifi connection is NOT critical as you dont need a constant connection to ASIAir. VS a situation where ASIAir client (thick client scenario) on Ipad is controlling the ASIAir rather than handing off to backend.

30 minutes ago, StevieDvd said:

But the processes running on the server still carried on. 

I guess you and I are saying same thing then...that Wifi connection is not critical UNLESS you have some sort of ASIAir client running on your laptop/ipad and iyou have backend processes running on the ASIAir

Slightly off topic but related....I use the RPi which is effectively an ASIAir minus software. I remote into it and the imaging software (Ekos & INDI server) runs on the RPi, so even if my Wifi connection breaks it doesnt impact the imaging, guiding etc. I am guessing thats how it would work on the ASIAir too. So the wifi connectivity is not paramount. Am I missing something here?

On 14/03/2023 at 18:22, wimvb said:

Not much activity here, it seems. Have you tried the indilib forum?

Couldnt see much activity there too. May have to resort to using the AstroPi3 or some such equivalent if I dont see traction on the Astroberry front

On 14/03/2023 at 23:56, Rallemikken said:

Got it running on a Pi3 B+ in a breeze.

I am not as technical hence waiting for Radek. Hope he is keeping well as I havent seen any recent posts from him 😞

21 hours ago, IDM said:

What was frustrating was that several times when I tried short exposure times with very little in the way of stars on the screen the platesolver reported; more than 540 stars unable to solve, try reducing exposure.

What camera do you have and what are the exposure, gain & binning settings?

3 hours ago, CraigD1986 said:

If I secure the focuser tube all the way in, how would I achieve focus though? This part extends and retracts as the EAF runs through it's autofocus procedure.

Try and achieve focus manually (or take a look at the position after EAF has achieved focus) so you know approx how far the focus tube extends into OTA (if at all).

Another point...your spacers are just helping you position the camera as far in or out of the focuser tube. i.e. serving the function of a nosepiece. In your image you have effectively pushed all the spacers into the focuser tube so camera is almost touching the focuser. (If you were using a CC then the CC would have been attached at the end of the spacers thus giving the 55mm space between sensor & CC).

9 hours ago, wimvb said:

The 190MN has no diffraction spikes and the focuser is low profile.

I get that there is no spider but if the focus tube sticks into the light path it would create some sort of diffraction is my guess?

On 12/03/2023 at 21:11, CraigD1986 said:

Brilliant, thanks. Just need the clouds to clear now

Just watch out to check if the focuser tube peeks into the OTA. As far as possible you dont want that to add to the diffraction spikes.

17 hours ago, MessierMatt said:

Thanks for this. I will look at your suggestions. 

I use Siril and I love the features that have been introduced recently. You can use it for stacking + initial post processing. You will need PS/ Gimp to do the final touch ups (mainly when you need to use layers). So highly recommend it.