AstroRookie

7 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi

The fixes there there don't work?

If not, save to the camera's SD card until you get chance to look at the log.

Cheers

 

 

Hello Alacant,

nope, I entered the pixel size but that did not help; the error I mentioned is from the log files. I just noticed on the indilib;org website that there is a canon driver; up to now I've been using the generic GPhoto driver. I'll give that canon driver a try tomorrow.

AstroRookie

Hello,

I'm currently setting up a raspberry pi with astroberry. I'm using a Canon Eos 500D for capturing. A couple of weeks ago I managed to capture some test images during the day, the only thing I remember that it was not straight forward. Now with the upcoming clear skies I'm  testing every thing once more so that I can do some capturing during the weekend. But I can't make it work any more, whatever I try, the capture abort with in the indi console the message: Error downloading image from camera: Directory not found.

I tried different directories even the astroberry users home directory, checked permissions, created files via the command line in the directories without any problem, but no, it just keeps complaining that it can't find the directory to download. I've found this topic indilib.org which says that it's something to do with the pixel size not being set (I really can't understand how this affects not finding a directory), so I've set the pixel size, but sill the same error.

Anybody any clue?

Thanks in advance,

AstroRookie

Hello Marvin,

maybe this can help: Messier Marathon Planner. There's also an excellent book Observing Guide Messier Marathon on this subject.

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

After I've seen this youtube post Cuiv, the lazy geek , I've decided to put my setup outside under a car cover. I did not go for the telegizmo Cuiv (by the way where is he, haven't seen any thing from him for 2 weeks now?) mentions in his post, as this would have cost me at least twice as much. Mount, telescope, guider scope, usb hub,raspberry pi+external ssd and cables all have been out under that car cover for more then two weeks with heavy wind and rain, and when I tried it out in between rain showers last Saturday every thing was dry and it all worked. As for collimation, I only had to adjust the primary a little bit. On previous occasions where I moved every thing out and back inside, I had to collimate the secondary as well. If interested I can post some pictures but don't expect any thing fancy, it's rather primitive, but after all, what would you expect from

AstroRookie

19 hours ago, bobrosset said:

@AstroRookie, hope you're fine mate. I was wondering how was your test. I'm about to order something for another test aswell. Before jumping into a new mac mini, I'm going to buy this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BXGS9MT/ref=ewc_pr_img_2?smid=A1TF8C3N0T7QHH&psc=1, it has enough ram so far, and I'm adding a 256 micro SD to see how that goes. My idea is to attach it to a leg of the tripod and leave it there while shooting.

I'll let you know how that works as soon as I get it.

Clear skies and stay safe.

Hello Bob,

using a UTP-cable from the Raspberry pi to the router, I did not have any problem running  VNCViewer on my macbook. It was as if I had a monitor connected directly to the pi. Unfortunately I had to stop my tests and cover the scope in a hurry, as it started to rain, and it didn't stop raining with heavy wind for the rest of the weekend. The 50m UTP-cable will come in handy when I will build the astroshed. However that's the long term planning, but for now the telescope stays permanently outside .

The whole setup has been staying outside for 2 weeks now, under a car cover that costed me 82€ where as a dedicated telescope cover from telegizmo would have cost me double or more. I wrap some old towels around de usb hub and the EQ6-R motor and the whole setup stays dry. The last few weeks have been extremely windy and wet, but the scope hasn't moved at all. As promised I'll post some pictures in here. (don't expect any thing fancy, it's quite primitive, but at least I don't have to drag the tripod, mount and telescope outside any more).

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

On 21/10/2020 at 20:23, Ricker said:

Forgive my terminology but when using Astroberry when running Kstars on a remote (to the rasp pi) pc images can take a number of seconds to download.  For my ASI1600 this is about 5s.  Does this sound average (obviously WiFi dependent)? 

Also do people run like this or do they run EKOS on the Pi?

 

Hello Ricker,

last weekend I've installed my raspberry pi ,running Astroberry, on the scope. I attached a Samsung 1TB external drive to it, which I plugged in to one of the 2 USB-3 ports. The external drive has a spec of 10gbps, so data is transferred at a decent speed.

However VNCViewer over wifi does not work well, but that's mainly because of the fact that the router/wifi access point is inside and ± 25m away from the scope. So I ordered a 25m UTP cable to connect to the raspberry pi directly to the router (and that makes VNCviewer run flawless - I've tested that config earlier inside).

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

On 25/10/2020 at 16:06, bobrosset said:

Thanks for the update @AstroRookie! that's a great update. I was considering 3d printing a case for a mac mini. Or put it below a plastic case with a power cord. I would assume that that will produce some heat as well. Maybe if I add some ventilation... I'll think about it Tonight.

I'm in that spot where I want to buy something, but I'm not sure what to buy yet. I'll see what's available on Linux for a Raspberry Pi+ to handle the setup.

 

Thanks again mate, and have a great day.

Hello Bob,

a short update: I did a "dry run" yesterday in the afternoon with all the gear setup using Astroberry on a Raspberry PI 4+, and I have to say VNCviewer over wifi was not a great success, the VNCViewer screen on my macbook froze every couple of minutes (probably also because the Raspberry pi outside was too far away from to wifi access point). So, I'll continue with the Raspberry Pi controlled via VNCviewer from my mac, but using a UTP cable connected to the router; this setup should be more reliable. I'll keep you updated. Anyhow plenty of time,as they still don't announce clear skies for the next couple of days.

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

What a relief! I thought I was the only one messing up an imaging session due to my clumsiness. Worst thing that happened was that I dropped my Celestron C8, but that was during the day, so guess that doesn't count?

AstroRookie

Hello,

is the following procedure any good; my last imaging session (dates back from mid september, cloudy nights ever since ...), I had a go on the Andromeda galaxy. This is how I proceeded:

• searched beta Andromeda, and synced to it
• searched Andromeda galaxy and synced to it
• back to beta Andromeda to use it as the star to focus on
• back to Andromeda and start imaging

I was wondering now, will the guiding software (phd2 in my case) have to correct more then if I would have aligned on 3 stars?

AstroRookie

On 17/10/2020 at 03:16, bobrosset said:

@AstroRookie I was wondering if that was possible (Connect a goto to a mac). So first of all, thanks.

I'm also curious on the steps to connect to an indigo server. Is it easy to do? did you follow any guide that you can share with us?

Last but not least, I'm still waiting for the mount to arrive in December (bloody pandemic), do you need any extra cable to connect everything? I'm about to buy a mac mini now that I see that it's possible. I haven use a windows machine since Windows XP, so I prefer to stick to a Mac.

I'd like to see some photos of your setup, just for curiosity. Again, many thanks and have a great day.

 

Cheers!

Bob

Hello Bob,

(sorry for the late reply)

you'll need a USB-A to USB-B cable (amazon). You can connect the mount directly to your mac, no need to go via the handcontroller. As for the indigo server, you can download it for OS X here from the cloudmakers website for free: cloudmakers indigoserver

As for the settings, see my experiences at the beginning of this thread. I did switch to "Carte du Ciel", as I did not have good experiences with stellarium (but that could have been my mistake as well). To summarize with my Macbook:

• to connect it all I use a powered USB-hub (I only have 2 usb ports on my mac)
• for controlling the scope, I use indigo server, carte du ciel (free)
• for polar alignment I use the Polemaster software provided with the Polemaster camera (not free, but for me, best invention since sliced bread)
• for capturing with my Canon 500D, I use Nebulosity (not free)
• for guiding PHD2 (free)
• for preprocessing I use siril (free)
• for postprocessing I use startools (not free)

Not all is free software,  but the softwares I paid for are not very expensive.

I have to say, I will stop using my MacBook outside, already during the summer it suffered a lot from the dew, so I'm in the process of switching to a Raspberry pi + Astroberry (with the bad weather that doesn't want to stop, I have plenty of time to experiment). I'd rather ruin a 60€ Raspberry pi, then a 2000€ macbook, that I need for work. And my goal is to control it from inside.

As for the pictures of my setup, I don't have any, will have to wait for clear skies before I set it up agin.

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

Hello Jim,

1000ft above sea level and no light pollution, what took you so long to buy a telescope?

Just kidding and being jealous about your seeing conditions (sea level and bortle 5 over here ...). I hope your gear arrives soon!

AstroRookie

3 hours ago, Dan13 said:

I have the 294mc pro and its fantastic! the amp glow is there but easily gone with dark frames. The 533 has no amp glow but does have a square sensor which wasn't for me.  have a look on https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/ to find the best fit for your set up.

 

Edit. these are taken with the 294mc pro..

Wow, impressive images! I regret having made my comment about the amp-glow, but what you want, I'm

AstroRookie

On 09/10/2020 at 00:00, dark knight said:

Looking at getting one of these to go on my esprit 120ed, has anyone any experience with this one shot color camera, would it be a worthy/suitable addition to my telescope. My main concern is finding a suitable spacer to go between dedicated flattener and camera, also would it work OK with a fairly low spec laptop with only usb 2 ports and 8g ram running windows 10

 Thanks for any advice

Hello,

I don't have any experience with the ASI294MC but I read some reviews and user experiences about the ASI294MC, and one thing I that got my attention is that amp-glow was often mentioned. Personally I'd go for the ASI533MC (but that's also because it's cheaper). As for the laptop, 8g is a more then enough for capturing and even a decent amount of ram for pre- en post-processing. The 2 usb ports, you can solve with usb hub.

Of course the opinion of a experienced ASIMC294MC user will be more valuable then my 2 cent comments.

AstroRookie

6 hours ago, Shepdog said:

Is there a free stacking software ?  Maybe its called bracketing ..for pics?

Hello,

as a beginner I like siril, which imho has following benefits:

• free (open source under gnu gpl)
• available on OS X, windows, linux
• preprocessing can be scripted (I love this, you tune the scripts to your needs, start the script and lay back while it's doing the work ...)
• has also post-processing functionalities. the photometric color calibration is awesome (and to a simple soul like me, i m p r e s s i v e!)
• the authors are very responsive; i filed 2 (supposedly) bugs - was more a brew packaging problem - and I got an answer the very same day

The only downside, the website has quite some broken links; so if you wish to download for the OS you're using go: downloads

I can not compare to "deep sky stacker", as dss is not available on OS X.

AstroRookie

14 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

How are you cooling it?

Hello,

to be honest it is still in testing phase. I started off with putting the camera in a box (tried with a metal one and a plastic one), but turned out to be too heavy for my focuser, which can support up to 1.3kg. I use the usual components, heatsinks, fans and TEC-element. Let's say, it's still in a too premature stage to reveal it now; not that I don't want, I just don't want to look like a fool amid all the experienced astrophotographers here - looking at my username I hope you understand.

Kind  regards,

AstroRookie

Hello,

I recently asto-modded my Canon 500D. Now the next stage is to try to cool it. During my tests, I noticed that moist builds up on the inside of the screen. It disappears when the camera comes back to ambient temperature. My questions, is this bad and secondly is there a way to prevent it? Open it (which I'm rather reluctant to do, as going thru the mod was already difficult enough for me) and let it dry maybe?

Thanks

11 hours ago, Dave2292 said:

Hello just wondering if anyone here has used an unmodified canon 1300d and what the best iso level for them was, did see a graph about this but didn't contain info on this camera. 

Thanks for reading. 

Hello Dave,

this webpage has some interesting info about this: https://www.astrophotography.app/EOS.php

But having a look at it, I notice "Best ISO" value is not filled in for 1300D - sorry

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

Very nice! Hope one day I reach that level. I'm currently using Nebulosity and Siril for stacking to compare, and I have the impression the result with siril is better. A pitty there's not much info around about post-processing with siril. Though the "Photometric color calibration" is really impressive (the info about it I've found on youtube from Cuiv, the lazy geek:

AstroRookie

I'm way over 40, and I enjoy every video he's posting. Next to interesting info, he brings more rock'nroll in astrophotograhpy than Doctor Brain May 😉

As for children watching this, I'd be very happy if my kids at the age of say 8 to 14 were interested in Dylan's video, rather then in the other rubbish that is posted all over the internet.

AstroRookie

1 hour ago, nfotis said:

If you can use your Nikon, it should be a better option for DSO imaging. Larger sensor and pixel size, if I am not mistaken. It takes some effort, of course, to get good results (a guiding mount is necessary).

 

N.F.

Hello DennyD,

nfotis is right about the mount; no compromises there. I tried with an old Meade LXD75, and gave up. Then upgraded to the skywatcher EQ6-R Pro, and it's a complete different ballgame now. As I'm on a budget as well, the dedicated astro-camera will have to wait but the second hand 100€ canon 500d is definitely more then enough to start learning.

Enjoy!

AstroRookie

4 hours ago, wxsatuser said:

The glow could still be some sort of LP or just a sky gradient, should not be a problem as such.

The marks, are they just dirt or physical damage?

Hello Mike,

the big one on the right below, is dirt I guess and hope; it appeared after I modded the camera. When I used the built in sensor cleaning feature, it's shape changed, so that makes me think it's dirt (I will have it checked and hopefully cleaned by a profession photographer). The other one, I don't know where that comes from, to be investigated. Thanks for your input!

AstroRookie

PS: Nice pictures on your wordpress space

Hello,

I took a shot of M13 as a first test of my new orion 8 f/3.9. I have a couple of questions about the final result.

Equipment list:

• orion 8 f/3.9
• mount skywatcher eq6r-pro
• canon 500d - astro-modded by me
• 40 exposures of 90 seconds and 40 darks
• 200 bias
• 200 flats
• capture software: nebulosity4
• guide camera: zwo asi120mm
• guide scope: svbony 20 (80mm - 400mm)
• guide software: phd2

Processing:

• siril preprocessing: align/callibrate/stack)
• siril post-processing: green nois reduction/ photometric noise reduction (very cool!)/deconvolution

Result:

I attached a screenshot of siril (as the tif or jpg export did not show these "problems")

My questions:

• after preprocessing, I still have 2 problems (see the marked areas); what can be the cause of that? Are my flats not "correct"? The big mark, is a spot on the sensor, that is the "collateral damage" of me removing the Ir-cut filter. The other mark must be an other issue, I don't know so far
• the right part of the picture, shows some sort of glow; there was no moon during capturing; I live in a bortle class 5 area, but street lights are dimmed after midnight, till 05:00am and shots were taken around 01:00am. what can cause this glow

Other remarks are very welcome - I hope to learn from it.

Thanks in advance,

AstroRookie

On 11/09/2020 at 01:33, rnobleeddy said:

Very new to this, but after a frustrating summer with clouds and getting used to equipment, I finally got everything working last week. I've captured short amounts of data on M13, M27 and M38 that aren't going to win any awards, but they look OK and reassure me that everything is working reasonably well and I'm stacking correctly. 

Then there's  M31!

Across 2 nights I have about 1hr20m of data spread across 48 subs consisting of some 4 min and 3 min subs and a lot of 1 min subs, with corresponding darks, flats and bias frames for each night and exposure length. I stacked these as 3 groups in DSS, but I've also tried individual sets of data and leaving out flats/darks/bias in various combinations to rule out issues with any individual aspect. I've taken out the obviously bad subs but a few with star trails appear to have made it to the final image below, and there's probably also a soft focus on at least one night. However, none of this would appear to explain the problem - which is there's almost no data on the outer part of the galaxy. 

Night 1 (about 1/3) of the data had a bright and almost full moon close to M31. Last night was about 60% moon but it wasn't very close at the time I was imaging. Kit is a 130PDS, EQ5, modded Canon 450D with bader cc, and Astronomik CLS CCD. Bortle 5 skies.

A couple of the stacks are below and one of the best individual shots. Whilst some of the stacks with all the data seem to skew towards red, none of the attempts I've made have any real detail in them, presumably because it isn't there.

I then see posts on Reddit like this and wonder what I'm doing wrong!

So wondering if anyone with more experience could advise:

- is this what you'd expect to see given my equipment or is something awry?

- if this is expected, what would have the biggest impact on making the image better? Clearly more subs at longer exposure can't hurt.

- Does the moonlight effectively kill the image? Or light pollution? I can drive a relatively short distance to a darker site but I'd rather work from my garden if at all possible, because that's possible most clear nights, whereas moving the kit is time consuming

- I tend to skimp on dark frames a little (I have 10x for the 1 minute subs, and maybe 4 each for the 3 minute and 4 minute subs) - is this an issue?

- are there any other tips/tricks to pull any more structure out? The images below are auto-scaled with the ASI fits viewer.

 

Stacked using a subset of the data with flats/bias/darks

All data stacked, just lights

One of the 3 minute lights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 11/09/2020 at 01:33, rnobleeddy said:

Very new to this, but after a frustrating summer with clouds and getting used to equipment, I finally got everything working last week. I've captured short amounts of data on M13, M27 and M38 that aren't going to win any awards, but they look OK and reassure me that everything is working reasonably well and I'm stacking correctly. 

Then there's  M31!

Across 2 nights I have about 1hr20m of data spread across 48 subs consisting of some 4 min and 3 min subs and a lot of 1 min subs, with corresponding darks, flats and bias frames for each night and exposure length. I stacked these as 3 groups in DSS, but I've also tried individual sets of data and leaving out flats/darks/bias in various combinations to rule out issues with any individual aspect. I've taken out the obviously bad subs but a few with star trails appear to have made it to the final image below, and there's probably also a soft focus on at least one night. However, none of this would appear to explain the problem - which is there's almost no data on the outer part of the galaxy. 

Night 1 (about 1/3) of the data had a bright and almost full moon close to M31. Last night was about 60% moon but it wasn't very close at the time I was imaging. Kit is a 130PDS, EQ5, modded Canon 450D with bader cc, and Astronomik CLS CCD. Bortle 5 skies.

A couple of the stacks are below and one of the best individual shots. Whilst some of the stacks with all the data seem to skew towards red, none of the attempts I've made have any real detail in them, presumably because it isn't there.

I then see posts on Reddit like this and wonder what I'm doing wrong!

So wondering if anyone with more experience could advise:

- is this what you'd expect to see given my equipment or is something awry?

- if this is expected, what would have the biggest impact on making the image better? Clearly more subs at longer exposure can't hurt.

- Does the moonlight effectively kill the image? Or light pollution? I can drive a relatively short distance to a darker site but I'd rather work from my garden if at all possible, because that's possible most clear nights, whereas moving the kit is time consuming

- I tend to skimp on dark frames a little (I have 10x for the 1 minute subs, and maybe 4 each for the 3 minute and 4 minute subs) - is this an issue?

- are there any other tips/tricks to pull any more structure out? The images below are auto-scaled with the ASI fits viewer.

 

Stacked using a subset of the data with flats/bias/darks

All data stacked, just lights

One of the 3 minute lights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello,

as for the ideal ISO of a canon eos this info was very helpful to me: https://www.astrophotography.app/EOS.php

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

23 hours ago, TareqPhoto said:

Hi,

I am planning to get a second Newt for dual imaging in future, and i have two choices, one i can make it sooner and the other i can make it later, i can afford any soon anyway, but one will need me to spend again more to get a mount, and one Newt smaller i can't be sure which i am still into it these days, but the other two options are no way with current mount for both, so that i can delay for later but i have to think about it from now and see all possibilities and stores.

 

The options are the following:

1. Orion 8" F/4.9 Newtonian [cheap without much accessories]
2. Any cheapest 10" F/4[F/3.9] so it will give me FL = 1000mm
3. Second GSO F/4 next to my first [this i still think about now for very soon urgent dual imaging system, but i won't rush if it won't].

 

I will get budget soon which i will put part of it for planetary scope [already decided], and will make a part for this future plan, i can buy any above options in price range of $300-400, but i don't know if buying now and leave it stored just in case any price changes and discontinued as it happens a lot and also to check out about accessories by the time stored, i can always buy now and use later in 1 year, i have budgets now or soon that i can't tell at all when it will be gone and i no longer can afford anything later or say i will need very long time to save again, so i better finish my plans very quick, i don't mind to buy now and not using it, i tested my 2 current Newt scopes i have and both are fine with one test each, so i am confident to buy more, galaxies will be back later, and clusters are also all around, i don't want to wait until next year to ask about it and i don't have time to decide and buy, so i will make it now.

With 8" and 10" scopes i will have to buy another mount, and next year i have two options also, either a strong expensive one so i can place two larger scopes two 8" or 8" and 10", or small cheaper affordable one but enough to handle either 10" or 8" at least cheaper than my AZ-EQ6, but in both cases the purchase of second scope is fixed, so i like to discuss it in advance to see what i can do sooner or later.

 

Thank you.

Hello TareqPhoto,

I bought an Orion 8 F/3.9 two weeks ago, and it had it's first ligth on 17-09-2020. I took a shot of M13 and processed it with siril; as a complete astrophotography beginner, I'm quite pleased with the result. It has a good focuser

The only thing I'm struggling with is the secondary mirror collimation, but I guess as you're an experienced newtonian user that would not be a problem for you.

Kind regards,

AstroRookie

10 hours ago, michael8554 said:

I read that the OTA requires a CC for visual and imaging because of Coma.

I don't believe it's possible to accidently mount the MPCC "inverted", the male thread goes into the T-Ring, the other end is female.

Have you removed the thin threaded "Stop Ring" from the T-Ring end of the MPCC, that is for visual use ?

Could be the MPCC is not a good optical match for the scope, perhaps a dedicated Orion CC is required ?

Michael

Hello Michael,

thanks for your comment but you underestimate my stupidity 😉 Attached pictures of the t-ring and the baader cc.The first one shows how I assembled it now (I did remove the caps, there are limits ...), but did not have the chance yet to test it. The second one shows how I assembled it wrongly (you see the marks of the screws ). Either way I assemble it, no threads are used - just 3 little screws to keep it in place. Am I using the wrong t-ring?

I did not use the stop ring, and I've found others on astrobin using this combination Orion 8 and baader cc.

Kind regards,

AstroRookie