Coriorda

On 31/03/2019 at 23:10, Laurin Dave said:

Are you using the ZWO filter wheel? If so vignetteing  with either 1.25 or 31mm easily correctable with flats..  I've used both and saw very little difference..  31mm just slightly better

 

Dave

Correcting with flats is I think missing the point. The area affected has a lower SNR so you need to avoid vignetting happing in the first place not correct for it 

On 22/05/2022 at 12:51, Space Oddities said:

I setup my ASIAIR on my terrace, which luckily isn't 100m away from my bed  but still, the Wi-Fi signal isn't very strong here. Not to mention that the Wi-Fi signal of the ASIAIR Pro is really bad, even when I'm standing next to it.

I basically had 2 needs, I suppose you have the same (just with a little more range):

1. Have a fast Wi-Fi connection from the ipad to the ASIAIR while doing the polar alignment, focusing, etc.
2. Have a fast connection from the house, so I can control it from my bed, computer, etc.

So what I did is that I run an Ethernet cable through the walls, from my home router to a wall socket, next to the terrace door. From here an ethernet cable to a box, under my astro setup, in which lives a small travel router (as well as the electric stuff). From the travel router, I run a 3rd ethernet cable to the ASIAIR. 

This works great for me, because when connected to the travel router's Wi-Fi outside, I can control the ASIAIR on my iPad. It's really fast and there's no connection issue like with the ASIAIR. My 26 megapixels image download in just a second.

When I'm back inside, the travel router is connected to my home network via Ethernet. So my PC, phone, iPad, connected to the home Wi-Fi, are therefore also connected to my ASIAIR. And everything is fast thanks to Ethernet, as if I were standing next to the mount. I only have to switch my iPad from the travel router's Wi-Fi to the home Wi-Fi, but usually it does it automatically due to the better signal.

Ethernet is great because it works on long distances. The maximum range of Ethernet cable is ~100m, so that could work for you. You can also use a range extender somewhere in the middle, or a small router, if the range/speed isn't enough.

I powerline adapters, but I got mixed results. The download speed wasn't great, sometimes it dropped. Upload speed was terrible for some reason. I guess it really depends on your electrical installation. 

If you were to reproduce what I did, you would need:

1. A Wi-Fi repeater, in or very close to your house, that will be used as some kind of antenna: it connects to your home Wi-Fi and broadcasts its signal to the ethernet port.
2. A 100m cable, preferably one that is designed for outdoor use (example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Tronic-Ethernet-Network-Weatherproof-Black/dp/B0816GP5FC/ref=sr_1_3). You connect the 100m cable to the Wi-Fi repeater's Ethernet port.
3. A Wi-Fi router near your telescope, to which you connect the 100m cable (WAN port), and when you connect to its Wi-Fi, you should be connected to your home network. Any Wi-Fi router would work really, even a cheap 2nd hand one. I went for a small travel router, powered via USB, because it takes less space and I only have 3 power plugs.
4. A 2nd Ethernet cable from the small router near your telescope, to the ASIAIR. This way you discard the ASIAIR's Wi-Fi completely, and everything is much faster. It's optional of course, but since you already run a power cable to the ASIAIR, why not add an ethernet cable.

Hope that helps  

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your detailed consideration and response it’s been really helpful, and seems a simple solution, I am on the Ethernet limit but do have the ability to boost signal half way. Thank you 

35 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

Steve Nickolls uses an Ethernet cable to control his remote mount and imaging gear, using the StarTech USB over ethernet system.

In your case though, as the ASIAir has an Ethernet port, it may be a simpler arrangement, though to be honest, that's a bit beyond my knowledge base . Perhaps something like this?

https://www.startech.com/en-gb/networking-io/usb31000s

Ian

 

Thanks I’ll check it out, networks aren’t really my thing so all help is appreciated - thanks 

And what sort of range from the house is your rig, still concerned that 100m may be too far ?

Thanks a really useful video, all I need to do now is try to understand it ! 😀

Hi

I have an imaging rig that is typically set up at the end of the garden about 100m from my house. I have and Asiair pro which handles  the imaging sequencing, mount, camera, guiding, focussing etc etc. 
I can obviously control this all via my iPad if I’m standing next to the rig, but my question is how can I control it all from the comfort of my home 100m away? My home WiFi obviously doesn’t reach that far nor can broadcast a signal that far from the Asiair. 
if it helps at all there is mains power at about the halfway point.

Any suggestions gratefully received 

thanks 

Thanks David, I’ve heard about directional Ariel, but will this cope with the distances I’m considering do you think ? Thanks

Thank you much appreciated, I’ll take a look at the group. Thanks

Hi Everyone, 

I’ve recently purchased an Asiair and absolutely love it, but would like to control it from further away. My imaging site is about 120m from my house, I would like to control it from indoors if possible rather than walking up there and connecting to see what’s going on in the imaging session. My question therefore is how can I access the Asiair / control the session from 120m away. Is it a combination of extenders and cables? And if so how must they be connected. If it’s any use there is mains power access at about the halfway point. Does anyone have experience of controlling the Asiair at this range. 
Thanks in advance 

On 22/03/2021 at 09:24, Stu1smartcookie said:

Reviving this thread after a couple of months ,... i have just repurchased a ZS73 ... Can someone  please advise  me if i can mount a finders shoe on the scope ( there are two pairs of Allen headed screws that i can install it ( on the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock position ) Hope that makes sense 

Stu

Hi Stu, simple answer is yes you can. I have a red dot finder attached to show using those attachment points which leaves the handle as the mount point for my guide scope 😁

hope that helps 

The other consideration is in terms of simplicity, an Astro cam will require a laptop, plus additional power. Might be a consideration if you are having to travel to your imaging site

Here’s a single 1min sub from a stack of Andromeda. One of Elon’s many creations scores a direct hit on the core. 
Shot with Canon 600d, attached to WO ZS73 ISO 800 60s 

F8D77C5D-0962-4FE0-963B-28982C0C0268.tiff

17 hours ago, johnst said:

Hi all, and thanks for the info so far...

Have checked out Amazon AND - they have the Beaudens Power Pack but there are two available, the 'standard' one at £169.99 and now there is a 2021 NEW GENERATION at £199.99 - £30 more, which does 3500 cycles compared to 2000 cycles and 200W compared to 150W. Now, I am not an electrician, although I do try to take things on board, but can anyone explain or justify the £30 difference between the two, again, any help will be most welcome.

John

Hi John, Both models are 240Wh (Watt hours), the expensive one just seems to have a higher peak output, which I doubt you will need for Astrowork.  Watts hours by themselves are irrelevant without knowing the voltage supplied. Lets say this is 12v DC  as per the outputs on the power bank required to power the mount. So this gives 240Wh/12v   = 20Amp hours .  So if your rig drew 2amps, you would get 10hrs usage.  (2amps x 10 hours = 20amp hours) All theoretical of course and cold weather and other factors inevitably mean you will get less, but that's the theory. Hope that helps.  

5 minutes ago, AlexK said:

You were smart indeed! And fake "brands" are indeed not bad at all in many departments. But you've missed my point in the reply to John, that this research must be current. You haven't stated how long ago you have purchased yours and also confused stuff quite a bit for him providing the link to the obscure merchant's website (which is often vanishing overnight) instead of the trusted Amazon product page with all the real reviews and warranties. I do believe to your praising micro-review. However I personally had 3 powerbanks over the years which were working like a charm for months but then developing a hidden defect well after the Amazon return window (in 2 cases it was a faulty cell in the pack, in one the faulty charging controller which I have fixed later). Thus, you want at least 50 people confirming it's good (which is pointing at the fact they are using it for a while) and no discrete complaints on failures pointing at bad quality control. If there is a comparable product with more reviews that's usually even better.

Hi, I purchased mine about 6 weeks ago, but you are quite right to point out that gremlins may yet appear - time will tell on the one and my fingers are crossed. I take you point about the obscure seller in my link, I would never purchase from them myself , having never heard of them, was just trying to provide an example of what I was talking about in the link,- That's a lesson learned for the future  for me I think.  Cheers

28 minutes ago, knobby said:

You can make a Canon DSLR work with ascom / Sharpcap ...

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/657429-how-to-use-sharpcap-with-a-dslr/

Thanks that's very interesting - will investigate, thanks so much for taking the time to post this 

27 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

For the size of the sensor it's quite good. In PHD2 when guiding on a 2 second exposure I can see the core of M31 with it and the same with M81 & M82.

I only use it for PA and guiding. Plate Solving is done through the main camera.

SharpCap is very easy and I'm normally polar aligned in less than 5 minutes and you can get it very accurate. It costs £10 a year for the Pro licence in SharpCap but you get more than just the polar alignment with that.

Thanks that's really helpful! Ill focus on the £10/year, and try and forget about the £250 for camera/ guide scope   

30 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

I think it could be but ....

The PA routine in the ASIair assumes the optical axis of the mount and the optical axis of the OTA are in exact alignment - as I understand it the whole idea with PA is to align the mount and not the OTA.

 

Well that's news to me - I thought the step in the PA routine where you swivel the mount in RA, calculates the centre of rotation of the mount irrespective of where the OTA is pointing. Thanks

20 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

I started with wet knees, same as you.  

I then got a ZWO ASI120MM Mini camera which I fitted to a 9x50 finder scope and used that for guiding. I now have a SVBony 60mm guide scope with the ASI120MM Mini attached to a bar mounted on top of the main scope. I use SharpCap Pro to polar align and then switch over to PHD2 for guiding.

If you don't have a spare finder scope then you can get it as a bundle from FLO (when it's all in stock ).

Thank you- how do you find the 120MM? - you use this guiding / platesolving ? - And Sharpcap pro- is this a straightforward as it looks on Youtube. ??

15 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

There the right angled eyepiece from FLO.

But if you're spending money then you may as well go for a guide camera and guide scope as they can work out the same price as something like iPolar, but you can guide and polar align with it.

The right angle will cure my knees, but still left with my dodgy eyesight  .   Are you saying Guide cam & scope + sharpcap  vs Polemaster or ASIAIR then ? hmmm  what do you use ? 

14 minutes ago, Earl said:

iirc you can use it to polar align been a few years mind you

Ill take a look - Thanks for the pointer

3 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

I have an ASIair but I still PA with a PoleMaster. The downside is I have to take my laptop out when I first set up but then the upside is I get a very good PA. I've tried the PA routine in ASIair but prefer the PoleMaster. I don't guide either so a good PA is essential and the PoleMaster has proved to be money well spent.

Thanks that really useful to hear, I had assumed with ASIAIR that it would be a "one stop shop", but interesting you prefer the PA routine in Polemaster. - it obviously must work well for you. Thank you 

9 minutes ago, Earl said:

Have you used PHD?

No, I thought that was just for Guiding, I haven't progressed to that just yet : ) 

3 minutes ago, Shimonu said:

A DSLR shouldn't stop you in any way I don't think. I've used my DSLR for polar alignment in Ekos and I think Sharpcap has a similar method. The camera will be clicking a bit to show the update but it's perfectly doable. If you've got a guiding solution you can use that camera too.

Everything i read online seems to say Sharpcap doesn't support DSLR, maybe I've missed something - but will check out EKOS _ thank you for that., I don't use guiding at present, so has to be via the dslr or a stick on solution like polemaster i think. 

No, I thought that was just for Guiding, I haven't progressed to that just yet : )

Hi Guys, 

My knees always complain when trying to polar align and my eyesight isn't so great that trying to move the little white dot around the red screen is easy. So i am looking for an electronic solution. to polar alignment. 

I've heard Sharpcap works well, but as I use DSLR I think that is out.?

So what does that leave? Ipolar ? - wrong mount with my HEQ5 Pro and Polemaster seems so expensive i might just as well get an ASIAIR for the functionality at similar (ish) cost.

What do you guys use ? - is there anything I am missing which I should consider ? 

Thanks in advance.