powerlord

2 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Great write up.

‘I built one with the V2 HQ camera a while ago and has worked extremely well with the 3D printed enclosure, and the PI zero 2

 

Is that with Thomas's software Stuart, or something else ? Originally, with the asi120mc-s version I made I was trying to original zero - increased the swap space, etc - and it did just about work, but it was cpu maxed all the time, and videos took 6 hours+ do create so was not practical. I did buy a Zero 2 W to try, but in the end, just thought why bother and stuck with the 4 for flexibility. Thomas still doesn't recommend the Zero 2 unless you absolutely have no option, but I'd have thought it will work, just need tweaking like the zero did - more swap space, less image taking. maybe lower res videos, etc.

well, Thomas doesn't recommend the 1 or 2. 

7 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Very useful post, given me yet more ideas, I wonder if a noir 2 is sensitive enough as have one already and I could try with what I have. 

I think the 2 (imx219) is limited to 11 secs max exposure which might not help. But, hey - try it - you never know.

33 minutes ago, LaurenceT said:

I find the campsite lighting in club sites very distracting so we spend more time these days using club  Certified Location farm sites.

They are only allowed to have 5 units on site, have minimal ground lighting and have much more space being situated in fields.

I stay clear of all CCC sites anyway - as you say, lighting, militant rules, etc, etc. I prefer back to basics sites - a field is all I need. Loads in Suffolk/Norfolk.

The farm sites are ok sometimes, but often are in wooded areas, etc (its a farm- its crap land they can't otherwise work), and actually quite small areas. But it's definately a matter of looking at pics, google earth too, etc and seeing if it's viable.

Raspberry Pi added a new camera module at the beginning of the year - 'Camera 3' - imx708 12mp sensor with autofocus. While the autofocus is not really relevant, it is quite a decent camera and can take long exposures unlike modules 1 and 2 making is quite suitable for all sky night work.

Thomas Jacquin's excellent allsky pi software works with it from May or so this year:

https://github.com/thomasjacquin/allsky

You do need to add one tweek to the config to disable the autofocus, and focus it at stars manually (set by trial and error, but should be more or less as below):

--autofocus-mode manual --lens-position 10.19

Which I found out for myself, and Thomas will be updating docs in the next few days - so looks like I'm the first to do this.

Anyway, the benefit over using an HQ camera (or asi120, etc) is:

1. much cheaper since it comes with 120 degree lens

2. a purpose build enclose is available for it which would not fit the HQ. Plus this is a big win over making yer own - I tried my best to make a sealed enclosure for my asi120MC-S based one, but after 6 months or so, it had started to dew up inside - and I really didn't want to have to start doing dew heaters, etc.

The cons:

1. It is only 120 degrees. So if you want 180 degrees look elsewhere. For me, 120 gets me most of the sky I can see, and as it's for cloud cover mainly and pretty star videos secondarily thats fine.

2. prob more noise at night that HQ, but  to be honest so far in my quick test last night the results are MUCH better than the ASI120MC-S I was using before.

So what does it cost and what do you need:

Pi wise, it will run on the Zero 2 W, just about. You will need to take less pics, and experiment a bit to see what videos, etc it can create each day with it's limited CPU - but it will work. Currently in stock at pi hut and 17 quid. Alternatively if you want more pics, more videos, quicker web, etc - get a pi4 for 35 quid. Both in stock now.

https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-2

https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b

Camera: wide camera 3 (note there is also a version without IR filter - not got this to try, but might be even better for allsky work?)

36 quid

https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-camera-module-3?variant=42305752072387

This is vs an HQ which is 52 quid, and then you'd need a lens - probably another 20 quid. So saving 35 quid or so here.

And the camera enclosure - this wouldn't work with HQ or any other camera - asi, etc - this is the real benefit of going the camera 3 route.

36.50 quid

https://thepihut.com/products/entaniya-waterproof-case-for-raspberry-pi-camera-modules

This is a really well designed bit of kit - multiple seals, desicant inside - it really should be air tight.

water proof pi zero case (well small case - nowt specially pi zero really). For pi4, seems pi hut don't do one, but nip into screwfix and you'll get a waterproof junctionbox for around the same price which will fit a 4 easy - I'm just using a project box I had lying around.

8.70

https://thepihut.com/products/flanged-weatherproof-enclosure-with-pg-7-cable-glands

power supply for the pi:

9 quid

https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-psu-uk

I'll assume you've got an SDcard kicking around to use.

So total:

17

36

36.50

8.70

9.00

------

107.20 with Pi Zero 2

or ~128 quid with pi 4 (and assuming you source your own waterproof pi enclosure (screwfix, etc) - camera one is fine of course.

There are maybe cheaper options, but this is getting you a camera that can shoot up to 200 second stills (I find 60 seconds is giving me very clear bright sky and stars with very low noise), and a multipurpose computer out in the garden - so a fiver to add a rain sensor and a bit of python gets you a rain sensor alerter as well, etc, etc

And it will be generating lovely quality 4k 30fps daily videos, Keograms and Startrails. And it comes with a public web server as well as the admin interface, so you can make your website available to the unwashed public should you wish!

I'm still letting the silicon sealing dry on mine, and the tests I've done have just been pointing camera out the window, so can't post many pics just now, but here is mine assembled (well open just now) - I'm using a pi4 as I had one already and want to add rain sensor, and other stuff to it, so makes sense to have spare cpu power for the sake of 17 quid extra. note: The heat sink gets mildly warm in use only - I'd imagine you probably don't need it.

stu

impressive amounts of oiii there in 'only' 9 hours. well done. And more innocent times when this was named the squid rather than the butt plug 😃

nice detail. mayb you're clipping the highlights ?

20 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

I use that for planetary and lunar, good camera for that. But my sensor analysis run with the camera suggests that it might not be the ideal choice for DSO because of how the sensor is laid out for its intended use of lucky imaging.

Linearity to 82,9% which isn't terrible but could be better, not sure how this will effect flats for example (never taken with mine, no need with planetary and lunar). I think the other new gen uncooled cameras would be a better choice for DSO work. Read noise also stays quite high at low gain, which would not be ideal for longer exposures. For planetary and lunar, no objections so far from me.

What models were u thinking of instead ? I noted the lower efficiency, but I suppose it's a pay off for the higher mp vs a 2mb job.

I was thinking of getting asi678mc for this sort of thing ?. Quite cheap and decent res.

The same night the 200pds was imaging Pickering's Triangle in NB, the redcat and another asi2600 was shooting the whole Veil Nebula in wideband. With 40% moon, it was not ideal, but it was far enough away to not seem to impact it much. I've shot Veil many times before, but never for such a long time in broadband, so it was nice to see some dust and dimmer features coming out. I also had to restart the edit when I realised I'd captured a galaxy on the right, and cropped half of it off the first time - so I restarted from scratch and kept it in - I like how it's just sitting in that valley of dust.

I tried to maximise my subs for this more than I would usually - I've been doing that more often with broadband recently - maybe overflowing the wells of the brightest stars, but managing to get more faint details? These were 5 min subs - 7 hours of em.

Editing wise - lovely as they are - on shots like this the stars just take over  - there's just so many of em. So I applied some curves, luminosity layering, etc to try and find a happy medium.

I tend to mostly shoot 10 mins subs with the L-ultimate - it's a 3nm dual band.  10 mins vs 5 mins seems visually obviously better to me ? Surely it depends on aperture, target brightness and a bunch of other stuff ? I just tend to stick with what works for me - clear skies are rare enough without using ones to experiment with when things are already working. The only time I drop em to 5 mins is if I'm imaging somewhere with a very high FL and struggling to get a low enough guide RMS.

I'd have like longer on this, but the weather didn't play ball. 3 hours of 10 min subs with my 200pds, asi2600 and L-ultimate.

It's a bit noisy, but noiseX was just mushing it up when I tried any more noise removal, so I've left it as is - still lots of fine detail in there.

Indeed, I'm looking forward to lending mine out to friends - it's easy enough for them to use and I think when they can see stuff like above from their back garden, it'll kinda blow their mind.

stu

I have a motorhome. I fitted ethernet and 12v supplies to the garage. I carry my astro equip in the garage along with all the other toys (paramotor, electric bike, kayak, drones, etc).

It's a great way to get to quiet places - at least in scotland. down here (I live in ipswich) every council is no anti wild camping that it's really difficult to find dark places to park for the night that don't have either 'no overmight parking' signs or a local population who are intent on being anti the idea of a motorhome parking for the night. So much so, that I now constrain myself in england to only campsites.

stu

22 minutes ago, MalcolmP said:

Very nice work, thanks for showing ! Very impressive. And down to mag20/21 ish, all  we you need now is a SN to round it all off  
I think the mystery one is UGC 5247, remarkable if it is ( , still checking in Simbad , , )
 

I reckon it's PGC 28225

Same here, u need to be ready to go as soon as dark enough. This is me at 7pm just before it dips below neighbours roof.

1 minute ago, Giles_B said:

These are great, and I particularly like M81 (although it's labelled M16 on your processed picture 😮)

What's the galaxy nearby visible on the top left corner of that M81 pic? The processing seems to have added detail to this over that visible on the SeeStar image - was that because the internal stacking cropped it out?

Got some clear sky last night, but I haven't got around to doing anything with the SeeStar pictures yet. Spent the evening switching between looking a Saturn with the dob, and getting a better sense of the early winter sky with the binoculars, and all the while SeeStar looked at DSOs in detail - a perfect astro night out!

Oops yeh sorry bout that.

Yes, I noticed that wee galaxy so made sure my crop kept it. You just just see the edge left in the phone crop.

I think M33 came out best personally. It even brought out some of the ha regions. I was going to do m82 too, but ran out of time.

Right, this took a while, so probably last time I do it - but very useful for folk thinking about whether to get one I think. Here are all the images I shot last night - all 1600 pictures integrated!

On the left, the live stack as it appeared on phone and saved to gallery. On the right, integrated and processed on computer - also with name and total imaging time.

I've tried to crop only as much as I needed to. I think they are all respectable tbh, but you can certainly see that for best results, computer processing and manual manipulation required (for me, AstroPixelProcessor for stacking, Siril for colour calibration, Affinity Photo and NoiseX, StarX for editing).

But if I could have started out with an S50 3 years ago rather than the bits and bobs I did start out with, I think I'd have been very happy. About 70 mins seems to be enough to get a pretty good image of most things.

60 mins is all I get in a night from my location. This is about 30 mins longer than before I built my obsy - which has a slightly clearer line of sight, plus the piers elevate it by 50cm or so.

200pds, asi2600 and L-ultimate.

I tried a hubble palette on it, but it's too noisy to work at the moment imho.

Is it supposed to ? I just assumed it was the plate solve data/id like you get in asiair - for info overlay. not saved with image. If you have logo on, you get the title at the bottom which will tell you what it is (assuming it knows)

30 mins to an hour. though i think M81 was a bit longer, as I left it going till it was 5% battery left (that was after it had drained a 14ah powerbank that was attached to it)

Sorry, I turned off the logo at the bottom that shows that stuff - maybe should turn it on again.

I'll post the processed pics and integration times (each was a single live stack so will match) later today

First Light - IT WORKS!!!!

This is the culmination of an experiment I've been working on - basically cutting up a 2" L-extreme, and fitting it inside my full frame Canon 6D.

I've never had good results with screwing a filter on the front of lenses - either it gives big nastly vignetting that is difficult to remove even with flats, or it does weird things to all the stars as they go further from the centre.

Details here:

Anyway, this is 'first light' for what I am calling the 'Stu-extreme'.

And you know what - it works. pretty awesomely !

This is 5 hours of 3 minute subs with the 6d and stu-extreme fitted. It was on my crappy old EQ5 and guiding refused to calibrate last night, so I was relying on tracking alone - 3 mins was as long as I could go without trails.

I shot wide open on the canon lens and was well chuffed to see pin point stars edge to edge with the lens, and no distortion caused by the stu-extreme.

This looks like a successful experiment and I'll be using it a lot now with the 6d and camera lenses!

M81 live stack:

Tadpole nebula live stack.

M33 live stack

Jfi, just found out that S50 publishes guest smb drive just like asiair. So u can get all fits, etc remotely - no need for usb.

Heres screenshot showing me accessing from my phone.