powerlord

whew.. ok progress last night. again, posting more for future searchers who might have same issues. I aligned with my polar scope this time, AND centred polaris in liveview on the DLSR. then did PA on ASIAIR and it was pretty close. yeah! (i had a 😐 face some small adjustments later and I got a 🙂 . it was under a minute off, and that I decided would do me for now. I then tried getting guilding to work and really struggled to get a clear picture (but that deservces it own thread.. eventually I got a star locked, and started calibration but didn't get anywhere. I blindly fiddled with the settings that have no documentation or tutorials (arggg): - guiding rate - agressiveness on DEC and RA - calibration step - max dec duration - max ra duration All clearly related to each, other, NONE documented. I mean how difficult is it to write a f^&king manual. I eventually through blind luck got something that started to actually calibrate! it's still pretty rubbish, but it IS working ! I think I ended up with: 75 75/125 2000 1000 4000 I really wish someone would do a good tutorial on how to tune this - it strikes me as having a lot in common with the quadcopter/gimbal tuning PIDs = without a tutorial it's blind luck you get it right!!! Anyway, after that I found M51 which was to be myt first attempt to see/photo a galaxy. I found it, and saw it!! I didn't want to chance star trails so settled on 90 seconds which gave nice clear shots. It told me in about an hour it would need a meridian flip..and it sort of went wrong after that, and I've emailed Alexander at astro-gadget.net for some support there which I'll post if I get anywhere. So overall it went ok: - PA working - guiding working (technically.. though need to hunt for a tutorial on how to tune) - control working TODO: - my wifi extender is still rubbish, and can't reach from the end of the garden to my house - so I need a better wifi extender - which is a pain as I'd just converted this one to 12v with some circuit mods and soldering - meridian flipping issues TONIGHT PLAN: - try the mak 102's 1300mm FL on M51 with the canon 6d and see if I can get some more detail that the pathetic attempt below. - wrap up warmer 🙂

Well, that was a disaster. What worked - well, plate solving working (yeha!) - and yes, I can see that would make a hell of a difference. targets you can't really see now spot on centred. wow. 2 issues: A: PA - failing totally to do this B: guiding not working at all. By which I mean, when it does calibrate, I slowly watch the target drift out the box, with it saying its increasing something or other but graph remains totally blank. mount is making a different noise from when sidereal, but nowt happening.. but goto works, sidereal works, etc - so its communicating with the mount (EQStarPro in EQMOD comms) fine..and it can see the stars fine - I used auto and it picked its target and shows it top left. Tried 4 or 5 times, differnt targets, same thing - no motion at all and after a while it gives up and says something like stars not moving. I wasn't sure if I should have tracking on or off on the mount for this ? Or it IT turns it off when it does calibration, then puts it back on or what ? so I tried both with it on and off. no difference. Let's cover A first - previously my mount was pretty much spot on - I set up same place,and I've been using synscan PA routine to tweak it, and I find that really easy to use with the real time feedback on liveview on camera. I mean I suppose I could keep doing that, but not sure that's going to not just confuse things with me trying to connect synscan direct to mount, asiair connected via usb, etc, etc. This time, red dot and DSLR is showing polaris, but asiair PA plate solves and says errors was something like 3 degrees and 6 hours out !!! - needless to say, no amount of twidling and even moving the tripod manually seemed to help. I gave up after 15 mins. tried a few gotos, plate solves, adjustments and got on IC1805 - and of course, 60 sec exposure has massive star trails as PA is mince. Hmm. I wish I could try this is the day time. So.. I suppose I'll waste another great clear sky tonight till I'm too frustrated to go on, trying to work out what the hell I'm doing wrong. But I do find the PA route in asiair a PITA compared to synscan. Tell me why this is dumb, but tonight, I plan to use synscan to get it close first, as I know it and want to get it within a gnat's chuff first. Then I'll do it in asiair, and first, if it comes up with nonsense like 6,4,2 out there's no point in me trying anything - something else is knackered. If it's close, I do what I do in synscan, and turn on liveview on DSLR, and adjust mount screws to get polaris in centre, or at least check it's moving the right way asiair says I should move. Maybe B is also failing because of the massive PA error that it thinks is there but does not exist ? However I can't see what one has to do with the other - I mean it's finding a target ok, so it seems the stars, and then all it has to do is move the mount - which is can clearly do fine (goto etc fine). Only other thing I can think of is to move from USB connection to mount, to wifi-wifi and add a wifi extender into ethernet of asiair - in case something doesn't work over usb - but seems a long shot when everything else works. Learning from my syscan experience (the need for this mount to be 'homed' - this is full setup I tried: - turn all on (all focused at this point) - home mount in asiair. disengage clutches and let motors drive what ages till it thinks its home. move to proper home position (polaris), and lock clutches when red dot close to polaris. - asiair PA routine. plate solves fine, moves 60 degrees, plate solves fine. tells me my error is some mental value. cue me wasting ages trying to make it do anything useful and giving up. ah.. the joy of astroimaging...

Hi chaps, So I've got myself an ASIAIR Pro. My plan is to use this, my SVBONY 120mm guide scope and asi224 as guide camera, and my DSLR and either my mak102 or 72ED or DSLR lenses as main camera. all that seems to work together. Initally I've not sorted out wifi extenders, etc - so it's gonna be controlled via phone within a few feet of mount as asiair wifi is as terrible. With the moon as it is, I'm focusing (sic) on practice rather than expecting much in the way of results. I figured I'd try a few nebulas (heart/soul, american) with the 72ED, and then try the mak102 and see if I can get anything on M51 - maybe add a barlow. And yeh, maybe try the moon too. Obviously if I do try planets later, Im gonna need to get another guide camera as I'd be using the asi224 I'd imagine. Usually what happens when I try so many things for the first time is that it all goes terribly wrong, I can't understand what, or I do summit stupid - so in an attempt to learn from my mistakes I thought I'd ask for some wisdom from you chaps ? Additionally I'll be reading manuals again, and watching youtube tutorials.. this will be the first time I've used a guide camera, first time plate solving, first time using my big EQ5/EQStarPro in anger, first time using 6D since it's been modded.. One thing I learned previously is only add one new thing at a time, so I've already thrown that rule out the window.... stu

OK, I'm gonna answer a bit of my own post, rather than edit above in case useful to others. I'm not sure what I did to fix connectivity - so I'll just say what I did: - I got a rooted asiair image from here and booted it so I could ssh in and confirm the cp2102 device loaded as a usb serial port: https://gist.github.com/timucingelici/217ac492bc2b127c6645ce033463d265 and it proved it was loading it fine. I then powered everything off, put the original sdcard back in, powered every on.. and was going to go through all baud rates once more.. but it straight away connected fine as EQMOD mount baud 9600 !! home, goto, the lot, all working! yeeha. so - might be as much use as a chocolate fireguard - but IF you have the same problem - try above. DSLR - still interested if I'm missing live view.. I imagine there is none though. pity if that's the case - I mean it IS possible with canon utilities.. Now 2-3 nights clear... however idea conditions not needed to [removed word] around with new kit... chances are I'll just waste all the time trying to get everything setup... but will give it a go anyway. stu

hi chaps, I've got myself an asiair, and got it connecting ok to my 1200D and 6D, but can't seem to get any sort of live preview working ? without which I'm struggling to see how yer supposed to get focus spot on ? Or is the idea to use liveview on the camera itself only as I would do ? It also doesn't seem the most reliable thing - 'crashing' the dslr sometimes - I'm trying skipping magic lantern to see if that is the issue. Also, so far having no joy trying to connect my EQMOD contol mount EQStarPro - the usb port is a CP2102 chip UART job, but ASIAIR is not detecting it. A search online shows a few others using EQDir leads based on this chip connecting ok, but I wanted to see if anyone on the forum has this working with this chip/cable or better still - with an EQStarPro. At the mo, I'm wondering if the rasp pi isn't' mounting it for some reason and next step will be to root it, ssh in and have a look - but if there is some dumb thing I'm doing I'm all ears. stu

So, after installing a nice level circular patio for observing recently, it only became more apparent that vast bits of the SW sky are blocked by a neighbours massive trees. As a new one moved in recently I wondered how cheeky it would be to introduce myself and suggest that IF they were considering removing the trees, I'd gladly contribute to the cost. I mean, its a small garden and the things must be blocking all their light too... still felt like it was a bit cheeky for me to ask though. This morning I thought I'd pop over and do it... only to be woken up by the noise of a chainsaw... He's only gone and called the tree surgeons who promptly removed BOTH the trees ! yeh!!!!! what a difference ! So clearly anything I wish for is coming true - wishes will be granted to the first person to offer me a nice Takahashi, cooled mono camera and filter set. 😜😜

arg you're right - it's the firmware on the azgti that was tweaked, not the app. duh. my bad. phew. stu

Hi chaps, I got myself one of these mini guide scopes - a 32mm svbony SV165 -pretty much the same as the ZWO ones but 1/2 the price. optically nice and bright and works nicely with my new ASI224 (I know..not ideal for a guide camera but for now it's what I've got). Question is - these mini guide scopes, just like the ZWO come with a mount which is not adjustable/alignable. Is this just how guiding works ? I mean obviously fitted on an OTA it doesn't align to the viewfinder. But I suppose all the guider needs is some stars to plate solve - and if it keeps THEM steady, then whatever the actual OTA is pointing at (moon and planets accepted) will also be kept steady ? Otherwise it seems kinda dumb that they come with these mounts if I'm supposed to bin that and source a 30mm adjustable mount (though that seems to me would be a damn site better, as could be used for visual with an eyepiece. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick here ? stu

It looks like skywatcher have removed all the downloads for the EQ modded synscan app. http://skywatcher.com/download/software/synscan-app/ So those that rely on it probably best save a copy of the app incase they need to reinstall ? stu

i use meteoblue. i really like their meteograms - everything in one diagram. I have a little script that refreshes them and runs all the time on an old tablet in the kitchen so I have an up to date forecast for the next 5 days. I've used them for years for my other hobby (flying). the meteogram also shows deviations from other forecast models show you can see 'behind the curtain' and decide for youself. Like every forecaster, sometimes they get it wrong, but I'm generally very impressed with the accuracy and depth = for example cloud base and percentage cover is very useful for flying, as is the wind speed vs altitude. stu

Well, it turned into a totally cloudless night last night, and miles from anywhere, crystal clear skies. Saying that, I ended up with nothing much to show for it images wise, but was a good experience. Easily put down to poor planning, and too many new gadgets I tried to test for the first time in the dark. I tried to capture M51.. but with my ASI224 I'd only just got on my skymax102 - I didn't expect much, but quickly realised I didn't even have any reliable way of knowing I was pointing at it with not other stars in the area... I ended up going to Mars, which worked as a 'dot' - trying to add a barlow and failing miserably at getting that working at all (again never tried before even in daylight!) I then tried my new ed72 -- again never tried before... realised I hadn't even fitted and aligned a rdf so spent ages getting that aligned to anything. In the end I attached the DSLR and got some shots of the Soul nebula, but not very good ones - 2 min subs with some star trails as hadn't got a good enough alignment. that said, it was a lovely clear night to see the stars, and not too cold. I saw my first burning red meteor, and my first satellite. All in all, an experience I will repeat in a few weeks time - next time with a bit more preperation and planning! stu

I imagine these are old hat to you lot, but last night, sitting out in a cloudless sky on the east coast looking to the north, I was caught off guard as a sudden red flash and bright red dot moved across from east to west and burned out. I think I'd seen my first honest to god proper meteor. A bit later while aligning my ASI224 on Mars, I then saw my first satellite moving across my fov. As a newby numpty, they were pretty cool new experiences.

hi, it might be worth trying what I found I had to do with my EQSTARPRO: As for how you know its tracking in syncscan app top right when you've 'goto'ed somewhere you will see a >> icon. tap that and it will show you what tracking is enabled (1/2 sidereal, sidereal, moon, sun). Also if you stick yer ear on the RA motor you should here it. You can also check your PA there (and frankly its a d4mn site quicker getting correct via app that with scope imho. first ensure you are using synscan pro app not 'synscan;. once you've done alignment, got to utilties, advanced and chose polar align. you can choose a star (i usually just got for the brighest of the two I've just used to align) and follow the instructions but its basically: - centre star using app buttons, NEXT - align star in up/down middle using ALTI MOUNT screw , NEXT - align star in left/right using RA MOUNT screws , DONE. Now, go to alignment, reset and do it again.

9 months since I've been allowed to use motorhome. But from today can do !! 360 degree views, clear skies forecast all night - bring it on ! Im gonna try for andromeda with the 72ed and DSLR, and the whirlpool nebula/galaxy with the skymax102 and asi224 - prob get nowt with that, but I'll get it a try. Gonna take some widefields too - see if I can get the milkyway and the motorhome in the shot. stu

cool, you may find like me though that the bar wobbles even screwed tight. that what i need the shaved nut for - to push against the exposed thread surrounding on the AZ. shaved because otherwise it won't fit in, by the clutch. but maybe it's just mine - they seem to be build with quite lax tolerances.

so FLO credited my back, and I've ordered another AZ GTI and an ioptron wedge. probably be ages before I get em but would have been same with adventurer prob. Now need to make up another counterweight. Lee - if considering - mine is based on regular 1in centre cast fitness weights. I use 2 1.15kg ones. I created 3d printed centres for them that screw on to bar. 7 quid for a 250mm SS M12 thread bar from ebay. And you'll need 1 M12 nut, 2 M12 wing nuts. shave edges from nut and it screws up into AZ GTI and locks bar in place. once fitted 3d printed collars onto weights, they screw in, and wing nuts keep them secure. stu

The tripods have a new home.. soo much better than grass or wooden deck. super stable ! Maybe I see a pier in the future, but for now, it's 2.6m diameter so big enough to fit 2 mounts and OTAs 🙂

I don't think so jambouk - it's servos - so what Alexander said was basically the hibernate is used so that the kit can work out the gearing accurately from the servo steps its done. Once it's done that it has all it needs ? A bit like the onstep ?

I kinda slowly worked all that out - there's not much video wise I could find out there. I made up a sort of T mount which has my DSLR and lens (mainly shooting with 300mm F4 L canon pro lens, sometimes plus extender at the mo), with a RDF one side, and laser the other. Laser is quickest for getting in right area, then RDF to get close enough to see in liveview. For aligning the actual mount itself (not az gti - just the tripod, and wedge) - I don't bother more than just checking it's pointing north with compass app, and checking it's at correct angle using polarfinder or just any old 'bubble level' app. it really doesn't need to be that accurate initially on polaris - the synscan polaris align thing will show you the error and let you correct it easier than fannying around with trying to align the mount itself with a scope/RDF or whatever. i.e. this way there's no need for you to ever be faffing with trying to align polaris with the right clock time, etc. it seems to work pretty well, but as I say, I reckon after one iteration I'm prob still a bit off, so should go around it a few times really. Of course once you have dialled it in, the adjustments you are going to need to make are small from then on, as your just moving it around the clock face effectively provided you've aligned your mount to north each time - my plan there having just installed a new circular patio just for aastronomy !, is to mark on the slaps where the tripod feet go so it goes back same place each time. Maybe I'll do a video myself, though it seems a bit cheaky having never looked through a telescope 3 months ago, to be doing video tutorials on em. 🤪 stu

Oh one more thing about going to EQ mode... I can't swear on it.. but it seems to me the az gti in regular mode needs the app to stay connected and running to guide on a target - I imagine it's constantly sending adjustments to both axis. Certianly I've not fully tested this, but in a quick test, killing the app after setting it on a target, it lost the target. in eq mode, since once tracking it's basically just running the RA axis in sidreal, the app can be stopped and it keeps lock I think. As I say, very little testing, maybe some conjecture here, but makes sense to me.. So it does mean your phone is freed up in EQ mode to do other stuff if above is true. stu

So, I'm getting 2 min subs easy now with the AZ GTI in EQ mode. Hence, doubting I'd get much better on the adventurer, and if I did it would just be due to putting more effort into polar alignment, which could do on AZ GTI just as well ? I use the synscan polar align. So - I start with aligning mount/wedge as close as I can to north and polaris using compass app that shows true north, and Polar Aligner Pro (android) to get angles right - though tbh it doesn't add much to just using phone with bubble level app. I start with pointing the mount/ota/dlsr then at polaris using laser and rdf - using the clock angle i got from polar aligner pro or syn scan. I then do regular alignment with az gti. Once complete, I go into advanced/polar align in synscan and choose a star - usually one I've just used for aligning. that goes through adjusting alti with mount screw, and north using left/right screws on wedge. Once done, i reset alignment and do alignment again. that gets me 2 mins subs. IF I went through polar align again it might be even better, but by then I'm happy to start imaging. Before in AZ mode I was sometimes lucky to get 10 sec subs. Seems to me at least with my AZ GTI the alti gears were just crap and it would jump all over the place. And that's after I stripped it to bits, reset/adjusted worm springs and regreased. Using in EQ mode basically takes that axis out of the equation which might be the reason for the better accuracy. Sounds to me like calling FLO up and pleading to change my order is a good idea then. I mean the adventurer 2i kit is swish and all that - and you get counter weight, dovetail, etc all in... but I think so far folk are agreeing, its actually not as good as the AZ GTI in EQ mode if yer up for a bit of DIY... and - having just bought @simmo39 's 72ED off him, I'll be doing the same as you Lee stu

Hi chaps, I have an AZ GTI in EQ mode which works a treat. I have an Adventurer 2i on order from FLO. When I ordered it way back I wasn't using the AZ GTI in EQ mode. Now I am, I'm wondering.. is there really any advantage at all in the Adventurer ? Or should I see if FLO can change my order to an AZ GTI ? Yes, another AZ GTI will need a wedge, but with that added its about the same price. I will need to heath robinson it up like the last one, adding a bit of threaded rebar and some weights, etc - but once that's done I'd have 2 AZ GTIs for doing 2 DSLR sessions at once. And of course AZ GTI a hell of a lot easier to setup (no need for polarscope as ), and is full GOTO. I'm getting into guiding a bit, but doubt there's much difference performance between the two ? thoughts ? stu

thanks chaps. I posted as I didn't know if I'd get much support from the manufacturer in Ukraine (astro-gadget.net) , language barriers, etc. In the end, they replied almost immediately and after a few emails back and forth the issue is resolved ! I'd really recommend this kit to anyone looking to automate an EQ5 - for 100 quid more than a standard motor kit you get full servo precision, full goto and guiding and built in wifi - what's not to like ! anyhoo, the issue is I think a specific weirdness in how this works, but not having a 'real' sky-watcher goto kit, others will have to tell me if this is different or not. Starting from everything fresh and reset, if you just follow the synscan app instructions it won't work. They mention hibernate, but only as a way of avoiding re-alignment every session IF you don't move your mount. Hence, for most of us, who probably take it out and in every night on a tripod, it probably isn't used ? Here, it must be or you'll get nowhere. Here is the setup procedure (and if others tell me infact this is identical to regular SW kit - fair enough - I'd then say the manual is even worse than I previously thought!) 1. turn mount on and connect to app. 2. manually ensure that the mount/OTA is in home position (with hands) - this is mount pointing north, weights down, OTA pointing at Polaris. 3. Go into Utility menu, and choose hibernate. The mount will start moving. It will probably keep moving for a while and may twist up the cables, so it might be you have to either make sure it doesn't or unplug DEC cable at this point (if you unplug i found you need a power cycle before it works again) 4. once it's stopped it will be somewhere weird. No worries, manually move it (with hands) back to HOME position. 5. IF you unplugged cable, power cycle mount at this point, and stop app (remove from running), and restart app and connect. 6. If you now look at I (info) it should say its at 360 degrees and your home DEC (52.01 for me). 7. Provided you ALWAYS now use utility/hibernate to return the mount to the HOME before turning it off, you don't need to repeat the above. 8. You can now, and ONLY now go into alignment and do it. Now, say a 2 star alignment will actually move to the first star as intended, etc. 9. After alignment, you are good to GOTO. 10. At end of session, Utilities/Hibernate to move back to HOME position. NOTE: there's no encoders here anywhere, so it's not important whether you stopped using GOTO during session and started manually (with hands) moving it around - you still need to use Utilities/Hiberate at the end and let EQ5STARPRO at least THINK it's going back to HOME. 11. Turn off. 12. Next night or whatever, when turned on, FIRST THING is that it SHOULD offer to restore hibernate position - let it. If you physically have it in HOME position it shouldn't move. 13. You can now either use previous alignment (if not moved) or more likely reset aligment, and setup again from 8. phew. that sounds worse than it is. And frankly without Alexander's help at astro-gadget.net I'd never have worked that out. Now I know the process all I need is a night I can actually see some stars !!!! stu

I'm struggling to get my EQStarPro, fitted on my EQ5 to align with synscan. I've done alignments plenty times with my AZ GTI in EQ mode, but I'm sure i still MUST be doing something stupid. a picture tells a thousand words.. and a video more so - so see below. I start with it in home north/polaris facing. no alignment set, everything restarted. i try a 2 star alignment, starting with vega which at this time is should be about 90 degrees east... but it turns the wrong way, then keeps going and going on the RA spinning around 360 degrees and ending up pointing north but with the thing tilted at 90 degrees! binning that, and trying the '2 brightest star' and manually going to vega. tell it im there, and select deneb as second (roughly north) - but again it goes off on it's merry way spinning the RA through 360 degrees and ending up pointing at who knows what... with the degrees showing it getting closer for a bit... then further and further away up to about 180, then it starts coming down again, even though its just kept rotating the RA. manually moves fine with joystick AND with synscan controls. What am I doing wrong ?? stu

Thanks. I've ordered a 224. I like that I can try to use as a guide camera too and learn about that. Stu