QHY5L II settings in APT?

[Stargazer33]

Hi, before I was clouded out tonight I was trying to use my QHY5L IIC with Astrophotography Tools but I couldn't seem to get the exposure time right.

I set time to 'Bulb', set speed to 0.009" and image was washed out. Set speed to 0.0001" and I could hardly see a thing it was so dark. Surely I'm not going to have to go to even lower decimal places am I? Settings like 0.000153872" seems a bit excessive!

Does anyone use APT with their QHY5L II and if so what exposure settings do you use please?

Thanks - grumpy old man due to not being able to play outside!

[Thalestris24]

Hi

It's probably easier to use with EZPlanetary...

Louise

[Stargazer33]

Hi Louise, I do have EZP but it wasn't playing very nice last night - I eventually found out that SharpCap, that had frozen earlier in the evening and I had forced to close was still active in Task Manager.

I also found that I had about 67 processes running at the time! As I only really have astronomy programmes on the laptop to capture images and run my mount I can't possibly believe that my system would need 67 processes to be running - especially as my main PC only has an average of 40 processes running at any one time!

I did eventually end up using EZP - about 2 minutes before the clouds rolled in!!! :BangHead:   So I packed up - brought all my kit inside - sat down to have a moan on here. Went to watch some TV and noticed a bright light outside only to look at the window and see a lovely Moon shining brightly in a 100% clear sky! :BangHead: :BangHead: :BangHead:

[Thalestris24]

Hi

I know from experience that it can be problematic if astro software crashes - it's usually best to reboot...

I've never done any actual imaging with the qhy5l-ii but occasionally set it up in the day and use EZPlanetary for that. As you know, the mono one particularly, has a high QE. A trick might be to use a filter with it - I've used a cheap IR filter with my mono one to make it easier to use in the day. Not sure how that would work with a colour one but I guess you're aiming to get colour images! A lp or uhc filter will also cut down the amount of light.

Good luck next time!

Louise

[Stargazer33]

Thanks Louise, I will probably use EZP with the QHY from now on. I had just paid for the full version of APT and thought that I would try it out with the QHY as it is supposed to be written for it (as well as the EOS DSLRs) and it does have a lot of niffty little tools for focusing etc.

Haven't had a clear night for what seems like weeks now so no hope for a play any time soon!

[Andy Milner]

I reccomend Firecature. It is designed for planetary cameras.

I found that setting it up was a little bit of a learning curve but it performs well and gives lots of controls. Adam Leach gives a good introduction vid to the features.

http://www.astrosite.co.uk/category/blog/tutorials/

[Stargazer33]

Unfortunately I am not getting enough clear nights at the moment to get out and reduce that learning curve!   I have seen Adams video before and learnt a couple of things.

As an aside, when I start up Firecapture, the window is half on and half off the screen. Is there something in the settings that I have yet to discover or have I done something stupid during installation/set-up?