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Not liking APT. Any better ones?

Spoon

By Spoon
in Discussions - Software

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Spoon

Spoon

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Evening all, just got 3 hours on the pacman nebula all in 10 min subs using APT and I can say now: I really don't like it, the focussing aid didn't work, it was too fidly to create a plan, and it's actually lost my images. I can't find them anywhere and they are not on my camera. So 1) anyone know where they may be? And 2) does anyone know any free software for capturing AP stuff that's less tedious than APT. I loved BYEOS. It was SO easy to fire away and focus was great with it but unfortunately I'm 16 and don't have any money coming in to buy it. Oh well.

Any ideas on matters raised?

Thanks in advance.

Cam

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Spoon

Spoon

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Rest assured your data has not been lost , APT will have put it in a default folder if you did not specify a destination yourself .

I'm just trying to remember where it puts it ... I'll be back when I remember ...  :laugh:

dont worry Steve i've found them thanks to you saying there is a deault. Thanks so much! 3 hours of my life not wasted :)

thanks again!

cameron

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Steve Ward

Steve Ward

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Glad to see you found them , I had that very same sinking feeling the first time I used it and 'lost' the images ...  :p

The alternative s/w to try is BYEOS , though personally I prefer APT after trying them both ... there's not much to choose between them it just comes down to how they feel to the individual , APT just feels 'right' to me ....  :smiley:

There will soon follow a deluge of BYEOS users saying the opposite so brace yourself ...  :grin:

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

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I have used both, APT's user interface is a bit cluttered/frustrating to use sometimes and BYEOS seems to forget that I have set up a plan and changes ISO and exposure lengths almost at will (well changing from focus aid to imaging does for me). Personally I just use an intervalometer and store the images on camera. There are already enough wires and I don't need more...though that is just my imaging method.

That isn't to say I don't use either at all, I do for planetary/focus for ISS etc. I just prefer a simple wired intervalometer that works and I know exactly what I am getting when doing long DSO sessions...very quick to modify to take a few shorter subs for M42 for instance or for taking a number of darks.

I don't image unattended so if that is what you do, then one of these would probably be more useful.

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Alien 13

Alien 13

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I have APT and tried BYEOS but like Stuart i keep going back to the simple solution of using a Phone with an intervalometer app and home made dongle (much easier for my old eyes) and liveview for focusing.

P.S the app is DSLR remote

Alan

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Yoddha

Yoddha

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Hello Cameron,

No bad feelings at all - everybody is free to share his opinion :)

Could you provide a bit more information about the focusing aid problem? It will help me to make APT better for the other users :)

Many thanks in advance!

P.S. The Pacman image is very good!

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michaelmorris

michaelmorris

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From my experience, you won't get anyhting more feature-rich than APT that is free.  I agree that BYEOS has a more user-friendly interface.

From my very limited experience of using the focus aid, it does tend to 'chase the seeing' a bit  although there may be a way of damping down this effect that I haven't sussed out yet.  I find that on longer focal length systems ( 200mm and above focal length) a bahtinov mask on a bright styar is by the far the best way of acheiving good focus.  For focal lengths below this, I just take loads of test shots until I'm happy with the focus.

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Spoon

Spoon

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Hello Cameron,

No bad feelings at all - everybody is free to share his opinion :)

Could you provide a bit more information about the focusing aid problem? It will help me to make APT better for the other users :)

Many thanks in advance!

P.S. The Pacman image is very good!

Hi, I just found that the focussing aid didn't work in general, as in it wasn't setting a min point, I placed the star bang in the middle of the crosshairs but nothing really happened. Also it took me a while how to figure out how to set up a plan as in BYEOS you just type in target x and exposure y...

Everything else seemed good though!

Cam

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Thalestris24

Thalestris24

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FWIW I like APT and find it quite intuitive. The focusing aid works fine for me and I prefer it to a Bahnitov mask plus I'd say it was more accurate. :) Sometimes I have to remember to read the manual but I don't often need to refer to it. I suppose I'm a bit biased as I started with it ~10 months ago and have stuck with it. Thanks Ivo! :)

Louise

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Yoddha

Yoddha

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From my experience, you won't get anyhting more feature-rich than APT that is free.  I agree that BYEOS has a more user-friendly interface.

From my very limited experience of using the focus aid, it does tend to 'chase the seeing' a bit  although there may be a way of damping down this effect that I haven't sussed out yet.  I find that on longer focal length systems ( 200mm and above focal length) a bahtinov mask on a bright styar is by the far the best way of acheiving good focus.  For focal lengths below this, I just take loads of test shots until I'm happy with the focus.

Thanks Michael!

Both "Focus Aid" and "Bahtinov Aid" can average the LiveView images. You can try to increase the count with the +/- buttons :)

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Yoddha

Yoddha

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Hi, I just found that the focussing aid didn't work in general, as in it wasn't setting a min point, I placed the star bang in the middle of the crosshairs but nothing really happened. Also it took me a while how to figure out how to set up a plan as in BYEOS you just type in target x and exposure y...

Everything else seemed good though!

Cam

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi Cameron,

It looks you were using the Bahtinov Aid (not the Focusing Aid that uses FWHM and HFD). When you center the star you have to click on the Recalc button in order to detect the spikes.

As for the plans it is matter of taste :) APT's approach allows to define advanced sequences with filter changes, calls to external programs and soon there will be more options like predefined commands...

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Mick J

Mick J

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I have APT and tried BYEOS but like Stuart i keep going back to the simple solution of using a Phone with an intervalometer app and home made dongle (much easier for my old eyes) and liveview for focusing.

P.S the app is DSLR remote

Alan

Hi Alan,  what cable did you use twix phone & camera,  is that little grey box to the right of your phone part of the cable ?

thanks & sorry to side track Spoon's thread.

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Alien 13

Alien 13

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Hi Alan,  what cable did you use twix phone & camera,  is that little grey box to the right of your phone part of the cable ?

thanks & sorry to side track Spoon's thread.

The little grey box is the dongle it consists of two transistors and two resistors the circuit and instructions are on the DSLR remote site the cable itself was made up fom some old headphone cables i had lying around.

Alan

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Alien 13

Alien 13

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Thanks Alan, was all over the dslr web page yesterday,  2 or 3 of the cables looked doable,  have to give this a go sometime.  :smiley:

I am using the cable S version works well with the intervalometer and in standard mode with the bonus of sound and light triggers i also made the LED one too.

Alan

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Spoon

Spoon

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Hi Cameron,

It looks you were using the Bahtinov Aid (not the Focusing Aid that uses FWHM and HFD). When you center the star you have to click on the Recalc button in order to detect the spikes.

As for the plans it is matter of taste :) APT's approach allows to define advanced sequences with filter changes, calls to external programs and soon there will be more options like predefined commands...

I just clicked focus aid, on the left I think it is?

Cam

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