Some successes, frustrations and a question.

[kendg]

I've been working on getting things set up for being able to do scope control and imaging from inside the house.

Just in anticipation of the -20c to -40c weather that is surely to come soon.

Saturday I had a fair bit of success in getting things going, so as a brief overview, this is where I stand.

Remote control

Using Teamworks over a wireless connection to connect to the laptop at the scope.

Really works well. Far better than any of the "VNC" programs I've tried. Data from BYEOS goes directly to disk on my desktop in the house. Using a refurb Dell laptop at the scope with an ssd. May move to a small little ASUS x205ta as there is very little processing or disk space needed at the scope.

Scope Control

Using Stellarium and StellariumScope to connect to my AZ-EQ6.

It works. Not as well as I'd like, but close enough for now.

This is where I've been running into the first source of frustration.

I can't get eqmod/ascom to talk to the scope. I've tried pretty much everything with no success.

I'm using a usb to serial connection to the handset.

I find that the eqmod toolbox "almost" connects to the scope, but then fails. It scans the com ports,

hesitates for a good long while on the com port connected to the handset, then fails.

Also, the toolbox thinks it's trying to talk to a HEQ5/EQ6 and I can't find where to change it to AZ-EQ6.

At least the Celestron control seems to work, so that will have to do for now.

Parts on order to build the eqdirect cable. Should be here soon. Then I can try that out.

My question is Do I need an eqdirect cable? Or, as usual, am I being really thick and missing something very basic?

Imaging

This has now become a source of frustration. The 6SE OTA isn't cutting it anymore for DSO. But then I knew all along it wouldn't. The 0.63 reducer helps, but the vignetting on it is terrible. Forces the taking of flats.

Maybe Santa will be kind this year and bring a Skywatcher ED80. 

I also solved a big source of processing frustration using DSS and losing all the color information when 

I go to post-processing. I have to give a great huge thankyou to to this group. After searching, I found out I need to save the image without applying the changes. Sometimes I can be so thick in the head.

I'm using a Canon T3i and I picked up a battery grip for it. It holds 2 Canon batteries and also came with a holder for 6 AA batteries. Using 6AA rechargeable batteries I get about 6-7 hours of life at -5C. The grip with 2 batteries, holder for the Canon batteries and holder for the 6AAs was under $50 Canadian. 

So, a few projects to look into for the future for me.

1) getting ascom/eqmod working properly

2) upgrade the glass to a refractor

3) add autoguiding into the mix

4) explore remote and/or autofocusing

5) small backyard obsy (almost did it this year, but to much else got in the way)

6) dew heaters (actually frost heaters here) and control. All parts on order.

7) Maybe a small moveable shed to protect the mount a bit better over the winter.

Well, winter is here now. Heavy snowfall warnings out so time to do a bit of research until the skies clear again. 

Lastly, thanks to everyone on SGL. By standing on your shoulders I'm able to reach the stars. There really is a huge amount of great information here.

[chrisshillito]

Scope Control

Using Stellarium and StellariumScope to connect to my AZ-EQ6.

It works. Not as well as I'd like, but close enough for now.

This is where I've been running into the first source of frustration.

I can't get eqmod/ascom to talk to the scope. I've tried pretty much everything with no success.

I'm using a usb to serial connection to the handset.

I find that the eqmod toolbox "almost" connects to the scope, but then fails. It scans the com ports,

hesitates for a good long while on the com port connected to the handset, then fails.

Also, the toolbox thinks it's trying to talk to a HEQ5/EQ6 and I can't find where to change it to AZ-EQ6.

At least the Celestron control seems to work, so that will have to do for now.

Parts on order to build the eqdirect cable. Should be here soon. Then I can try that out.

My question is Do I need an eqdirect cable? Or, as usual, am I being really thick and missing something very basic?

Hi Ken,

Have you put the handset into PC-Direct mode (celestron doesn't need this - EQMOD does)?

EQMOD was written as a driver for the HEQ5/EQ6Pro mount protocol - the late rmounts AZ-EG6, EQ8 etc. use this protocol so will work with EQMOD - you don't need to change anything.

You don't have to use an EQDirect cable - its just that doing so removes the handcontroller from the loop and makes the control more robust. EQMOD was written for sole command of the mount via a direct connection so using the handcontroller in PC-Direct mode isn't exactly what was intended by the EQMOD developers - but it works non the less.

Chris.

[kendg]

Hi Chris

  I tried PC direct any ended up in the same spot. When eqmod starts to scan the com ports, it gets to com5 (where the scope is), thinks about it for about 10 seconds then says it failed to connect after scanning through to com16.

I'll try again once the snow stops and the sky clears 

Thanks

[ollypenrice]

You say, 'Forces the taking of flats.'

No, taking an astrophoto in any setup at all forces the taking of flats. Honestly, flats are the stuff of life. You cannot do proper AP without them. I'm not a fan of SCTs for deep sky imaging but flats are a fact of life. We all need them.

Olly

[kendg]

I agree 100% with you Olly. I just mean that without the flats, the images look really bad. Not even close to passable.

Before I added in the reducer, the images were "almost" passable. Not acceptable but at least recognizable.

With the reducer, sometimes you can't come close to seeing whats in the image.

I do keep learning, especially from folks like you.

Thanks.