Time to give up my life (and my wallet)...

[Darren Poulson]

..not that I had one anyway.

Got my first telescope and mount yesterday (typical, thursday was a lovely day/night, telescope arrives on the friday and clouds for the next week at least), and spending today doing my first mods.

I've managed to mod a 9x50 to fit a Raspberry Pi camera to it, and currently working on a DIY make of an astroeq. Both seem to be working ok, just need to make the mount/gears for the astroeq. Question is, buy nice shiney gears/belts, or dust off the old 3d printer and spend the next month getting that working again? 

The plan is to have everything running off a raspberry pi on the mount, with a DSLR, auto focuser (DIY), astroeq, and guide cam (Pi cam on 9x50). So far, apart from the actual proper gear (mount and scope), I've managed to do everything on a budget with parts I already had. Even dug out an old lappy to install linux and kstars on (work 'forgot' to collect my old laptop when they replaced it... oops). 

So now to play the astronomers game. Wait for decent conditions.

[cuivenion]

I've been working on DIY 1.25" extension tubes to get more mag from my 2x barlow. Not quite in the same league but they work.

[Darren Poulson]

Heh, but you've already got the AstroEQ stuff working.  I just make everything so much harder on myself by refusing to use windows. 

Have got some nice views of the wind turbine down by heysham powerstation tho. 

Tempted by your 18mm Starguider btw, if its still around on my next pay day at the end of the month.

[cuivenion]

It does seem to be the astronomers OS of choice. There's lots of good free software. The 18mm a good eyepiece, but I really want to get that GPcam, I've discovered that theres not much point to visual observing when you're using a laptop for your goto controller.

[Darren Poulson]

Yeah, most of my imaging will be remote with a camera. Just want a decent set of eyepieces for when I do do visual. 

Also looking at doing a DIY filter wheel, if for nothing else than to do auto dark and flats via scheduling on kstars/indilib.

Next payday may be an astroconverted camera. Don't fancy DIYing that one myself.

[RWB]

3 hours ago, Darren Poulson said:

..not that I had one anyway.

Got my first telescope and mount yesterday (typical, thursday was a lovely day/night, telescope arrives on the friday and clouds for the next week at least), and spending today doing my first mods.

I've managed to mod a 9x50 to fit a Raspberry Pi camera to it, and currently working on a DIY make of an astroeq. Both seem to be working ok, just need to make the mount/gears for the astroeq. Question is, buy nice shiney gears/belts, or dust off the old 3d printer and spend the next month getting that working again? 

The plan is to have everything running off a raspberry pi on the mount, with a DSLR, auto focuser (DIY), astroeq, and guide cam (Pi cam on 9x50). So far, apart from the actual proper gear (mount and scope), I've managed to do everything on a budget with parts I already had. Even dug out an old lappy to install linux and kstars on (work 'forgot' to collect my old laptop when they replaced it... oops). 

So now to play the astronomers game. Wait for decent conditions.   And so the descent into true insanity begins

soon it will not only be your wallet but everything you hold dear  will be frazzled ,, then one day you will look at one of

your images and realise that you have GOT IT!! and sanity will return

Clear skies in the meantime

                           Robin  

[wuthton]

I'll watch this thread with great interest. I've tried to ditch Windows a couple of times but have always come back on bended knee.

[Darren Poulson]

6 minutes ago, wuthton said:

I'll watch this thread with great interest. I've tried to ditch Windows a couple of times but have always come back on bended knee.

Hah, last version of windows I ran at home was 95 I think. Been using Linux for over 20 years now.

Take a look at indilib.org and kstars. Seems to work great, and supports a load of hardware, both commercial and DIY.

The clouds cleared a little tonight, and managed to get the scope out into the garden. No polar alignment (couldn't see polaris!) but managed to point at jupiter and get some really nice views. Maxed out the mag with the lenses I've got at about x100. 

[todd8137]

7 hours ago, Darren Poulson said:

Heh, but you've already got the AstroEQ stuff working.  I just make everything so much harder on myself by refusing to use windows. 

Have got some nice views of the wind turbine down by heysham powerstation tho. 

Tempted by your 18mm Starguider btw, if its still around on my next pay day at the end of the month.

And that's your problem right there  85% of people do use Windows love or hate it 

[Darren Poulson]

1 minute ago, todd8137 said:

And that's your problem right there  85% of people do use Windows love or hate it 

It helps my sanity.  

[iPeace]

9 hours ago, Darren Poulson said:

I just make everything so much harder on myself by refusing to use windows. 

Keep faith, it's worth it

[wuthton]

10 hours ago, Darren Poulson said:

Hah, last version of windows I ran at home was 95 I think. Been using Linux for over 20 years now.

Take a look at indilib.org and kstars. Seems to work great, and supports a load of hardware, both commercial and DIY.

Unfortunately I've already looked at Eqmod, Sequence Generator Pro, PHD and Platesolve 2, all of which are Windows (Some Mac) only.

I'm no stranger to Linux but there's currently no way that I could put together an Observatory PC based on Linux that I'd call even half functional, without Ascom it's a complete non-starter for me.

I wish you luck but the vast majority end up with Windows.

[Gina]

Linux Lover myself but I have to admit that Windows does have the advantage with software.  Windows 7 seems to work reasonably well though does seem to need rebooting regularly to retain performance, which is a pain.  But nothing is perfect!

[knro]

 

Quote

I'm no stranger to Linux but there's currently no way that I could put together an Observatory PC based on Linux that I'd call even half functional, without Ascom it's a complete non-starter for me

All your hardware is supported under Linux, so how is that half functional?

[Darren Poulson]

I've already got pretty far with indilib rather than ascom before even getting my scope. With simple arduino programs and stepper drivers, etc. I can build a fully automated observatory if I wished (Oh, I wish...)

I'm a linux/unix sysadmin by day, and there is no way on earth that I will be going back to windows now.  

Astroeq is nearly done, and so is the focuser (moonlite clone). Just need to make some brackets. Then next step is to design a filterwheel (or borrow someone else's design ). 

Registax and DSS both run with wine, and sounds like they're just as stable as in windows.

[knro]

 

Quote

Registax and DSS both run with wine, and sounds like they're just as stable as in windows.

I use PixInsight for all image calibration and processing, so I'm completely Windows/Wine free. It comes with a hefty price tag with it's worth every penny.

[Darren Poulson]

2 minutes ago, knro said:

 

I use PixInsight for all image calibration and processing, so I'm completely Windows/Wine free. It comes with a hefty price tag with it's worth every penny.

Ah,

I've heard of it, but not looked into it yet. Sounds like it might be worth it. 

I've just noticed your location. Are you the developer of kstars, etc. and the author of all the videos I've been watching recently?

[knro]

Just now, Darren Poulson said:

Ah,

I've heard of it, but not looked into it yet. Sounds like it might be worth it. 

I've just noticed your location. Are you the developer of kstars, etc. and the author of all the videos I've been watching recently?

Yup that's me :-)

[Darren Poulson]

Just now, knro said:

Yup that's me :-)

Cool, very nice work! Hopefully I'll be able to contribute back a bit. Not much of a coder, but can certainly test and help with some documentation or similar.

[knro]

1 minute ago, Darren Poulson said:

Cool, very nice work! Hopefully I'll be able to contribute back a bit. Not much of a coder, but can certainly test and help with some documentation or similar.

I was actually going to ask you if you can write a HOWTO or guide for you work. I'm very intrigued by DIY stuff especially in astronomy and I'm sure a lot folks in the INDI community would appreciate that since a lot of us are tinkers!

[Darren Poulson]

Just now, knro said:

I was actually going to ask you if you can write a HOWTO or guide for you work. I'm very intrigued by DIY stuff especially in astronomy and I'm sure a lot folks in the INDI community would appreciate that since a lot of us are tinkers!

Was planning on doing something like that. A blog post at least. 

Its a steep learning curve, and I'm making notes of any stumbling blocks, etc. May do a whole "zero to full remote" type thing, using as much DIY as possible.

[Gina]

Very interesting   I would love to convert my astro imaging to Linux - maybe it might just work better than Win 7, I'm always getting problems.  One reason for my loss of motivation...

[knro]

42 minutes ago, Gina said:

Very interesting   I would love to convert my astro imaging to Linux - maybe it might just work better than Win 7, I'm always getting problems.  One reason for my loss of motivation...

It's quite possible with your setup, though I can't say it's not challenging under Linux, especially if you're new to it. It takes time getting used to it.

[Darren Poulson]

A neater version of my AstroEQ done.  Just need to make some brackets and get some gears.

Still waiting for a clear night.

If I did move back to windows, I'd probably have as many (if not more) problems than someone going the other way. Its all down to what you're used to. I've not even really seen windows 7, let alone used it. Someone asked me a question about windows 10 the other day. I just laughed.

[cuivenion]

Nice. Can't wait to see how that raspberry Pi camera gets on.