tekkydave Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I've had a play with the Astroberry focuser again this morning and discovered something which may be useful. If you enable the Parking Mode in the Astroberry Focuser Options tab in the Indi Control Panel then the focuser moves back to it's zero position when you disconnect from Ekos. I realise this will de-focus the camera but at least it will move to a known position. Once it is reconnected and the auto-focus invoked it will be able to move back to the focus position without going negative. Hope that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekkydave Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Also just noticed if you do the above then it returns to the point it was at next time you connect. This only seems to apply if the Indi server on the pi has been stopped/re-started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 I tried to enable Parking Mode but it didn't work Anyway, I think Chris is right - this is overkill for the ASC. It would be different if it worked as wanted, but it doesn't. I want the focus left alone once set up unless it changes for some reason. The only reason I can think of is possibly ambient temperature. A control system that would maintain a fixed temperature within the ASC might be another possibility but that would probably be another "can of worms"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekkydave Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I agree, probably overkill for ASC. If you want it focused all the time manual would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Manual it is then. I have already removed the stepper motor and unplugged the stepper driver module - they will come in useful for something else no doubt. Now I have to work out the best mechanical focus control that can be used with the dome in place. I have a few ideas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Done M5 bolt out through the bottom of the case. Motor pinion drilled and tapped M5 and a tube printed and glued to the hole in the top of the case to take the bolt. Here's a screenshot of the tube with shoulder to fit hole in case where the motor shaft went through. Main part of tube inside case acts as top bearing for focus adjuster bolt, hole in case bottom as lower bearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Here are some photos of the manual focus drive. Please excuse poor focus on first photo. I've drilled some holes in the top of the case to allow warm air from the electronics and the hot side of the Peltier TEC to rise into the dome to help dew prevention - may not need the dew heater if the RH isn't too high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 The manual focussing seems alright just looking out of the living room window at the far hills in the mist Visibility is not sufficient to get a sharp image when zoomed right in. Given decent visibility and seeing I think this will be adequate - using an Allen key longways on for coarse and sideways, with the long side providing extra leverage and precision, for fine focus. The long side is about 100mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisLX200 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I'll be interested to hear how well your 'Rain Remover' heater works Gina, the heater in mine is good for keeping dew at bay but rain drops stay on the dome for ages. I may have to do something about that. ChrisH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 I'll let you know next time we get rain and the ASC is outdoors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Here's the latest image from the ASC hooked on the guttering. This follows manual focus on rather misty far trees this afternoon. It's definitely better that I got fiddling with the remote focuser! This is with cooling on but no dew heater. 30s exposure, auto gain, sensor temperature 7°C. 8 bit JPG image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 Aarrgghh - next door have turned their one gazillion candlepower floodlight on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 29, 2016 Author Share Posted October 29, 2016 S'alright - they've turned it off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Tonight's first image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisLX200 Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Nice to see there are still stars up there - I was beginning to doubt... ChrisH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 First image of GMT 10s exposure. Looks to me like the focus is much better following a manual focus on a distant tree several miles away in the mist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 One thing I see though is that the focus is poor round the edge. This might be due to having the lens 5mm higher that the focal point of the dome hemisphere. I'm a bit surprised it's this bad though. I can try raising the dome by 5mm. OTOH I'm wondering if I can do away with the dome and use some optical film - the sort of stuff used by Baader with their solar filter film but without the filtering. I have some Baader TurboFilm (clear) 1.27m x 0.51m from FLO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Another image - 30s exposure - sensor temperature has gone down to 2°C. Dew heater OFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Though there might have been a spot of misting up in the last image so I've switched the dew heater on and also reduced the gamma from 50 to 20 to increase the contrast. Sensor temperature now 1°C and again 30s exposure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 As above but with gamma reduced further to about 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Here is a full resolution image derived from the saved FITS file. Converted to TIIF with FITS Liberator then to PNG in Photoshot for upload here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Rather less cloud now. Another screenshot plus a FITS capture converted to PNG, full resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 I think I'll increase exposure to 60s now that there are fewer clouds and more stars and the Milky Way are showing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Here is a 60s FITS capture converted to PNG. Sensor temperature at 6°C. Gamma = 10. Gain on auto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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