Thoughts on which imaging rigs to concentrate on

[Gina]

Darks done and now calibrating the 193 lights.

[Gina]

Calibration completed now registering.

[Gina]

Registration completed - 15 failed - now integrating.

[Gina]

Integration of 178 images completed - BPP finished.

[Gina]

Resultant master light has been saved as TIFF and conveyed over to Photoshop on my Win7 desktop.  Histogram stretched and saved as PNG.  This is the full resolution image.  I'm not impressed!  I know this is just a rough and ready process but even so... 

Seems to me that the lights have not been properly calibrated - there seems to be a lighter edge to the image though it's not as regular as the master flat.  I haven't looked at the processed master flat yet so I'll do that in PI and save it as TIFF and after further processing in Ps and saving as PNG, post it.

[Gina]

The master flat looks fine so I've looked at the master bias and dark too.  The dark in particular shows a lot of rejection-high pixels which doesn't seem right to me.  Here's a resized version.

[Demonperformer]

12 hours ago, feilimb said:

Hi Gina

FYI KStars / Ekos 2.7 is now available on multiple platforms, including Windows natively. I have setup Indiserver myself recently on an Odroid U2 (an ARM based device similar in ways to the Raspberry Pi) but it should now be possible to use the 'client side' ie. Kstars & Ekos on Windows.

Details of the release are here:

http://knro.blogspot.ie/2016/10/kstars-270-is-released.html 

Does not seem possible to run it on a 32-bit windows machine, however.

[Gina]

I guess that doesn't surprise me.  I was a bit surprised they decided to cover windoze at all but I can see why.  Actually, with all the problems I'm having trying to get INDI set up on the RPi and the frustration driving me up the wall, I'm having second thoughts.  Currently, INDI drivers don't cover the full facilities of my equipment.  eg. the ZWO ASI camera driver doesn't go below 1ms exposure whereas the ASI cameras go down to 32µs.  The ZWO Windows drivers work correctly - I feel there's some catching up to do for INDI.

I'm currently running a Win7 laptop perched on top of my MN190 scope which is standing vertically a couple of feet from the pier in the scope room of my observatory due to present gear not liking the longer USB cables from the warm room.  For night sessions I cover the laptop with a towel over the open screen to keep dew off.  This is an older laptop upgraded to Win7 from Vista.  APT works if there is virtually no other software running and SharpCap works most of the time.

A tablet that doesn't mind working in damp conditions might be a better bet.  I have also considered a headless PC box.  I think it's going to have to be a windoze OS because I don't think INDI is quite ready for serving my ASI1600MM-Cool and ZWO mini EFW but this would be a temporary measure to keep my imaging going relatively smoothly.  I really want to go Linux as soon as I can but my "well being" was suffering from the problems with INDI and RPi.  I just feel I don't want the hassle.

[Gina]

I wonder if something like THIS mini PC would suffice - strapped to the pier and with the powered USB hub I already have.  Doubt it would like the damp but I might be able to give it a dew hood.

[Gina]

This one looks better - 2 USB ports and smaller.

[Gina]

Reviews of the Minix mini PC above look good.  It seems to have what I want but can't tell if it would be sufficient but I think worth a try.  Looks better than most other mini PCs.

[Gina]

I dunno - seems a bit daft to spend £120 on a temporary solution - probably better to spend that on a monitor upgrade.  My present one has developed some vertical banding in the back lighting - makes looking for image defects difficult.  Maybe I'll just carry on with the laptop...  Might try Ubuntu Mate instead of Raspbian with the RPi a bit later when I've recovered from the Raspbian debacle.

 

[Gina]

Ummm........   The Minix box has a mini SD card slot which appears to be an obsolete standard - I can't find any from my usual sources.  "Mini" SD card is neither standard SD nor micro SD

[Gina]

Found micro SD to mini SD card adapter for a pound or so, so that would allow me to use a micro SD card with the Minix should I decide to get it.

[Mick J]

Will the 32bit UEFI BIOS be a problem, will that mean 32bit operating system and software.  I have seen this sort of thing with other processors but not at 120quid.

[Gina]

I guess it could be - I'm running a 64bit machine ATM and couldn't really be sure that the software will run on 32bit.  It would certainly limit the options and for that reason I don't think I'll buy it.  Thank you Mick

[Gina]

This one looks like a much better bet.  64bit CPU and no less than 4 USB ports one of which is USB3 and the rest USB2.  Micro SD card slot supporting up to 128GB.  SSD for main storage and an extra SATA bay for another or an HD.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Gina

[Mick J]

I think you may have to watch out for this 64bit CPU business Gina, the Intel Cherry Trail Z8300 (Intel® Atom X5 quad-core) may be 64bit but (unless I am barking up the wrong tree) is much the same as the the Minix,  still limited to 32bit.  The first 2star customer review of the Justop mentions it.

[Gina]

OIC   Thanks

[Gina]

Hmmm...  This one is apparently a full 64bit, more recent, processor but is still supplied with 32bit Windows 10 - wonder why.

I wonder if there are any reasonably prices mini PCs that have the full 64bit Windows OS installed.

[Gina]

Found a Win 64bit one costs a bit more but does a lot more.  Faster processor, 4GB RAM rather than 2 and a 64GB SSD, looks like 3 USB3 ports.  Dual band WiFi - Gigabit Ethernet. 

[Gina]

I have a NETGEAR PLW1000-100UKS 1000 Mbps Powerline Ethernet WiFi Adapter (1 Gigabit Ethernet Port)  so I might go for wired with super-fast gigabit Ethernet for data transfer.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Gina

[Gina]

Clear tonight so I've decided to image the Cygnus Loop again as the earlier data was poor.  Run of 200 30s OIII subs to start with as the system was set up for OIII.  Quite cold tonight so -30°C set-point is no problem.  I did some tests at longer exposures and these caused white-out of parts of the nebula.  Using a gain setting of 500 (50dB) but wondering if a lower gain and longer exposure would be better - still experimenting with best settings for this new camera.

Edited November 2, 2016 by Gina

[Gina]

Now capturing Ha subs with same parameters.  Image is rather weak - I think the sky is failing.

[Gina]

Cygnus Loop has now gone out of sight so I've swapped over the the Heart and Soul and taking 60s Ha subs.