Thoughts on which imaging rigs to concentrate on

[Gina]

SII 3nm filter.  Focus at 4250.

[Gina]

Ha 5nm filter - focus 4250.

[Gina]

Conclusion :-  The hardware and software seems to be fully working.  The Astrodon filters are parfocal, which I found before with this scope (being an APO).  I can use the manual focus in the Astroberry Focuser control virtually as easily as I did with my Arduino version.  Have to see how well everything works with stars rather than twigs but it's looking very promising

[Gina]

Well, I think this rig is ready for the next time we get a clear night sky.  Although the focussing is very fine, I think it's probably usable as it is - the manual focus is in hundreds which having experimented is probably equivalent to 2 counts of my Arduino remote focuser.  It will be interesting to see if the auto-focus works when we have stars.  I shall probably set up the rig out in the observatory next time we get a fine day - it's raining again now.

Now that I appear to have the INDI server software working properly I can shift my attention to the widefield imaging rig.  The backed up last version of the RPi software can be loaded into a new micro SD card.  The next part of that project is to design and print a box to contain the electronics and also finish off the extra electronics on the stripboard.  This will be posted in my other thread Mountings and Controls For Widefield Imaging Rig

[Filroden]

My spacing seems to have worked. I used 2x 0.6mm rings so I had a spacer between each adaptor.

I think that's close enough once you add the 6.5mm for the internal camera body to sensor distance. Once I get some test images I can always remove a spacer.  

Edited February 2, 2017 by Filroden

[Gina]

Yes indeed   Looks fine.  Now we are both waiting for clear skies!!!

[Gina]

Been collecting data for writing that tutorial - not as simple as it seemed.  A few false moves and backtracks in the process I quoted in this thread mean the results might not be exactly what I got when starting completely from scratch.  So I think I need to write down all the moves and then test it with a brand new empty micro SD card.

[Gina]

The tutorial is under way and I'm planning to add to it today - lots of interest in it

The weather is fine ATM - the rain and clouds have gone away for the present and we have a lovely sunny day.  Unfortunately more rain is forecast for this afternoon and evening.  I think I shall put the scope imaging rig out onto the EQ8 mount in the observatory though in the hope of clear night skies before too long.

[Gina]

I've been out and put the scope rig on the mount.  Balanced in Dec, no problem but RA was different.  With no counterweight, scope end heavy with weight on bar and right up against mount, the weight side was too heavy.  I need a lighter counterweight.  The turning torque is less with the counterweight on - maybe this mount is powerful enough not to worry too much about balance.  Guess I can try until I can get a lighter weight of some sort.

[Gina]

Been trying to point the scope at the tree on the far hill that I use to set up in daytime but having trouble trying to work out how KStars works!  I think I need to get familiar with the new software before trying things out in the observatory where I can't see what's happening (until I set up a webcam to look at the scope).  Going to bring the rig back indoors and put it back on the NEQ6 mount in the living room where I can see what's going on.  Trying to run before I can walk

[Gina]

OK - scope rig back indoors.  I'll set it up on the NEQ6 shortly but need a cuppa first   It's turned cold outdoors!  And fully overcast ready for the rain to come!!

[Filroden]

4 hours ago, Gina said:

The tutorial is under way and I'm planning to add to it today - lots of interest in it

Indeed. You had me checking out the RPi3 but there are no Linux drivers for my focuser. So I'm now looking at a mini PC box. 

[Gina]

I have changed host names on my RPis so that I can run two or more instances of KStars to run the various imaging systems, currently just the mono ASC (for night sky) and scope imager.  But later I shall be adding a daytime colour ASC and be testing another RPi for the widefield imaging rig.

[Gina]

1 minute ago, Filroden said:

Indeed. You had me checking out the RPi3 but there are no Linux drivers for my focuser. So I'm now looking at a mini PC box. 

Aarrgghh!!!  Gave up on my mini PC box!  Which focuser have you got.  I make my own and with the INDI Astroberry Focuser you only need a Pololu A4988 driver which can be mounted on an RPi HAT.  And for the stepper a modified 28BYJ-48 5v.  Then all you need is a bit of mechanics to connect stepper motor to scope focuser knob or shaft.  I shall be describing all of this in my tutorial as an add-on feature for those who want to make their own or who don't have any of the many INDI supported focusers.

[Filroden]

I have the LakesideAstro. It works very well and the Windows driver integrates into SGPro. The PC is a little more than the PI (about £60 more) but I know I can load up TeamViewer and SGPro and run most of my set up remotely. I will still need to take the laptop out to frame the target until I can figure a solution for controlling the mount. 

Im hoping I can remote in from the Mac and use SkySafari for mount control. 

[Gina]

I see.  You could ask on the INDI forum if anyone has written a driver for the LakesideAstro.  But it seems you have things mostly sorted out

[Gina]

I've started looking into modifying INDI drivers to suit my purposes.  So far I've just changed the labels on the controls but it's a start.  I'm familiar with C++ but the protocols used by INDI need some learning

[Gina]

Had cuppa

Now downloading and installing KStars.  On Mint machine.

Edited February 9, 2017 by Gina

[Gina]

Done that - now running

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo reboot

This is going to take a while (30m or so) as the installed Mint Cinnamon is a bit old.

[Gina]

Shan't half be glad when we get gigabit fibre connected into our houses   Supposed to start cable laying this month...

[Gina]

After suffering a seriously sick system on my Linux Mint desktop caused by problem with HD, I'm now up and running again with no HD connected and two 500GB SSDs.  I have re-installed Linux Mint plus PixInsight, KStars and TeamViewer.  Unfortunately, I don't think all my astro files and information were backed up and I'm now looking into what I've still got.  I think it will be mostly the most recent captures that I may have lost.  I say "may have" because I'm hoping to recover some of the data off the faulty HD.

One file I don't seem to have is the list of DSO I've captured and the capture data so I'm going back through this thread to see what information I can find.  I also need to look through a couple of TB of backup data and reorganise it.

[Gina]

Just realised that most of my recent edited photos are also on that faulty HD though fortunately I should have the originals still on the camera SD card.  I think all my diagrams are on my Win 7 laptop.  I need to back them up though.  I've just invested in more backup and working data storage in the form of a 6TB NAS drive and 4TB USB3 drive.

[Filroden]

I know it's slow but I backup all my lights into the cloud as well as to networked storage. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I lost that data. I hope the data on the HD is recoverable.

[Gina]

Some info from earlier in this thread :-

Here's the current list of focal lengths and fields of view :-

1.     28mm f3.5 lens --- 2103m x 1322m  35° x 22°
2.     45mm f2.8 lens --- 1309m x 1005m   22° x 17°
3.     55mm f1.8 lens ----- 1071m x 823m   18° x 14°
4.     135mm f2.5 lens ----- 433m x 335m   7.2° x 5.6°
5.     200mm f4 lens ------- 295m x 226m   4.9° x 3.8°
6.     400mm f5 scope ----- 147m x 113m   2.5° x 1.9°
7.     1.0m f5.3 scope --------- 59m x 45m  1.0° x 0.75°  Oversampled at 1x1 binning

[Gina]

36 minutes ago, Filroden said:

I know it's slow but I backup all my lights into the cloud as well as to networked storage. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I lost that data. I hope the data on the HD is recoverable.

Yes indeed!!  I have a lot backed up onto my 2TB USB3 drive and there's also later data on the 500GB SSD that was in the machine before and that is not corrupted.  I backed it up before re-installing Linux Mint but I've checked since and it's still fine (of course, I just set the label and didn't format it).

Edited February 10, 2017 by Gina