Video on capturing the North America Nebula with my ASI1600pro

[widotje]

Hi Folks,

 

Just made a short video on how i captured the North America Nebula with my ASI1600pro. 

You can check it out here: 

 

https://youtu.be/gsboiv4r68M

 

I just explain what equipment and software i use and made some timelapse video's to keep it interesting.

 

You can find my latest processing work of this nebula here:

https://www.astrobin.com/users/widotje

 

Let me know if you appreciate this video, if not, i stick to posting on astrobin :-).

 

Cheers,

Wido.

[kirkster501]

It's good and very informative. 

The music is too loud and a bit distracting.  But that's my opinion.

[wornish]

Interesting video.

Why did you not use the Sharpcap polar alignment tool ?  It is so quick and easy to use, only takes 2 minutes to get mount aligned to excellent accuracy.

[widotje]

17 minutes ago, wornish said:

Interesting video.

Why did you not use the Sharpcap polar alignment tool ?  It is so quick and easy to use, only takes 2 minutes to get mount aligned to excellent accuracy.

Never used it before, I've always used nexremote. I'll give it a try next time, is there some info on how this would work with an avx? Thanks for the advice.

[widotje]

1 hour ago, kirkster501 said:

It's good and very informative. 

The music is too loud and a bit distracting.  But that's my opinion.

Tx, I'll turn down the music next time.

[wornish]

1 minute ago, widotje said:

Never used it before, I've always used nexremote. I'll give it a try next time, is there some info on how this would work with an avx? Thanks for the advice.

It works with any mount.  All you need to do is make sure your tripod is level and then manually point your scope approximately North and within about 5 deg of Polaris. Your mount doesn't even have to be powered on!

I use my guide cam connected to Sharpcap make sure I can see stars . (I use an exposure of about 1 to 1.5 secs and adjust the gain) then start the polar align tool and follow its instructions. It is so quick. 

[widotje]

3 hours ago, wornish said:

It works with any mount.  All you need to do is make sure your tripod is level and then manually point your scope approximately North and within about 5 deg of Polaris. Your mount doesn't even have to be powered on!

I use my guide cam connected to Sharpcap make sure I can see stars . (I use an exposure of about 1 to 1.5 secs and adjust the gain) then start the polar align tool and follow its instructions. It is so quick. 

I'm not sure if I can connect directly to my mount and bypass my handcontroller...I think that gives some issues with the celestron avx mount. What I can do is select "last alignment" when the tripod is approx. In the same position. This works, but the 6 star alignment is more accurate. 

[wornish]

 

First your image captures are great, and I don't want to criticise, just share  what I have learnt over the last few years of this hobby.

I don't  know the AVX mount or even  if its controllable via ASCOM  I think it probably is but not sure ?

If you are only using the GOTO functions of your mount to get to your target for astrophotography then yes you should use its time consuming alignment routines, but I am certain they don't get your target spot on when you slew to it, perhaps close but not perfect.

I now use APT software which uses ASCOM control and plate solving to get my mount to go to the target I want. I know other software like SGP or KStars  have the same capability.

It really makes a huge difference and saves so much time.

I use a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 GoTo mount.  Once the mount is accurately polar aligned and the scope is in the parked position  I use APT to send it to the target I want. I don't use the mounts GOTO capabilities at all, I just switch it to computer control.

APT knows where the mount is and where the scope is pointing. It controls the mounts movement using the RA/DEC coordinates of the chosen target, it then uses plate solving to do the fine adjustments to get the target spot on in the centre of the view.

I have wasted so much time using drift alignment and the mounts two or three star alignment routines only to find that it misses the target when I just use the mounts GOTO capabilities.  The move to ASCOM and APT changed everything and I now get more time actually take pictures.

I know a lot of people still do it the "traditional way"  but I am lazy and like to use technology to help make it easier, hope this makes sense.  

 

 

[Allinthehead]

I enjoyed the video. Thanks for posting. Always interesting to see how others do things and the conditions they image in.

[RayD]

Yes the AVX is controllable via ASCOM, but not EQASCOM (EQMOD).  You need a RS232 to USB cable like this unless you already have a RS232 port on your PC, and the programming cable which plugs in to the bottom of your handset, but does not actually use it.  To control your AVX you can then use Stellarium (you also need Stellariumscope), or CdC, and you can then fully control it via this and use your normal preferred capture software.

[AstroKane]

On 15/09/2018 at 22:23, wornish said:

 

First your image captures are great, and I don't want to criticise, just share  what I have learnt over the last few years of this hobby.

I don't  know the AVX mount or even  if its controllable via ASCOM  I think it probably is but not sure ?

If you are only using the GOTO functions of your mount to get to your target for astrophotography then yes you should use its time consuming alignment routines, but I am certain they don't get your target spot on when you slew to it, perhaps close but not perfect.

I now use APT software which uses ASCOM control and plate solving to get my mount to go to the target I want. I know other software like SGP or KStars  have the same capability.

It really makes a huge difference and saves so much time.

I use a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 GoTo mount.  Once the mount is accurately polar aligned and the scope is in the parked position  I use APT to send it to the target I want. I don't use the mounts GOTO capabilities at all, I just switch it to computer control.

APT knows where the mount is and where the scope is pointing. It controls the mounts movement using the RA/DEC coordinates of the chosen target, it then uses plate solving to do the fine adjustments to get the target spot on in the centre of the view.

I have wasted so much time using drift alignment and the mounts two or three star alignment routines only to find that it misses the target when I just use the mounts GOTO capabilities.  The move to ASCOM and APT changed everything and I now get more time actually take pictures.

I know a lot of people still do it the "traditional way"  but I am lazy and like to use technology to help make it easier, hope this makes sense.  

 

 

Hi - Sorry to distract from the thread. I have just switched over from DSLR to a ZWO OSC. Which means I am now learning APT. I would love to know a bit more about how to use APT and plate solve to get me on target. Could you DM me some pointers or links with some info? I use an AVX but have ASCOM for guiding etc.

Thanks in advance and clear skies!

[widotje]

On 18/09/2018 at 13:58, AstroKane said:

Hi - Sorry to distract from the thread. I have just switched over from DSLR to a ZWO OSC. Which means I am now learning APT. I would love to know a bit more about how to use APT and plate solve to get me on target. Could you DM me some pointers or links with some info? I use an AVX but have ASCOM for guiding etc.

Thanks in advance and clear skies!

Hi, yea sure. I switched from using stellarium to sequence generator pro. You can setup your gear and download software which enables you to platesolve. SGP is not free though, it costs 99 USD, but you can try it out a couple of weeks for free. I really like it, it's a step up from my previous method where i just used stellarium to get the target in view and then take some hi-res subs (e.g. iso6400, 10sec) to see if the target was in the centre. I'll work on a video which will explain how to setup SGP so it will platsolve for you.  

 

[widotje]

On 16/09/2018 at 11:34, RayD said:

Yes the AVX is controllable via ASCOM, but not EQASCOM (EQMOD).  You need a RS232 to USB cable like this unless you already have a RS232 port on your PC, and the programming cable which plugs in to the bottom of your handset, but does not actually use it.  To control your AVX you can then use Stellarium (you also need Stellariumscope), or CdC, and you can then fully control it via this and use your normal preferred capture software.

Hi Ray, thanks! I have that cable, but i'll plug it in the handremote first and the handremote goes into the mount. Perhaps i can skip it and plug it directly in the mount. I did use stellarium until i recently switched to SGpro, which is great because SGpro can platesolve. To be exact, I only do the star alignment at the beginnig of my run, when I have just setup my mount. If i setup the mount the night before, I'll always use last alignment and i can skip the star alignment procedure in nexremote. Perhaps it is not necesarry to go through the calibration of the stars, i never tried to just connect it and use stellarium or some other software without aligning. I always thought it would be best to align, also because of improved tracking, but i'm not sure if that is the case. 

Thanks all for your feedback!

[widotje]

this is my picture now btw, after 8 hours of integrating...FYI, i'll make a separate thread because i would also like some feedback on combining narrowband stacks ?

You can find my revisions on this target here: https://astrob.in/368065/C/

Thanks!

 

[Ouroboros]

@widotje I throughly enjoyed your video. It's great to see how someone else sets up and what equipment they have. That's quite an urban environment you have there, and you're not at ground level. You must have to tiptoe around the scope when it's imaging. Also it must be like being on stage with all those windows of people's houses around you. 

Only one criticism: it's "colourised in photoshop" for us Europeans, not colorized. Don't learn spelling from Americans. They can't spell. ?

[RayD]

28 minutes ago, widotje said:

Hi Ray, thanks! I have that cable, but i'll plug it in the handremote first and the handremote goes into the mount. Perhaps i can skip it and plug it directly in the mount. I did use stellarium until i recently switched to SGpro, which is great because SGpro can platesolve. To be exact, I only do the star alignment at the beginnig of my run, when I have just setup my mount. If i setup the mount the night before, I'll always use last alignment and i can skip the star alignment procedure in nexremote. Perhaps it is not necesarry to go through the calibration of the stars, i never tried to just connect it and use stellarium or some other software without aligning. I always thought it would be best to align, also because of improved tracking, but i'm not sure if that is the case. 

Thanks all for your feedback!

No don't remove the handset, you need to plug it in to the handset, so what you are doing is correct.  

SGP and Stellarium (you do need to run Stellariumscope) are actually different things.  Stellarium is a planetarium, SGP is a control and sequencing platform.  I use SGP myself, but use this to synch with CdC so I can navigate to targets.  If you already have a target's coordinates then, of course, you can just centre on the target this way.

You don't need to do any star alignment if you are plate solving, that will take car of the alignment.  As long as your PA is good, just slew to any part of the sky, blind solve, and away you go.

[widotje]

2 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

@widotje I throughly enjoyed your video. It's great to see how someone else sets up and what equipment they have. That's quite an urban environment you have there, and you're not at ground level. You must have to tiptoe around the scope when it's imaging. Also it must be like being on stage with all those windows of people's houses around you. 

Only one criticism: it's "colourised in photoshop" for us Europeans, not colorized. Don't learn spelling from Americans. They can't spell. ?

Ah, those cultural differences elude me as i'm Dutch .  But...in this case....we are talking about the North America Nebula, so i think i can get away with it this time :-). 

Yes, it is quite the show in downtown Utrecht. And i have some issues with cats walking around my terrace at night, disrupting PHD2 guiding, haha. 

Here's another edit of the cygnus wall...tweak tweak

 

[widotje]

Trying to get the hang of this...blue instead of green...