A new deep sky image capture software on the rise!

[PeterCPC]

2 minutes ago, CrashEd said:

There's a option in the settings that allows the software to prompt for stable, beta or nightly updates. Maybe switch to stable or beta if you want stability.

I just uninstalled it.

Peter

[CrashEd]

20 minutes ago, PeterCPC said:

I just uninstalled it.

Peter

Well, that's one way of fixing it! 😁

[spillage]

I gave 1.9 a run last night after sgpro had issues platesolving. Wow this software is quick and really good. A couple things I struggle with though.

I could not figure out how to manually warm the camera at the end of the night.

I also struggled to work out how to set the pixel error when platesolving. In sgpro I just set ps to within 6 pixels. I guess I am just not use to working in arcseconds (what settings are others using?).

Also will the sky atlas only show possible targets from my location and if not can this be set up?

 

I think I may of lost the plot. Can anyone confirm if there is Deb for NINA. I could of sworn I came across one but now cannot find anything relating to a linux install.

 

cheers,

Edited October 23, 2019 by spillage

[Robny]

Is there a way to load an image into NINA for platesolving testing purposes?

I tried NINA a year or so back and never gave it much time, ended up going back to APT.  However...I downloaded 1.9 last night to give it another go and I must say, j was very impressed.  Everything connected up, seemed very easy to do and everything seemed to work as it should, it spoke to Stellarium and some to PHD2 without any faffing about.

The one thing I was not able to test is the platesolving as I couldn't find a way to load in an image manually....can this be done?

I think I will be giving this a go for my next imaging run

[jjosefsen]

1 hour ago, Robny said:

Is there a way to load an image into NINA for platesolving testing purposes?

I tried NINA a year or so back and never gave it much time, ended up going back to APT.  However...I downloaded 1.9 last night to give it another go and I must say, j was very impressed.  Everything connected up, seemed very easy to do and everything seemed to work as it should, it spoke to Stellarium and some to PHD2 without any faffing about.

The one thing I was not able to test is the platesolving as I couldn't find a way to load in an image manually....can this be done?

I think I will be giving this a go for my next imaging run

Hi,

There is a camera simulator that you can use, that either generates some random noise, or where you can load an existing image.

 

You should be able to use that for testing platesolving by loading an existing image.

 

remember to setup your platesolvers in the settings menu.

[jjosefsen]

On 23/10/2019 at 12:34, spillage said:

I gave 1.9 a run last night after sgpro had issues platesolving. Wow this software is quick and really good. A couple things I struggle with though.

I could not figure out how to manually warm the camera at the end of the night.

I also struggled to work out how to set the pixel error when platesolving. In sgpro I just set ps to within 6 pixels. I guess I am just not use to working in arcseconds (what settings are others using?).

Also will the sky atlas only show possible targets from my location and if not can this be set up?

 

I think I may of lost the plot. Can anyone confirm if there is Deb for NINA. I could of sworn I came across one but now cannot find anything relating to a linux install.

 

cheers,

Hi,

NINA is Windows only - everything is built on a windows platform currently. Maybe at a later date someone will look at crossplatform migration..

 

Warm camera can be enabled under Options -> Imaging:

 

Platesolving error:

Can be set under Options -> Platesolving:

Yes this is in arcminutes, but you can use decimals - i believe i use 0.5 arcmin at 520mm, I guess you could work out the error in pixels if you wanted.. Alternatively when it does an automatic platesolve it shows the error in pixels for both RA and DEC.

 

Sky atlas:

It shows you how high an object is on the sky from your point of view, and i do believe you can filter them by how high they are in the sky.

[Robny]

22 minutes ago, jjosefsen said:

Hi,

There is a camera simulator that you can use, that either generates some random noise, or where you can load an existing image.

 

You should be able to use that for testing platesolving by loading an existing image.

 

remember to setup your platesolvers in the settings menu.

Thanks for that....will give it a go, I got it all setup using ASTAP for both primary and blind solving.

[emyliano2000]

Hi guys. Is it possible to set a certain start and stop time for each target? Last time I used it I couldn't find this option and I went back to sgp. My view is wuite restricted and I wanna stop one target before it goes behind the trees. 

Also, does NINA remember the last focus position for each filter? 

Emil

[jjosefsen]

2 hours ago, emyliano2000 said:

Hi guys. Is it possible to set a certain start and stop time for each target? Last time I used it I couldn't find this option and I went back to sgp. My view is wuite restricted and I wanna stop one target before it goes behind the trees. 

Also, does NINA remember the last focus position for each filter? 

Emil

Hi Emil,

No you can't directly set a start and stop time. But when you set up your sequence NINA will tell you at which time it will finish, so you can plan ahead.

You can also have NINA do several target after each other, automatically, by adding other sequences to the list.

So you could set up a sequence  for target 1 to image for 3 hours and then go to target 2 for 1 hour and then target 3 for 3 hours. If your setup is automated enough, it would do this without your input at all.

 

You can configure offsets for each filter in NINA so you don't have to autofocus between each filter. It is under Options somewhere (sorry don't have access to a NINA Instance right now for screenshots..)

[jjosefsen]

For anyone interrested, Stefan (the creator of NINA) did a presentation and demonstration of NINA on The Astro Imaging Channel the other day..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6LVduw-Zo8

 

Edited October 25, 2019 by jjosefsen

[Robny]

So.....

I tried this last night for the first time under live conditions, all I can say is wow!

Everything connected first time, with the hit of a single button, it automatically launched PHD2 and started guiding, seamlessly connected to Stellarium and synced coordinates and the platesolving was amazing, very fast and very accurate, it just worked (ASTAP).

I am a new N.I.N.A fan boy 😂 and will be going straight to N.I.N.A each time!! 👍

Rob

[jjosefsen]

10 minutes ago, Robny said:

So.....

I tried this last night for the first time under live conditions, all I can say is wow!

Everything connected first time, with the hit of a single button, it automatically launched PHD2 and started guiding, seamlessly connected to Stellarium and synced coordinates and the platesolving was amazing, very fast and very accurate, it just worked (ASTAP).

I am a new N.I.N.A fan boy 😂 and will be going straight to N.I.N.A each time!! 👍

Rob

Glad to hear it!

I had one of those good nights last night too.. Aside from bad seeing which really affected my guiding everything just worked.

First clear night for a long time.. I had been sick all weekend and really needed to sleep early, so i setup 3 sequences (rgb for Double bluster, luminance for Pleiades, and a little test run with Ha on Horsehead), hit start and went to bed.

Woke up at 5.40 this morning to go down and see that everything had worked - even the meridian flip, mount was parked and ready for a run of flats and darkflats.

Edited October 30, 2019 by jjosefsen

[Robny]

19 minutes ago, jjosefsen said:

Glad to hear it!

I had one of those good nights last night too.. Aside from bad seeing which really affected my guiding everything just worked.

First clear night for a long time.. I had been sick all weekend and really needed to sleep early, so i setup 3 sequences (rgb for Double bluster, luminance for Pleiades, and a little test run with Ha on Horsehead), hit start and went to bed.

Woke up at 5.40 this morning to go down and see that everything had worked - even the meridian flip, mount was parked and ready for a run of flats and darkflats.

Well.....Don't get me wrong it certainly wasn't a good imaging night 😂😂 the software was flawless!!

Despite being forecast a clear night I was fighting high level level and low level cloud, which was causing issues with my guiding, I had to give in around 10pm due to cloud cover and work in the morning, plus being sick.

Sounds like you had a good night, I'm gonna wait until those targets appear in the sky a little earlier for me, not got to the point I'm comfortable leaving it alone over night yet, I only ended up with about 10x240s subs of the EASTERN veil in Ha, not sure yet how many of those are useable either 😞 haha, the way it goes 😊

[TerryMcK]

I've been trying out N.I.N.A and it is very impressive. I particularly like the "Slew To Zenith" feature in the Flats aid. One button press and it perfectly points the scope upwards so I can place my flatfield panel directly on top. There are probably other software packages that do the same but the ones I normally use (APT for instance) doesn't have that feature. Anything that simplifies any part of the astrophotography process (without going down the path of full automation of course) is fine by me. 

N.I.N.A will be investigated more by this astronomer.

Edited December 23, 2019 by TerryMcK

[Srini Anantha]

Hi...I'm using APT for imaging...just try to imaging with NINA...i stuck after plate solving and I don't know how to center the target in my frame. is there any option after plate solving goto++ function like in APT  to center the target? If not how I can bring the target center of my frame...

[Srini Anantha]

On 30/10/2019 at 12:18, Robny said:

So.....

I tried this last night for the first time under live conditions, all I can say is wow!

Everything connected first time, with the hit of a single button, it automatically launched PHD2 and started guiding, seamlessly connected to Stellarium and synced coordinates and the platesolving was amazing, very fast and very accurate, it just worked (ASTAP).

I am a new N.I.N.A fan boy 😂 and will be going straight to N.I.N.A each time!! 👍

Rob

Hi..

Great to hear everything working fine...first time I tried everything connected and plate solving done but after that I don't know how to recenter the target in my frame...I'm using APT. In APT there is goto++ function to recenter the target after platesolving . Is there is any options like that in NINA?

[jjosefsen]

6 hours ago, Srini Anantha said:

Hi..

Great to hear everything working fine...first time I tried everything connected and plate solving done but after that I don't know how to recenter the target in my frame...I'm using APT. In APT there is goto++ function to recenter the target after platesolving . Is there is any options like that in NINA?

Hi.

 

Yes there is. Under the platesolve tab in the imaging window, there is the option to recenter to target.

If you setup a sequence there is also the option of slew and center the target.

[Noobulosity]

If you plate-solve and sync your mount, you can also use the Sky Atlas to find and slew to targets.  Often if you slew close to your target and plate-solve, choosing to slew again will get you right on the spot you wanted.

It can also import coordinates from planetarium softwares using the little map pin / GPS marker icon thing in the framing wizard.

[kirkster501]

Thread reboot as a result of SGP licensing changes and speed/stability issues.

I had been gingerly toying with the idea of NINA but now I am going to have a download and experiment and will see if it is worth moving over to it.

[bottletopburly]

On 23/12/2019 at 09:35, TerryMcK said:

APT for instance) doesn't have that feature. Anything that simplifies any part of the astrophotography process

I asked this question to Ivo his answer.

 

Site Admin

 

Unread post  Thu May 07, 2020 2:34 pm

Hi Dave, James,

It is possible to add one button in the Advanced GoTo (Shift + Click on GoTo) that pre-loads the Zenith coordinates. The Altitude is clear 90 or -90. But how to determine the safe Azimuth?

Clear skies,
Ivo

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