Frustrating astronomy ?

[Fieldsy]

Apt doesn’t register the qhy either but it picks up the asi straight away .

[Adam J]

1 minute ago, Fieldsy said:

Apt doesn’t register the qhy either but it picks up the asi straight away .

Have you got the latest ASCOM drivers and tired a different cable / a USB 2 port?

[Fieldsy]

Laptop has 2 usb3 slots and one USB2 mount works well in the USB2 .maybe could give it a go ? brb lol

No usb2 didn't work ?

So now uninstalling phd2

Edited March 26, 2019 by Fieldsy

[cletrac1922]

15 hours ago, Fieldsy said:

Ignore the garden in the process of new fences and turning all the soil over after trampolines and paddling pool destroyed it.and the washing on the line training night last night so just look at scope.so last night all hooked up on second restart all devices found and working but the display for qhy guide was like tuning in the TV screen all the settings just made it brighter or dimmer but still fuzzy TV look ( I know it's a colour cam) in settings it has white balance and rgb settings but still nothing.2second loop 1 second exposure gain 30 all the way to 97 just the brightness changed all the way up I was adjusting the focus from in to out ?. So today I shall be trying to focus on a house across the park ( not a bathroom window honest) let's see how I go.??

 

Perhaps rock up to local astronomy club one night with your set-up

Members there only too happy to assist

I have 2" barlow for my 10" Dob, and initially when tried to use it, was not able to focus, 1.25" barlow worked like a treat

Had to get a 2'' slide extension tube to focus, using an adapter for 1.25" eyepiece

I also have EQ5 mount, which use ED80

Recently purchased the WiFi  adapter for SynScan controller

Download SynScan App

The App sets GPS, date/Time

 

 

 

 

[Fieldsy]

Omg this has got to be the most frustrating thing I have ever tried ?.I'm normally fairly patient but this is beyond believe ,dont get me wrong every time im out with the scope I'm finding another issue and then spending the next few days trying to sort it out and then the next time same again so I am heading in the right direction but sooooo slowly .so many different programs to learn and adjust all at the same time is just ridiculous(phd2,apt,platesolving,dss,registax) especially when you learn better doing rather than reading .so clear skies again tonight let's get battery charged and try again after work 2am ?.any get any good shots of the showers ?

[Whistlin Bob]

I can really feel your frustration @Fieldsy!!!

I think that you're exactly right that the problem is how many different learning curves you can end up ascending at the same time. Can I suggest you drop the guiding just for the moment. Perhaps target clusters which can give you great images from relatively short exposures and use this to really sort out imaging with your main camera? Then you can get some reward for your efforts.

[Fieldsy]

7 minutes ago, Whistlin Bob said:

I can really feel your frustration @Fieldsy!!!

I think that you're exactly right that the problem is how many different learning curves you can end up ascending at the same time. Can I suggest you drop the guiding just for the moment. Perhaps target clusters which can give you great images from relatively short exposures and use this to really sort out imaging with your main camera? Then you can get some reward for your efforts.

So phd2 seems to sorted out I'm now on to apt and its vast setting/capabilities inc plate solving , so after s little stint at polar drift align which I do as my routine (30 min) so the first plate solved image was Polaris that got solved ? so slewed scope to new position and couldn't solve any of the next hour ? 15+ different images .so apt and plate solve is my next problem that I need to resolve .YouTube tutorials make it look so easy

[Adam J]

1 hour ago, Fieldsy said:

Omg this has got to be the most frustrating thing I have ever tried ?.I'm normally fairly patient but this is beyond believe ,dont get me wrong every time im out with the scope I'm finding another issue and then spending the next few days trying to sort it out and then the next time same again so I am heading in the right direction but sooooo slowly .so many different programs to learn and adjust all at the same time is just ridiculous(phd2,apt,platesolving,dss,registax) especially when you learn better doing rather than reading .so clear skies again tonight let's get battery charged and try again after work 2am ?.any get any good shots of the showers ?

This really is why most people start with a DSLR and no guiding. You chose a difficult path for a beginner. I do recommend that you follow the advice above from Bob and go with some clusters first. I know your not a fan but to be honest it's the best way to learn. Nights are getting shorter now. I pretty much have three months off around this time of year. But I guess that as you finish work so late you have more options. 

[Adam J]

4 minutes ago, Fieldsy said:

So phd2 seems to sorted out I'm now on to apt and its vast setting/capabilities inc plate solving , so after s little stint at polar drift align which I do as my routine (30 min) so the first plate solved image was Polaris that got solved ? so slewed scope to new position and couldn't solve any of the next hour ? 15+ different images .so apt and plate solve is my next problem that I need to resolve .YouTube tutorials make it look so easy

It can take several mins to solve. It's important to get the right focal length and a sufficiently long exposure. Also remember to feed it the coordinates of the scope as a start point each time. It will sometimes solve and then fail to centre on the star. If that happens just do a second iteration of plate solving and it should get it right. Remember that you will have a larger field of view with the guide scope so worth looking for your target star using that. Personally I would not be wasting time with drift alignment as purely using the polar scope is 100% fine when your guiding. 

Also make sure that the calibration is wiped before you start each setup or you will have calibration points from the pervious time you setup will be used in the solution. 

Forget guiding etc for your setup getting the plate solving working is the most important thing. 

[Fieldsy]

4 minutes ago, Adam J said:

It can take several mins to solve. It's important to get the right focal length and a sufficiently long exposure. Also remember to feed it the coordinates of the scope as a start point each time. It will sometimes solve and then fail to centre on the star. If that happens just do a second iteration of plate solving and it should get it right. Remember that you will have a larger field of view with the guide scope so worth looking for your target star using that. Personally I would not be wasting time with drift alignment as purely using the polar scope is 100% fine when your guiding. 

Also make sure that the calibration is wiped before you start each setup or you will have calibration points from the pervious time you setup will be used in the solution. 

Forget guiding etc for your setup getting the plate solving working is the most important thing. 

Hi Adam I'm not sure my fov is that wide if I point directly at ursar major how much of the constellation do u think would be visible ?.

 

 

[Adam J]

6 minutes ago, Fieldsy said:

Hi Adam I'm not sure my fov is that wide if I point directly at ursar major how much of the constellation do u think would be visible ?.

 

 

No it's not a wide FOV from the guide camera, I just mean to say that it's quite a bit larger than the FOV from your main scope / camera. 

Edited May 5, 2019 by Adam J

[Fieldsy]

Omg 🤯 so turns out you have to star align before the asiair willconect with skywatcher eq5.grr ok so take out cams put eyepieces in rough polar align 1 star done 2nd star hit straight away hit enter on handset and get message check day and time.and then get this on handset.

Edited May 15, 2019 by Fieldsy

[Fieldsy]

What is mel/maz?

[Adam J]

10 minutes ago, Fieldsy said:

What is mel/maz?

I would guess Dec and Ra coordinates from the format. 

Is it possible that second star was not correct one and so it can't find a alignment solution? 

Edited May 15, 2019 by Adam J

[Fieldsy]

Guess what all this money and all this time and best pic I have to show of Jupiter .

[Fieldsy]

God I love this hobby 😭😭😭😭😭

[Adam J]

4 minutes ago, Fieldsy said:

God I love this hobby 😭😭😭😭😭

You have it set to bin 4x4 and a 1 sec exposure. Try 1x1 and 0.05s at least. 

What are you aiming to image tonight? Have you given up on ASI air what with that being apt

? 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by Adam J

[Fieldsy]

Hi Adam I knew Jupiter was just coming up over the trees at back of house so thought fairly easy to see and should be easy to track .

I dont understand why zwo would make something that needs polar align and star align before you can use .so the issue is use eye pieces to do aligns then replace eyepieces with cameras which changes view point or do aligning with cameras so then you need a laptop .am I missing something ?

[Fieldsy]

So I quickly took eyepieces out put cam in started up apt just so I could actually see something of interest (wowamaizing) lol.

I am fairly chilled as I see the clouds rolling in earlier and didn't even reckon scope was coming out .

Edited May 16, 2019 by Fieldsy

[Adam J]

6 minutes ago, Fieldsy said:

Hi Adam I knew Jupiter was just coming up over the trees at back of house so thought fairly easy to see and should be easy to track .

I dont understand why zwo would make something that needs polar align and star align before you can use .so the issue is use eye pieces to do aligns then replace eyepieces with cameras which changes view point or do aligning with cameras so then you need a laptop .am I missing something ?

You can use a eq direct cable  i think. But for now forget  that. You always need to polar align. But as ever just forget the fancy gadgets and use the polar scope should be ok when guiding. Next use your handset and guide camera or eyepiece to do a one star align. Then the rest is via ASI air. It just needs you to start with the scope pointing in roughly the correct direction for the plate solving to work and take you to your target. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by Adam J

[Adam J]

I think the other thing is that you need to get the handset into the correct config via going though the process before it will allow connections ..hence more SW than zwos fault. 

[Fieldsy]

1 minute ago, Adam J said:

You can use a equipment direct cable  i think. But for now forget  that. You always need to polar align. But as ever just forget the fancy gadgets and use the polar scope should be ok when guiding. Next use your handset and guide camera or eyepiece to do a one star align. Then the rest is via ASI air. It just needs you to start with the scope pointing in roughly the correct direction for the plate solving to work and take you to your target. 

🤯 DOH forgot it had platesolve .so wanted it as accurate as possthstsp why I took everything out and star aligned then when it said "nah your settings are wrong"😔

[Fieldsy]

6 minutes ago, Adam J said:

You can use a eq direct cable  i think. But for now forget  that. You always need to polar align. But as ever just forget the fancy gadgets and use the polar scope should be ok when guiding. Next use your handset and guide camera or eyepiece to do a one star align. Then the rest is via ASI air. It just needs you to start with the scope pointing in roughly the correct direction for the plate solving to work and take you to your target. 

Not sure about eqmod cable as nothing in manual refers to it and backyard has st4 from mini to synscan.and yeah I just polar align with mount .

[Adam J]

8 hours ago, Fieldsy said:

Not sure about eqmod cable as nothing in manual refers to it and backyard has st4 from mini to synscan.and yeah I just polar align with mount .

Sounds like you are good to go?  

[Fieldsy]

13 hours ago, Adam J said:

Sounds like you are good to go?  

Until I find another obstacle