Platesolving hardware

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have been plate solving some starfield images with All Sky Plate Solver and found that the solve time was measured in minutes. I presume that it shouldn't take that long and that the elderly PC is to blame.  (Intel Core 2, 6320, 1.86GHz x2, 2GB memory).

Can anyone suggest a PC spec that will reduce the solve time to seconds? It seems time for an upgrade anyway, and I was thinking of getting a used business PC as they are available cheaply from re-sellers.  I'm typing this on another one that cost under £100.

 

[JamesF]

The catalogues are quite large, so disk speed may also be an issue.

I have an (also used) i5-based system with I think 8GB RAM and an SSD that can generally complete a plate-solve in two or three seconds.  Mine is Linux-based, but I can't imagine that makes a huge amount of difference for this sort of job.

James

[stash_old]

A few comments/personal opinions:

1. ASPS is mainly used for "Blind" platesolving but of course giving more precise RA/DEC it will behave as for example Platesolve2 - the later ,in my experience, is faster but only when the object is close.

2. I have the similar set up as JamesF (PC wise) and was bought second hand but I have never has 2-3 sec platesolve on Windows or Linux -  6 secs as it does depend on other factors - set up parameters for example,Scope FOV so maybe 2-3sec platesolve would happen if I had the same Scope,camera etc . So what would you be happy with ?

3. Your FOV will determine what Index's are needed and therefore your resolve time. As already stated some are very large. But you must be aware of that already as you use ASPS. 

4. On my old kit - Using 9.25 CPC plus DSLR and compaq laptop dual core 2.2 ghz with 4gb and SSD/Normal hard drive i was regularly under 60 secs for blind solving and nearer 30 secs for Platesolve2 near solving to give you an idea.

However having said all that I agree totally that  getting a used high spec,presumably Desktop, that has high spec SSD,High memory(8gb+), I5/I7 Processor,USB3 (if your image devices are USB3) and for Windows 64bit OS else the 8GB is not used (limited to 3.9gb on 32bit) will give you the best prospect of decent short platesolve times. Taking it too the extreme you could install 2 SSD - one used for the OS and the other where you keep your Index's but I dont know how much that would lower the resolve times - so would it be worth it - not sure (£20 for 120SSD)

Buying used for Astro is all about usability not cosmetics. £200 or less should get a very fast I5/I7 16mb SSD Windows 10 64bit OS Desktop

Plus a long time saying in "Computing" is "you are only as fast as your slowest component"

[han59]

Before buying a new one PC, consider that In some cases there are too many (solver) indexes installed. This by specifying a too small field during installation. This will slow down solving signficantly. Normally indexes up to 20 % or 30% of your field size have to be installed.  Consider that also when installing on a faster PC.

As said before an other primary solver PlateSolve2 or ASTAP could solve your images  on the old PC as fast as ASPS (Astrometry.net) on a new PC.  My old PC from 2009 solves images in a few seconds (not with ASPS)

Edited September 12, 2019 by han59

[Cosmic Geoff]

Thanks for the tips..