Fed up with Software

[astro mick]

Just a rant.

I,m fed up with buying software that does,nt work straight out of the box.

Having spent nearly two days trying to get the dam thing working properly,and still no nearer.

We are,nt all computer geniuses,and often the help files are rubbish,or written for a higher intelligence.

It nearly always ends up asking for help from this great forum,which is counter productive to buying the dam thing.

Please if you conjour up a programme,that we have to pay for(and i,m not against this of course)remember their are still some dinonosaurs out there,who still have difficulty finding the computer on button.😂

Rant over,now back to this blessed problem(sorry above).

Mick.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

and what software are you having issues with ?? ..... 

[astro mick]

Hi Julian.

Its Astrophotography Tool and its Point craft Plate Solving.(I do have a thread indicating this problem.)

It just wont solve,even though i believe i have gone through the correct steps.

I have tried loads of things to solve this,but must just be missing some vital step.

I followed the exerllent Tutorial at the begining of this section,and all went well,or so i thought.

Cheers.

Mick.

[stash_old]

Sorry Mick at your troubles but you are asking for something nearly impossible. Unless all AP setups are the same (camera,mount,guide camera etc AND each image is exactly the same from every person) - sorry its wont happen. Granted the Help files on some softwhere are a bit naff. APT has its own forum ,many here also subscribe to it, that forum is specific for APT and Yoda is a very helpful guy.   People could say the same about basic Astronomy for newcomers.

ALL Platesolving software depends on correct Focal length being entered - some require pixel size etc. APT only requires your correct focal length,as someone has already pointed out,so long as it recognises your camera to get the other paramters. Index's are vital and MUST match the f/l of your OTA.

All nig help to me was to do platesolving using the mount ,camera simulators and CDC(or other). Then load an image you have taken,make sure the f/l and camera details are correct. Then position the mount on the object you think the image was taken at. Then try Platesolving using Platesolve2 (this is what you say you have). Still having trouble download an image here and I am sure someone will test out the image. Just a note - PS2 is good at "near" platesolving but not 'Blind" solving. PS2 will do it but it takes ages - 5-20mins. Both ASPS and PS2 can be run "stand alone" to see if there is a problem - like wrong index's.  Also APT now allows ASTAP platesolver which is very fast but a bit "fussy" about round stars etc IMHO - Again ASTAP can be run stand alone without APT. Also ASTAP only uses 1 index file (min) but can use a secnd much larger catalogue so no problem with downloading wrong index's.

Its frustrating for you but getting Platesolving working works wonders (DD advert LOL)- so keep trying you will get there.

So I suggest if you think you have the correct info set up - load your image here (or better the other thread) and lets see if it solves:-)

[astro mick]

4 minutes ago, stash_old said:

Sorry Mick at your troubles but you are asking for something nearly impossible. Unless all AP setups are the same (camera,mount,guide camera etc AND each image is exactly the same from every person) - sorry its wont happen. Granted the Help files on some softwhere are a bit naff. APT has its own forum ,many here also subscribe to it, that forum is specific for APT and Yoda is a very helpful guy.   People could say the same about basic Astronomy for newcomers.

ALL Platesolving software depends on correct Focal length being entered - some require pixel size etc. APT only requires your correct focal length,as someone has already pointed out,so long as it recognises your camera to get the other paramters. Index's are vital and MUST match the f/l of your OTA.

All nig help to me was to do platesolving using the mount ,camera simulators and CDC(or other). Then load an image you have taken,make sure the f/l and camera details are correct. Then position the mount on the object you think the image was taken at. Then try Platesolving using Platesolve2 (this is what you say you have). Still having trouble download an image here and I am sure someone will test out the image. Just a note - PS2 is good at "near" platesolving but not 'Blind" solving. PS2 will do it but it takes ages - 5-20mins. Both ASPS and PS2 can be run "stand alone" to see if there is a problem - like wrong index's.  Also APT now allows ASTAP platesolver which is very fast but a bit "fussy" about round stars etc IMHO - Again ASTAP can be run stand alone without APT. Also ASTAP only uses 1 index file (min) but can use a secnd much larger catalogue so no problem with downloading wrong index's.

Its frustrating for you but getting Platesolving working works wonders (DD advert LOL)- so keep trying you will get there.

So I suggest if you think you have the correct info set up - load your image here (or better the other thread) and lets see if it solves:-)

Yeah,i realise this,it was just a rant,but boy can you get headaches.😩😩

Thanks for your reply.

Mick.

[Guest]

I'm so glad that I'm just a visual astronomer... 🙄