Some tips or gotchas requested for my first automation nights

[powerlord]

Hi chaps,

So I've got myself an ASIAIR Pro.

My plan is to use this, my SVBONY 120mm guide scope and asi224 as guide camera, and my DSLR and either my mak102 or 72ED or DSLR lenses as main camera.

all that seems to work together.

Initally I've not sorted out wifi extenders, etc - so it's gonna be controlled via phone within a few feet of mount as asiair wifi is as terrible.

With the moon as it is, I'm focusing (sic) on practice rather than expecting much in the way of results. I figured I'd try a few nebulas (heart/soul, american) with the 72ED, and then try the mak102 and see if I can get anything on M51 - maybe add a barlow.

And yeh, maybe try the moon too.

Obviously if I do try planets later, Im gonna need to get another guide camera as I'd be using the asi224 I'd imagine.

Usually what happens when I try so many things for the first time is that it all goes terribly wrong, I can't understand what, or I do summit stupid - so in an attempt to learn from my mistakes I thought I'd ask for some wisdom from you chaps ?

Additionally I'll be reading manuals again, and watching youtube tutorials.. this will be the first time I've used a guide camera, first time plate solving, first time using my big EQ5/EQStarPro in anger, first time using 6D since it's been modded..

One thing I learned previously is only add one new thing at a time, so I've already thrown that rule out the window....

stu

[Mr Thingy]

I started recently in much the same way, going right in with the whole shebang - guiding, EFW, EAF, platesolving, etc. 

Honestly, if I can do it anyone can (no pressure now!).

I tested as much as I could in the day and for the evening I prepared a 1-page workflow with all the steps and settings. I never use that anymore but it really helped for the first few sessions.

My first session I couldn't get platesolving and guiding working, so just shot unguided, getting quite pleasing results still. In both cases I just hadn't configured properly, and once rectified now runs perfectly.

I thoroughly recommend platesolving btw. Very easy to use (once you download the database 🙈) and so effective.

Good luck and please share your results.

[powerlord]

Well, that was a disaster.

What worked - well, plate solving working (yeha!) - and yes, I can see that would make a hell of a difference. targets you can't really see now spot on centred. wow.

2 issues:

A: PA - failing totally to do this

B: guiding not working at all. By which I mean, when it does calibrate, I slowly watch the target drift out the box, with it saying its increasing something or other but graph remains totally blank. mount is making a different noise from when sidereal, but nowt happening.. but goto works, sidereal works, etc - so its communicating with the mount (EQStarPro in EQMOD comms) fine..and it can see the stars fine - I used auto and it picked its target and shows it top left. Tried 4 or 5 times, differnt targets, same thing - no motion at all and after a while it gives up and says something like stars not moving. I wasn't sure if I should have tracking on or off on the mount for this ? Or it IT turns it off when it does calibration, then puts it back on or what ? so I tried both with it on and off. no difference.

Let's cover A first - previously my mount was pretty much spot on - I set up same place,and I've been using synscan PA routine to tweak it, and I find that really easy to use with the real time feedback on liveview on camera. I mean I suppose I could keep doing that, but not sure that's going to not just confuse things with me trying to connect synscan direct to mount, asiair connected via usb, etc, etc.

This time, red dot and DSLR is showing polaris, but asiair PA plate solves and says errors was something like 3 degrees and 6 hours out !!! - needless to say, no amount of twidling and even moving the tripod manually seemed to help. I gave up after 15 mins. tried a few gotos, plate solves, adjustments and got on IC1805 - and of course, 60 sec exposure has massive star trails as PA is mince.

Hmm. I wish I could try this is the day time.

So.. I suppose I'll waste another great clear sky tonight till I'm too frustrated to go on, trying to work out what the hell I'm doing wrong. But I do find the PA route in asiair a PITA  compared to synscan.

Tell me why this is dumb, but tonight, I plan to use synscan to get it close first, as I know it and want to get it within a gnat's chuff first. Then I'll do it in asiair, and first, if it comes up with nonsense like 6,4,2 out there's no point in me trying anything - something else is knackered. If it's close, I do what I do in synscan, and turn on liveview on DSLR, and adjust mount screws to get polaris in centre, or at least check it's moving the right way asiair says I should move.

Maybe B is also failing because of the massive PA error that it thinks is there but does not exist ? However I can't see what one has to do with the other - I mean it's finding a target ok, so it seems the stars, and then all it has to do is move the mount - which is can clearly do fine (goto etc fine).

Only other thing I can think of is to move from USB connection to mount, to wifi-wifi and add a wifi extender into ethernet of asiair - in case something doesn't work over usb - but seems a long shot when everything else works.

Learning from my syscan experience (the need for this mount to be 'homed' - this is full setup I tried:

- turn all on (all focused at this point)

- home mount in asiair. disengage clutches and let motors drive what ages till it thinks its home. move to proper home position (polaris), and lock clutches when red dot close to polaris.

- asiair PA routine. plate solves fine, moves 60 degrees, plate solves fine. tells me my error is some mental value. cue me wasting ages trying to make it do anything useful and giving up.

ah.. the joy of astroimaging...

[Mr Thingy]

Sorry to hear that, but perservere - when you figure it out I'm sure you will be delighted when the first images roll in (then time to scratch your head and work out how to process images😱).

I will let someone more knowledgeable than me advise, but I wonder of the use of Synscan is interfering. 

How do you connect the Asiair?

I connect via laptop so I'm not at all familiar with Asiair, but I completely skip Synscan and connect the mount to laptop via an EQDIR cable. I then control everything with the laptop. I just wonder if Synscan is overriding the input of Asiair somehow.

[powerlord]

whew.. ok progress last night. again, posting more for future searchers who might have same issues.

I aligned with my polar scope this time, AND centred polaris in liveview on the DLSR.

then did PA on ASIAIR and it was pretty close. yeah! (i had a 😐 face

some small adjustments later and I got a 🙂 . it was under a minute off, and that I decided would do me for now.

I then tried getting guilding to work and really struggled to get a clear picture (but that deservces it own thread..

 

eventually I got a star locked, and started calibration but didn't get anywhere. I blindly fiddled with the settings that have no documentation or tutorials (arggg):

- guiding rate

- agressiveness on DEC and RA

- calibration step

- max dec duration

- max ra duration

All clearly related to each, other, NONE documented. I mean how difficult is it to write a f^&king manual.

I eventually through blind luck got something that started to actually calibrate! it's still pretty rubbish, but it IS working !

I think I ended up with:

75

75/125

2000

1000

4000

I really wish someone would do a good tutorial on how to tune this - it strikes me as having a lot in common with the quadcopter/gimbal tuning PIDs = without a tutorial it's blind luck you get it right!!!

Anyway, after that I found M51 which was to be myt first attempt to see/photo a galaxy. I found it, and saw it!! I didn't want to chance star trails so settled on 90 seconds which gave nice clear shots.

It told me in about an hour it would need a meridian flip..and it sort of went wrong after that, and I've emailed Alexander at astro-gadget.net for some support there which I'll post if I get anywhere.

So overall it went ok:

- PA working

- guiding working (technically.. though need to hunt for a tutorial on how to tune)

- control working

TODO:

- my wifi extender is still rubbish, and can't reach from the end of the garden to my house - so I need a better wifi extender - which is a pain as I'd just converted this one to 12v with some circuit mods and soldering

- meridian flipping issues

TONIGHT PLAN:

- try the mak 102's 1300mm FL on M51 with the canon 6d and see if I can get some more detail that the pathetic attempt below.

- wrap up warmer 🙂

 

[scotty38]

Have a search for phd2 and you will find extremely comprehensive documentation

https://openphdguiding.org/documentation/

[powerlord]

Thanks - I got there eventually - what with eventually finding out that it was based on it.

stu

p.s. I'm sure Skye would like meeting yer dogs!

[scotty38]

Yep that's a nice looking dog you have there and yep I'd bet they'd love to meet her 😃