Laptop for EAA and planetary

[PeterC65]

27 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The Sharpcap I just bought is version v4.1 11137. Which is the most recent?

The latest version, with the built in plate solver, is v4.1.11226.0.

From my experience, Robin releases new versions every few weeks so it's worth keeping an eye on the download website.

 

[PeterC65]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

Does sharpcap allow for guiding at all?

I haven't used guiding, but to quote from the SharpCap manual "SharpCap can work with the popular freeware guiding application PHD2 and also the MGEN3 Autoguider to monitor and control guiding and dithering while live stacking or running a capture sequence using the Sequencer Tool or Sequence Planner." So it looks like it does support guiding.

 

[johnturley]

53 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

The Sharpcap I just bought is version v4.1 11137. Which is the most recent?

I just opened my existing Sharpcap, and it gave me the option of downloading version 4.0.9538, I just however have the free version, so it looks like v4.1 11137, is a more recent one which you can buy.

John

[PeterC65]

22 minutes ago, johnturley said:

I just opened my existing Sharpcap, and it gave me the option of downloading version 4.0.9538, I just however have the free version, so it looks like v4.1 11137, is a more recent one which you can buy.

John

You are using SharpCap v4.0 then, which I suspect will only update to newer versions of v4.0. There is a new v4.1 version which has quite a few new and useful features. You can download v4.1 and use it for free just like v4.0. If you download and install v4.1 it will use the same configuration that you have setup for v4.0 but will leave the v4.0 version intact so that you can still run either version.

 

[johnturley]

11 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

You are using SharpCap v4.0 then, which I suspect will only update to newer versions of v4.0. There is a new v4.1 version which has quite a few new and useful features. You can download v4.1 and use it for free just like v4.0. If you download and install v4.1 it will use the same configuration that you have setup for v4.0 but will leave the v4.0 version intact so that you can still run either version.

 

Thanks for the information Peter, I've just downloaded v 4.1.11226 64 bit (for free), although it probably won't make any difference for what I use it for (just planetary imaging with my ZWO ASI 462 Camera). It has created a new version 4.1 Shortcut, but as you say, I can still use the previous 4.0 version, or even for that matter the earlier 3.2.

John 

[bosun21]

7 minutes ago, johnturley said:

Thanks for the information Peter, I've just downloaded v 4.1.11226 64 bit (for free), although it probably won't make any difference for what I use it for (just planetary imaging with my ZWO ASI 462 Camera). It has created a new version 4.1 Shortcut, but as you say, I can still use the previous 4.0 version, or even for that matter the earlier 3.2.

John 

Which length of USB3 cable do you use John? From the camera to laptop and still maintain a respectable frame rate.

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, PeterC65 said:

The latest version, with the built in plate solver, is v4.1.11226.0.

From my experience, Robin releases new versions every few weeks so it's worth keeping an eye on the download website.

 

I have just downloaded and installed the v4.1 11137 and deleted the older version.

[PeterC65]

Weirdly, I get a faster frame rate with a USB2 cable when it is longer than 2m. I think this may be because USB3 keeps falling over and that is affecting the transmission protocol.

 

[johnturley]

5 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Which length of USB3 cable do you use John? From the camera to laptop and still maintain a respectable frame rate.

Just the 2 metre cable that came with the camera, its all I need, I get frame rates of over 100 fps.

John 

Edited November 1, 2023 by johnturley

[bosun21]

1 minute ago, PeterC65 said:

Weirdly, I get a faster frame rate with a USB2 cable when it is longer than 2m. I think this may be because USB3 keeps falling over and that is affecting the transmission protocol.

 

When I tried a 2m USB2 cable it was much slower than a 2m USB3. The USB3 cable that was supplied with the camera is faulty. It just causes my laptop to beep incessantly and Sharpcap can’t see the camera. It’s now in the bin.

[PeterC65]

18 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

When I tried a 2m USB2 cable it was much slower than a 2m USB3. The USB3 cable that was supplied with the camera is faulty. It just causes my laptop to beep incessantly and Sharpcap can’t see the camera. It’s now in the bin.

For me, 2m is the maximum usable cable length for USB3. Longer than 2m and I find a USB 2 cable is better (faster frame rate).

 

[happy-kat]

lots of features added like pushto knitted in plate solving , lots to try plus I'm going to try the skywatcher sync script when I get a chance, well worth the license

[PeterC65]

6 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

lots of features added like pushto knitted in plate solving , lots to try plus I'm going to try the skywatcher sync script when I get a chance, well worth the license

What's the skywatcher sync script? That's not something I've come across yet.

 

[happy-kat]

the sync script is in the synscan windows folder once zip downloaded and extracted it can be viewed in a text editor for instructions, use with sharpcap

[happy-kat]

the plate solve on the test deep sky camera was fast and the annotations are great

[bomberbaz]

On 01/11/2023 at 18:44, happy-kat said:

the sync script is in the synscan windows folder once zip downloaded and extracted it can be viewed in a text editor for instructions, use with sharpcap

do you also guide with sharpcap kate?

[happy-kat]

Not yet as haven't sorted second telescope out yet, but will use PHD2 which I'm sure will play nicely with software used.