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Software Otions - CdC, Starry Night, etc


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I know this subject has probably been covered off in other threads, but I can’t quite find a specific answer to my question which is this: All things considered, what is the best astronomy software program to use with an EQ6 mount (i.e. controlling the mount) and astrophotography in mind? I’ll need a fair bit of detail in the program as I’m looking to focus on (excuse the pun) imaging DSOs.

I’m aware of a number of programs such as Starry Night, CdC, Stellarium (a trial version of which I’ve downloaded and have used up till now just for locating stars), etc. I know there are add-ons such as ASCOM and EQMOD that I may need too. Personal choice comes into this a lot I’m sure, but equally I assume each program has it’s strengths and weaknesses.

I have a Mac but I’ve partitioned it so I can run Leopard or Windows XP, as I’ve noticed a lot of freeware is Windows-based only.

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With an EQ6 and an XP machine, you'll be wanting to run EQMOD on the ASCOM platform to control the mount.

Some terminology:

EQDIR - hardware that replaces the hand controller and connects the serial port on the mount (where the hand control plugs in) with a direct connection to the PC. You can get serial versions and USB versions. Be aware though that the connector on the mount is 5V and WILL be damaged if you plug a serial cable directly in from a PC. You don't need this if you have a hand controller as you can use the serial cable that comes with the mount and place the hand controller into serial bypass mode and then you have direct control of the mount via the hand controller.

ASCOM - a windows "platform" that allows all things astronomical to talk to each other

EQMOD (the driver is known as EQASCOM) - the workhorse of the EQ6 on the PC. Basically, it manages the communications to the mount from whatever application wants to talk to it through ASCOM. It includes (off the top of my head)

  • N-star alignment which translates the absolute coordinates from the planetarium software into the calibrated coordinates for the mount so slews are correct
  • Pulseguide input to allow an external program to guide the mount through the same serial cable as connected to the mount
  • Configrable horizon limits which enable you to map out the horizon if you've an observatory or setup in the same place each night
  • a joystick interface - incredibly useful as you can use wireless ones and be away from the PC controlling the mount whilst at the eyepiece
  • PEC to help counteract some of the errors introduced by the worm gears and mechanical parts of the mount when doing long exposure photography
  • Park/Unpark the mount to maintain gear synchronisation
  • Manually slew the scope with buttons on screen
  • Support for motorised focusers via the joypad
  • Manage the tracking rate (lunar, sidereal, custom) of the mount

It would be a good idea to join the EQMOD mailing list on Yahoo groups as the latest software is posted there along with the EQMOD manual.

On top of ASCOM you can run a number of programs. They generally fall into a number of categories:

  • Planetarium programs (CdC, Stellarium, TheSky, Starry Night Pro etc). that have a map of the sky and allow you to identify and slew to planets DSOs etc...
  • Setup programs which allow you to align the mount (e.g. EQALIGN, Alignmaster)
  • Utility programs to get the current position/debug
  • Specific function programs e.g. EQMOSAIC to allow you to photograph mosaics more easily

Apologies if this is teaching grandma to suck eggs - but it took me a while to get my head around it all :)

I think what you are asking is which is the most comprehensive planetarium program. If so, they nearly all use the same information from star catalogues and they all probably contain enough information for you to be imaging. The popular free choices are CdC and Stellarium (yes, it's free) and the popular paid ones appear to be Starry Night Pro and TheSky. I think the choice comes down to which works well on your PC (some like Stellarium appear to be CPU hogs) vs the UI that you get on with rather than which is most comprehensive. In fact, once you have chosen your target and you are locked on, the choice of Planetarium program is irrelevant as you'll be using other software (PHD guiding or Maxim DL for example) to control the mounts position....

HTH, another of my brain dumps :icon_eek:

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I use both Stellarium and CdC. Stellarium to look up things for my own, or others use as it looks pretty... CdC to drive the mount goto (using EQAscom and EQMOD as above). it's interface is not as pretty, but... it works very well, straight off, without having to install plugins (which I understand you need to do for Stellarium). Once the mount is Goto aligned, it's pretty accurate. I use PHD for guiding, alongside CdC for Alignment and Goto.

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For "serious" stuff the freeware mapping program Carte du Ciel is hard to beat.

I use it in preference to my TheSky V6 and it controls the Lx200 and HEQ5pro/ NEQ6pro.

ASCOM and EQMOD are worthy add-ons to improve the functionability of the EQ mounts.

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Wow, thanks for the quick responses. It would have taken me an age to trawl through things and get what I've learnt here together.

Can't wait to get back home from work and start putting some of this into action. Still waiting for a decent night to properly align my scope, so it'll be a while before I take full advantage of all this, although maybe those setup programs can help there once we get some clear skys.

In terms of software I'm keen to have a look at CdC, especially if it means less add-ons than Stellarium. The price of Starry Night makes me think it has a lot to it that the free programs don't have, but I could be wrong?

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I have Starry Night (Pro). Make sure you get the right version as it is only the more expensive ones that allow hardware control via ASCOM.

It works fine controlling my mount and looks nice. However, be aware that it has been "broken", well for some including me, by the latest update (6.3.3 and 6.3.6). It was always a bit of an arrogant program grabbing as much CPU as possible but the latest updates show virtually 100% CPU usage even when minimized. This coincides with yet another change in ownership and the current company seems to be concentrating on pushing it as an educayshunal program.

I ended up going bonkers trying to figure out the problem until I read the Yahoo group (a bit of a biased fan-site as a question I asked was deemed too "anti" Starry Night and not allowed) and realised the problem. Your set-up may be fine but you will need a card that is OpenGL compatible and be prepared for sluggish performance unless it is a high end card.

Overall I will be dumping the program as soon as The Sky X is out unless there are problems reported with it.

Just my experiences.

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CdC is great and generally works well on netbooks, definitely when compared with resource hogs such as TheSky and Starry Night. Stellarium is a fantastic program and easily the best looking of them all by a very long way, but its hardware requirements are quite hefty..

Another excellent lightweight-but-useful application is Hallo Northern Sky (HNSky for short). It'll run on the smell of an oily rag, as they say, and will do just about everything all the other apps do. Its interface takes a little getting used to, but it's worth the effort.

There are other lightweight and free astro apps around besides CdC and HNSky. Some such as XEphem were originally *NIX-based (and still are) but now offer Windows versions. There are tons of excellent apps to be found. Have fun!

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I have CdC, Maxim, ACP observatory control and EQMOD all running on an intel Atom processor and I like the setup. I like CdC because it has no fancy graphics and I find it easier to search for things (not really a fan of stellarium).

install all the free stuff and have a play is the easiest thing (EQMOD is daunting at first with all the available settings)

Neil C

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Sorry to jump in, but do any of these programs not work well on a small-ish netbook?

I'm thinking to get a Samsung with a 10inch screen (long battery life)

Also need to use EQMOD

I have an NC10 and it will run SNP v4.5, PHD and Nebulosity plus EQMod. That said it stated battery life will be way less than the quoted 7 hours or whatever because it will be pretty busy. If possible it is best to run it from the mains or at least a top up supply (like a Tekkeon).

That said I prefer to use an older lappy as it has a bigger screen and I find that easier to focus objects.

Tip if using SNP - don't use the latest version of Quicktime as it messes it up

--

Mick

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