Have I got everything for autoguiding?

[Hawklord]

Right,

Currently clear . Its time to give autoguiding a go tonight. Have got:

Imaging scope

EOS camera

Atik 16ic to guide

Netbook

Atik capture software

PHD guide

ASCOM v.5.5

GPDX mount

starbook-s

All leads (inc ST4 cable)

I'm going to use the on camera mode for guiding.

Have even got a GPUSB in case!!!

Have I missed out anything like important bits of software, you know - the kind you need or else it wont work???

Cheers

[adamsp123]

If the starbook-s operates the same way as my starbook, you don't need ascom.

ST4 cable goes from guidecam to Autoguider port on the starbook. USB from guidecam to your netbook.

Once all connected start PHD, select the camera in PHD - select "on mount" for the mount in PHD, loop and select star and click PHD .. should calibrate and run, one thing though mine requires you always use the same USB port on the computer, otherwise PHD won't recognise the camera if you use a different USB port IIRC.

[Hawklord]

Cheers Pete,

Will hopefully be able to post the reults in due course.

[Hawklord]

Mars and the Beehive only set of images to show for 3 hours of freezing. Main problem was not hardware or software, but mostly brain-fade on the part of the human operator:iamwithstupid:. I did eventually get it all to work, but only after I 'd realised that instead of reducing backlash to zero, I'd reduced the autoguider correction rate to zero:eek:. No wonder it wouldn't track. I now know though what all the settings on PHD mean;). Now need another clear night to get some shots.

[adamsp123]

Well at least you got there in the end, yes backlash off but not the autoguider correction!!!

Now the real fun begins trying to get it to work nicely and when you do suddenly it will go all pear shaped be ready for that. Watch the cables don't put a strain on the ota and differential flexture may rear its ugly head.

2 problems I did encounter was inbalance in the DEC when the OTA was pointing straight up, it wanted to shift but horizontally it was balanced perfectly.

Another one was losing good contact with the ST4 cable at either end, make sure the cable ends are pushed firmly into the camera and starbook, mine has a bit of slop and I found I could lose DEC control.

[Hawklord]

Excellent advice - Cheers Pete

[Hawklord]

Well on the next clear night I took the plunge into the world of autoguiding. I went for M42 as it's nice and bright. I was able to get 3 and 2 minute subs at ISO 800 and 1600. I used the Meade 80mm with the EOS450D and Astronomik CLS filter. A couple of frames had to be dropped because I managed to get double images of the stars (flexure perhaps?). Here's a crop of the central part of M42, 28 minutes in total. I used PixInsight DBE tool (as part of the 45 day trial) and then just tweaked the saturation and levels on Photoshop Elements v.2 (yep, the old version bundled with my previous EOS300D) and finally applied a gentle unsharp mask. Question now is what imaging software should I buy? I like PixInsight but I've only really used the DBE tool. I have heard that Noels actions works with the latest Elements, which would be cheaper than PixInsight I think. The full version Photoshop is just too expensive. Any advice please?

[jgs001]

That looks like a great start into the world of auto guiding. nice shape to the stars and plenty of detail showing up too.

[Hawklord]

I'd like to get some more subs, and perhaps just use iso800. Would the combination of Elements v8 with Noels actions be a good 'next step' for me do you think?

[jgs001]

I think it probably would. It's worth looking into the curves plugin for Elements. It allows you to perform curves operations on the 16bit image, rather than having to convert to 8 bit before even starting. Noel's tools and most of the other parts of elements only work at 8 bit AFAIK.

[Beardy Bob]

I find the GIMP to be a pretty good (not to mention completely free and open source!) application for tweaking curves and blending layers and the like. Again, only handles 8-bit images, but that's not a problem unless you want large, high-hes printouts any time soon.