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Re: New NINA plugin for APCC now in beta: Astro-Physics Tools
michael mccann
Which one may ask: if doing two targets, run the two areas at the beginning or run the second just after the first target is done?
Cheers
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Re: New NINA plugin for APCC now in beta: Astro-Physics Tools
ap@CaptivePhotons.com
On Thu, Nov 25, 2021 at 12:34 PM, ap@... wrote:
In other words, do we need to turn off the model when leaving the area of the sky covered by a Dec Arc model, or does APCC do that on the fly by ignoring it?So I think I can answer my own question. Last night I built a model for PacMan that covered maybe 60% of its Arc. It modeled nicely, and had good tracking, and really good guiding (and yes, I realize it's probably pointless to do a model and guide, but am experimenting to learn). This morning I had NINA slew to zenith (which does a slew to ax 0/0/2 and dec 89/59/59 though not sure what command it actually sends). The mount ended up on the wrong pierside and pointing off by maybe 10 degrees.  I turned off pointing corrections and it went back to normal with another slew-to-zenith:  I guess it is not surprising given the wacky large numbers in the model (though the model worked nicely for that area of the sky). The moral of the story for me - don't use a Dec Arc model well away from where you modeled. Ray? Advice welcomed, did I do something else wrong, or is that basically the answer? Linwood
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Re: New NINA plugin for APCC now in beta: Astro-Physics Tools
ap@CaptivePhotons.com
Thank you Dale, this looks to be incredibly useful for those who set up and tear down and do not want to build a whole sky model each night, especially those who image unguided.
This brings up a question I guess is more for Ray about Dec Arc models in general.
Let's say I build a model for a target past meridian in the north west, load it, image a while. The model only has points in that area, it tracks the target nicely. All good. (Not hypothetical, I did it last night with Dale's plugin).
Now the model is still loaded, and I go to the East... I THINK there is no eastern sky model loaded so the model is ignored when I point to the eastern sky, right? At least if I look in the model display that side is blank.
How about the south west, the model display shows a model for that area. Is the decision to use/not only east/west, or if I now image the south west, way away from where I modeled by same pierside, is that model still used? Or is it smart enough to notice it has no points near there, and not do any corrections in that area of the sky?
In other words, do we need to turn off the model when leaving the area of the sky covered by a Dec Arc model, or does APCC do that on the fly by ignoring it?
I ask because my model last night when I tried this was great in the area modeled, but had some wacky numbers in some of the model fields (that I expect if applied in other areas of the sky would be pretty far off because they were way different from my whole sky model).
I was not smart enough last night to actually try tracking in another sky area to see if it applied corrections (IQ is inversely proportional to the number of dark hours you have been up).
I guess the 'right' answer is build a new Dec Arc model for the new area of the sky you want to go to. 😊
But is there a second choice, do we need to turn it off, or is APCC doing that for us implicitly? Or is there a third choice?
Linwood
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Re: New NINA plugin for APCC now in beta: Astro-Physics Tools
W Hilmo
This is great news.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Thanks for doing this!
On 11/25/21 6:41 AM, Dale Ghent wrote:
Hi all,
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Re: New NINA plugin for APCC now in beta: Astro-Physics Tools
Dale Ghent
On Nov 25, 2021, at 10:23, Dean Jacobsen <deanjacobsen@...> wrote:Yep. You do need to select and configure their desired plate solver in APPM. In the context of using NINA as the camera, the realistic options are ASTAP, TSX, or PinPoint. For NINA, our preference skews towards ASTAP, and APPM can utilize the same ASTAP installation that you use in NINA. /dale
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Re: New NINA plugin for APCC now in beta: Astro-Physics Tools
In looking through the documentation it certainly appears that you guys have created a very elegant way to do things.
I am presently connecting APPM to Sequence Generator Pro for the camera operation and the plate solving [PlateSolve2]. In my first read through of your Astro Physics Tools documentation I didn't see reference to plate solving [ I could have missed it] so I am assuming that the user needs to install and implement their plate solving method for APPM to use independent of Astro-Physics Tools and NINA, correct? -- Dean Jacobsen Astrobin Image Gallery - https://www.astrobin.com/users/deanjacobsen/
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Re: Guide star lost after dithering
Howard Ritter
If the notification list doesn’t go live soon, I’m gonna be too old!
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
—howard
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New NINA plugin for APCC now in beta: Astro-Physics Tools
Dale Ghent
Hi all,
Some of you who have been using NINA, perhaps with my Utilities For Astro-Physics Mounts plugin, might be interested in a new plugin that will eventually supersede and replace that plugin. The new plugin is called Astro-Physics Tools, which is now available in NINA's plugin manager. I've worked with Ray to develop some expanded capabilities for APPM that permits external applications (such as NINA, or others) to have tighter integration with the model creation process. This is especially handy when it comes to declination arc ("dec arc") models, as those are done within the context of imaging a specific target. So, first, let me extend my gratitude to Ray who has implemented an API for APPM in the current beta series of APCC Pro 1.9.2.x. His work is what has enabled this integration to be possible. Now, about Astro-Phyics Tools itself: I originally intended to drop the new APPM API code into the existing Utilities For Astro-Physics Mounts plugin but, as I continued to work on things and the API became quite capable, the plugin turned into a kind of Ship Of Theseus. Eventually, I came to think that this warranted it becoming its own, new plugin. Once APCC Pro 1.9.2 exits beta and becomes the current release version, Astro-Physics Tools will as well and my original U4APM plugin will be removed from the NINA plugin manager and no longer supported. Astro-Physics Tools implements two model creation instructions: one for creating the classic all-sky models, and one for creating dec arc model. The dec arc model instruction will take the RA and declination of the target and, based on parameters that you configure in the plugin's settings, creates a dec arc model in APPM that is appropriate for it and launches APPM. APPM then creates the model and programs it into APCC, then the NINA sequence advances to the next instructions. Full documentation on these instructions and the Astro-Physics Tools plugin are here: https://daleghent.com/astro-physics-tools As both this plugin and APCC Pro 1.9.2.x are both in beta release mode at this moment, using this plugin will require you to be conformable with that aspect, at least until both are promoted to a general release. The standard disclaimers apply, but any feedback and suggestions about Astro-Physics Tools - or its documentation - are always appreciated. Thanks, /dale
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Re: Guide star lost after dithering
Roland Christen
Possibly, but not this year.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Howard Ritter via groups.io <howard.ritter@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Wed, Nov 24, 2021 10:28 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Guide star lost after dithering Idle question: Whatever happened to the 3600GTO “El Capitan" mount? Looking at photos of it on its massive portable pier, carrying a PlaneWzve 24”, I realized it’s the ideal solution to my notional dream semipermanent home installation. Any plans (that can be mentioned) to produce it again, or for a successor?
—howard -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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Re: Guide star lost after dithering
Howard Ritter
Idle question: Whatever happened to the 3600GTO “El Capitan" mount? Looking at photos of it on its massive portable pier, carrying a PlaneWzve 24”, I realized it’s the ideal solution to my notional dream semipermanent home installation. Any plans (that can be mentioned) to produce it again, or for a successor?
—howard
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Re: Guide star lost after dithering
yanzhe liu
Last night I turned off guiding during download and it worked. I will test more in the next few days. Thanks everyone for the help.
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Re: Guide star lost after dithering
Roland Christen
Autofocus can shift the camera which will cause the star to jump. Try turning off Autofocus and see if you still get the jump.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Valente <bvalente@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Tue, Nov 23, 2021 10:52 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Guide star lost after dithering There's one other thing you can test
disable dithering and take a few images, but leave everything else the same (i.e., continue guiding during download). If the issue persists, you know it's unrelated to dithering
If that's the case, you could then try imaging without guiding and downloading and see what happens
On Tue, Nov 23, 2021 at 6:39 PM yanzhe liu <liuyanzhe@...> wrote:
-- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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Re: Eltima Virtual Ports
Ray Gralak
Hi David,
I tried three more times as instructed - the same error message appears. I'll call next week.The exact cause for the issue on a few computers is not known, but I think the problem is likely a missing Windows DLL in Windows 10. The fact that virtual ports were working for you in Windows 11 on the same computer supports this theory. Unfortunately, this may be something that will take time for Eltima to track down. That said, if you did a completely new Windows 10 install on this computer, make sure that you download and install all of the manufacturer's drivers for the computer and perform all of the Windows updates. One of the manufacturer drivers or Windows updates may contain a required DLL. -Ray -----Original Message-----
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Re: Mount Status Not Updating in MaxIm DL Observatory Control Window
I got the CD player mainly to copy my CD collection into iTunes so that I could load then onto my iPod. Over the years I have accumulated quite a large collection of CDs, mostly in the pop and rock genre. I have around 500 CDs loaded onto a 164GB iPod classic, using about 120GB of the available space.
At the time I got my laptop, much of the software was still being sent out on CDs. Mike
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Re: Upgrade to APCC Pro 1.9.0.11
Larry Phillips
Sorry, a senior moment.
-Larry
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Re: Eltima Virtual Ports
hawkp60@...
Ray,
I tried three more times as instructed - the same error message appears. I'll call next week. Happy Thanksgiving. David Burrell
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Re: Guide star lost after dithering
There's one other thing you can test disable dithering and take a few images, but leave everything else the same (i.e., continue guiding during download). If the issue persists, you know it's unrelated to dithering If that's the case, you could then try imaging without guiding and downloading and see what happens
On Tue, Nov 23, 2021 at 6:39 PM yanzhe liu <liuyanzhe@...> wrote:
--
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Re: Eltima Virtual Ports
Ray Gralak
Hi David,
The virtual ports cannot be created. I get the ".....AxHost+invalid ActiveXStatexception...." message. So, I'mI think maybe you are using the wrong term. There's nothing to download. The Eltima virtual port driver will be installed and the Eltima ActiveX control registered. Did you reboot the computer afterward? Did APCC create the virtual ports? (If they were not created, you can get that error message.) After rebooting the computer and before starting APCC, delete the file c:\programdata\Astro-Physics\APCC\Settiings.apcc. Then start APCC and connect to the mount. -Ray -----Original Message-----
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Re: Eltima Virtual Ports
hawkp60@...
Ray,
The virtual ports cannot be created. I get the ".....AxHost+invalid ActiveXStatexception...." message. So, I'm assuming that the Eltima software did not download? David Burrell
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Re: Guide star lost after dithering
Roland Christen
Mounts will be instructed to move by two different methods. One is by coordinate moves, the other is by timed move where a 1 second move command corresponds to a 15 arc sec move. Coordinate moves are tricky because they are subject to a different protocol and can cause problems when the mount is in counterweight up position. Timed moves are preferred for all guide and dither commands. I cannot tell by the log below which one is being used. Delta RA = .61 means nothing to me, but perhaps our PHD gurus can clarify.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Roland Christen via groups.io <chris1011@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Sent: Tue, Nov 23, 2021 8:44 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Guide star lost after dithering A dither move is normally the same as a guide move command, except typically bigger. If the mount guides normally and properly, then it is responding to the PHD external commands in the proper manner. I don't see how the mount would, on its own, move the Dec axis by 12 pixels unless instructed to do so.
If the camera is angled by 45 degrees then both X and Y will move although only RA is commanded to move. We don't have enough information at this point as to what really moved. Did the Dec actually move or did the Y axis of the camera move? The two are not the same. People often mix up the X and Y axes, thinking they are the RA and Dec axes. This is not the case unless the camera is exactly rotated to a null position with respect to RA and Dec. That is usually never the case.
Rolando
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Valente <bvalente@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Tue, Nov 23, 2021 8:30 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Guide star lost after dithering Regarding your image download when exposure complete, are you still guiding while image is downloading? Does download take a while?
On Tue, Nov 23, 2021 at 6:28 PM yanzhe liu <liuyanzhe@...> wrote:
-- Roland Christen Astro-Physics -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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