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Transition from SB/TSX to A-P??? Clayton Yendrey #89362 Edited I've been using / running TSX with a Paramount MyT and a control package of ASCOM drivers, PHD2, TSX, and N.I.N.A. I do use T-Point - semi permanently mounted on a pier and run a 204 pt model currently. I currently run an SW Esprit 100ED refractor, with a ZWO OAG-L/ASI290MM-Mini, ZWO EFW 2"x7, and a ZWO ASI2600MM. Actual control is via the software above loaded on an Intel 10th Gen NUC in a NEMA 4 enclosure at the pier. Actual operation is via wife/Windows Remote Desktop. I'm considering what my next OTA and/or mount setup would look like. It is hard to knock the Esprit 100E since it is the right focal length/FoV for 90% of the targets I'm interested in. It's weakness due to short focal length/wide FoV are the smaller targets like those in Galaxy season, and the planets. I have some reservations about investing in a 2000mm+ fl OTA for 10% of my normal viewing although the argument for a 1000mm+ refractor is easier to make/more versatile. Either way, weight considerations will likely require another mount and my preference, if all things were equal, is to move to an AP 1100GTO-AE. The step up in performance would be noticeable, even with my current OTA I think, and it would future proof any OTA 'upgrades' with its greater weight capacity. My question/concern is that I'm got some history/familiarity with the Software Bisque world and excluding encoders, much the same arguments can be made about the SB MX+ vs my current MyT. My knowledge/experience gap is I don't know enough to know what I don't know about what changes, what would be required to effectively rebuild my current capabilities/setup within the A-P 'world'? Can I continue to operate through N.I.N.A. with my current accessories (Moonlite Nightcrawler focuser/rotator, UPBv2 power and comms distribution on the mount, do I still need the external NUC at the pier?, etc. etc. Is there anyone in the group that has made this transition and could provide some feedback? Or is there maybe a new user/transitioning user "guide"? Thanks in advance for your help! Clayton
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Re: Dec-Arc model vs. All Sky Steve #89361 I read the Dec-Arc tracking guidelines in the Wiki section and just want some clarification. If I create a mini dec-arc model covering a particular declination as described in the Wiki section, can I still check "enable pointing correction" and "enable tracking correction" in the Operations section of the Pointing Tab, as well as check "enable dec-arc tracking?" I understand I will not get good pointing, but can all those boxes be checked for the dec-arc model to work? Thanks. Steve
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Re: We want your Astro and AP Equipment Images Roland Christen #89360 Nice set of equipment you have there. Rolando toggle quoted message Show quoted text -----Original Message----- From: Robert Berta <biker123@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Tue, Oct 11, 2022 1:25 pm Subject: Re: [ap-gto] We want your Astro and AP Equipment Images Here are two photos of my permanent "observatory". I couldn't get away with a dome or roll off observatory in my neighborhood so did the next best thing. I use a heavy duty cover from Jim's Scope Stuff in Texas that keeps the scope nice and dry, inconspicuous, and it has been very durable. Condensation is not an issue at all! I leave it up 24/7 and all 4 seasons. It has gone through the hot summers in high 90s and a few days in low 100s, raging rain storms, as well as our Michigan snow winters where it gets down below 0 degrees F. Previously I used my other AP 900 in the same setup since 2005! I finally decided to replace the original cover 3 years ago as the inside silver reflective material was starting to fall apart....but the outer cream heavy duty cover was still water tight. I built the 6" pier ( I have my own welding gear, metal lathe, and milling machine).It supports my AP 1100 and a 70mm autoguide scope. Cameras are an older SBIG STL 6303e with their 237 slave guider camera. Scopes I rotate through include a 152mm f8 Officina Stellare (A&M) triplet APO refractor with a f8 flattener, a 11" SCT with Hyperstar optics with an ATIK OSC camera, or an Officina Stellare 80mm f6 (A&M) triplet APO refractor that is used for both wide field imaging and solar Ha imaging with a Day Star Quark Chromosphere camera. I am a retired engineer and designed the pier with 4 diagonal braces to allow a bit smaller diameter tube but still remain very stiff and the diagonals help dampen vibrations perfectly. To use it I only need to remove the cover, run the AC cord to the AC outlet on the side of the house, and turn everything on at the pier with the inverters. I control the mount wirelessly (AP wireless built in) with Sky Safari Pro, the focus is also wireless (Starizona), I run an active USB cable into my house kitchen to operate away from cold, bugs, etc. Neighbors lights aren't an issue as they don't turn them on when I am using the gear later at night. While my site is moderately light polluted I can deal with that with narrow band filters. I do travel to remote dark sites often but having the convenience of a permanent setup at home is great. -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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Re: We want your Astro and AP Equipment Images Robert Berta #89359 I have both a AP 900 and a AP 1100. The 1100 does require more counterweight than the 900s with the exact same scope setup due to the DEC axis is farther from the central axis of the mount. I had to get an additional weight or slide the weight away from the mount more when I went to the 1100. I also have an extended length counterweight shaft extension. I rarely use that but in case I was able to get equally great autoguiding with it vs. the stock shaft and more weight to compensate. This is with around a 45# total load...it might be more of an issue with a much heavier setup. Roland is right though.....a longer lever arm can cause bouncing or ping ponging during tracking. Perhaps a longer delay time between exposures might help that. I found that many people don't have long enough exposure autoguider times or insufficient delay between exposures (settle time).
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Re: We want your Astro and AP Equipment Images Robert Berta #89358 Here are two photos of my permanent "observatory". I couldn't get away with a dome or roll off observatory in my neighborhood so did the next best thing. I use a heavy duty cover from Jim's Scope Stuff in Texas that keeps the scope nice and dry, inconspicuous, and it has been very durable. Condensation is not an issue at all! I leave it up 24/7 and all 4 seasons. It has gone through the hot summers in high 90s and a few days in low 100s, raging rain storms, as well as our Michigan snow winters where it gets down below 0 degrees F. Previously I used my other AP 900 in the same setup since 2005! I finally decided to replace the original cover 3 years ago as the inside silver reflective material was starting to fall apart....but the outer cream heavy duty cover was still water tight. I built the 6" pier ( I have my own welding gear, metal lathe, and milling machine).It supports my AP 1100 and a 70mm autoguide scope. Cameras are an older SBIG STL 6303e with their 237 slave guider camera. Scopes I rotate through include a 152mm f8 Officina Stellare (A&M) triplet APO refractor with a f8 flattener, a 11" SCT with Hyperstar optics with an ATIK OSC camera, or an Officina Stellare 80mm f6 (A&M) triplet APO refractor that is used for both wide field imaging and solar Ha imaging with a Day Star Quark Chromosphere camera. I am a retired engineer and designed the pier with 4 diagonal braces to allow a bit smaller diameter tube but still remain very stiff and the diagonals help dampen vibrations perfectly. To use it I only need to remove the cover, run the AC cord to the AC outlet on the side of the house, and turn everything on at the pier with the inverters. I control the mount wirelessly (AP wireless built in) with Sky Safari Pro, the focus is also wireless (Starizona), I run an active USB cable into my house kitchen to operate away from cold, bugs, etc. Neighbors lights aren't an issue as they don't turn them on when I am using the gear later at night. While my site is moderately light polluted I can deal with that with narrow band filters. I do travel to remote dark sites often but having the convenience of a permanent setup at home is great.
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Re: Unguided Tracking on a very still night: Mach2 with 110 GTX Emilio J. Robau, P.E. #89357 Come November, things get pretty nice in S. Florida. I quit complaining. Until late May.
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Re: Unguided Tracking on a very still night: Mach2 with 110 GTX Roland Christen #89356 Yes, I'm in Illinois. About as far north as you can go in Illinois. These still nights really only occur in the Fall when the jet stream is far tot he north of us. Come November and things get ugly. It may still be super clear but won't be steady until maybe next June. Rolando toggle quoted message Show quoted text -----Original Message----- From: ap@... <ap@...> To: main@ap-gto.groups.io Sent: Tue, Oct 11, 2022 9:06 am Subject: Re: [ap-gto] Unguided Tracking on a very still night: Mach2 with 110 GTX On Mon, Oct 10, 2022 at 10:43 PM, Roland Christen wrote: Tracking is shown below and in the attached image. And to think I've bragged about hitting 0.16" for a period. Won't mention that again. :) It says Hawaii at the top, but this was outside of Chicago? So you still have bortle-really-high to go with it? I used to go to Chicago a lot on business, I don't think I ever saw a star there, but I was more downtown-ish (e.g. Goose Island). Anyway thanks for setting the bar yet lower (in the Limbo sense which seems more appropriate). Guess I better pay attention to Brian's new video. Linwood -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics
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Re: APCC Error connecting to AP V2 ASCOM Sam #89355 Excellent thank you Ray. I will back up all the files and rename the settings file so that APCC creates a new one. As well, I want to thank Midmoastro for responding earlier. Thanks Sam
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Re: Unguided Tracking on a very still night: Mach2 with 110 GTX Linwood Ferguson #89354 On Mon, Oct 10, 2022 at 10:43 PM, Roland Christen wrote: Tracking is shown below and in the attached image. And to think I've bragged about hitting 0.16" for a period. Won't mention that again. :) It says Hawaii at the top, but this was outside of Chicago? So you still have bortle-really-high to go with it? I used to go to Chicago a lot on business, I don't think I ever saw a star there, but I was more downtown-ish (e.g. Goose Island). Anyway thanks for setting the bar yet lower (in the Limbo sense which seems more appropriate). Guess I better pay attention to Brian's new video. Linwood
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Re: APCC Error connecting to AP V2 ASCOM Ray Gralak #89353 Hi Sam, So do I have to uninstall APCC and the ASCOM driver, download new ones, and go through the entire APCC set- up from scratch ? Or is there an easier way to replace the settings file with a good one? You do not need to uninstall/reinstall APCC and the driver. Settings are not ever deleted in an uninstall. APCC will automatically create a new settings file if one does not exist. My second question is whether the APCC settings file only contains information for the mount and APCC settings, and is independent of the computer being used ? (Ie if I use a backup computer with the same mount / APCC configuration, would the settings files be identical although the computers may be different?) There is no information specific to the computer in the settings file. However, once you copy a settings file, it might not be in sync with the original if you make any APCC settings changes on either computer. Also, the settings file does not contain everything. For example, it doesn't contain the PNT files from which APCC creates a pointing model. To backup everything, you should backup these two folders to your other computer, or better to a dropbox folder or other online backup service: C:\Users\{your Windows user name}\Documents\Astro-Physics C:\ProgramData\Astro-Physics BTW, you can use a free backup utility, like SyncBackFree, to easily backup these folders: https://www.2brightsparks.com/download-syncbackfree.html -Ray
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Re: Unguided Tracking on a very still night: Mach2 with 110 GTX Chris White #89352 I'm going to be starting my first ever mosaic tonight. With my full frame at 530mm focal length it will be a massive fov with 2x2 panels. Last night it was clear for an hour so I got the model out of the way. I made a 110 point model Across 5 declination arcs spaced 1 degree that covered my mosaic panels. 7 degree spacing in RA. As far as seeing goes... I'll be happy with my usual 2.8" fwhm... lol. Can't wait to start capturing tonight!!!
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Re: New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders R Botero #89351 Edited Well done! Excellently edited video and very informative. I would definitely be up for an Astro-Physics poster made up as a mosaic of images of AP users! Roberto
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Re: New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Bob Enouen #89350 Excellent video Brian! The investment of time by you and the whole team is greatly appreciated. As they say - Teach a man to fish…and he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to capture a better astro-image. Thanks, Bob Robert J. Enouen Cell 513-504-4410 toggle quoted message Show quoted text On Oct 10, 2022, at 9:11 PM, Brian Valente <bvalente@...> wrote: Hi Everyone, the latest Astro-Physics tutorial is now available: Best Tool for the Job: Optimize Tracking with Guiding, Sky Modeling, and Encoders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhHGYYtL6BM The goal was to better quantify the challenges astroimagers face when refining tracking accuracy, which technologies solve different parts of that puzzle, and how they relate to each other. This video is a bit of a prequel to the video that was done on guiding with encoders (you can find that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCu8PKjDZ20 ) This video was informed by many of the discussions that happen right here on the AP forums, so you may see some familiar topics discussed Also, big thanks to all who submitted images and rig pictures: many of them were used throughout this video, with credits at the end. Please continue to send in your images and rig pictures, we hope to do more of this in the future. -- Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/bvalente/
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Re: New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Brian Valente #89349 HI Marcelo Subtitles are activated, but it can take youtube some time to generate them. Please let us know if it doesn't show within a day or so Brian toggle quoted message Show quoted text On Mon, Oct 10, 2022 at 7:09 PM Marcelo Figueroa via groups.io <marfig1970=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote: Great video, thanks. Just a small suggestion, please activate the subtitles :-) -- Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/bvalente/
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Re: Unguided Tracking on a very still night: Mach2 with 110 GTX Dean Jacobsen #89348 “I have had periods of sub-.1 arc sec seeing, but tonight it's been this way for hours. The mount is being tracked with a 4 point drift model that I did with the keypad. 10 minute exposures show no drift on the image that I can detect. (the peak values are caused when I did refocusing between some frames).” “Mach2 Encoder mount, using Renishaw RESA absolute encoder with 67,108,864 unique address points (2^26 bits). That's ~52 bits per arc second resolution.” 🙂 My Mach2 is the best thing since sliced bread. -- Dean Jacobsen Astrobin Image Gallery - https://www.astrobin.com/users/deanjacobsen/
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Re: New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Marj Christen #89347 Many thanks to Brian who collaborated with our team to organize the concepts and listened closely to active users on this forum. As an imager, he has experienced many of the challenges of astro-imaging and developed strategies to optimize his own imaging systems. Thanks to all of you for your contributions to ongoing discussions on this forum. We all learn from each other. Clear Skies, Marj Christen Astro-Physics 11250 Forest Hills Road Machesney Park, IL 61115 Phone: 815-282-1513 www.astro-physics.com Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/astrophysicscorp toggle quoted message Show quoted text From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> On Behalf Of Brian Valente Sent: Monday, October 10, 2022 8:11 PM To: main@ap-ug.groups.io; main@ap-gto.groups.io Subject: [ap-gto] New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Hi Everyone, the latest Astro-Physics tutorial is now available: Best Tool for the Job: Optimize Tracking with Guiding, Sky Modeling, and Encoders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhHGYYtL6BM The goal was to better quantify the challenges astroimagers face when refining tracking accuracy, which technologies solve different parts of that puzzle, and how they relate to each other. This video is a bit of a prequel to the video that was done on guiding with encoders (you can find that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCu8PKjDZ20 ) This video was informed by many of the discussions that happen right here on the AP forums, so you may see some familiar topics discussed Also, big thanks to all who submitted images and rig pictures: many of them were used throughout this video, with credits at the end. Please continue to send in your images and rig pictures, we hope to do more of this in the future. -- Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/bvalente/
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Unguided Tracking on a very still night: Mach2 with 110 GTX Roland Christen #89346 Fall is the best seeing in the Midwest, when we have periods of very still air and good transparency. Tonight is such a night, with a high pressure dome above and very light southerly winds. Tracking is shown below and in the attached image. I have had periods of sub-.1 arc sec seeing, but tonight it's been this way for hours. The mount is being tracked with a 4 point drift model that I did with the keypad. 10 minute exposures show no drift on the image that I can detect. (the peak values are caused when I did refocusing between some frames). Mach2 Encoder mount, using Renishaw RESA absolute encoder with 67,108,864 unique address points (2^26 bits). That's ~52 bits per arc second resolution. Rolando -- Roland Christen Astro-Physics 600secTrackingModel.png3.png
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Re: New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Dean Jacobsen #89345 Nicely done video Brian. -- Dean Jacobsen Astrobin Image Gallery - https://www.astrobin.com/users/deanjacobsen/
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Re: New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Marcelo Figueroa #89344 Great video, thanks. Just a small suggestion, please activate the subtitles :-)
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Re: New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Bill Long #89343 Great and informative video. Excellent job!! toggle quoted message Show quoted text From: main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> on behalf of Brian Valente <bvalente@...> Sent: Monday, October 10, 2022 6:10 PM To: main@ap-ug.groups.io <main@ap-ug.groups.io>; main@ap-gto.groups.io <main@ap-gto.groups.io> Subject: [ap-gto] New AP tutorial video: Optimizing tracking using guiding, sky modeling, and encoders Hi Everyone, the latest Astro-Physics tutorial is now available: Best Tool for the Job: Optimize Tracking with Guiding, Sky Modeling, and Encoders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhHGYYtL6BM The goal was to better quantify the challenges astroimagers face when refining tracking accuracy, which technologies solve different parts of that puzzle, and how they relate to each other. This video is a bit of a prequel to the video that was done on guiding with encoders (you can find that video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCu8PKjDZ20 ) This video was informed by many of the discussions that happen right here on the AP forums, so you may see some familiar topics discussed Also, big thanks to all who submitted images and rig pictures: many of them were used throughout this video, with credits at the end. Please continue to send in your images and rig pictures, we hope to do more of this in the future. -- Brian Brian Valente astro portfolio https://www.brianvalentephotography.com/astrophotography/ portfolio brianvalentephotography.com astrobin https://www.astrobin.com/users/bvalente/
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