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Post by davy on Apr 13, 2020 21:27:56 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2020 0:34:33 GMT
Maybe, for now at least ,you had better stick with running Kstars/Ekos all on the PI and just VNC to the PI. You should be able to use your DSLR/GTI/PI for the Grab and GO. Quick to set up. Then maybe look at alternatives later if you dont get on with Kstars/Ekos :-) Davy, I admire your persistence. Stash, I think that is good advice. Kstars/Ekos is very straightforward and I was up and running without a hitch. CCDCiel requires a whole new level of understanding of linux which is difficult for me to follow. Just to backtrack a little,the main advantage of CCDCiel over the Kstars/Ekos is for plate solving .Is that correct? cheers Paul
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Post by davy on Apr 14, 2020 5:54:33 GMT
Ccdciel isn't a problem to learn, just go through bit at a time, spent a few hours on it last night., that I will be OK with in jig time,, I've been working a whole new lot challenges at the one time, That's what I do,, way I work,, I'm used to it lol,, in the garage there are so many different makes and models and no way can you know each one inside so you train yourself mentally,, and jump in and learn,, every day a school day.
So the big picture,, what have I achieved, well I've made a lot of improvements, I have my main set up in the flat,, which would have been a nightmare to move and set up,, if I planned to take to a star party ect, Heq5, ed80, and zwo,, The heq5 over the last few days has been stripped and the rowan belt mod done, I've now got up to speed with the raspberry pi and astroberry for this set up, I have my smart phone connecting the raspberry and laptop together and with vnc,, I now can control the mount and camera with,, both k stars and ekos to the stage of astrophotography and video astronomy,,, is it what I want,, no,, I find the camera settings are very limiting,,, nd this is in comparison to oacapture that I learned to use,, if ekos had that instead,, it would be my preferred route,, CdC, was the planetarium I used previously,, stallarium was very nice to look at, but I wanted a more professional route,, so we have a few choices on astroberry. K stars and ekos or cdc and ccdciel. Ccdciel is the only piece of software I haven't used before, and used in conjunction with CdC,, but was working through it last night and have no fear of it,,,, one of the things that threw me was the camera image was upside down,, had to put the zwo cable to the top to get image displayed correctly. Next was getting the focuser working,, I haven't used it since I replaced the original stock focuser with one I got from first light optics, That is now linked to astroberry as well now,, just waiting on a drive coupling,
Then full set up can be run from vnc,, Did I need to do it,, basically, no,, did I want the challenge,, yes,, Was it difficult,, yip but so is life in general just now,, stuck in the flat,, I've kept myself busy and learned lots.
So main rig is sorted,, Portable set up,, is useable,, have all the gear to run the azgti from the car, two cables, one power backup, when the batteries in the mount die, and USB repeater cable to connect dslr to laptop to use backyard eos,, pity its not Linux. And the mount is controlled via smart phone. This was just a project to see if it could all run from one set up,, no massive gain compared to my main set up in flat,, forgot to say It will get home broadband,, and usually what I found,, best observing nights are ones when I'm usually at band,, but with this set up I can set up my kit when I'm out or at work,, so this was a good project for me. Stops the grey stuff going to mush😁😜
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Post by oldstash on Apr 14, 2020 9:58:06 GMT
Maybe, for now at least ,you had better stick with running Kstars/Ekos all on the PI and just VNC to the PI. You should be able to use your DSLR/GTI/PI for the Grab and GO. Quick to set up. Then maybe look at alternatives later if you dont get on with Kstars/Ekos :-) Davy, I admire your persistence. Stash, I think that is good advice. Kstars/Ekos is very straightforward and I was up and running without a hitch. CCDCiel requires a whole new level of understanding of linux which is difficult for me to follow. Just to backtrack a little,the main advantage of CCDCiel over the Kstars/Ekos is for plate solving .Is that correct? cheers Paul Hi Paul, No platesolving exists on both. The difference really is Kstars/Ekos are like twins joined at the hip - cant have one without the other. CCDCIEL is not Linux centric and works with ASCOM as well, when run on Windows, plus will work with other software. It is even possible to mix and match ASCOM and INDI at the same time. For example you could use the ASCOM driver for a main camera while being attached to indi on a PI which controls the mount,focuser. No mater what anyone says most Astro Camera's work better on Windows as thats where Manu's concentrate testing - but it is changing. The other is really personal preference some just dont like the way Ekos fits only into Kstars. For me IMO CCDCIEL is far simpler once you get over how to connect the hardware. My biggest complaint is Indi tries to cover all hardware and doesn't concentrate enough on getting day to day running error free - although this is ,IMHO, down to people trying to use the "most recent release" instead of "if it aint broke dont fix it" and the steep learning curve for a population used to GUI/Windows. Just my opinion :-)
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Post by oldstash on Apr 14, 2020 10:03:21 GMT
"dslr to laptop to use backyard eos,, pity its not Linux." Sorry Davy have to disagree thats the easiest hardware to get working - so long as your Camera is supported and if its your Cannon 600d thats he one KNRO uses to test Kstars/Ekos. I use my Canon 100D no problem with either Kstars/Ekos or CCDCIEL.
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Post by davy on Apr 14, 2020 11:21:34 GMT
"dslr to laptop to use backyard eos,, pity its not Linux." Sorry Davy have to disagree thats the easiest hardware to get working - so long as your Camera is supported and if its your Cannon 600d thats he one KNRO uses to test Kstars/Ekos. I use my Canon 100D no problem with either Kstars/Ekos or CCDCIEL. Whatever works best for the individual,, I prefer dslr over my zwo 178,, but others swear by zwo,, me,, well I like doing it differently,, ccdciel I haven't got right into it, lot of features and wee tricks to learn. But I do like backyard eos,, first time I tried the trial version,, I knew I liked it and bought the full version.. Today bit of a tidy up on the scope,, fitted the pier extension tube and bit of cable management,, waiting on drive coupling for focuser and see if can get any decent nights to do some tests
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Post by davy on Apr 14, 2020 11:28:38 GMT
Will try k stars again with dslr, yes 600d, I did try on full moon and could not exposure down low enough to stop it blowing out image,, I also thought it was a bit noisy,, I have twin 600d camera's and I had second on the mount with a zoom lens and tethered to laptop using Canon utilities and got a few decent shots, and got nothing on K stars/ekos.
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Post by oldstash on Apr 14, 2020 11:37:51 GMT
The above are Screen Images of the Moon taken using DSLR controlled by Indi - single frame no stacking. But as you say its what is important to the individual :-)
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Post by davy on Apr 14, 2020 11:42:17 GMT
Something wrong my end,, I was totally blown out,, this gives me hope,, seeing your image,, going to pull the zwo off and concentrate on the dslr
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Post by davy on Apr 14, 2020 11:44:12 GMT
Luckily I haven't totally secured all the cables 😁
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