Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
As
a Lenovo fan, What Model Lenovo has only one USB port??
Derek
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 01:26 AM, Rob Matson wrote:
- If your tripod legs are metal this will also likely ruin your Wi-Fi signal so mounting the router on the legs seems a poor idea. I have been just placing it on top of my DIY power pack which seems to work fine.?
I don’t see how putting a router atop a (clearly metal-containing) power pack is substantively different than bungie-cording it to a metallic tripod leg? Routers seem to communicate just fine through multiple walls/floors/doors of my house, so I’d be shocked if the travel router (which should arrive tomorrow from Amazon, btw), would be severely impacted by a nearby piece of metal – unless that “metal” happened to be a Faraday cage enclosing the router. ?
- I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.
I’ll certainly appreciate any pointers on properly setting it up with the Gemini 2. (I did go with the Beryl AX – it ended up being only $25 more than the MT1300.) --Rob
Hi Rob, With radio waves it's not that there is metal nearby so much as that the metal is so near the antenna and parallel to the antenna that can cause a problem with the radiation and worse, the reception pattern. These stick antennas tend to radiate in the shape of a toroid. Interestingly placing a plate of metal under the antenna was an old school way to increase RF signal strength. The mini travel router sits on top of my DIY power pack which is in a plastic tool box as shown in the photo. This setup allows me very good range and even connects to my home Wi-Fi network alloing access to the ASIAIR from the PC workstation in the basement running ASIAIR under the Blue Stacks 5 emulator.? ??  ? -- Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
As mentioned you have many options open to you. I was in your shoes about a year ago. I ended up buying a Pegasus box, it is called the Ultimate Powerbox V2 ?(?)and connect my components (cameras & auto focuser) to then connect the Pegasus box via USB to my laptop which solves the problem of not enough USB ports on your laptop. I’d also recommend that ?you look into N.I.N.A. which is free and there LOTS of tutorials on how to use it. Personally I like Patriot Astro’s YouTube channel as I find him to be the clearest and most complete on how to setup and use N.I.N.A. You already have everything else so you are almost there from an equipment point of view.?
Best of luck, Roger
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On Mar 7, 2023, at 6:06 PM, Gary Martin <gmartin@...> wrote:
I bought my Losmandy G11 w/Gemini 2 in 2018. This is my first goto scope. Been mainly using it for visual and some planetary imaging, but now want to get into DS astrophotography. I have two cameras to use.?
Canon 6D? SLR
ASI462 MC.?
I have been researching setups. Been reading a lot online and watching YouTube videos. I could go with using PHD2 for autoguiding. I have started setting this up on my older Lenova laptop this week. I have ASICOM 6.6 installed, then installed the Gemini Telescope.Net web server. Next is to install PHD2. But I only have one USB port available on the laptop. So now I can see I will need multiple USB ports to connect things up (Mount, main camera, guide camera, and in the future a filter wheel, auto focuser, etc). One option is to get a USB Hub which should solve my problem for now. Another option I see people using is a Mini PC to connect all the equipment, and then WiFi that to their laptop. Another option is to use ASIAir Plus to connect up all the equipment which then uses WiFi to your phone or iPad or tablet.?
So should I just continue setting up PHD2 ? This should get me up and running. I can use the ASI462 MC for the guide, and the Canon 6D for main camera. Then down the road add a ASI120MM mini for guide, and use the ASI462 as main. And further down the road get a Cooled main camera.?
I do like the ASIAir Plus setup though. All the features and ease of use in one box. I understand your limited to the ZWO product line.?
While I have a fair about of $$ in the C11 / G11 scope and a lot of TeleVue eyepieces, I'm trying not to break the bank on my camera and autoguiding setup. Start small then upgrade later.?
From 1980 to 2018 when I got the C11 / G11 I was using a Meade 8 inch f6 Newtonian. Used to do astrophotography with it using an Olympus OM1 35mm film camera. Glad those days are over.?
Gary
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
There's several different approaches that will work. You'll have to choose the the one you like best.?
A raspberry pi 4 running an astronomy focused Linux distribution is a cheap and easy way to get started. This is similar to the asiair, but it's cheaper, and has full support for non zwo cameras. Easy if you're familiar with Linux, or willing to learn.?
Both solutions use a raspberry pi, and it's getting a bit old, so it's going to sometimes struggle to keep up.?
I'm using a mele fanless mini Intel computer with the same software stack as the astroberry distro: ekos/kstars/indi/phd2 etc.. this is my preferred platform, I find that it works really well.?
Many people use windows on a minipc using ascom drivers and Nina. I'm sure that also works great.?
Jamie
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Re: Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
PHD2 gives you more options than the ASI-AIR. To solve your usb issue, look into the Pegasus Astro Power Box. This option allows you to use all your existing stuff and still allows you upgrade room in the future.?
That said, the ASI-AIR is also a great option, the Canon 6D is a supported camera.
Hope that helps. ?
Ron
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On Mar 7, 2023, at 9:09 PM, Gary Martin <gmartin@...> wrote:
?I bought my Losmandy G11 w/Gemini 2 in 2018. This is my first goto scope. Been mainly using it for visual and some planetary imaging, but now want to get into DS astrophotography. I have two cameras to use.?
Canon 6D? SLR
ASI462 MC.?
I have been researching setups. Been reading a lot online and watching YouTube videos. I could go with using PHD2 for autoguiding. I have started setting this up on my older Lenova laptop this week. I have ASICOM 6.6 installed, then installed the Gemini Telescope.Net web server. Next is to install PHD2. But I only have one USB port available on the laptop. So now I can see I will need multiple USB ports to connect things up (Mount, main camera, guide camera, and in the future a filter wheel, auto focuser, etc). One option is to get a USB Hub which should solve my problem for now. Another option I see people using is a Mini PC to connect all the equipment, and then WiFi that to their laptop. Another option is to use ASIAir Plus to connect up all the equipment which then uses WiFi to your phone or iPad or tablet.?
So should I just continue setting up PHD2 ? This should get me up and running. I can use the ASI462 MC for the guide, and the Canon 6D for main camera. Then down the road add a ASI120MM mini for guide, and use the ASI462 as main. And further down the road get a Cooled main camera.?
I do like the ASIAir Plus setup though. All the features and ease of use in one box. I understand your limited to the ZWO product line.?
While I have a fair about of $$ in the C11 / G11 scope and a lot of TeleVue eyepieces, I'm trying not to break the bank on my camera and autoguiding setup. Start small then upgrade later.?
From 1980 to 2018 when I got the C11 / G11 I was using a Meade 8 inch f6 Newtonian. Used to do astrophotography with it using an Olympus OM1 35mm film camera. Glad those days are over.?
Gary
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Autoguiding and Camera setup for my G11 / C11 scope
I bought my Losmandy G11 w/Gemini 2 in 2018. This is my first goto scope. Been mainly using it for visual and some planetary imaging, but now want to get into DS astrophotography. I have two cameras to use.?
Canon 6D? SLR
ASI462 MC.?
I have been researching setups. Been reading a lot online and watching YouTube videos. I could go with using PHD2 for autoguiding. I have started setting this up on my older Lenova laptop this week. I have ASICOM 6.6 installed, then installed the Gemini Telescope.Net web server. Next is to install PHD2. But I only have one USB port available on the laptop. So now I can see I will need multiple USB ports to connect things up (Mount, main camera, guide camera, and in the future a filter wheel, auto focuser, etc). One option is to get a USB Hub which should solve my problem for now. Another option I see people using is a Mini PC to connect all the equipment, and then WiFi that to their laptop. Another option is to use ASIAir Plus to connect up all the equipment which then uses WiFi to your phone or iPad or tablet.?
So should I just continue setting up PHD2 ? This should get me up and running. I can use the ASI462 MC for the guide, and the Canon 6D for main camera. Then down the road add a ASI120MM mini for guide, and use the ASI462 as main. And further down the road get a Cooled main camera.?
I do like the ASIAir Plus setup though. All the features and ease of use in one box. I understand your limited to the ZWO product line.?
While I have a fair about of $$ in the C11 / G11 scope and a lot of TeleVue eyepieces, I'm trying not to break the bank on my camera and autoguiding setup. Start small then upgrade later.?
From 1980 to 2018 when I got the C11 / G11 I was using a Meade 8 inch f6 Newtonian. Used to do astrophotography with it using an Olympus OM1 35mm film camera. Glad those days are over.?
Gary
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.?
That would be helpful for me.?
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
Hi Rob
I think the message regarding tripod leg or wherever?you want to put it is location can affect connectivity, so if your wifi signal is not great, you can try moving it around. Although it's probably wise to avoid faraday cages.?
We did a tutorial on setting up the GL.iNet router for woodland hills, it's still solid:?
On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 1:26?AM Rob Matson via <robert.d.matson= [email protected]> wrote:
- If your tripod legs are metal this will also likely ruin your Wi-Fi signal so mounting the router on the legs seems a poor idea. I have been just placing it on top of my DIY power pack which seems
to work fine.?
I don’t see how putting a router atop a (clearly metal-containing) power pack is substantively different than bungie-cording it to a metallic tripod leg? Routers seem to communicate just fine through multiple walls/floors/doors of my house,
so I’d be shocked if the travel router (which should arrive tomorrow from Amazon, btw), would be severely impacted by a nearby piece of metal – unless that “metal” happened to be a Faraday cage enclosing the router.
?
- I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.
I’ll certainly appreciate any pointers on properly setting it up with the Gemini 2. (I did go with the Beryl AX – it ended up being only $25 more than the MT1300.) --Rob
-- Brian?
Brian Valente astro portfolio? portfolio astrobin?
--
Brian
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Re: PEC recording g11 Gemini 2
Hi Brian,
Absolutely, you should be using an autoguider rather than manually guiding. Last time I guided manually (to image or to program PEC) was in the early to mid 90's :) If you're worried about overcorrection, you can always lower the aggressiveness of the autoguider. As long as your DEC drift isn't large, I'd also turn off DEC corrections when programming PEC.?
Regards,
? -Paul
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On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 06:53 AM, brian wheeler wrote:
The owners manual states that I can record PEC, by manually guiding for about 4 minutes, taking care not to overcorrect.
I’m curious,…… Can I use PHD2 (short 1/2 second exposures) to do my guiding during pec training, or does it have be done done manually.
I would assume that it makes no difference to the mount itself, so this is more of a “has anyone done this with phd2 successfully, or will phd2 overcorrect, and cause more problems to the pec training….
Thank you,
Brian Wheeler
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Re: PEC recording g11 Gemini 2
I have the following notes for Gemini-1 which allows averaging. I think you'd need to use PEMPro (or GemPro when available) for G-2 and modify accordingly.
1. The first thing you do, is set up your autoguiding camera (say with PHD2), and let it calibrate.
2. While PHD2 is running (autoguiding), use the Gemini handset to go to the PEC menu, and start the TRAIN PEC. “Setup →Mount Parameters →PEC→Train PEC”
3. That will complete in about 4 minutes. As soon as that is done, you just run the same thing again (run #2). “Setup →Mount Parameters →PEC→Train PEC”
4. After run #2, go to the commands: “Setup →Mount Parameters →PEC→Average Data”
... now repeat the next 2 lines... until you have at least 5 training sessions averaged ....
5. Start PEC run (#3, etc) with the commands: “Setup →Mount Parameters →PEC→Train PEC”
6. then add that to the average with: “Setup →Mount Parameters →PEC→Average Data”
HtH
David
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-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of brian wheeler via groups.io Sent: 07 March 2023 11:53 To: [email protected]Subject: [Gemini-II_io] PEC recording g11 Gemini 2 The owners manual states that I can record PEC, by manually guiding for about 4 minutes, taking care not to overcorrect. I’m curious,…… Can I use PHD2 (short 1/2 second exposures) to do my guiding during pec training, or does it have be done done manually. I would assume that it makes no difference to the mount itself, so this is more of a “has anyone done this with phd2 successfully, or will phd2 overcorrect, and cause more problems to the pec training…. Thank you, Brian Wheeler
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PEC recording g11 Gemini 2
The owners manual states that I can record PEC, by manually guiding for about 4 minutes, taking care not to overcorrect.
I’m curious,…… Can I use PHD2 (short 1/2 second exposures) to do my guiding during pec training, or does it have be done done manually.
I would assume that it makes no difference to the mount itself, so this is more of a “has anyone done this with phd2 successfully, or will phd2 overcorrect, and cause more problems to the pec training….
Thank you,
Brian Wheeler
|
Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
- If your tripod legs are metal this will also likely ruin your Wi-Fi signal so mounting the router on the legs seems a poor idea. I have been just placing it on top of my DIY power pack which seems
to work fine.?
I don’t see how putting a router atop a (clearly metal-containing) power pack is substantively different than bungie-cording it to a metallic tripod leg? Routers seem to communicate just fine through multiple walls/floors/doors of my house,
so I’d be shocked if the travel router (which should arrive tomorrow from Amazon, btw), would be severely impacted by a nearby piece of metal – unless that “metal” happened to be a Faraday cage enclosing the router.
?
- I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.
I’ll certainly appreciate any pointers on properly setting it up with the Gemini 2. (I did go with the Beryl AX – it ended up being only $25 more than the MT1300.) --Rob
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Re: GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
On Sun, Mar 5, 2023 at 05:18 PM, Rob Matson wrote:
?Hi Chip,
?
- Don't do what that person did. The person who posted the review / experience of the Slate router had nothing to do with shortcomings of the GL.iNET Slate AC750 router and everything to do with shortcomings of the person posting. The poster had no idea what they were doing and didn't understand the ASIAIR or how networks and routers work.
?
Okay, that’s a relief. (To reiterate, I am probably as close to illiterate as that poster was regarding communication methods and protocols between routers, wi-fi, cellphones, tablets, ASIAir, Apple Airport Express, etc.) So while I’m ill-equipped to judge whether a solution will work or not, I’ll happily follow the advise and instructions from those who do know. ?
?
- I posted how to use a travel router to fix the ASIAIR Pro and now Plus Wi-Fi problems years ago. Hundreds of people have used that information to sucessfully resolve the ASIAIR Wi-Fi defect.
?
A quick Google search (with intelligently selected keywords) turns up several of your posts several years back on FB about the TP-Link AC750 travel router. ?
?
- Yours is the simplest situation - fix the ASIAIR Wi-Fi so you can use it as it should have worked out of the box to directly communicate with a smartphone or tablet, not over the house LAN or Wi-Fi network. I use Android phones and tablets so if you have an iOS phone or tablet I can help with the router but others will need to pitch in on the phone side though it is pretty much the same with different ICONs used.
?
I’ve always been an Android phone guy (Google Pixel 5 phone currently), and I’ll always use either my phone or an Android tablet to talk to the ASIAir, so sounds to me like the small GL.iNET travel router is a solution.
?
- Once you have decided to act instead of just suffering all you need is the travel router, buy one with external antennas, and a couple of CAT6 cables long enough to connect your ASIAIR and Gemini-2 to wherever you place the router. On router placement, do not be tempted to locate the router as part of the moving payload. To do this makes the Wi-Fi signal pattern change as the mount moves and you will be confused by the lack of Wi-Fi signal strength consistency.
?
Well, placing the router on the scope itself (like my ASIAir Pro is) would be nice from the perspective of a very short cable connection between them (and no danger of cable snags), but I can see how the Wi-Fi signal strength might change depending on the direction my scope is pointed. I suppose I could mount the router on one of the tripod legs (facing the house), run a CAT6 up that leg and then cable-tie it to the power cable I’ve already got going up to the ASIAir Pro.
?
Amazon has the GL.iNet GL-MT1300 (Beryl) for ~$75 – I assume this is the one you’re currently using. They also have the GL-MT3000 (Beryl AX) for $120. The $45 difference is in the noise, so if you think I’ll have a better experience with the AX, I’ll go that route.? --Rob
Hi Rob, If your tripod legs are metal this will also likely ruin your Wi-Fi signal so mounting the router on the legs seems a poor idea. I have been just placing it on top of my DIY power pack which seems to work fine.? I could do some screen shots next week for the BerylAC1300 and Gemini 2 configuration if interested.? I plan to buy the faster Beryl AX but in truth it is not really needed, I'm just a speed junkie and hardware geek. The only issue I see with the AX is the reduced port count for those who want to use an Ethernet cable to connect to their network. But I would just use the router in bridge mode and skip the Ethernet connection if possible.? ? ? -- Chip Louie Chief Daydreamer Imagination Hardware?
? ?Astropheric Weather Forecast - South Pasadena, CA?
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GL.iNet travel routers for use with ASIAir Pro (or Plus)
?Hi Chip,
?
- Don't do what that person did. The person who posted the review / experience of the Slate router had nothing to do with shortcomings of the GL.iNET Slate AC750 router and everything
to do with shortcomings of the person posting. The poster had no idea what they were doing and didn't understand the ASIAIR or how networks and routers work.
?
Okay, that’s a relief. (To reiterate, I am probably as close to illiterate as that poster was regarding communication methods and protocols between routers, wi-fi, cellphones, tablets, ASIAir, Apple Airport Express, etc.) So while I’m ill-equipped
to judge whether a solution will work or not, I’ll happily follow the advise and instructions from those who do know.
?
?
- I posted how to use a travel router to fix the ASIAIR Pro and now Plus Wi-Fi problems years ago. Hundreds of people have used that information to sucessfully resolve the ASIAIR Wi-Fi
defect.
?
A quick Google search (with intelligently selected keywords) turns up several of your posts several years back on FB about the TP-Link AC750 travel router.
?
?
- Yours is the simplest situation - fix the ASIAIR Wi-Fi so you can use it as it should have worked out of the box to directly communicate with a smartphone or tablet, not over the house
LAN or Wi-Fi network. I use Android phones and tablets so if you have an iOS phone or tablet I can help with the router but others will need to pitch in on the phone side though it is pretty much the same with different ICONs used.
?
I’ve always been an Android phone guy (Google Pixel 5 phone currently), and I’ll always use either my phone or an Android tablet to talk to the ASIAir, so sounds to me like the small GL.iNET travel router is a solution.
?
- Once you have decided to act instead of just suffering all you need is the travel router, buy one with external antennas, and a couple of CAT6 cables long enough to connect your ASIAIR
and Gemini-2 to wherever you place the router. On router placement, do not be tempted to locate the router as part of the moving payload. To do this makes the Wi-Fi signal pattern change as the mount moves and you will be confused by the lack of Wi-Fi signal
strength consistency.
?
Well, placing the router on the scope itself (like my ASIAir Pro is) would be nice from the perspective of a very short cable connection between them (and no danger of cable snags), but I can see how the Wi-Fi signal strength might change
depending on the direction my scope is pointed. I suppose I could mount the router on one of the tripod legs (facing the house), run a CAT6 up that leg and then cable-tie it to the power cable I’ve already got going up to the ASIAir Pro.
?
Amazon has the GL.iNet GL-MT1300 (Beryl) for ~$75 – I assume this is the one you’re currently using. They also have the GL-MT3000 (Beryl AX) for $120. The $45 difference is in the noise, so if you think I’ll have a better experience with
the AX, I’ll go that route.? --Rob
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Re: Losmandy G11 Mount erratic
Is it ASCOM controlled??? If so do you have logs
Possible cable "hang:?
--
Brendan
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Re: Losmandy G11 Mount erratic
Yes funny last night I did a 3 hour straight session and only 1 frame had to be dumped due to tracking errors so I'm not sure what caused it :)
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Re: Losmandy G11 Mount erratic
That's hard to say, Trevor. If you had a mechanical problem, it should be occurring mostly all the time and happen every session. Bad seeing is a more likely candidate. I've had many an outing where there was zero wind at ground level, but the upper atmosphere was very turbulent. It can come fast and go fast but should not happen all the time.??
John
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Losmandy G11 Mount erratic
Around 1 hour into a tracking session the mount guiding using PHD2 was perfect then all of a sudden the DEC/Ra goes off the chart this has happened twice recently around the same period into a session then seems to settle down a few frames later, is there anyway of telling whether you have a problem with the main drive gear :)
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Thanks for the compliment :-) Yeah, no, I believe it has nothing to do with results. But I totally agree with you, more to do with personal preferences. Besides most of the work I am currently publishing has been shot using Ekos, so... :-D Also I find it is, in any case, very hard to change acquisition software and routine (in the workflow sense). Don't get me wrong I love Linux, and I find it more stable, better, faster and cheaper than Windows. As a company owner I have many servers and all are running Linux. Only two "servers" are Windows, my Telescope computer, and my Allskeye computer (I was running allsky on RPI and just switched for Allskeye, still running tests, but is so much better). The RPI has caused me issues too, with a 6200 the images are 130MB each and the PI is just not able to tackle with this in a fluid way. I switched before those PC sticks started to get good enough. So I went the Intel NUC way, bought an older gen 8/i5 as it runs on 12V. Never regretted it. I was exactly like you dual booting into Windows solely for PemPro. But I deleted the Linux partition last week as things have been running so smoothly for the past 6 months. As I run big multi months projects I strongly rely on scheduling them. One thing I was lacking is the ability to schedule an automated flat session at the end of the night, no matter what. Had discussions with Wolfgang, I managed to find a way around it but it was very inconvenient. One thing I really miss from Ekos is the Analysis module, that one as been brilliantly implemented. I unfortunately never had it to run without issues. Updating was never done without backing up the entire partition because it broke so many times. If clouds showed up, focusing would fill up the root volume and when that happened, for some reason all the settings in ~/.indi were reset to factory. I had to setup my flat panel brightness per filter for flats so many times. I 100% understand and agree with the tinkering part. I myself have fully automated my workflow, I launch the session at night go to sleep and wake up to fully calibrated and graded frames. INDI was really cool for being able to write bash scripts controlling the mount or other gear. Under Windows it is not possible through batch scripts. Though it is as easy through python scripts. I dream of machining. That opens so much possibilities! I have 3D printed many parts, nothing critical though. And had a friend of mine machine a custom adapter for my OAG. In the end YMMV and it all comes down to personal preferences. Personally, I started under Windows with SGP, switched to Linux Ekos/INDI for two years and got back to Windows with NINA. I don't think I will ever look back. I hate Windows :-D I really didn't expect that to happen :') Carl We share this passion for tinkering. Here is the work in progress allskeye live website I am building, also showing where the telescope is aiming at : 
On Fri, Mar 3, 2023 at 06:29 PM, Jamie Amendolagine wrote:
It's hard to argue with fantastic results Carl, so I won't!!!
For me, overall I love and find the ekos system to be quite awesome, even if stellarmate leaves much to be desired.
Once ekos (not stellarmate) is setup it disappears. My normal routine takes about 3 min to setup the system, and I keep the telescope / mount inside. The ekos setup part generally entails plugging it in, starting a VNC client on my desktop or phone, choosing a target, platesolving, starting guiding, and then hit the go button. All of which takes a few min. I haven't found a need to build sequences since my routine is so quick, and I generally stick with one target for the night. I have found that the RPI4 is getting a bit long in the tooth, which means lower overall performance, that's why I've switched to a MeLe with a faster intel chip -- (I am keeping my eyes on risk-v developments as it seems like the future). I haven't timed it, but it seems to take just a couple of seconds between exposures, so it hasn't slowed my acquisition by much, and everything generally just works so I'm quite happy.?
I also have a computer background, but I've worked exclusively on embedded systems, from aerospace to consumer electronics. Mostly embedded Linux, but sometimes some an RTOS, or sometimes just an Ada runtime running directly on a chip:) Linux is where I feel at home, so that's what I use. I own one copy of windows, and that solely for running PEMPro:)
I consider tinkering to be part of the hobby, so I'm quite happy to do bug fixes or add features to the software stacks that I use. I even have tinkered with machining parts for the mount -- mostly unsuccessful machining attempts though...?
I do have my criticisms of the ekos/kstars/indi stack, but don't find anything to be limiting enough to switch. For one I'm not a fan of the kstars portion to tell you the truth. So I use skysafari for all of my planning and for slewing the telescope to a target. I could also use stellarium, but I'm quite happy with skysafari. I've also found that image data passing is slow, I suspect it's because of the very flexible networking architecture ends up copying data around -- it might be an interesting thing to look into fixing at some point, but it's not that big of a deal for me right now.??
Either way I say each to their own, enjoy the hobby how you like!
Jamie
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It's hard to argue with fantastic results Carl, so I won't!!!
For me, overall I love and find the ekos system to be quite awesome, even if stellarmate leaves much to be desired.
Once ekos (not stellarmate) is setup it disappears. My normal routine takes about 3 min to setup the system, and I keep the telescope / mount inside. The ekos setup part generally entails plugging it in, starting a VNC client on my desktop or phone, choosing a target, platesolving, starting guiding, and then hit the go button. All of which takes a few min. I haven't found a need to build sequences since my routine is so quick, and I generally stick with one target for the night. I have found that the RPI4 is getting a bit long in the tooth, which means lower overall performance, that's why I've switched to a MeLe with a faster intel chip -- (I am keeping my eyes on risk-v developments as it seems like the future). I haven't timed it, but it seems to take just a couple of seconds between exposures, so it hasn't slowed my acquisition by much, and everything generally just works so I'm quite happy.?
I also have a computer background, but I've worked exclusively on embedded systems, from aerospace to consumer electronics. Mostly embedded Linux, but sometimes some an RTOS, or sometimes just an Ada runtime running directly on a chip:) Linux is where I feel at home, so that's what I use. I own one copy of windows, and that solely for running PEMPro:)
I consider tinkering to be part of the hobby, so I'm quite happy to do bug fixes or add features to the software stacks that I use. I even have tinkered with machining parts for the mount -- mostly unsuccessful machining attempts though...?
I do have my criticisms of the ekos/kstars/indi stack, but don't find anything to be limiting enough to switch. For one I'm not a fan of the kstars portion to tell you the truth. So I use skysafari for all of my planning and for slewing the telescope to a target. I could also use stellarium, but I'm quite happy with skysafari. I've also found that image data passing is slow, I suspect it's because of the very flexible networking architecture ends up copying data around -- it might be an interesting thing to look into fixing at some point, but it's not that big of a deal for me right now.??
Either way I say each to their own, enjoy the hobby how you like!
Jamie
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Chip Louie
Jamie Amendolagine
Paul Kanevsky
David C. Partridge