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Re: Almost a new owner.... Getting it through my thick head.


 

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I'm still a little confused as to why you seem to downplay plate solve

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If you are asking me.. I am doing no such thing, as witnessed by the last line..

Derek i think you said you are still working on getting platesolve working, if you send me a raw file i'll work on it with you :)

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I *AM* working towards Plate Solving / other such things so I too can image all night and across multiple nights.. I am addressing the subject ¡°Getting it through my thick head¡± and / or Newbie¡¯s ?and issues I have heard in this group and / or have had myself.. Namely.. Making it work..

You don¡¯t *NEED* all the technology to image and I maintain that if you go spend $10k for a scope, mount, cameras, computers, and hook it all up, it will invariably NOT WORK.. You need to work up to it and even if it does all work for you for a couple decades, there will be that ONE TIME, you forget a piece ¨C like an Ethernet Cable ¨C and since you have driven an hour to your Dark Sky site, what are you going to do?? Will you just pack it all up and go back home cursing everything and everyone, or will you ¡°fallback¡± to the ¡°non technology based¡± methods of yesteryear?? KISS! Keep It Simple, Stupid! Are words to live by..

??? Absolutely I wish my semi permanent in the front yard setup to be able to guide at sub arcsecond accuracy, plate solve, etc.. but even if I left everything at home AND had no power in the field, I could still put even an invisible target in my small FOV, and.. to me.. that is the most important thing of all.. Positively identifying a magnitude 18 star, for example.. Technology to make it happen faster or better is secondary..

?IMO.. I also agree completely with ¡°if it works for you, use it¡±.. You *MUST* know your equipment.. I can use mine just fine, but I couldn¡¯t show up and use yours the way you do..

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??? As for my plate solving, I have never been able to solve any image, even on Astronomy.net. Usually from Watec Video cameras, and from the above, it should be obvious that I know enough about the FOV and scope that it SHOULD work.. I do not (yet) have any samples for anyone else to try and solve.. The images I have acquired previously have all been deleted, as I lack hard drive space.. The New camera will arrive soon, and I *will* begin to use what I have learned in the past few months to move forward..

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Derek

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From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Valente
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2020 12:02 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] Almost a new owner.... Getting it through my thick head.

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As they say, whatever works for you, if it works, stick with it

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I'm still a little confused as to why you seem to downplay plate solve

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it is truly a game changer for AP.?

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just?to be clear, once you have it running, there is zero model building, zero multi-star alignment, and targets (visual or not) are solved to within pixels of where they need to be (particularly important for multi-night imaging)

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and it happens automatically. With apps like NINA, SGP, etc. all that centering is handled for you

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with that kind of sophistication, i'm not sure why you would want to do it any other way if you are doing astrophotography?

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Derek i think you said you are still working on getting platesolve working, if you send me a raw file i'll work on it with you :)

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On Mon, Feb 3, 2020 at 11:57 AM Deric Caselli <JethroStCyr@...> wrote:

Derek, that's a great information. I will give that a try on my next outing. Happy Skies

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Sent from my Galaxy Tab A

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-------- Original message --------

From: Derek C Breit <breit_ideas@...>

Date: 2/3/20 1:24 PM (GMT-06:00)

Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] Almost a new owner.... Getting it through my thick head.

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Umm.. Because that¡¯s how it is supposed to work?? :-))

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Let¡¯s say you put a camera of some kind on the scope.. or (as a visual observer) you installed a Barlow.. Would it still ¡°work¡±? Yes it would, if you have a ¡°plan¡± for when something happens you didn¡¯t expect, namely when the object you are headed to lands outside the FOV..

?There is a very simple trick that everyone should be using.. Yesterday when I read the Gemini-2 website I saw it there too.. I *always* GOTO a bright object close to my intended target, *then* GOTO the actual target.. Think ¡°Computerized Starhop¡±..

?My point yesterday is that if you are polar aligned ¨C even close enough ¨C you can then image.. Even if you plate solve, you are using the same exact method..

?For instance.. If *I* was headed to M78 in Orion to nab an image from the startup position, I would NEVER try to slew straight to M78 (as I use rather small FOV¡¯s), I might GOTO Betelguese.. It would likely be outside my roughly 20x15 arc min FOV.. Turning on the laser would allow me to find it and center it.. SYNCH.. Then maybe I would GOTO Alnitak, center and SYNCH.. Then I would be pretty confident that when I did a GOTO to M78, it would be near the center of the FOV and certainly at least in the FOV.. SYNCH on it, in case I accidentally press some button that sends the mount off to some other target so I can return to where I was supposed be.. This is a bright example, but it works just as well for any object your equipment is capable of showing, and doesn¡¯t involve plate solving, model building, Stellarium, or an Ethernet cable.. It is simply, If you want your GOTO¡¯s to be 100% accurate, make them as short as possible.. i.e. Alnitak to M78, Polaris to M78..

?Technology comes AFTER this point not before.. IMHO..

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Derek

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From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Deric Caselli
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2020 9:03 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Losmandy_users_io] Almost a new owner.... Getting it through my thick head.

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Derek and Brian, I dont know really why this has worked for me. I set my tripod pointed North by compass, then used the polar scope ( I can't see the other polar alignment stars most of the time) so I just centered Polaris right in the center of the line convergence in the polar scope? then aligned on bright star. I had very clear skies last night and the only clear skies for the next week, so you know were I was for the Superbowl LOL...When I went to GoTo the mount was right on target it tracked the Moon perfectly (visual) for more than two hours, waiting for Orion and M42 to crest the tree line, then to Sirus to do a collimation on my SCT. I spent the rest of the night star hopping. The GoTo fuction worked just fine.? What I am not sure is, I think Gemini remembers from use to use and I guess it keeps learning or I have just been lucky. Happy skies

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Sent from my Galaxy Tab A


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Brian?

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Brian Valente

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