In an attempt to automate even more of the steps during a night of observation, i am considering to buy a flip-flat. The idea being that i can have flats being automatically taken at the end of a capturing sequence, typically at the end of the night, while I’m sleeping.
Right now I have a Neumann flat panel, and the way Ekos can do adjustment of shutter-time, to reach pre-defined ADU is already a big help. But I still have to get out to put the panel on the scope and fiddle with extra pieces of paper to adjust brightness for luminance, which makes it an extra thing to do in the morning, rather than automatic during the night.
My question is: the INDI driver can set all the parameters of the flip-flat like Alnitak’s own software. But does the driver do all this (close flip-flat, turn on EL panel, adjust brightness according to filter settings and start auto-exposure) automatically as soon as I instruct Ekos to take a flat?
If there are any users out there who have the flip-flat, and willing to share their experiences, that would be highly appreciated.
Also, what would be an expected exposure duration for h-alpha 5nm Filter at maximum gain?
I don't have Flip-Flat myself, but similar device called Gemini SnapCap and it works very well. Ekos closes it when I want to take darks and controls the light per filter for flats. I have 7nm Ha filter and with maximum brightness I use around 12s exposures. For broadband filters I've set brightness so that I can use 3s exposures due to the mechanical shutter of my Atik 383L+.