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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Collimation assistance

  • Posts: 388
  • Thank you received: 17
When I collimate my SCT Scopes I find a bright enough object, move a little off focus and begin to adjust the collimation screws on the back of the secondary. When you make an adjustment of the screws, the object moves off center a slight amount. I have to re-center the image before the next adjustment. Is there any way that Ekos can do the recentering for me? I have not studied all the options in the Ekos modules, so I am not sure if this capability already exists or whether it is a new function request.

Thanks,
Ron
4 years 2 months ago #47956

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  • Posts: 294
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Good idea

I also think this would be a nice feature where one could select the collimation star, EKOS/Indi would move the mount to center it, collimation adjustments would be performed and EKOS/Indi would be told to re-center it and the procedure would be performed again until collimation is done. As this way to collimate would require a camera (re-centering and collimation evaluation), I wonder if a camera is adequate for this task, compared to the human eye/brain. The nice thing about this though is that collimation could be performed at the collimating screws end of the telescope, with the aid of a display (tablet...).
4 years 2 months ago #47962

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There's a Windows application that does this - MetaGuide.
It can average the magnified star image and, with enough magnification, show the Airy disk. It uses a web cam and is quite good at averaging the seeing.

Chris
4 years 2 months ago #47965

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Thanks for the info on MetaGuide, but I don't really want to have to disconnect equipment from the Rpi running the Astroberry Server ( I have all my cables organized). My SBIG 8300M has a "planet" mode where it only looks at a subset of the pixels; I don't know whether Ekos supports this (I really have not looked but will). In planet mode, it updates quickly. I was also thinking I could replace the main camera (temporarily) with a planet imaging camera (small chip, pixels and faster) and then maybe use it as a guide camera in PhD2 (or Ekos) to track the star I am using for collimation.

I still would like to hear any more input or comments on this.

thanks,
Ron
4 years 2 months ago #47971

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