Hi!
This might be quite stupid, but I am a bit confused on how acquisition of darks in focus and alignment modules work. Particularly, I am unclear about the role of a mechanical shutter.

Somewhat more specific:

In the focus module, when I check the box for dark, the focus module will capture a dark in the beginning of the focus sequence (or maybe after the first image?), and the very first time ask me if the camera has a mechanical shutter. I have a DSLR, so yes, there is a shutter. But how do the Focus module utilize the shutter? Does it expose with the shutter closed....? When I take my regular darks for pre-processing my images, I cover the camera manually and just snaps a bunch of exposures, as I would lights. Am I missing something here?

(I am asking partly because I think I have experienced that the darks captured in the focus module removed not only the hot pixels but also the stars... but it is too cloudy here for me to really know right now. So I am asking despite too little experimental experience)

Secondly, when the darks are captured in this way, are they saved in a dark library? Or how do I manage that? I have noticed that there is a dark library function but don't really know how to use it.

Maybe I am missing some good instrucons/descriptions about this. In that case, I apologize. However, I have not been able to find any good descriptions of the dark capture funcion....

Magnus

The darks it takes for alignment, guiding, focus, etc are only a single dark to be subtracted from the lights it's taking during those processes. It does them only once for this purpose and saves them in the dark library. This is different from the darks you will capture as part of the calibration process for your light frames of objects you image.

Hi!

Thanks!

What then, with the shutter? How can Ekos take a dark with my DSLR witout opening the shutter.....?

Magnus

Right, the DSLR are actually a special case that needs to be taken care of.

EDIT: Fix committed for DSLRs for tomorrow nightly.

Tnax fpr this GOOD question!

Jasem, do i understand you right? You want a function to take Darks with DSLR FULLY-AUTOMATED? You mean i DO NOT have to close my telescope? Just select dark and thats it?

Would be great, but how would that work?

cheers
Niki

Magnus,
I think you have identified the problem I had, where it must have taken a dark that was actually the image. Even though I told the software it had a shutter (which I don't understand why it knows this for capturing but not other uses) it must have kept the shutter open when taking the dark and then subtracted it, so that it looked like a dark. I thought it was showing the dark but it must have been showing the result of subtracting the dark, which must have been an actual light frame.
Paul

Well, I did actual,y tell you that a few days ago.... the result in the fits viewer is a combined image with light and dark...

Astronerd,
True, but I was trying to understand it.
Paul

No, you'd still have to cover the telescope with DSLRs. There is no way around this as far as I know.

Hi!

Great!

Now, how do I "reset" the choice I made concerning shutter? I think I read about it somewhere but cannot find and now it is clear outside.....

Magnus

Next to the camera name in the capture module, there is a trash bin icon, click that.

And make sure you're using the latest nightly: kstars-bleeding - 6:3.1.0+201812291635