knro wrote:
2. Usually just slew to target and then select "Slew to Target" under solver action, then simply click "Capture and Solver"
3. To reset job status, double click it as suggested by the tooltip when you hover over a job. Please post your Sequence File and Scheduler List file to investigate what would be wrong.
Thank you very much, Jasem
1. I tried turning off Autostretch - this worked well - I can now see the three lines clearly for the Bahtinov mask and managed to focus v quickly and achieved a lower HFR than just by watching the metric.
2. It is definitely working - I think I've just been spoiled by getting used to Tpoint - I'd forgotten just how bad the pointing used to be - "Slew to Target" works very well now that I've configured the appropriate settings on the solver.
3. I'll try this over the weekend and see if I can get it to work in the simulator - if not, I'll post my files.
I imaged again last night, and with the autostretch off, managed to get the telescope out and imaging within 30 minutes. From when I turned on my Pi and mount, it took me just 10 minutes to get focussed, polar aligned and imaging, all run from my iPad Mini connected to the Pi hotspot. Ekos again worked well and I got a couple of hours worth of data using the scheduler before the clouds came in. Practice makes perfect!
Thank you again,
Colin
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Hi - my name is Colin McGill - I'm a relatively experienced imager. My main scope is located at a remote observatory in Spain, and I'm used to using The Sky X, but I want to set up a more mobile rig for use here in Surrey so I can try imaging on the South Downs where the light pollution is ~ 10 times better than my back garden.
I'm using an HEQ5, a Canon DSLR 450d with a Wiliams Optics Star 71 (2015 version), and have set up Kstars/Ekos/Indi v 2.7.3 on a Raspberry Pi 3 (thank you James for your excellent tutorial).
Firstly, I am very impressed - after the clouds cleared last night I managed to get Capture and Slew working, focus my scope and used Ekos to take a few automated runs.
However, I have a few questions, about how to use Ekos:
1) I generally focus manually with a Bahtinov mask - however, when I frame the star (Capella), I could barely see the spikes with a 5 second exposure. This has been more than enough using The Sky, so I don't think its the focus length, but something about the stretch I was applying (I used Autostretch, but tried others). In the end, I gave up and simply used the HDR values, though this took a while. Is there a recommended way to focus with a mask?
2) I didn't sync at all, which left my pointing~ 2 degs away from the correct spot. Of course, platesolve sorted this out (though I sometimes needed multiple moves to get to the right location). Again, is there a recommended way to e.g. Sync to one star first, then use platesolve, or to automatically Sync then move to the right location?
3) I managed to create a scheduled imaging session - track, align and capture. That worked well, but I had two problems: a) I could not find a way to reset the job (I double clicked but when I reran the job, I was just told it was completed). Secondly, I set up a series of different exposure times as a sequence file. This worked well from the Camera tab, but when I used it as part of a scheduled run, Ekos only took the first set of images (I had 4 sets of 2 images each of different exposure lengths). Am I doing something wrong?
Thank you again,
Colin
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Hi - my name is Colin McGill - I'm a relatively experienced imager. My main scope is located at a remote observatory in Spain, and I'm used to using The Sky X, but I want to set up a more mobile rig for use here in Surrey so I can try imaging on the South Downs where the light pollution is ~ 10 times better than my back garden.
I'm using an HEQ5, a Canon DSLR 450d with a Wiliams Optics Star 71 (2015 version), and have set up Kstars/Ekos/Indi v 2.7.3 on a Raspberry Pi 3 (thank you James for your excellent tutorial).
Firstly, I am very impressed - after the clouds cleared last night I managed to get Capture and Slew working, focus my scope and used Ekos to take a few automated runs.
However, I have a few questions, about how to use Ekos:
1) I generally focus manually with a Bahtinov mask - however, when I frame the star (Capella), I could barely see the spikes with a 5 second exposure. This has been more than enough using The Sky, so I don't think its the focus length, but something about the stretch I was applying (I used Autostretch, but tried others). In the end, I gave up and simply used the HDR values, though this took a while. Is there a recommended way to focus with a mask?
2) I didn't sync at all, which left my pointing~ 2 degs away from the correct spot. Of course, platesolve sorted this out (though I sometimes needed multiple moves to get to the right location). Again, is there a recommended way to e.g. Sync to one star first, then use platesolve, or to automatically Sync then move to the right location?
3) I managed to create a scheduled imaging session - track, align and capture. That worked well, but I had two problems: a) I could not find a way to reset the job (I double clicked but when I reran the job, I was just told it was completed). Secondly, I set up a series of different exposure times as a sequence file. This worked well from the Camera tab, but when I used it as part of a scheduled run, Ekos only took the first set of images (I had 4 sets of 2 images each of different exposure lengths). Am I doing something wrong?
Thank you again,
Colin
P.S. Apologies if this is posted twice - I can't see it in the forums.
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