วีดีโอ

What format type of files are you saving (tiff,fits) and what program are you using for the capture?

I have used the lastest version Sirilic with this build sucessfully. I didn't try to change any of the default settings and just let her rip to see if it worked which it did. As for Sirilic intergration, I'm not sure as I believe this was developed by another group... You never know till you know. ;-)

Bob. Download the manual from the Mallincam site here: www.mallincam.net/uploads/2/6/9/1/26913006/ds432ctec_user_manual_8.1.pdf Then go to page 156 where it talks about taking flats. That should get you going.

Both my CGX & CGX-L have a PC port which takes a USB2 B connector. That end looks like a printer port cable end. Kind of square. The other end is a standard USB2 A connector that can connect to a USB hub or your PC.

@@jeffrh oh thanks for your quick answer. My Nexstar only have 2 rs232 aux ports and the microB at the HC bottom. I am afraid I wont be able to use the HC and the CPWI altogther

@@estherilla6207 Then you will need to connect to the mount through the hand controller... Depending on how old you mount is, it will have an RS232 port (kind of looks like an old analog connector for computer monitor) or a USB mini port... Either one should let you connect to the mount using CPWI and from there the rest of the video should work for you. I'm hoping you have a USB mini connector and not the RS232... ;-)

It just occurred to me that the Celestron WiFi dongle will work with CPWI. You just need an AUX Port free on the mount. If you don't have one, Celestron makes an AUX Splitter that will turn one Aux into 2...

Sorry, I do not...

Your Welcome... My CGX & CGX-L are both about 5 years old now and before I start each season. I'll go though them to grease and then adjust out any backlash that sneaks in while using the gear the year prior... If you keep your mount tuned up. You will get very good RMS numbers while guiding and pin point stars... Clear Skies!

Dave, Glad it helped... Much can be doen with all kinds of data today. It is still important to know that this is only fixing the stars and not the underlying target data... That will still show the effects of the imaging errors. It just isn't as obvoius to ones eye. Stars can make or break how things look and if the stars are a little off. It sticks out like a sore thumb... ;-)

ASTAP can be downloaded by selecting keep. Then you will get another warning and keep again. There is nothing wrong with this software other than it doesn't have the MS security certificates you would get from the compiler. If this bothers you , you can try something like AllSky Plate solver.

​@@jeffrh ya I eventually got around the security warnings but it sure put up a fight to resist the download. I'm at the scope setup now and have yet another dumb question: Do we plate solve the guide scope or main objective or does it matter if both are aligned ?

@@SmeeUncleJoe You would need an image to load into the program so that it can do a solve. You also need to run the setup first so it knows what index file you need to download. Hope this hepls...

@@jeffrh Sorry no. I have two scopes, one for guiding and one for taking photos. I was asking which one i should use for plate solving ? Thanks.

@@SmeeUncleJoe Ops, the main imaging scope... Sorry about that... ;-)

I know that feeling... Back focus with fast scope needs to be spot on... ;-)

Thanks, Jools Been a rotten 3ish yearsfor smoke...

Thanks, Dan Goodto know....

Depending on how you stretch the stars back again. Some of that look will come back. Or you can use something like PhotoShop and the Astronomy Tools Actions and play with those. These are just a few examples, there are many more ways to do things like you ask... Good luck and claer skies...

No, I don't use Deconvolution in Siril. I have tools in Photoshop that I use and like for things like that... I'm an old graphics guy and Photoshop fit my needs better... This is nothing against what Siril Deconvolution tool can do. Hope this helps...

OK. I've never used Photoshop. I'm new to this hobby and realized the processing side might be harder to learn. I'm hoping to get my feet wet with Siril then add tools as I progress. I doubt I will use Photoshop as I don't like the subscription model. I doubt I'd used 90% of the program to warrant a monthly cost. Pixinsight is something to consider in the future. I've tried GIMP and viewed some videos on using GIMP on astro images but when moving layers around and masking it gets confusing. How does one remember all of this? Thanks for your videos on Siril, they have been helpful.

Glad you liked it... ;-)

I'll eventually fix my audio issue... ;-)

Glad it helped... With my Quark and an UV/IR Cut in front of it. There us no solar heating to the prisms and if any it is from the fact that the sun is hitting the outside of the unit. Hasn't been a problem for me and I'm in the process of making a blocker so all the gear is in shade. Clear Skies...

Glad it helped...

Thanks for the tip on Astro-Photography Tool... For my SCT's, I'm now using a Tri-Bahtinov Mask that works well... Same principle basically...

How do you use the tribahtinov for collimation?? The screws are blocked when I put the mask, it's even a bigger pain to take it back and put again. 😅 Maybe you made 3 holes for the 3 screws with a drill? Why not? Just curious ​@@jeffrh

@@ozgurunaldi This tool isn't made for Tri Masks... There are videos on using Tri Masks on TH-cam if you do a search for them...

Funny what you think of when your in a bind... A Dispersion Corrector wasn't even on the radar until I happened to see it sitting in the unused section of my Astro stuff... I'm very familar with that DayStar Film and know a few individuals that have tried to use it without much success. Not sure if it is them or the film? Not worth it for me as I can make flats by looking for a quite part of the sun and going way out of focus. Then use SharpCaps Capture Flats option and I have a Master Flat that works very well. The Quark isn't show a full disk with my rig so it is an easy fix...

Looks like my dyslexia kicked in at the wrong time... Thanks for the heads up...

Thnaks for the info... Rock Mallin the maker of Mallincam cameras has a couple of SolarCams that he says fixed the Newton Rings issue and from those that have his cameras, seems they work very well. I didn't feel like spending the cash just for a Soalr Camera as I like the ones I have now and the Dispersion Corrector saved my bacon... ;-)

I think the Newton rings are just caused by the Fabry-Perot etalon inside the Daystar Quark, and not by the window of the camera. Actually the rings are visible in cameras with and without window

@@jmm3194 I know a few people that have purchased a SolarCam and they say the camera helped with their Newton Ring issue. They also have Quarks similar to my set up and Lunt Solar Scopes... I didn't feel like spending the cash for another camera when I'm very happy with what I already have. Not sure what this means as this is way above my paygrade... ;-)

Hope they can help you also...

Hello, at 4:00 into the video I show the landscape.ini file that I used to tweak for my skies. The area you need to look for is the maptex_top & maptex_bottom. Changing these numbers will align the pano up and down to get that final look for your skies. To align the pano left or right you use the angle_ratatez number. Hope this helps...

@@jeffrh do you even need the bottom?

@@OnceShy_TwiceBitten Using the top and bottom you can fine ture how high and how low the image fits to match your location from where the mount is located. I would set the top first to get that looking right and if the image is looking a little funky after that. You can use the bottom to srink or stretch the height as needed...

Aggreed, but in the end I had to try something and this is what I came up with...

Glad it helped...

3:25 I'm turning the 3mm allen to start taking backlash out. 5:04 I'm adjusting the 2mm allen to limit the housing movement to 2 to 3 mm total... Hope that helps...

I assume you have a refractor or a scope with spiders... Spiders can give spikes with a little extra punch if you are using longer exposers... like anything over 3 minutes. This can make StarNet++ work a little harder and it will sometimes fail. This is what it is sounding like from here. If you are using a refractor, you will need at a minimum a UV/IR Cut filter. That will help with star halos. Gobs are the hardest thing to fix using these tools. There can be too many stars too close together for the routines to work correctly and thus it will fail. Hope this helps and Clear Skies... which I haven't had since October of last year. 😞

@@jeffrh Just got notified of your comment Jeff. 4 weeks it took! I was using an SCT for M3 while I also have a refractor. The star spikes though, happen with my Samyang 85mm lens. Great lens but the spikes are produced by the blades. Anyhow, just the way it is. I'll work with it.

@@earthling8635 TH-cam can be like that... ;-) The spikes you see in this image are from the brightness of the stars. The C14 which made this image usually doesn't have spikes unless there is something bright in the FOV. I don't mind them very much and if I really wanted to spend the time. I could easily remove them. The colimation was off a tiny bit so that might contribute to some of the length to one side... The Samyang 85 might be more susessable to spkies when it is wide open. Try going a stop or two up and see if that helps the cause... if anything it should help the edges of the image...

Thanks, Timothy The parts I 3D printed were for my IDAS RASA 11 Adaptor. If you have the same adaptor, then yes, I can print you the 2 parts I made for that adaptor. If you are using the supplied Celestron camera adaptor(s). Then these will not work with those parts. You can find the Flock or Felt here: www.amazon.com/YaoHui-Adhesive-Sheets-Backing-Backed/dp/B0BYM5LQQZ/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpid=1337006702007014&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.52NBUdKtJpTk0uY7VmZIubJx7xV_w5gM3rqNa0Xvxu6EUmF6pQ8fqebdFDAe1ZsW2GsgiXRk0x6vyelUCE8bQa6T8jqY5fp6FB3tzOQ02CuQzuuVCjHt-5Gjt67SJAGYUX9DAyuCylxbZMXKZVa9Gp5tdq_A8lkhwmnnKg0g20hCl7PyC_qzcFeZsd9LBcWlwNFVfeLDpF-yN5m3LzqD00B5XI7BsHrkuNXaiFmX1XsZzjx-IO8UxYz3yUJlGWVJqs2glHuGGKQzE9EecxB06nHFvhhve-Xxfgwb6jCSnvY.rWamqYosX3VodDLoCcVbLkrMfIEmK1nJIUceGhqnPxU&dib_tag=se&hvadid=83562989670986&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=104790&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=p&hvtargid=kwd-83563259039727%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=5300_10448130&keywords=sticky%2Bbacked%2Bfelt&qid=1708356603&sr=8-5&th=1 Sorry for the long link...

Thanks, Tim I do dither every 5ish minutes or so. I don't like to do it much more than that as I only shoot any target for 90 minutes. For the image used in this video. It was supplied by a friend. It was a Live Stack made in Mallincamsky and that program can't dither. He does a lot of outreach and will save the final stack to an image he can start working on. The walking noise unfortunately is one of the side effects of the way he captures the data... I used this image as the stars were very bad and it worked well for this video.

Paul I just check my version and it was updated recently. I also checked the Play Store and saw the message saying it isn't compatible with my device. I can assure you that the version on my phone is working. So something has happened in the year since I made this to make this app something that the Dioptra devs no longer wish to have on people's phones... I do know there are other programs of this type in the Play store. Try doing a search for Dioptra and see what pops up... Good Luck...

Paul, I did find this link dioptra-a-camera-tool.en.softonic.com/android Maybe you can sideload the program to your phone... Use at your own risk as sideloading apps is not recommended by Google.

Paul Did you check any of the other links in the Description below the video? For instance GeoCam is web based and is loaded via your browser. I have used that and it worked well. Give it a shot...

I decided to use my system camera on a tripod. Don't need Dioptra, or any other app anymore :) Thanks for all your thoughts

Glad it helped you out...

And Hello to you also... Hope you found the video useful.

Math wasn't one of my better subject in school as you could tell... ;-) I never would have gotten that from the spelling alone. Glad you enjoyed the video.

asinh = latin: arcus sinus hyperbolicus - pronouncing acronyms like a real word sounds often ... funny :)

Glad you found it useful and now you can fix up your backlash...

All done. I found play between the gears and very little to no movement with the body. After backing off the larger screw until I had no backlash I found I had 1mm play return to the body. A test run powered up proved no binding or loud gear noise.. if anything it sounds better. Excited for my next session! Thanks again for the down to earth instructions.@@jeffrh

@@saskgrass Excellant, glad everything worked out. If you are to tight for some reason. Just back off on that 3 mm allen. I found that in assembly from the factory they didn't use anything like blue Loctite and my screws would back out over time. Just keep an eye on things. I only need to set the backlash in the spring before starting my season. This has been good enough for a full season of use. Enjoy your new found guiding bliss... ;-)

Take your time and learn the tools and what they and you like... Have fun!

Thanks Dave I can't stress enough that using PLA might get you in trouble. If you make the Sol 'Ex version of this for solar work. You will need a sun shade to keep the direct sun off the unit. As I mentioned, PET-G is a higher temp fliament and will stand up better to solar heating. I have 2 printers, one setup for PLA and one for PET-G. That makes life easier as I don't need to mess with the different settings you need in the slicers. It was a fun project that took about 3 short days to print everything. Good luck if you decide to print one for yourself... Happy New Year!

Which version of CPWI are you using? Would you also be using the Celestron WiFi dongle? If so, that dongle is low power and starts to fail after 30ish feet or so. I stopped using my Celestron WiFi dongle 4 years ago because it was so flaky. Another thing that my interfear with the WiFi is the location. If you have a dense population around the gear. There isn't enough WiFi channels to spread out the bandwidth. You could also try using another channel which might help the cause. I have computer(s) at the mounts now and I use the PC port on the mount to connect to the computer. I'm using a wired CAT5e cable to connect to the PC. No WiFi drop-outs with a wire. You can go uo to 300 feet with a CAT5e cable before you would need to boost the signal with something like a switch and you can go another 300 feet... Then I will use Remote Desktop to connect to the mount computer(s) Works very well for my semi-remote setups.

@@jeffrh I have installed CPWI v2.5.2. The telescope is CELESTRON NextStar Evolution 9.25". It has a build-in WIFI module. Anyway CPWI works pretty well via WiFi till it loses connection, usually within 20-30 mins. I tried the wired link via Hand Control USB too. Of course the wired connection is much more stable, and nevertheless it fails sometimes. there is also an unpleasant side effect, that all Hand Control Buttons are locked while you use its USB port. To use two PCs and Remote Desktop is quite bulky in my opinion. In actual fact, it is CPWI software issue, the step "pointing at North" is not necessary at all. The telescope still holds the alignment even after a disconnection. The only thing you should do, to reconnect CPWI and sync it with the sky object still staying in the field of view. As a rule I set my telescope on my balcony and maintenance it from my PC in the warm room. There is only 3 meters distance between. Anyway I have to go outside quite often - in order to adjust focus or point OTA more accurately using the finderscope, if the sky object has not appeared on PC screen.

@@natty55555 If you haven't updated the firmware for the hand controller and mount. That should be your next little project. Then try the WiFi again. Celestron did some work to try and help the WiFi with that mount. Again, these are low power devices and aren't made for long distance runs. 30 feet max is about all one would get in a crowded WiFI area. You should also look at changing the channel the that the mount is using to connect. Most consumer WiFi devices will use the lower channels which are very crowded and will hurt connections. Best I can do for you...

@@jeffrh Thank you. It would be great to get some contact with CPWI development team. In fact WiFi connection is always not stable, but any software is usually adapted to this fact. You do not lose content you have typed in MS Word or information on a site does not disappear suddenly when the Internet fails. I am a developer myself, if there was a public API for the mount maintenance I would probably write my own software. Anyway I see it as the software quality issue. Usually these who write new software they hardly use it themselves, unfortunately.

@@natty55555 You can join Team Celestron. This is where Celestron put out beta software for they gear. You can find it here: teamcelestron.com/index.php You would need to join and get approval first to post. Clear skies.

Thanks, Jools I enjoy little projects like this and when they work, even better...

Glad it helped...