This is very thought provoking … As a real newbie trying to learn the ropes, I may have been overthinking this.
Are you suggesting that I can forgo CPWI altogether? Just start with the scope at its index position, complete a quality polar alignment using the PoleMaster, and then go right to SGP?
I admit, I have been worried about having CPWI tracking, while SGP is also making adjustments to keep my target centered.
Right now I have no guide scope, but I have one on order, and plan to add PHD2 to the mix.
I also use AVX with polemaster.
My first step after PA is solve and sync with SGP and ASTAP. This gives me a very precise Goto. It takes normally not more than 3 runs to Center the target within less than 15 pixels and under 1 degree of rotation( i use the Pyxis rotator). No other Software needed. ASTAP works better than PS2.
I just started using ASTAP, after being very happy with Plate Solve 2 for the last few years. ASTAP is much, much faster for me than Plate Solve 2. The solves while centering on the target were done in just 3 seconds. Really impressed!
Dean
This may be a silly, newbie question, but do you first have to shoot an image to solve, or will the “Solve & Sync” button do the whole process (shoot image, plate solve & then sync)?
Also, I think some of my issues are related to the quality of the images I am getting for plate solving. I use a Canon 70D @ 1600 ISO and have tried 20-30 second exposures. I have an CLS filter in the EOS to help with all the light pollution (I shoot from my backyard in a Bortle 6 location). Any suggestions on exposure?
Hi Richard, there is no silly question, just silly answers.
In SGP the Sync procedure is a „ Fire and forget“ thing, or, like Kodak said: you press the button, we do the rest. No prior picture needed. Just press „solve and sync“ with your exposure parameters.
usually, I take pictures with a ASI 1600 or 183 camera. At unity gain, a 5 s exposure will work fine.
I also have a Canon 1100 Da. Haven’t used it for a while, but I guess, at 1600 ASA , a 5 sec exposure will also be enough. As long, as there are sufficient sharp stars on the picture , it should be okay. 20 sec, in my opinion, is way too much. But!: It all depends on your f-stop value: my scopes vary between 2.8 and 8. Hope I could help.
Clear skies, Ulrich
I’m loving ASTAP, generally much quicker than PS2, and really accurate. A consistent problem I have though, is when I select “Center On Target”, the mount slews to the target, but then immediately snaps a preview shot, without any settle time at all. The result is a mess with trailling stars, even though it’s clearly at the target, and ASTAP fails every time. The solution is to just select “Center On Target” again; it snaps a perfect preview shot and the solve happens very quickly. This is fine if I’m babysitting the scope, but it has led to failed sessions when I set my rig to hit a couple of targets in a night, and I’ve gone to bed.
Blind failover won’t ever work cos the stars are trailled and blurry.
Didn’t seem to be a problem with PS2, even though I could grow a beard in the time it took to solve.
How can we get the scope and mount to settle for a couple of seconds before taking the preview shot? Or perhaps an option to automatically take a second preview shot after a given time, to try again?
What you want to do is set your mount settle time to something like 5s or longer depending on your mount. Control Panel/Telescope Tab/Mount Settling Time.
ASTAP is more sensitive to oval stars or worse streaks. It will recognize them as galaxies or close doubles. 5 seconds could be enough but for my HEQ5 it’s on 10 seconds. The settling time is variable depending on the slew and weight balance. So it will require several slews before your could conclude the new settling time is set correctly. If the issue reoccurs, just increase the settling time slowly till it’s fixed.
I have also used it in ATP as a blind solver, and it works great. However, I too have tried several times to use it in SGP for blind solves with no success.
