373 replies to this topic

[Psionmark]

Huge thanks to the OP for this. I was very lucky to have all the kit I needed apart from Stellarmate, so the additional cost for me was minimal, and this setup has given me a renewed interest in EAA, which I'd pretty much given up on for the time being.

 

Here's my first shot of M31. I know it's not going to win awards, but I'm delighted with it, and this was really just to check alignments etc. Not best viewing and just a couple of minutes of 20 second exposures.

 

I've yet to work out how to actually save images from the iOS app, so this is a just a screen grab.

 

I'm gonna have fun with this!

 

I'm using an SV305 and SVBony Guidescope and an iPad for control/viewing. All other kit as per video.

 

[CRAZYeye29325]

 

I'm using an SV305 and SVBony Guidescope and an iPad for control/viewing.

Made my day! I've been looking to go exactly this way!

[Borodog]

Be aware that, in using the SV305 for this application (which I have done), darks are absolutely critical. And they will go bad as the temperature of the sensor changes, so you may have to reshoot them multiple times over the course of the night. Apart from that, EAA with an SV305 is good fun.

Edited by Borodog, 05 November 2021 - 07:50 AM.

[ahmadeus9]

This was such a fun project!!!  I have been interested in EAA ever since the Stellina was first released, but just couldn’t justify the price tag.  I pulled the trigger on a Vespera preorder just a few weeks before I saw Cuiv’s video.  As soon as I watched it, I knew I had to give this a shot.  I ordered all the parts last week, spent the last couple days assembling and testing everything (in the evenings after work), and tonight was first light!  I had a ton of trouble getting the evoguide to focus both during the day and at night.  I turned the focuser every which way and never saw any change to the image whatsoever.  At this point, I’m convinced it’s broken and have ordered a replacement just in case.  Thankfully, I was eventually able to achieve focus (or at least acceptable focus for stellarmate) by very subtly moving the ASI178MC in and out while simultaneously taking short exposures of a random section of the sky.  After that, everything worked exactly as it did in Cuiv’s video!  Unfortunately, the clouds rolled in about 2 minutes after I took my first photo of the Dumbbell Nebula (I realize this is poor quality but was a single short exposure).  That said, I am absolutely thrilled that this worked and cannot wait to get out there again.  Thanks so much OP!!!  Also, happy to be back on CN after a multi year hiatus!

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Edited by ahmadeus9, 04 November 2021 - 09:56 PM.

[CRAZYeye29325]

This was such a fun project!!! 

Did you stay with his original equipment or other?

 

I'm looking for lower cost alternatives.

 

Thanks, Phil.

[ahmadeus9]

Did you stay with his original equipment or other?

 

I'm looking for lower cost alternatives.

 

Thanks, Phil.

Original equipment to a T.  Ended up at $1,250. 
 

[Psionmark]

Did you stay with his original equipment or other?

 

I'm looking for lower cost alternatives.

 

Thanks, Phil.

The differences for me were the camera (using an SVBony SV305) and the Guide Scope (using an SVBony SV165) - just because I already had those items. Also used an iPad for the client application rather than a phone.

[CRAZYeye29325]

The differences for me were the camera (using an SVBony SV305) and the Guide Scope (using an SVBony SV165) - just because I already had those items. Also used an iPad for the client application rather than a phone.

Which SV305? I would like color.

 

https://www.svbony.c...tronomy-camera/

https://www.svbony.c...-camera/#F9198B

https://www.svbony.c...ochrome-camera/

 

Thanks, Phil

[ahmadeus9]

I actually ended up with both the ASI178MC and the ASI485MC, planning to return one.  The 485 arrives tomorrow and I plan to compare the two prior to making a decision.  Curious whether there will be much of a difference.  I live in a Bortle 7 zone near central Charlotte, NC.  If anyone has any insight as to how significant of a difference I can expect between these two cameras I would I appreciate it!

[Psionmark]

Which SV305? I would like color.

 

https://www.svbony.c...tronomy-camera/

https://www.svbony.c...-camera/#F9198B

https://www.svbony.c...ochrome-camera/

 

Thanks, Phil

Hi - the description was "SV305 Electronic Eyepiece Color Astronomy Camera for Planetary Viewing Capturing"

[CRAZYeye29325]

The differences for me were the camera (using an SVBony SV305) and the Guide Scope (using an SVBony SV165) - just because I already had those items. Also used an iPad for the client application rather than a phone.

 

I see the combo SV305/SV165. How it it working for you? Planetary?  DSO?

https://www.svbony.c...v305-and-sv165/

[Psionmark]

I see the combo SV305/SV165. How it it working for you? Planetary?  DSO?

https://www.svbony.c...v305-and-sv165/

Looking good so far! However, keep in mind I have very low expectations! I was more than happy it just found the target after my luck with previous experiments haha! Been mostly just concentrating on M31 for now to get used to it. Had a little look at M15 and it was starting to look nice, but then clouds.

 

Hopefully I'll get some clear skies over the weekend - will post some more shots if so. But I'm generally loving it. For me, it's enabling me to see stuff I otherwise really struggle to see, so I'm not after "astronomy photo of the year", but the simple task of just being able to see it. I'm very happy so far.

[Borodog]

I see the combo SV305/SV165. How it it working for you? Planetary?  DSO?

https://www.svbony.c...v305-and-sv165/

It's adequate for an inexpensive EAA rig. It actually does quite well for full disk lunar and white light solar (with a filter of course!). For DSO you definitely need a UV/IR filter to avoid blue/red star bloat, and you will need to watch the darks as I mentioned above. It's not really much use for planetary; not enough aperture for any detail, although you can give it a try. You would want a 3-4X Barlow. Might give you an interesting wide field shot of Jupiter and it's moons.

 

These were both shot with the SVBONY 60mm guide scope + SV305:

 

https://www.cloudyni...6100_421482.gif

 

https://www.cloudyni...6100_491618.jpg

 

The former is exactly how it looked onscreen; no processing except cropping and making an animated gif out of the frames. The latter is 325 frames stacked (hence no inlining in the EAA forum).

Edited by Borodog, 05 November 2021 - 03:01 PM.

[flamidey]

After a bit of fiddling, I finally got a good enough combo inspired by Cuiv.

 

The setup started with the Evoguide 50ED, Raspberry Pi4 with Stellarmate, a ZWO ASI294MC and the brilliant Az-GTi mount. 

 

As I'm in the heart of Montreal, I got limited access to the sky and a horrible Bortle 9 condition. I added a cheap 2" UHC filter. 

 

I did get everything to work fine for a while but then I started seeing both frequent disconnects from the Pi Wifi and when it finally connected, hangups at the Ekos startup step or Authenticating taking infinite time. It became too frustrating and I finally pulled the plug on the Pi and replaced it with the ASIair plus.

 

That setup works without any connection issue. 

 

I did also get the wedge for the Az-GTi so I'm in EQ mode now. Polar Align with the ASIair+ is a 6-8 minutes process (I did it twice) so very acceptable.

 

First decent light yesterday, fully automated 5 x 180 seconds of the obvious M31. I got darks and biases but no flats yet.

 

I have no skill whatsoever in astrophotography image treatment so that's the result of a Siril script with a bit of uneducated tweaks to please the eye.

 

The lack of field flattener on the 50ED is showing, of course.

 

I am still impressed that I can get 3 minutes tracked images without a guider. 

 

If ever Cuiv reads the thread, i will say a huge MERCI as he really managed to make the setup affordable (for me at least) and much less intimidating than usual.

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[jkelly]

Cuiv or Others,

 

Using Stellarmate App.

 

I had my first session last night and did great. Same setup as yours with the ZWO camera (not DSLR).

I am a little confused on saving images. If I make a Preset sequence and run it, the individual frames are saved and can be viewed in the view tab. If I just use the LIVE mode under the camera icon (on the upper right), and then hit the play button, it stacks the images but I don't seem able to save the stacked images or they don't show up in the view tab.

 

Is there a way to save the stacked image - or is it only for presentation?

 

There is a icon button under the play button in the LIVE window that looks like a floppy, but not sure what it does?

 

TY!

Edited by jkelly, 06 November 2021 - 11:58 AM.

[ahmadeus9]

Cuiv or Others,

 

Using Stellarmate App.

 

I had my first session last night and did great. Same setup as yours with the ZWO camera (not DSLR).

I am a little confused on saving images. If I make a Preset sequence and run it, the individual frames are saved and can be viewed in the view tab. If I just use the LIVE mode under the camera icon (on the upper right), and then hit the play button, it stacks the images but I don't seem able to save the stacked images or they don't show up in the view tab.

 

Is there a way to save the stacked image - or is it only for presentation?

 

There is a icon button under the play button in the LIVE window that looks like a floppy, but not sure what it does?

 

TY!

Having the exact same issue and it’s driving me nuts!!! I try to press the floppy/save icon under the play button and it does nothing.  I have searched all over and can’t find a solution to save the live stack.  For now I am just taking screenshots on my Android tablet. 

[ahmadeus9]

As I'm in the heart of Montreal, I got limited access to the sky and a horrible Bortle 9 condition. I added a cheap 2" UHC filter.

Curious to know how you added a UHC filter to this setup?  Is it simple?

Edited by ahmadeus9, 06 November 2021 - 01:25 PM.

[flamidey]

Curious to know how you added a UHC filter to this setup?  Is it simple?

For seasoned astrographotographers I'm sure it's dead simple.

 

I had to fiddle a bit with the various adapters from the scope and the camera before I found the appropriate combination.

 

I believe it's:

Camera --> M42 (16.5) --> Filter --> T2 --> inserted (not screwed) in the Evo.

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Edited by flamidey, 06 November 2021 - 12:20 PM.

[jkelly]

 had a ton of trouble getting the evoguide to focus both during the day and at night.  I turned the focuser every which way and never saw any change to the image whatsoever.  At this point, I’m convinced it’s broken and have ordered a replacement just in case.  Thankfully, I was eventually able to achieve focus (or at least acceptable focus for stellarmate) by very subtly moving the ASI178MC in and out while simultaneously taking short exposures of a random section of the sky.  After that, everything worked exactly as it did in Cuiv’s video!  

When I first set up the EVOGuide 50, I only turned the focus a few turns either way and was afraid to turn it more. It was easy and I guess it is a fine focus. This resulted in not being able to change focus. I realized that the helical focuser will turn a lot more if you try harder. Once I got the nerve to do that (I was afraid I was going to bust it), I was able to get focus. That big green focuser travels about an inch.

Edited by jkelly, 06 November 2021 - 12:29 PM.

[ahmadeus9]

When I first set up the EVOGuide 50, I only turned the focus a few turns either way and was afraid to turn it more. It was easy and I guess it is a fine focus. This resulted in not being able to change focus. I realized that the helical focuser will turn a lot more if you try harder. Once I got the nerve to do that (I was afraid I was going to bust it), I was able to get focus. That big green focuser travels about an inch.

Yep, just figured this out yesterday when my replacement scope arrived and I fiddled with it a bit.  Embarrassing, but then again, the whole point of this is that it’s somewhat beginner friendly, and I’m a beginner!  Excited to get back out there, tomorrow night looks promising! 

[CRAZYeye29325]

Wow, y'all are doing GREAT!

 

What economical mounts could work for this idea?

 

Thanks, Phil.

[flamidey]

Wow, y'all are doing GREAT!

 

What economical mounts could work for this idea?

 

Thanks, Phil.

It's hard to beat the Az GTi. Even if you do Alt-Az only, you can still get great shots I think. The wedge to make is EQ is about 80 USD.

 

Below that 400 USD price point I'm not sure there is any offer that is fully usable in GoTo. 

 

The Skywatcher Star Adventurer2i would work but it's the same price range while only having tracking and no tripod included.  

[CRAZYeye29325]

It's hard to beat the Az GTi. Even if you do Alt-Az only, you can still get great shots I think. The wedge to make is EQ is about 80 USD.

 

Below that 400 USD price point I'm not sure there is any offer that is fully usable in GoTo. 

 

The Skywatcher Star Adventurer2i would work but it's the same price range while only having tracking and no tripod included.  

 

Would any(?) GOTO mount work, like one of the NexStar?

[Jeff Lee]

Would any(?) GOTO mount work, like one of the NexStar?

I used an SLT mount for about a year with a ST80 or C5 (sold the ST80 to get the C5) and I was able to get 7-8 seconds exposures using the C5 @ F6.3 (reducer) and a non-coolded 294. Put it on an SE Mount for C6/8 and get around 10-15 seconds depending on where in the sky I'm looking. The C5 might be the max I'd put on an SLT mount. Controlled the SLT through the HC to computer using SharpCap and SkyTools v4 on a laptop (also had remote desktop to use it inside).

[alphatripleplus]

Moderator Note:

 

Just a reminder to everyone - The EAA Forum is NOT an astrophotography forum, and any images that you capture and then later post-process with any sort of software  cannot be posted in this forum under the EAA Forum Guidelines:

 

 

 

Please note that post-processing of EAA images is not allowed under any circumstances.

 

If you want to post images that have been post-processed you can include a link to the image, or post in an astrophotography forum.  The distinction on CN between EAA and astrophotography is the absence of any post-processing in EAA images. 

 

Any post-processed images have and will be removed. Thanks.