373 replies to this topic

[ahmadeus9]

I just ordered the Starizona field flattener just to see what kind of a difference it makes.  I’m assuming I’ll need some kind of spacer(s), but don’t know which ones to order.  Any insight/assistance would be much appreciated.  Keep in mind I’m a full blown rookie : )

[spacenut59]

No spacers are needed for either a DSLR or ZWO camera.  I had an EVOGUIDE 50ED and use it with the Starizona field flattener with no additional spacers.

[Joey44]

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. 

I am just in the process of getting this setup going, haven't tried it in the field yet, but just playing around with the Stellermate app on iOS I noticed that my single practice images were not being saved. I looked at the Stellarmate FAQs and found this:

 

How can I save my images on StellarMate?

 

If you are using Ekos directly on StellarMate, simply set the Directory field in the capture module to /home/stellarmate/Pictures. The Upload mode should remain as Client.

/home/stellarmate/Pictures is case sensitive. Make sure not to set it by mistake to /home/stellarmate/pictures.

 

The default directory was showing as /home/stellarmate. After manually editing it to add /Pictures I can now see my saved images. Have't tried this with stacked images but maybe this is the solution for them as well.

[rdmarco]

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. 

Me too. same issue.

[ahmadeus9]

Probably another silly question but I don’t understand the longitude setting for my device.  I have everything set to share my location properly and the latitude is correct (35:07), but the longitude field in the Ekos tab of the Stellarmate app reads 279:15?  Per Google Maps, my longitude here in Matthews, NC is -80.74.  Is this just a different format I’m not familiar with, or is my app out of whack?  Thanks everyone for your help and patience with a noob like me!

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[Psionmark]

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. 

I’ve emailed the developer and this is hopefully coming in a future version. So yes, just screenshots for now for the Live view. 

[jkelly]

I just ordered the Starizona field flattener just to see what kind of a difference it makes.  I’m assuming I’ll need some kind of spacer(s), but don’t know which ones to order.  Any insight/assistance would be much appreciated.  Keep in mind I’m a full blown rookie : )

I installed my FF yesterday. The procedure is to remove the 40 mm tube to the rear of the focuser and insert the FF into the focuser and thread in.  My 40 mm tube must have been put on by a hydraulic machine because it was impossible to loosen.  I finally got it to turn by using ALL my might.  So if you run into the same problem - the tube does come off. After inserting and threading in the FF, you can reinstall the 40 mm tube after (to the rear) of the FF.

Edited by jkelly, 07 November 2021 - 10:11 AM.

[steveincolo]

Probably another silly question but I don’t understand the longitude setting for my device.  I have everything set to share my location properly and the latitude is correct (35:07), but the longitude field in the Ekos tab of the Stellarmate app reads 279:15?  Per Google Maps, my longitude here in Matthews, NC is -80.74.  Is this just a different format I’m not familiar with, or is my app out of whack?  Thanks everyone for your help and patience with a noob like me!

279:15 would be 279.25 decimal, which is equivalent to -80.75. Going 279.25 degrees to the East is the same as going 80.75 to the West.  I think it’s usual to use the negative. 

[Joey44]

My 40 mm tube must have been put on by a hydraulic machine because it was impossible to loosen.  I finally got it to turn by using ALL my might. 

I just had to return a Evoguide 50ED newly bought from Amazon. The green focus knob was screwed all the way in so tight that I could not adjust it at all. I called Skywatcher support and they said that they had not hear of this problem. I decided not to try putting a wrench on it and just sent it back.

[jkelly]

I had a similar problem with the focuser, as I mentioned on page three.

 

I could easily only turn the focuser two or so turns and then it was difficult to move.

After I talked to a few people, I forced the green focus knob to turn and it finally

gave way. Now that I am breaking it in - it is getting easier to turn.

 

So if you get a replacement and have the same issue, I would give it a good effort - the green focus

knob travels about an inch with 20 or more turns.

 

So for me the new Evoscope 50ED was difficult to move the focus and remove the 40 mm tube,

but after giving it some muscle - they turned.

[CRAZYeye29325]

Stellarmate app reads 279:15?  Per Google Maps, my longitude here in Matthews, NC is -80.74

360-80=280...

[ahmadeus9]

360-80=280...

Hey man, I am what I am, a noob!  At least I self identified : )  But thanks for taking the time to chime in, super helpful of you!

 

Anyways, had a nice time outside again tonight.  Captured very satisfying shots of M31, M33, and M27:

 

https://ibb.co/Wg6FbMZ
https://ibb.co/7XgYxs7
https://ibb.co/8sx1ps8

 

This really is a fantastic rig.  My only problems relate to the Stellarmate app in general, but overall this has been a blast and well worth the money! 

Edited by ahmadeus9, 07 November 2021 - 11:49 PM.

[CRAZYeye29325]

Hey man, I am what I am, a noob!  At least I self identified : )  But thanks for taking the time to chime in, super helpful of you!

 

I used to think of myself as having an intellectual personality, till I got into this stuff a few months ago. The learning curve has been STEEP! I still feel dumb as rock, but it's been the only hobby I've had that took my mind off of work completely.

[jkelly]

Gave my setup a shot last night with the Starizona FF.

Still learning everything and sometimes frustrated with crashes.

I do have a little circle smudge in the upper left area that I have to check out.

Does that look like anything?

Sometimes I feel that the RPI4 is underpowered for this job.

 

Anyway I guess we all start with M31.

 

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[ahmadeus9]

Gave my setup a shot last night with the Starizona FF.

Still learning everything and sometimes frustrated with crashes.

I do have a little circle smudge in the upper left area that I have to check out.

Does that look like anything?

Sometimes I feel that the RPI4 is underpowered for this job.

 

Anyway I guess we all start with M31.

Great shot!  My images look very similar.  100% agree that Stellarmate is very frustrating.  Lots of crashes, and I’ve found that often after a crash my mount no longer seems to know where the heck it is.  Haven’t figured out a workaround other than to bring the RPI4 inside and restore to factory settings, then reconfigure everything.  Takes about 15-20 mins each time.  Problem I had last night was that the mount would slew to the correct location, tell me it had arrived, make 1 adjustment and then just kind of sit there forever while the app froze.  I would try to be patient and let it do it’s thing but after 10-15 mins I would just power everything down and start over.  Very annoying and frustrating because this DOES work, it’s just that the software isn’t on par with the quality of the hardware.  I am not giving up yet, but glad I still have the Vespera on preorder!  Also agree with your suspicion as to whether the RPI4 is powerful enough, as it seems like some of this might be due to the computer being overwhelmed.  Do you have the 4GB or 8GB version?  I have the 4GB but am going to try with the 8GB before throwing in the towel.  Maybe that will make a difference, but who knows!

Edited by ahmadeus9, 09 November 2021 - 06:49 AM.

[jkelly]

I have used both the 8gb and the 4gb raspberry pi’s - both crash. Last night I used the four gig because I sent the eight gig out for an external Wi-Fi antenna modification. I am hoping that will improve the networking issues.

[flamidey]

Great shot!  My images look very similar.  100% agree that Stellarmate is very frustrating.  Lots of crashes, and I’ve found that often after a crash my mount no longer seems to know where the heck it is.  Haven’t figured out a workaround other than to bring the RPI4 inside and restore to factory settings, then reconfigure everything.  Takes about 15-20 mins each time.  Problem I had last night was that the mount would slew to the correct location, tell me it had arrived, make 1 adjustment and then just kind of sit there forever while the app froze.  I would try to be patient and let it do it’s thing but after 10-15 mins I would just power everything down and start over.  Very annoying and frustrating because this DOES work, it’s just that the software isn’t on par with the quality of the hardware.  I am not giving up yet, but glad I still have the Vespera on preorder!  Also agree with your suspicion as to whether the RPI4 is powerful enough, as it seems like some of this might be due to the computer being overwhelmed.  Do you have the 4GB or 8GB version?  I have the 4GB but am going to try with the 8GB before throwing in the towel.  Maybe that will make a difference, but who knows!

I had a Pi4B with 8GB and it crashes just the same unfortunately.

[acrh2]

Is there an Android app like this for Windows?
As in, use the app to point at a target and do live stacking (preferably with autoguiding) while the mount/cameras are controlled by a windows pc?

This way I could give a tablet to a friend, and they could control stuff without knowing anything about imaging or astronomy.

[Psionmark]

Great shot!  My images look very similar.  100% agree that Stellarmate is very frustrating.  Lots of crashes, and I’ve found that often after a crash my mount no longer seems to know where the heck it is.  Haven’t figured out a workaround other than to bring the RPI4 inside and restore to factory settings, then reconfigure everything.  Takes about 15-20 mins each time.  Problem I had last night was that the mount would slew to the correct location, tell me it had arrived, make 1 adjustment and then just kind of sit there forever while the app froze.  I would try to be patient and let it do it’s thing but after 10-15 mins I would just power everything down and start over.  Very annoying and frustrating because this DOES work, it’s just that the software isn’t on par with the quality of the hardware.  I am not giving up yet, but glad I still have the Vespera on preorder!  Also agree with your suspicion as to whether the RPI4 is powerful enough, as it seems like some of this might be due to the computer being overwhelmed.  Do you have the 4GB or 8GB version?  I have the 4GB but am going to try with the 8GB before throwing in the towel.  Maybe that will make a difference, but who knows!

I had a similar issue with the mount going haywire like this. I found that force killing the app (using Stellarmate on iPad here), powering off the mount, powering on the mount and starting the app would reset it.

 

Still a pain, but only take a minute or so.

[bdjeep]

I had similar issues with Stellarmate.  I was running on a pi3, but I kept having issues.  Force stopping the app and restarting seemed to help.  Sometimes I also had to power cycle the mount.  I never had to reimage the pi to get everything back up and running.  I really want to like Stellarmate, but I just couldn't get it to work with my hardware.  One thing to consider is the power supply.  Stellarmate warns that you need a really good USB power supply, not a cheap phone charger.  I tried the one that shipped with my pi3 kit, but it didn't make a difference.  In the end, I find better support and options under windows, so I just went with a mini pc at the scope and I remote desktop into it.  

[Borodog]

Gave my setup a shot last night with the Starizona FF.

Still learning everything and sometimes frustrated with crashes.

I do have a little circle smudge in the upper left area that I have to check out.

Does that look like anything?

Sometimes I feel that the RPI4 is underpowered for this job.

 

Anyway I guess we all start with M31.

That's some schmutz somewhere in the optical train. You need to shoot flats to eliminate it.

[ahmadeus9]

All - have been testing the ASI485MC for the past two nights after initially only using the ASI178MC.  I can get the 485 to focus in the daytime and the image looks fine.  Then I get it out there at night and it appears to be in focus, yet there is a diagonal line running straight through the image.  One side is fuzzy while the other is dark.  Very bizarre.  I have checked the sensor and the cover for dust or debris and can’t find any.  Anyone have an idea what might be going on?  Is this a defective unit or am I missing something obvious? 

[steveincolo]

Great shot!  My images look very similar.  100% agree that Stellarmate is very frustrating.  Lots of crashes, and I’ve found that often after a crash my mount no longer seems to know where the heck it is.  Haven’t figured out a workaround other than to bring the RPI4 inside and restore to factory settings, then reconfigure everything.  Takes about 15-20 mins each time.  Problem I had last night was that the mount would slew to the correct location, tell me it had arrived, make 1 adjustment and then just kind of sit there forever while the app froze.  I would try to be patient and let it do it’s thing but after 10-15 mins I would just power everything down and start over.  Very annoying and frustrating because this DOES work, it’s just that the software isn’t on par with the quality of the hardware.  I am not giving up yet, but glad I still have the Vespera on preorder!  Also agree with your suspicion as to whether the RPI4 is powerful enough, as it seems like some of this might be due to the computer being overwhelmed.  Do you have the 4GB or 8GB version?  I have the 4GB but am going to try with the 8GB before throwing in the towel.  Maybe that will make a difference, but who knows!

One thing ZWO has done really well with the ASIAIR is making the software stable.  I’ve never had a crash.  Occasionally the serial connection to my mount will be dropped, but that might just be my cheap aftermarket cable, or it might be the USB connection jiggling after a slew.  

 

I use a pretty cheap Talentcell to power the ASIAIR, too. So I’m not sure it’s the power source. 
 

So it’s probably the Stellarmate software, not the hardware. 

Edited by steveincolo, 09 November 2021 - 09:24 AM.

[flamidey]

One thing ZWO has done really well with the ASIAIR is making the software stable.  I’ve never had a crash.  Occasionally the serial connection to my mount will be dropped, but that might just be my cheap aftermarket cable, or it might be the USB connection jiggling after a slew.  

 

I use a pretty cheap Talentcell to power the ASIAIR, too. So I’m not sure it’s the power source. 
 

So it’s probably the Stellarmate software, not the hardware. 

That's my experience as well. Well worth the additional cost in my opinion, although it's quite steep.

[ahmadeus9]

One thing ZWO has done really well with the ASIAIR is making the software stable.  

Wish I could use the ASIAIR but I’m not sure I want to dive in to the Eq mount and polar alignment stuff.  Although honestly, I’ve spent so much darn time trying to get Stellarmate to work I would probably have been better off learning to polar align.  On that note, does anyone know whether the ASIAIR will eventually support Alt/Az mounts like the Az-Gti?  I am usually very short on time with a 3 year old and another baby on the way, and I’m looking for something that can be set up and operational within minutes.  As of now, seems like the Vespera is my best bet for total simplicity, but I really don’t want to wait until May-June 2022!!

Edited by ahmadeus9, 09 November 2021 - 09:37 AM.