764 replies to this topic

[Larry Hansen]

  I have the Android version and in my experience, Expert Mode works correctly. Also with JPEGs.

 

  Go to the catalog page. Look at the top. There are tabs, one of which is called "Manual". There, click on the "+". This opens a dialog page where you can set the exposure time, the gain and the coordinates of the target. Give a name to this target and save it. You can then start a capture on it whenever you want. From there, everything works as usual.

 

  WAIT: You must use Singularity, not Stellinapp. Stellinapp will no longer be updated.

    Thanks,  I found it.  Not sure how I missed it when I set up four manual targets.  I guess I was so interested in getting the RA and Dec correct that I skipped over it.  Don't know if you know or not but I have real bad eyesight.  I use the Talk Back function on my devices.  It works by saying out loud whatever you are touching on the screen.  I must not have touched that part of the screen.

[CptNautilus]

    Thanks,  I found it.  Not sure how I missed it when I set up four manual targets.  I guess I was so interested in getting the RA and Dec correct that I skipped over it.  Don't know if you know or not but I have real bad eyesight.  I use the Talk Back function on my devices.  It works by saying out loud whatever you are touching on the screen.  I must not have touched that part of the screen.

  If you were used to Stellinapp's interface, it's easy to miss those new parameters as they put them in the middle of what existed before, next to settings that rarely need to be changed.

[Larry Hansen]

  If you were used to Stellinapp's interface, it's easy to miss those new parameters as they put them in the middle of what existed before, next to settings that rarely need to be changed.

    Actually that is most likely not it.  I only used Stelinapp on the first day I had my Stelina.  The next day after mine arrived was when I installed Singularity.  It was me not paying close enough attention when I know that my eyesight causes me problems.  That is one thing that I love about Stelina,  it is very easy to use if you have a vision problem.

 

     Does anyone know what the default gain setting is for Singularity when in automatic mode?  If I change it then it would be nice to have a place to start from.  I thought I had heard somewhere that it is 20 db.

[CptNautilus]

     Does anyone know what the default gain setting is for Singularity when in automatic mode?  If I change it then it would be nice to have a place to start from.  I thought I had heard somewhere that it is 20 db.

  Default values are:

• Gain: 20 dB
• Exposure: 10 seconds

[Larry Hansen]

     Ok.  I got manual mode to work.  I am doing an experiment on NGC6995.  I am trying 12 second exposure and Gain 16.   Skies are real bad, 30% plus cloud cover.   Not expecting anything good here, this is just a learning process. 

 

     I find it interesting that I had to enable expert mode in order to set exposure in manual mode.  I guess that is normal.  Also had to insert a flash drive.  Any way I'm glad that I got it working.

[nwcs]

Just out of curiosity, how low a temperature do you let your Stellina stay outside? It’s going to be below freezing tonight but when the air temp was 34F but the Stellina said -1C, I decided to do some darks and shut down for the night.

Since I’m using a power cord I wasn’t worried about the cold drain on a battery but they indicated tracking could be impacted. I also saw a very thin layer of ice starting to form from the dew so I figured that wasn’t good either.

Made me wonder about “safe” ways to keep the temp somewhat stable on cold days without an observatory.

[Alien Observatory]

Two nights ago I was testing the Moon and I was at 32F, but no issues with Dew / Icing, but I do use a 3D printed Dew Shield and the Dew Temp was at 24F, so no problems on my end.  I do use a 30,000 mhA battery, so no power issues.   It may be Dew Temp that is most important rather than the Temp.  I try to keep 5F above the local Dew Temp whenever I have the Stellina outside.    Pat Utah

Edited by Alien Observatory, 20 November 2021 - 12:15 AM.

[CptNautilus]

Just out of curiosity, how low a temperature do you let your Stellina stay outside? It’s going to be below freezing tonight but when the air temp was 34F but the Stellina said -1C, I decided to do some darks and shut down for the night.
 

  The user manual says the limit is 0°C. Last Winter, I have often used it a low as -5°C. One Canadian on the FB group has often used  his down to -10°C.

 

  Vaonis chief engineer told us the only problem could come from problems with guiding. I never saw any. Cold nights produce the best images in my experience.

[nwcs]

Thanks guys! Good to know. Next time I may leave it out a bit longer. The humidity was at 86% as well. I had read somewhere that a worry was the plastic shell cracking. Maybe that would happen if there was too much dew freezing over?

[nwcs]

Two nights ago I was testing the Moon and I was at 32F, but no issues with Dew / Icing, but I do use a 3D printed Dew Shield and the Dew Temp was at 24F, so no problems on my end. I do use a 30,000 mhA battery, so no power issues. It may be Dew Temp that is most important rather than the Temp. I try to keep 5F above the local Dew Temp whenever I have the Stellina outside. Pat Utah

I remember you mentioning your printed dew shield. Did you post it on thingiverse? I have a friend with a 3D printer so I might ask him to print it for me. It would also help with blocking the neighbors security light some.

[Alien Observatory]

I remember you mentioning your printed dew shield. Did you post it on thingiverse? I have a friend with a 3D printer so I might ask him to print it for me. It would also help with blocking the neighbors security light some.

I used this one...  Pat Utah

 

https://www.thingive...m/thing:4678118

[nwcs]

I had a few more nights to play with the Stellina. Basically, every night I've had an opportunity. It sure is great to be able to do this so easily. I pointed to the double cluster in Perseus last night and saw that it was doing 8 second subs instead of the normal 10 seconds. So that was a bit of a first to see. I wonder if they change the gain with certain targets as well? In any case, I continue to enjoy both processing the fits but also the jpegs. My wife enjoys seeing them as well. This is the double cluster provided by Stellina with no modification except for making it smaller for the forum.

 

[Larry Hansen]

I had a few more nights to play with the Stellina. Basically, every night I've had an opportunity. It sure is great to be able to do this so easily. I pointed to the double cluster in Perseus last night and saw that it was doing 8 second subs instead of the normal 10 seconds. So that was a bit of a first to see. I wonder if they change the gain with certain targets as well? In any case, I continue to enjoy both processing the fits but also the jpegs. My wife enjoys seeing them as well. This is the double cluster provided by Stellina with no modification except for making it smaller for the forum.

 

IMG_0316.jpeg

    I noticed the 8 second exposure when I captured it too.  So far all of the other targets have been 10 seconds.  Of course I have quite a few more to do.  I may try it in expert mode at 10 seconds just to see what the difference is.  However, I am sure Vaonis changed it to 8 seconds for a reason.

[nwcs]

    I noticed the 8 second exposure when I captured it too.  So far all of the other targets have been 10 seconds.  Of course I have quite a few more to do.  I may try it in expert mode at 10 seconds just to see what the difference is.  However, I am sure Vaonis changed it to 8 seconds for a reason.

My guess is to reduce the overall saturation of the stars as they are bright enough? I haven't looked yet but I wonder if there is some useful diagnostics in the json files saved with the raw files. Maybe it'll report the gain used, etc. Might help with appropriate dark frames.

[CptNautilus]

I haven't looked yet but I wonder if there is some useful diagnostics in the json files saved with the raw files. Maybe it'll report the gain used, etc. Might help with appropriate dark frames.

  There is everything (and more) in the JSON files. Also in the header of the FITS you'll find gain and exposure. There are some metadata in the EXIF of the JPEG too.

[nwcs]

There is everything (and more) in the JSON files. Also in the header of the FITS you'll find gain and exposure. There are some metadata in the EXIF of the JPEG too.

Awesome! It’s a bit of a pain to match the temperature for the darks sometimes but that will help me figure out which darks I need.

Interestingly I was at 31F yesterday and tracking was fine but Stellina wouldn’t do darks. It would start and then it said there was a problem and it got stuck there. First time it’s happened.

Anyway, my wife keeps saying this is the best money we have spent on a hobby. It removed so much frustration and enabled me to enjoy the hobby again with all the constraints on my time/energy. Love it. Can’t wait to see the next update.

Speaking of updates, how often do they send newsletters? I put my address in last month but haven’t gotten anything yet and nothing in my spam folder. But it’s just as likely they haven’t emailed anything either.

[mdiastro]

Just seen the new update. I wonder what changes and/or improvements have been made. Will try it out tonight.

[CptNautilus]

Anyway, my wife keeps saying this is the best money we have spent on a hobby. It removed so much frustration and enabled me to enjoy the hobby again with all the constraints on my time/energy. Love it. Can’t wait to see the next update.

Speaking of updates, how often do they send newsletters? I put my address in last month but haven’t gotten anything yet and nothing in my spam folder. But it’s just as likely they haven’t emailed anything either.

  Yes, if Stellina is a toy, it's the best toy I have ever bought!

 

  As about a newsletter, I have just received a new one (in French, maybe the English one will come later?). It announces an update of Singularity. No upgrade of the firmware though. They say it's mostly about fixing bugs and improving stability.

[Alien Observatory]

Cold and Clear last evening.  Tried something out of my comfort level, IC1613,  a Dwarf Irregular Galaxy.  Results were very poor, I will need a dark site to image this one.  250 Frames, 10 seconds. Pat Utah

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Edited by Alien Observatory, 25 November 2021 - 02:48 PM.

[Alien Observatory]

Onto M1 that I last imaged in 2014 using a CPC 11 / 0.63X.  Looks promising, may try Bin 1 Mode (Hi Resolution) next time out.  250 frames, 10 seconds.  Pat Utah

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Edited by Alien Observatory, 25 November 2021 - 09:32 PM.

[Alien Observatory]

And a finish with M42, the earliest winter time capture I have made, with M42 just barely above the trees.  Looked Good at 80 seconds (8 frames) and onto 15 minutes.  This one deserves a Hi Resolution image next time out   Pat Utah

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[Larry Hansen]

And a finish with M42, the earliest winter time capture I have made, with M42 just barely above the trees.  Looked Good at 80 seconds (8 frames) and onto 15 minutes.  This one deserves a Hi Resolution image next time out   Pat Utah

    Looks good.  Looking forward to doing this myself.  It needs to be later in the season for me.  I'm not staying up as late as I used to.  Being 72 years old is catching up to me. lol.

[Larry Hansen]

    Last night was clear and cool so I did a high res capture of  M33 at a one hour exposure, 360 10 second frames.  I also did a 30 minute high res capture.  The one hour was slightly better so I am posting it.  It has been cropped by quite a bit to get below the size limit for EAA.

 

     Also I just ordered a new tablet with a 12/4" OLED display to use with the Stelina.   My old tablet was from 2016 and not all that great.  This will be kind of like moving from 1 1.4" eyepieces to 2" eyepieces.

 

 

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[Alien Observatory]

    Looks good.  Looking forward to doing this myself.  It needs to be later in the season for me.  I'm not staying up as late as I used to.  Being 72 years old is catching up to me. lol.

Yes I can relate to this, being 72 years old this year.  The worst part is, as Ray Bradbury described when growing older, is that some pages of the Dictionary have disappeared leaving one to express themselves with fewer words to describe what you are seeing or thinking.  Given a few minutes of reflection and deep thinking an Edit or two are forthcoming and the words are then almost just right.  Pat Utah

Edited by Alien Observatory, 26 November 2021 - 09:56 PM.

[Alien Observatory]

An extra benefit from changing over to Battery Powered lawn care is the 40V Battery Pack's are useable with a Portable 300 watt Inverter.  Now my WIFI Extender for the Stellina is portable and can be set anywhere without Power outlets or extension cords.  An overkill for the power needed, but it shouldl be helpful if I am able to do Outreach Events next year.  Pat Utah

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Edited by Alien Observatory, 28 November 2021 - 08:18 PM.