SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Oy!
One of those nights. Just fraught with aggravating problems.
But before the garbage, it started off kinda nice.

My nemesis Nebula was in a good spot for me to play. So I locked on with good tracking and let er roll.

The good ol G3 worked out for me after I noticed the DSLR was draining it's dual batteries pretty fast trying to run with the digiCamControl program. And I quickly saw where I am not ready for it yet. And the G3 runs on a power supply and AC power that never goes dead. ;)
So I put my hardware back on and did a quick para-focus of the eyepiece and camera.
Then found myself among the Stars....

A little while later things went arye, and I found myself with a dead Laptop. It was shut down and when I restarted it, it took forever to install some damned update.
My second alignment was sucky and I finally just gave up and pulled the equipment in for the night.
It felt colder than a Witches bust in a brass bra.

In looking at my images, I see where the lines become more prominent as the exposure time increases.
At first, the longer exposures seemed better. But I think in the end, I like the 150s the best.
These are untouched except for exporting them as jpg's. The G3's cooling was set for 1 degree C.

150s Dumbbell

(Download)

250s Dumbbell

(Download)

350s Dumbbell

(Download)

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Pretty darn good for an old blind man.
:twisted:
Nice shots Sonny.
:thumbup:

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

Personally I like parts of all three. For the core the 150, 250 for the red ring and for the green the 350 seems to show the best detail. All are great captures, well done.

As to your issues, I always run my DSLR off of AC power, I noticed that when using batteries there was added noise probably from the heat of the battery being in constant use. The issue with your laptop, I always set my updates to download but to allow me to decide when to update. As to your second alignment, as long as you did not move the mount you should have just selected the option of last alignment.

If this hobby was easy and not fraught with problems everyone would do it.
Matthew

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Best cheese of the night. :lol:
Mostly, I have fun watching PHD track, Stellarium showing me where I could go, and where I can't, and being warm and able to do other things while the boring exposure is being taken.
Good thing I am self entertaining... :roll:

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I agree, each has attributes. Even the 350s has the light pollution creeping in. And why I decided to move on at that point. It convinced me I have a lot to learn.
And yes, this facet of Photography (Or taking pikturds in my case) is extremely challenging, but greatly rewarding.
I love the challenge in the long run. ;)

One majorly monumental dumbbell move on my part was trying to find stars with the DSLR when it was grossly out of focus. :-o :shock:
I realized what a stupid thing I had done when I was changing back to the G3 and Imaging mirror box. But the DSLR really drops fast when trying to do a Live View with the camera program. (And I do run dual batteries) (And yes, I ordered the AC power supply stuff. That will also make my time lapse run all night without me changing batteries.)
I'll try again, and I'll get it. But I was shiverin me timbers out there. And refusing to put on the Michelin Man clothes at this stage of the winter. :-(

Yeah, great that Windoze poked an update out there at such a great time. I will change that preference.
In my defense, I chose auto so the computers can stay updated on their own. It's worked well for me for decades now. But it was set for the wee-hours normally.
My laptop is very lucky I didn't rip my wires out of it and throw it over the back wall into the concrete drainage channel.
The thought crossed my mind.... :evil:
There were 22 updates shoved through the pipe last night! I may have to go back to manual operations with these dumb upgrades. No wonder it took forever.
I changed it to remind me when it needs a restart. In this case, I DO NOT need then deciding if my computer is "idle".

I probably could have just used the previous alignment. But I wasn't sure if it may have been corrupted by the artificial crash of Windoze.
When using the NexRemote program, I have been doing my alignment with the virtual control, VS: the physical control.
Reason being, the virtual control is what I will be using remotely. Plus it is so cool to not be "Jack-in-the-boxing" between the laptop and the mount. Although I do anyway to an extent.
I do do my adjustments at the mount and use the telescope to center the star. But accept the alignment at the computer.
The physical control I typically have set to "Utilities - home position - go-to" and that is always centered on Polaris.

I was experimenting with my second alignment. The odd little man in the computer sez to align the target (star) in the finder scope. So I was using my Star Shooter Autoguider pictures (at .5 second intervals) and adjusting to the center of the bullseye PHD supplies.
Of course, that must be exactly on a gnats ass for correct aim with the MOT. Both must be parafocal/paraaimed. (< new word) (MOT=Main Optical Tube)
It warrants more experimentation and adjustment. Think of it as a rifle and a scope. The scope gets adjusted to the barrels point of aim/impact. ;)
Now, remember back when I was starting out and wanted Off-Axis guiding? Here is a place where the guide camera would have been able to "see" the same picture as the MOT, in theory.
That never worked out, so I'm back to getting an off-axis guide scope aimed at the center point the main telescope is centered on. If I succeed, then I could align remotely.
Or... maybe aim with the G3 and main tube.
Theoretically...
Love the challenges. :twisted:

Then there is the Serial Port to USB2, and Windoze 7 level programming from the suppliers; in a USB3 world running Windoze 10.
Prime example: Celestron hasn't even gotten their software to realize there are newer mounts like the AVX.
The NexRemote has to be programmed to Advanced GT...
And laptops that really need a bank of USB ports, not just 2.

It's not easy to sit on the razors edge without splitting butt hairs.

OK, time to go play.... :lol:

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

Good job Sonny. I like the 150's the best too. It's the most realistic.
Interesting your battery went low so fast. Maybe you had the Live View on???
I just Focus in LV and the turn it off with the camera on.
My DSLR battery lasted a full night and still had a 1/2 charge left.
digiCamControl is pretty easy with just a little practice during the day.
I have not tried the PHD Guiding in there yet under Plug-ins/Tools/PHD Guiding.
If anyone knows something about it please let me know???
Craig

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I usually shoot in live view to keep the mirror locked up. It helps eliminate one source of vibration. It's hard on some of my older batteries but my new ones usually last a few hours of shooting and apeing.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thanks Craig! I felt the 250s and 350s were blown out from overexposure, ultimately.

As far as the DSLR...
Mostly I was trying to figure out the program, and to see anything...
The failure was on my part, as I needed about 650mm of back focus (based on tree pictures), and I had near nothing.
I discovered that as I was removing my Nikon to put the other camera gear back on the Telescope. :oops: :-P
And I was operating with a short wire from the camera to the computer. So I wouldn't have wanted to leave it alone in the dark.
I will have a USB cable for it tomorrow, and a battery eliminator (AC power supply) by Saturday.

I got a real focusing mask today. But it's too late to bother dragging everything out to play tonight. So I'll set up for tomorrow night instead.

Lots of Baby steps.... ;)

Some Youtube stuff on digiCamControl...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=digicamcontrol+nikon

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

A better way to remove the mirror flap shake is to put a 3 second delay in your exposure settings.

A). It removes the shake of the mirror flipping up.
B) it eliminates a great volume of noise that is created by the heating up of the sensor due to the constant reading of the sensor in live view.

gekko11 Loc: Las Cruces NM

I like all three of them ,,, damn good Sonny, the 150s is the one I prefer as the colors of the nebula come through a bit more .
Tracking seems spot on :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

It seems that the commercial astro world is severely lagging behind here. Just a few days ago, I saw an ad for a new astro-camera, which comes with an RS232 port for control. I haven't seen a computer with RS232 in many years! That all went the way of the dinosaurs once USB came on the scene...

Oknoder Loc: Western North Dakota

RS232 still prevails on the account of it isn't as limited as USB in cable length. I can control my mount through a db9 connection up to around 250' before signal drop-off, whereas with USB2/3 at 20' signal degradation is prevalent. Not sure on USB3.1 (type c) or thunderbolts restrictions are but at the moment the cables alone are cost preventative. Most people use a desktop if using an observatory, I wanted a laptop and had to find one with both a db9 and a express card slot for an added FireWire800 card, pickens were slim indeed.

I'm more amazed WIFI/ Bluetooth isn't more prevalent.
Matthew

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thank You.
I'm learning. I think I would like to try bouncing around that 150 second mark to see what I might get.
Conditions are always a variable, but I think I'd like to try fine tuning around that mark. ;)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Oh absolutely Phil. But then, I can understand their plight.
The demand for Astrophotography gear probably isn't anywhere near the clamber for cameras and cell phones.
Still, we are stuck with adaptacators and outdated connectors.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Absolutely, Matthew.
In fact, I would have liked to have gotten a 15 foot USB A-male to A-female for my DSLR mini USB cord.
But heeded the warning about 16 feet being a maximum for the task. So I got a 10 foot cable.

I am liking the WiFi with the laptop outside, and the desk computer inside, though.
The latest Windoze 10 updating has me a bit miffed though. Things ain't what they use to be. Still detuning it.

One of my discussions with Celestron had them eluding to blue tooth being in the wings.
But being as they haven't yet recognized the AVX in their software tells me to not hold our breath for it. :hunf: