Thanks man!
Yesterday I followed Celestron instructions to the letter:

1. Pointed the wedge towards the North with a compass
2. Performed an EQ North alignment (I used the two stars method)
3. Done a polar alignment adjusting the wedge instead of using the directional control
4. Re-done the EQ North alignment

At that point, I noticed that my StellarMate was acting out after an update - couldn't connect either with VNC or SSH. So I missed my chance to check how good my polar alignment was based on your instructions... 
I had spent 2 hours doing all alignments so I decided to take some pics anyway with the DSLR camera (this time with the light pollution filter). I pointed the scope at M81 - without any indication on the accuracy beside what Sky Guide on my phone was showing.

30 seconds at ISO400:
IMG-0056.jpg

30 seconds at ISO1600:
IMG-0057.jpg

I was very much out of focus, but I didn't notice on the spot. Looking at the glass half full, at least I have learnt how to do a polar alignment (hopefully it will become faster as I go), and I have taken a mental note to check that all the equipment is working after any update.
Now I also know that the laptop's battery won't last long enough if StellarMate doesn't work.



 

Read More...

Thanks for your answer - which gives me evidence of how much I have to learn.
I will repeat the operation, this time checking how far off my polar alignment is.

Read More...

Dear all,

I am still struggling to get a half-decent pic and I am positive I am missing something very obvious due to inexperience.
I have:

• Celestron NexStar 6SE
• Wedge
• Focal reducer f/6.3
• Canon EOS 2000D
• StellarMate

SkyAlign apparently doesn't support the wedge, so I used the "2 known starts" alignment.
The wedge is pointing towards North and set to 51 degrees as I am in London.

I pointed the scope to M 81, and it seems to be able to find it and track. When I take a pic with a 20-25 sec exposure I get this:
Second-Ever.jpg

When increasing the exposure, e.g. 60 secs:
First-Ever.jpg

Did I do something wrong in setting the wedge?

Read More...

Hey hey, still me... slowly getting the hang of it - but still very new to both astronomy and photography.

I am trying to understand what's the best way to put my DSLR camera (Canon EOS 2000D) into focus. At the moment I am using the telescope focus during the initial alignment to make sure the brightest stars I am using to align the telescope are in focus. Then, once Ekos is up and running I am trying the autofocus, but it keeps failing (saying it was unable to select a star automatically). In the Camera tab, if I take a pic with the same settings used for the focus (25", ISO1600), I can actually see a handful of bright stars - although slightly out of focus.

How do you make sure that the camera is focussing your target correctly?

Thanks!

Read More...

Dear all, 

I have Stellarmate OS on a RPi 4, connected to a NexStar 6SE and an ASI224MC, and I access both via VNC and the iOS app.
I am feeling a bit stupid as I cannot find how to focus the image on the camera. I take a preview pic and I can only see some blurry lights. Is there a "live" view of the camera that I can use to focus the image before taking a pic?

Read More...

Thanks, I think I found the issue. I thought the powered USB hub was doing his job, but I discovered (by chance) that if I unplug the camera, the GPS works fine. So I am changing the hub and will try again.

Read More...

Thanks. I finally solved the problem. My 6SE had lost alignment, and apparently the connection cannot be established without completing the initial alignment first.

Read More...

So I am hitting problem number 3 today.
I avoided the upgrade issue by simply not upgrading (after trying 3 times, I got tired or reflashing the SD card). I am waiting for a second GPS Dongle as the GPS problem might very well be a hardware issue.
Now, I finally launched my profile. I started with just the mount (NexStar to which a 6SE is attached): connection was successful, and it properly tracked the moon for 10 minutes. Then I added the ZWI driver for the ASI224 that I plugged instead of the eyepiece, and from that moment on, the NexStar stopped connecting. I restarted the RPi several times, restarted the controller, re-created the profile from scratch. The problem is always the same (see image). I am a bit at a loss.

D8-C6-AA11-C62-E-45-DF-B68-C-31988-E458-AE3.png

Read More...

Hi folks,

I have been trying to get StellarMate working for 3 nights now. I have parked for now the upgrade issue (if I upgrade 1.5.7 via StellarMate up, the OS won't load correctly after reboot) and am trying to get a GPS fix.
I have a VK-172 and I can see from dmesg and syslogs that the dongle is recognised and bootstrapped correctly. However, after many hours there is still no fix.
B7-CAAD5-A-BC1-E-4226-A42-F-FFEEF0-CEAA86.png

I am looking for a way to test the dongle with my Mac, but meanwhile, is there anything that I should be checking on the RPi?

Thanks!

Read More...

Thanks, very good to know. By driver not being mature, do you mean that the quality is not as good as the hardware could support? Or that it's unstable? Or...?

Thanks!

Read More...

 Dear all,

I have been reading a few articles and posts, and I think I got a decent idea of how to get started. I'd really appreciate it if you could help me validate my initial plan. I am new to astronomy, and I trust experts will immediately spot any rookie mistake.

<strong>Objective</strong>
My 6yo would love to see Saturn up close. I based my research on the specs needed to distinguish Saturn's rings and moons. The plan is to start with that to then dive into astronomy together with my son. Since I am into RPis, and the budget is modest, I would like to make it also a fun, cheap project, adding auto-tracking and astrophotography to the mix.

<strong>Hardware</strong>
I am eyeing a Celestron NexStar 102 SLT (<£350). I have been advised on a minimum of 3" and 50x, and that model seems to be better. I guess I'll also need an RPi 4 2GB or superior, an RPi HD camera, a 1.25-inch C-mount adapter. Optionally, a touch-screen. I am still trying to understand if there is a mount for the RPi or better off with long cables.

<strong>Software</strong>
Astroberry or Stellarmate (I am assuming that besides the premium support, they both offer tracking and compatibility with HD camera). I am still unclear how the GPS would work.

How does it sound? Missing anything?

Read More...