[Paul Haese]

I have been automating my observatory for what seems like forever to me. It began with getting my PME several years ago and as many of you know I had some trouble with the RA worm being replaced and not installed properly. That was sorted some time ago.

So since then I have worked towards full automation and I can say it has been a step by step approach and for good reason. There is a lot to learn and understand. Software has its own issues and approaches to the idea of automation.

First thing I tackled was camera and guiding: result being getting guided images. Sounds pretty simple but that meant I had to learn Tpoint, AAG Tpoint Mapper and PinPoint as well as Maxim. I look at pointing first. PME's need good pointing to work well and point at near 10 arc seconds even with big scopes. To do that you need to use Tpoint, AAG Tpoint mapper and pinpoint. Each of these pieces of software work in concert with your camera software to give accurate points in the centre of the frame. Each point is recorded in a Tpoint model and those points are used to map out your mounts defects. With enough points you get great pointing. I recommend 150 points as a minimum for consistent pointing night after night. More if you can afford the time. Tpoint was a bit daunting work out at first but once I read the manual for about the 10th time is all started to make sense. AAG Tpoint mapper is easy to use and freeware. Pinpoint (the full version) costs money but is very good at plate solving. Using other programs I had trouble with plate solving, which was very frustrating. Using the above I immediate results with plate solving. Make sure you get mapping and plate solving right first as these will come in handy later.

With guiding, you need consistent reliable results. Round stars is the order of the day and that is what you should be aiming for every time you image. Take the time to working out the guiding parameters. It pays to know what is going on even if that is a rudimentary idea. Guiding will make and break your images every time. I was using PHD for a long period of time and was reluctant to move past it, but eventually I did move onward and I found that MaximDL was so much better at doing things and calibrated so easily compared to PHD. The guide parameters are much more thorough than PHD, which can be quite a mystery much of the time, but some simple experimentation can produce great results. For the most part though the default settings work well.

Once you get past these issues your should move onto automated focusing. I bought the gear for doing this months and months ago and it was only relatively recently that I got on top of sorting this out. In the end it was so easy I wondered why I had not done this earlier. For me I am using a Robofocus on my TSA and Feather touch auto focus on my RC12. Each uses Focusmax to autofocus. Focusmax take images at incremental steps and measure the diameter of the star to determine where the best focus lies. You need to take what are called V curves first but the first light wizard is very good. Make sure you go to focusmax and download the video tutorials. The settings are critical but the videos make it really easy. Having Pinpoint working here is great. I was impressed watching Acquirestar in action. Basically it takes an image of where you are imaging, then plate solves that and then sends the scope to the meridian to focus. Once focus is acquired the scope is sent back the previous plate solved image and then it places the mount back exactly in the same position. Very clever stuff and very simple to get going.

My next issue was working on meridian flips. I am using a rotator made by optec. These are simple in design but you need to get the software going to make the units work. Make sure you download the CDM file for the USB to serial. Without it the command cable will not work.

Now I am finally up to the point of command automation software. I hunted around a bit and looked up quite a few command programs and finally settled on CCD autopilot pro. Pretty much all the others do the same thing but I found I really like the way CCDautopilot works. Sorted most of the teething problems this week and now imaging a target, flipped the meridian and continues onward with data collection. There is still plenty to learn about it and I am sure will be a great asset to my imaging in the years to come.

So that's it so far. Next roof automation and cloud sensors. After that reserve power in case the power goes out and then internet control. In 5 months or so I hope to have it all sorted and imaging any time I like, no matter where I am. I will get back about each of the next steps and let you guys know the issues that I had to sort. The main thing with this is to remember to get imaging practice along the way. It teaches you more about things than just reading. You conquer each step along the way by doing this.

Feel free to ask me any questions and I hope I can answer those for you.