I've had people with Macs use it. As I say, get Anaconda for Mac and then you can run all kinds of python programs, such as this one. It's also been used by Southern Hemisphere people.
Themos Tsikas
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
I'm happy to give this a go, if it's mac compatible.
I can see the Celestial Pole region from where I usually set up.
I can attach a camera to my mount and bring image files to my laptop.
I can freely rotate the RA axis on my EQ6
I have internet connectivity
I don't have Python, is it also mac compatible?
Attached is a screenshot of my current PA, as seen through my mount, along with a phd graph.
Can attest to the fact the your PPA works perfectly for me since when you posted here and I went to Stargazers to get some help from you initially about setting it up and all.
Agree that it does what you designed it for and helped me to polar align my EQ6 when out mobile and away from obsy. Using Win7 Pro 64bit & EOS 40D with a 100mm macro as the lens.
Cheers and once again thanks for the open-source PPA util mate.
Hi Themos,
No luck so far.. I couldn't make two versions of python coexist, so I gave up for now..
Could you try to adjust your code for the latest versions of python?
I assume you mean freeware and not public domain. You might consider using the GPL licensing to protect yourself from an intellectual property standpoint. If you make it public domain, anyone can modify it without recognizing the original works and sell it regardless.
I took a look at the source, while you have the authour listed, you really need to include a copyright notice and make yourself the copyright holder.
I suggest the following...
Code:
Created on Sun Oct 12 22:40:05 2014
Copyright 2016 - Themos Tsikas, Jack Richmond
All right reserved
If you decide to GPL it, bear in mind that people can still modify it, but must include the original source and make reference to the original authours / copyright holders.
The other thing it does is protect you in the way of warranties. If your program screws something up, you will not be held liable. The bottom of the page explains how to include the license into your software.
Look for "How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs"
OIC!
Standard Disclaimer. I am not a lawyer, my advice is worth exact what you are paying me... in this case, zero.
Hi Themos,
No luck so far.. I couldn't make two versions of python coexist, so I gave up for now..
Could you try to adjust your code for the latest versions of python?
That's a shame, I thought it was possible. I am not sure when I might get round to investing the time necessary to port it to python3.
Just wanted to say thanks. After installing Python via Anaconda all is working great (tried it within cygwin with no luck).
I have an iOptron iEQ45 mount with the usual ALT and AZ adjustment screws and nuts. I wrote a little python script to tell me how many turns to each adjustment screw I 'should' apply to optimise the polar alignment (this requires a few physical parameters from the mount, such a thread pitch, radius of actuation etc).
After PPA gives the 'Move' details, I put these into my little script and it tells me which knob to turn and by how much. I thought I added (or incorporate) it to your program, but your python skills are well above mine so I will leave that for another day.
Attached is a screenshot after three iterations with the suggested turns (did some PA improvements after a few days).
My polar alignment routine is greatly simplified and improved, thanks heaps.
Hello Bram, that's good to know. I am a bit worried by the quality of the astrometry solve though, the stars are not centred in their circles, or at least they don't seem to be. Can you share your actual images, please?
Themos
Quote:
Originally Posted by torsion
Hi Themos,
...
Attached is a screenshot after three iterations with the suggested turns (did some PA improvements after a few days).
My polar alignment routine is greatly simplified and improved, thanks heaps.
Hello, I submitted one of your images to nova.astrometry.net and I see this:
Center (RA, Dec)50.025, -85.317)
Center (RA, hms):03h 20m 06.087s
Center (Dec, dms):-85° 19' 02.717"
Size:26.7 x 17.8 deg
Radius:16.071 deg
Pixel scale:47 arcsec/pixel
I think that's too wide an image, frankly. The more sky you include, the harder it is to match stars as optical distortion kicks in. I would try using a different optical system with less than half that scale, that is, under 20 arcsec/pixel and I would be more comfortable with something under 10. About 3 fingers of sky should be enough.
This is my (our) only lens for our canon, which piggybacks on my telescope to do wide field shots. Always wanted to get a longer focal length less but haven't manage to justify
Maybe I will see to do a drift align and see how far off the alignment is, given the wide field of view.
Hi Themos. This looks like a neat utility. But I wonder if you had a list of the Python libraries it requires? I have worked out the following, by debugging, but I might not have caught them all: numpy, scipy, astropy, ujson, pillow (PIL), image
Last edited by Amaranthus; 28-12-2017 at 09:58 PM.
Themis, your method for doing this is kind of old-tech.
I’m able to connect my iPhone via wifi directly to my camera, which provides full remote control including live view, taking the shot and transferring the image to the iPhone. There is also an api for iOS developers.
Seems to me it would be far simpler to write an iOS app that does it all in the phone or iPad.