TrevorW
03-02-2010, 11:09 AM
I get home from work around 4:45 pm and think it’s been clear all day so I’ll set the scope up and do some imaging tonight. On my last two sessions cloud that formed after a day of clear skies had ruined any chance of imaging and I’d spent my time getting everything working and tested after loading all the required software on my new laptop. I’d even reinstalled DSLR Focus on the old laptop running under XP and that was working.
As I started to set up all the gear around 5:30pm there was a slight breeze blowing and still no clouds and then as if out of nowhere came these high wispy sparse clouds, me thinks no they don’t look like they will get any worse but then the wind starts picking up. Fortunately it wasn’t from the east, which can howl through our place at 40-50 knots on hot summer nights although it was quite cool last night and aprt from the breeze indicated it would be a fine night for imaging.
After plugging everything in I thought before it got too dark I’d test everything to make sure it was working. I’d set up one laptop to do PHD and Stellarium scope and the old one for DSLR Focus. I know why not use just the one laptop, well if you been following a previous thread I could not after trying all options get DSLR Focus to work under Win 7 and it’s no longer supported. I did try using Maxim even got it working but being a simple guy I like simple things and DSLR Focus is so simple to use I’d gotten use too it.
Powered up Stellarium scope and this is where the problem started. Computers can drive a simple man insane. I’d tested it only on Sunday night and everything was working fine but now it just would not communicate with the mount.
Well the wind starts getting stronger about 15 knots by 8:30-9:00 and I’d spent the last hour trying everything to get Stellarium scope to work. Tried different comm. ports un installed reinstalled new version of scope reinstalled old version, reinstalled Stellarium etc etc and still would not work.
So I get the scope aligned on 47 Tuc and start taking some unguided images while I think my way through the Stallarium problem. What have I done in the last week that may have caused a problem? Only thing I can think of was is that installed a Vista version of the USB-Serial driver in a last ditch attempt to get DSLR focus working.
So I uninstalled that driver, all the Ascom files, Stellarium scope etc then reinstalled them in the correct order with a Win XP driver and guess what it worked, go figure. Now it’s about 10:00 the wind has settled a bit, there was a few sparse clouds about but the sky was relatively clear so I align on the Eight Burst nebula and start an hours worth of imaging and then capturing some darks. By the time I’d finished 12:00 the wind had died away completely and the sky was crystal clear, drats work tomorrow have to be up by 6:00 so I pack up for the night and hit the sack by 12:30am.
On a side note once it got dark enough to focus the wind just made the FMHW jump all over the place and watching PHD tracking was a bit jerky let’s hope I got something for my effort and I still didn’t get to do a proper polar alignment.
:D
As I started to set up all the gear around 5:30pm there was a slight breeze blowing and still no clouds and then as if out of nowhere came these high wispy sparse clouds, me thinks no they don’t look like they will get any worse but then the wind starts picking up. Fortunately it wasn’t from the east, which can howl through our place at 40-50 knots on hot summer nights although it was quite cool last night and aprt from the breeze indicated it would be a fine night for imaging.
After plugging everything in I thought before it got too dark I’d test everything to make sure it was working. I’d set up one laptop to do PHD and Stellarium scope and the old one for DSLR Focus. I know why not use just the one laptop, well if you been following a previous thread I could not after trying all options get DSLR Focus to work under Win 7 and it’s no longer supported. I did try using Maxim even got it working but being a simple guy I like simple things and DSLR Focus is so simple to use I’d gotten use too it.
Powered up Stellarium scope and this is where the problem started. Computers can drive a simple man insane. I’d tested it only on Sunday night and everything was working fine but now it just would not communicate with the mount.
Well the wind starts getting stronger about 15 knots by 8:30-9:00 and I’d spent the last hour trying everything to get Stellarium scope to work. Tried different comm. ports un installed reinstalled new version of scope reinstalled old version, reinstalled Stellarium etc etc and still would not work.
So I get the scope aligned on 47 Tuc and start taking some unguided images while I think my way through the Stallarium problem. What have I done in the last week that may have caused a problem? Only thing I can think of was is that installed a Vista version of the USB-Serial driver in a last ditch attempt to get DSLR focus working.
So I uninstalled that driver, all the Ascom files, Stellarium scope etc then reinstalled them in the correct order with a Win XP driver and guess what it worked, go figure. Now it’s about 10:00 the wind has settled a bit, there was a few sparse clouds about but the sky was relatively clear so I align on the Eight Burst nebula and start an hours worth of imaging and then capturing some darks. By the time I’d finished 12:00 the wind had died away completely and the sky was crystal clear, drats work tomorrow have to be up by 6:00 so I pack up for the night and hit the sack by 12:30am.
On a side note once it got dark enough to focus the wind just made the FMHW jump all over the place and watching PHD tracking was a bit jerky let’s hope I got something for my effort and I still didn’t get to do a proper polar alignment.
:D