Hi Rob,
A couple of points to clarify and some thoughts for you.
Thank you very much,
Firstly, I am surprised that you mentioned at the outset that your new ASI astro camera was not working well on your Mac. The ASI cameras (and drivers) work natively on IOS and the Mac operating systems. My ASI385 works well in the Mac environment. I would try to resolve this early on as these cameras are miles more sensitive than DSLRs and will offer a greatly enhanced EAA experience. There are plenty of examples of people on Cloudy Nights getting spectacular results using large goto DOBS with a simple video feed to the screen without stacking, especially for the popular bright objects that most people want to observe at public events.
I did think it should be easy, but was put off when I couldn't work out how to do it in ASIStudio after reading this on the manufacturers website and reading similar comments around the forums. See the attache screen shot.
You keep coming back to looking for ways to manage the whole process in the Apple environment. If this is the case, then ignore the posts here that have suggested using SharpCap. It is by far the best software to deliver EAA,
but it only works in the Windows environment.
Thank you, yes, I've only yesterday been assured of that.
You need to be looking for solutions that will work on IOS/Mac operating systems. ZWO do provide simple, entry level software solutions you could use.
OK, great!
You question how to manage remote focusing. You will only be able to do this if you have an electronic focuser on your scope and a way of communicating with it. May I suggest that the simpler solution to start with is to manually focus your scope immediately after set up. You can do this at the scope by watching an out of focus star on your screen (enlarged by say 200%) and moving the focus in and out until you have minimised the size of the zoomed in star. This focus will be more than adequate for a public EAA viewing session.
Thank you, I was coming to the conclusion that this will have to be sufficient. And a focuser on the eyepiece seemed a no-brainer to me but nobody, until you, has advised that I'd need one!
This is how my portable EAA rig was set up initially for public EAA sessions that I am involved in down here in Hobart. This hopefully illustrates that you can keep it simple at the outset as other posts have advised.
Syncan driven mount - communications via WIFI dongle and SkySafari on iPhone.
ASI385 OSC.
Manual focus at outset as above
Quality powered USB extension cable from camera to macBook Pro eight meters away.
ASI Studio software that provides entry level image acquisition, live video feeds and live image stacking options. It is relatively simple software with enough flexibility to provide excellent EAA outcomes.
HDMI cable to large flat screen TV
Wow, that's exactly what I'm wanting to hear! That would do for me for now. The weak point is getting ASIStudio to 'live feed". I can't work it out but hopefully if I persist with web searching I'll find someone who can show me.
I have now upgraded to the following iteration of the above
Same synscan driven mount - communications via EQMOD cable back to my macBook Pro. I am using Stellarium for the planetarium and telescope control.
Electronic focuser on scope driven by software on macBook Pro
Same ASI385 camera with USB communications back to macBook Pro
Quality powered USB hub at scope and powered USB extension cable back to macBook Pro eight meters away.
SharpCap Pro running in WIN10 within a BootCamp partition on the macBook Pro.
I also wondered if I'd end up partitioning my Mac so I could run Windows alongside
I have moved to SharpCap to make advantage of all it's advanced features for EAA. However, you certainly don’t need to do this as I outlined above.
Yep, understood.
With a little planning you can arrive at a solution that does away with the long USB cable that I use and is perhaps more in line with your approach to finding a solution. Add a ZWO ASIAir and a ZWO EAF (electronic focuser) to your scope and you have the makings of a functioning WIFI enabled remote system with all the software functionality that you need to run a successful EAA session.
Yes, I agree and see it.
Let me know if I have not explained this well. Good luck.