Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Aussie Pete
This imaging option will be for future young users at schools and 'Astronomy Lite' casuals.. I know you guys are nothing like non-astronomers but have some fun...though with your critical eyes and experience you can tell us if its working.
Keep those outright beginners your test piloting for in mind though.
|
Doing my best to keep these guidelines for this kid of astro-imaging in mind.... and I need to say "Thank You very much" for allowing me to be a part of this experience, I have enjoyed it very much, and I hope my feedback turns out to be of value to you.
I am a complete astro-imaging newbie, the most I've done is try go hold my camera somewhere near the focuser of my dob and take afocal pics - and of 20-30 attempts at photographing the moon there's maybe 3 I'd actually show people. Enough said about my background (or distinct lack of it!)
First off the control centre seems very complete, rather than approach it as a "prepared" user I took the "they ain't gonna read all the paperwork stuff" route instead to best simulate what I felt many future users may do.
I do have to say that my belief has always been that well written software should be pretty intuitive, ie just enough options and controls to do the job, not so many as to become cumbersome or confusing, and I have to say that I think you guys have pretty much got this right.
(With some qualifications on this down below).
The software layout WAS easy to come to grips with and I had no problem actually taking images. I had already committed and the first image was underway when it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the weather info again, so with thoughts of imaging clouds in mind I was pleased to see a clear image resulted.
Feedback point: As much as the "1-2-3-4" step box works well maybe there should be an extra step or 2, one of those being "Remember to check the cloud/weather page before taking control / committing to a target".
Feedback point: This did raise another query I had at this point - there's 3 big visible circles that you can click on to "Release Observatory", "Abort Script" and "Control Observatory", however as I found out along the way for this kind of image selection it wasn't necessary to do "Control.." to take a pic, and in fact having done so I was using up my (free
) points while I waited for the target list to update, and then read and select a target. A paying user may find that irritating, and while again admitting I didn't read the Wiki or any other "instructions" in preparation for this I felt that perhaps there could have been clearer indication that target selection ONLY was required.
Putting that aside, the system really was very easy to use, and it really is a tribute to those who have designed and set it up. I have been to astro gatherings and seen imagers have enormous problems simply setting up their polar alignment and then sometimes having problems with making every single bit of hardware interface correctly along the way. This set up is SO SIMPLE and SO EASY to produce an image in under 15 minutes from go to "Whoa, it's in my inbox" it's amazing.
I found it interesting to watch the script process running each and every time, seeing the various steps taken which to be honest I would never have guessed that some of those steps existed ("flushing auto-guider" for instance).
Now, having said it was SO easy to actually capture an image, what I personally found was that of the 4 images I squeezed out of my 60 points (with 1 point to spare) although the image quality was, I thought, amazing (ie 600 seconds minutes exposure = 2.5 ° tracking, all stars pinpoint round, etc) I really was a bit disappointed with the actual CONTENT of some of my images. I'll explain why image by image.....