Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuts
Hi,
Still no luck 
(1) With CCDSoft/Maxim DL depending on the measurement time in step 2 of the wizard I get star trails but when i click on the start and end it says the value is too small and not in range max to min. The value is around 0.03.
I ignored this step and looked up arcsec/pixel for my TV85/0.8 reducer/SBIG 2000 and got 3.2 arcsec/pixel which i entered. |
How long is the star trail exposures Paul? Only 0.03 trail. You sure you turned off the mount tracking. I typically place the mount into terrestrial mode (or what ever is off). You may need a 20 to 30 sec exposure to get a long enough trail.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuts
I am not sure of the camera angle to enter. With the scope in the home position and the camera plugged in straight up and down, what should the angle be? Then will this angle change when i slew to the meridian or does it just mean the angle of the camera when i am trying to polar align?
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Once you get the length of trail, the camera angle will also be calculated for you. Its important to get this right. If you are still having problems, you can use the MaximDL telescope control window to calculate the angle for you (a screenshot is provided below).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuts
(2) No matter what I do CCDSoft cannot seem to find a star for tracking. Note that there is no convert to mono option for CCDSoft. Maxim DL can find a star easily. However, sometimes I get a good pinpoint image when I watch the maxim dl preview while tracking, and sometimes it goes all grainy. It does not seem to matter if i select convert to mono and pick LISSAA or high quality RRGB, sometimes grainy, sometimes sharp.
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Yes, sorry forget that you needed MaximDL for Pempro to convert the image to mono. How is the auto dark subtraction - is it working ok?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuts
(3) Pressing on, at least Maxim DL does track, (note I dont have the autoguider cable) so assume EQDIR is doing the tracking, etc. The adjustments I get are all over the place and I am reasonably close to the pole. When I say reasonably close, maybe a few degrees and close enough to get a reasonable alignment visually in 30 minutes. For example it says 100 arcminutes west, then i adjust and it might then say 200 arcminutes west or even east and then back to west again.
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Strange. I'm assuming your adjustments aren't that large! I'd say its down the initial set up of the wizard. You need to get the star trails sorted.
Finally, have you swapped chips to validate the results? In MaximDL (and probably CCDSoft) you can change your imaging chip to become the guide chip. As such your guide chip becomes the imaging chip. Make sure you remember to change them back! (see second attachment).