I've had a very successful night fiddling with Maxim DL.
After reading some threads here and researching on the internet, I discovered that plate-solving with Maxim wasn't all that hard after all.
Tonight I have managed to do the following:
Check polar alignment with PHD
Setup Guiding in Maxim
Setup telescope connection via ASCOM to Maxim
Setup Telescope parameters in Maxim
Setup Guide Star Catalogue in Maxim
Performed plate solving on images
Synced Telescope to plate solved images
I thought I had it licked - this isn't all that hard after all...
Everything was going swimingly until I tried to take a long exposure with my camera - I couldn't get anything longer than a 30sec exposure out of my camera... I though that drivers for the Shoestring DSUSB had been corrupted by all of the new drivers I had loaded tonight. I restarted the computer, pulled out every bit of gear that had a new driver and it still didn't work. ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH.
Then I checked the DSUSB box - might help if I plugged the shutter release cable into both the camera AND the DSUSB box...
All is working now.
I have just taken my first exposure of the Horsehead. Nothing flash under light polluted Brisbane skies - but I'm happy Astronomer.
I shall go to bed with a sense of achievement tonight. Now if we can just get rid of this delightful La Nina!
Cheers
DT
P.S. The cat just got freaked out by the possum walking along the fence - bigger than him! About as freaked as he was the other morning when two ducks were sitting beside our pool - they were bigger than him too.
Well the clouds have now rolled in, so I'm off to bed. They were quite thoughtful during the evening and skirted around Orion for the majority of the time, so my fiddling wasn't interrupted too much.
I had my first play with mosaics last night (with more than a few frames). Don't know if it worked yet mind you but had fun. Tonight did my first run of auto skyflats.
If you can't get something to work in your backyard when the moon is out, when can you!
Got a chance to try out a focal reducer and light pollution filter that have been sitting in my box for over a year, as well as consolidating on last nights achievements. Also took some varying length exposures of M42 to have a fiddle with merging exposures.
My other achievement was test 12volt power supplies for everything so that I can be prepared for some really dark skies in off grid locations or just avoid the dramas at Astrofest.
