BackyardEOS ~ A new software for Canon DSLR

[guyroch]

BackyardEOS 2.0.3 ready for download

http://www.backyardeos.com/download.aspx

Planetary crash creating the AVI file is fixed.

The AVI file size limit of 2 GIG is no longer an issue. A planetary recording will result in a single AVI file regardless of its size.

Do not be alarmed if it takes a few minutes for the AVI to show up in your download folder. Here's the reason why…

Once a planetary recording is complete BackyardEOS will convert the AVI to
ensure it can be read by Registax (or other processing tool) without requiring any additional conversion. You will note a notification icon appearing in Windows notification area in the lower right corner of your screen; if you click on the notification icon you will witness the conversion progress. This process will queue the conversions should you start another planetary recording before the first is completely converted to ensure your computer does not suffer from performance degradation.

The conversion is optional and a setting "AVI conversion" is available in the
Setting window for those who do not need or want BackyardEOS to convert the AVI for you. If you choose not to have BackyardEOS convert the file for you on the fly you can always convert it at a later time using VirtualDub.

Thank you for your help and patience.

Guylain

[White Rabbit]

Hi Guylain.

Is it possible to make beos dither whilst the camera is taking darks? I use icnr as I yields better results and normally shoot 5min subs, 10 mins per sub inc icnr, then I have to dither adding more time to each sub. It would be great if the dithering could take place during dark subtraction as I could afford to be a little more aggressive with the dithering run as the settle down time could be longer.

Thanks

[guyroch]

Originally Posted by White Rabbit

Hi Guylain.

Is it possible to make beos dither whilst the camera is taking darks? I use icnr as I yields better results and normally shoot 5min subs, 10 mins per sub inc icnr, then I have to dither adding more time to each sub. It would be great if the dithering could take place during dark subtraction as I could afford to be a little more aggressive with the dithering run as the settle down time could be longer.

Thanks

I guess it could be possible for shoots than are 1 minutes or more. I'll consider adding this feature in a future release, it's an interesting one.

Guylain

[andrew_d_cool (Andrew)]

Hi,

Just bought my shiny new Canon 5D MK III yesterday, and now find that
even the latest BEOS v2.0.3 doesn't recognise this camera

When can we expect the MK III to be supported?

Andrew

[guyroch]

Originally Posted by andrew_d_cool

Hi,

Just bought my shiny new Canon 5D MK III yesterday, and now find that
even the latest BEOS v2.0.3 doesn't recognise this camera

When can we expect the MK III to be supported?

Andrew

Andrew, what a nice camera you got there.

It usually takes Canon roughly 2 months to release an update to their SDK when new cameras are released. Once the SDK is released I should be able to recompile and release BackyardEOS shortly after.

Guylain

[rahimi]

Hi
Would this software work with a Canon old 5D ?

[LAW (Murphy)]

Hi Guylain, I've been using your program for a few months now and it's easily my favourite piece of gear. All the buttons do exactly what they say and it works all night, every night. I don't think I have anything as reliable in my astronomy cabinet.

I don't know if it's been mentioned but if it's possible to assign compass points or RA+/- to the drift align screen it would help beginners like me to get my head around the process.

[guyroch]

Originally Posted by rahimi

Hi
Would this software work with a Canon old 5D ?

The 5D is supported, I should probably add it on my web site. You will need a serial cable to bulb with this model.

Guylain

[guyroch]

Originally Posted by LAW

Hi Guylain, I've been using your program for a few months now and it's easily my favourite piece of gear. All the buttons do exactly what they say and it works all night, every night. I don't think I have anything as reliable in my astronomy cabinet.

I don't know if it's been mentioned but if it's possible to assign compass points or RA+/- to the drift align screen it would help beginners like me to get my head around the process.

Thank you for the vote of confidence, I really appreciate getting your feedback.

It is not possible to assign RA +/- points for now but it's been asked a few times before so I'll bump it up on the things to-do list.

Thank you

Guylain

[turbo_pascale (Rob)]

I'm about to make a decision of what software to reinstall on an old PC for my obs.

I had Win7 x64 installed, but my 350D can't talk to Win7 x64.

I believe that a Win7 x32 build SHOULD work, even though there are no official drivers.

I am really keen to
(a) not go back to XP unnecessarily
(b) not reinstall multiple times.

I know XP is the safe bet (it's also the vintage of the PC - Pentium D), but I do recall the issue of having to find driver for pretty much everything in XP, whereas Win7 seems to have built in drivers for just about everything.

If anyone has any experience with Win7 32-bit and Canon 350D (or any other Canon "legacy" camera supported), please let me know! You'll have me many hours of pain reinstalling!

Thanks.
Turbo

[guyroch]

A good set of questions that's for sure.

The Canon 32 bits drivers should work on Windows 7 32 bits so this would be my first choice.

My second choice would be Vista 32 bits, then XP 32 bits.

Okay, I lied a little bit... my real first choice would be to get a new camera. You can get a pretty good used 450D (XSi) for less than $400, maybe even $300 if you shop around.

Hope this helps.

Guylain

[turbo_pascale (Rob)]

Guylain,

Confirming that installing the WIA drivers that came with the camera under Windows 7 32-bit works with the camera and BackyardEOS.
I confirmed long exposure support worked also with my DSUSB from Shoestring Astronomy also.

Regards,
Turbo

[guyroch]

Awesome, glad you are up and running on W7.

Guylain