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Old 12-10-2013, 08:30 AM
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Astroman (Andrew Wall)
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focusing with QHY9

Hi guys,

thinking of getting a dedicated CCD in the future and would like to know if there is some form of live view function with them that allows you to focus, or is it shoot, focus, shoot, focus etc....

Just interested as my current 400D which is well over the hill and getting tired, I have to shoot and focus, shoot, focus etc... which is a right old pain in the ....

Comment appreciated, tried looking for youtube vids on it too, but seem to be going around in circles.
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Old 12-10-2013, 09:23 AM
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rogerco (Roger)
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Via the software on the PC you set it to continually shot, it's not live, that requires a video feed, you notice a flicker as it updates, but you don't have to keep "pressing the button"
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Old 12-10-2013, 09:31 AM
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Shiraz (Ray)
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most of the CCD camera control software has the equivalent of live view. I use Nebulosity, which provides a rapid update view of a small section of the image around a chosen star and reports in near-real-time on the peak level and half flux star radius (both useful focus measures) as you adjust the focus. effective and quick. regards ray
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Old 12-10-2013, 10:50 AM
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I just do 1sec binnedx2 on a bright star (and Bhat mask) with mine Andrew. Binnedx2 downloads in about a second anyway. Too lazy to define a sub-frame usually, but yes that makes it a lot faster too.
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Old 12-10-2013, 11:51 AM
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Astroman (Andrew Wall)
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Ahh makes sense. I guess this will all become obvious once I get the camera in the next decade or so. Just trying to learn as much as I can to flatten out the steep learning curve.

Thanks guys!
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Old 12-10-2013, 12:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Astroman View Post
Ahh makes sense. I guess this will all become obvious once I get the camera in the next decade or so. Just trying to learn as much as I can to flatten out the steep learning curve.

Thanks guys!

Yes - just use a Bahtinov mask & watch in the downloaded shots
or do 2 second updates with binning.
It's much easier than live view on a DSLR.

If you have Maxim DL you can sample the stars in all 4 corners
plus the middle of each frame while you wait
for the next frame.
You can see FWHM in all 5 areas to compare with previous
frames to see if you're losing focus & what the seeing is like.

That sort of real time update can save you a lot of wasted frames.
I remember once doing the LMC for over 3 hours without
realizing my focus was slightly off using a DSLR.
I only found out the next day when I went to process.
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Old 12-10-2013, 02:27 PM
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Hi,

You can set continuous mode in almost all software, that's basically repeating your exposure continuously.
when using a DSLR, I set backyardeos to continuous or loop, set the exposure to 1 sec and use a baht mask on a bright star. i don't bother with live view.
this way i make small adjustments every 2 seconds. works very well.

similar thing with ccd's. you can set the exposure to 1sec, continuous an watch the downloaded image with the baht mask on.

focusmax is widely used for automated focusing with motorized focusers. i'm working on a picaxe controller that accepts ascom focuser commands via usb. not very hard to build if you're into it.

Cheers
Alistair
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Old 12-10-2013, 02:32 PM
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multiweb (Marc)
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Usually use the fine focus feature in Nebulosity with a bathinov mask or by the numbers if I use a lens.
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