810a first light problems

[ridgesoar]

Two quick questions. Last night with clear skies I had a chance to try my new 810a with BYN?

 

1. Couldn't run plan-- tried many times with 0 delay and 10 seconds delay but would only take first exposure And then flashed a quick ABORT and quit . I was using BULBS 110 sec at 1600.

Tried doing a 1/60th for the heck of it and it just sat there "downloading" on and on

NOTE-- I think/thought that all the camera info was going directly down the USB into my computer so I bought the cheapest, slowest card availed nd am using it just to be able to turn the camera on. Is this a FALACY and should I be instead using a fast, big card? Is that my problem? (Also downloads of exposure are really long)'

 

2. Got pretty good look at colors of m-57 but trying the North American neb was disappointed in the faint, washed out pink. May have overexposed I guess but Histogram looked good. Not what I expected from all the hype. Anything I can do to the settings in my camera or ????

 

Thanks. (Using one 16' active USB extension) John Pratt

[admin]

If you are logged in to the website with the same account you have purchased BYN (or have an active trial key) then the download like is active and you should not be getting this message.

[admin]

Hi John,

 

Nikon actually recommends plugging the camera directly into to computer usb port; I would try this first and see if the problem disappears.  If yes then your issue is with your cables/connections, if not the problem could be a camera setting.  We need to approach this by process of elimination.

 

 

Keep us posted,

[admin]

Oh, Nikon sent me a D810a last year for testing and it is an excellent camera for astrophotography and runs pretty well with BYN.  Again, we need to approach this by process of elimination.

[ridgesoar]

Ok. Next clear I'll try the short Nikon cable-- means I have to stand over my scope!--only about two feet long.

 

But my other question----does it matter what kind of card in my camera?? Thnks

[admin]

No, it should not matter.  In fact remove the card and see if that makes a difference.

 

Don't wait for a clear night to test.  Test inside on cloudy nights or during daytime.

 

Regards,

[ridgesoar]

Will do.

[ridgesoar]

Ok. Just had good session out under the clouds and I have the symptoms down accurately now.

First I removed the card and left the 16 ft active ext on. Same behavior as last night.

Then I still left the card out and tried with just the Nikon USB--same.

Then I tried with another 16 active in tandem and couldn't connect camera.

Here is what happens. If I select non-bulb such as 1/60 at 250 with 5sec delay it will count off each exposure telling me where we are in the sequence-even counts out the delay just as your BYEOS tutorial demos.

Now if I select Bulb of say 3 exposures at 10 sec at 1200, it will run through the first then flash a quick Abort message followed by a quick Busy message and then returns to the Plan page. HOWEVER I just noticed that after a bit there are numbers appearing I the "Queue" box in the Camera info and if you wait long enough the other 2 pictures will appear. Don't know if they're two other pictures or just the same number 1pictured twice. Also of course have no idea where I might be on a long sequence.

Restarted program twice to dump,old images and make sure of what was happening. John

[astroman133]

The images from the D810a are large and take a while to download and for BYN to do its processing. This means that you have to be patient!

 

When you are doing long exposures, however, the queue should not fill up with unprocessed images.

[admin]

Try with the the short Nikon usb cable, this is the first test to run.

 

Is your camera dial set where BULB is possible?

[admin]

Send me the log files.

[ridgesoar]

It's set on Bulb. My problem with it aborting and continuing to run is this-- I want to take 22 3 min exposures. As soon as it,s taken one it turns off all info!! I'm not being impatient , I just have no idea where in the line I am ! Am I half way done? Where?

 

I'll send logs

[admin]

Can you please verify that in-camera mirror lock is disable.  From the behavior you are having I think this may be the case.  If it is on turn it off.

[admin]

Just a thought... try BYN 1.0.4 with your D810a.  Let me know how it goes please.

[ridgesoar]

Ok I had a good session last night and know that my 810a has compatibility issues. I've yet to verify the mirror lock question although I've never asked for that--I'll look. Frame and focus works well but HORRIFIC noise. Can barely find vega. In M Bulb, no matter how many Exposures I ask for I can hear the camera taking one, then gives me that one on the screen with a duplicate. And All go from dark to overexposed with no detail . Sat there and did many one exposures at varying times. No god shots . Just checked --mirror not locked up, can hear it opening and closing. However was on "long exposure NR" have turned that off.

 

How do I download version 1 04 ?? If I don't add

[ridgesoar]

Found my key to download version 1.04 but will wait till try today with NR off.-- may fix the noise but doubt if it will fix the "Plan" problem

[ridgesoar]

I can't figure out how to download version 1.04. When I go to download it says get a key and have to buy all over again. How do I enter my key and get this version to try??

[astroman133]

You do not need a key to download 1.0.4, just go to the Downloads page for BYN, find the list of all the versions and click on 1.0.4 to begin the download.  Install it TO A NEW FOLDER. That way you will have both 1.0.4 and 1.0,5 installed and can start one or the other. You can copy/paste the license key from "My Purchases" and you are up and running.

 

Your problem may be that you have Long Exposure Noise Reduction (LENR) turned on. That option doubles the amount of time before your image is downloaded and displayed. This is because the camera takes, for example, a 3 minute light frame followed by a 3 minute dark frame. The camera then applies the dark frame to the light frame before signalling to BYN that the image is ready for download. BYN does not know that LENR is enabled so after 3 minutes it is sitting their waiting for the camera to signal that the image is ready for download.

 

You should disable LENR in the camera and take separate dark frames.

 

I am confused by your comment that "In M Bulb, no matter how many Exposures I ask for I can hear the camera taking one, then gives me that one on the screen with a duplicate." Can you explain? What duplicate? What happens when you ask for more than one exposure? Do you get one exposure but BYN does not take any more?

 

In Frame & Focus, when you select the Maximum Sensitivity option, the LiveView frames will be noisy. This is normal because the ISO is cranked up to the max value to brighten the star as much as possible. Because the frame rate is as high as possible the actual exposures are short.  This means that you will be "barely" able to see even the brightest stars. Again this is normal.

 

Perhaps your issues are lack of familiarity with how BYN and your camera are designed to operate rather than "compatibility issues" with the D810a!