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Solar Eclipse


kurtzepp

Question

I would like to use BYE to capture the Solar Eclipse. I have a T3i and understand that using a Serial cable in addition to the USB can speed up the capture rate.  This works with Eclipse Orchestrator and APT but I would rather use BYE.  Does BYE have this capability?

Thanks Kurt

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You should download 3.1.12-RC9 in the download pre-release section, I have fixed a few bugs and shaved about .5 to .8 second between exposures.

Using a serial cable in BYE will not speed anything up, the USB cable and Serial are equal in terms of speed.

Regards,

 

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I read the same advice about using a serial cable to speed up the lag between exposures. After some experimentation I decided to ignore it. I tested with my T5i and found that I got acceptable performance without the serial cable, especially when saving to the camera's memory card. My lag without the serial cable is less than 2 seconds. That allows me to capture everything that I want, especially just before, during, and after totality. Based on my performance I decided to forego the purchase of a serial cable that would likely only be used for the eclipse.

The serial cable is primarily for older cameras that do not support control of BULB exposures via USB. I do not know whether it is possible to configure BYE to use the serial cable for short exposures. That will need comment by Guylain or someone else who is using it in that way. You may also be able to test by configuring BYE to use the DSUSB cable; set BYE up to take short exposures; unplug the serial cable from the camera and start the capture plan. If the plan fails it is trying to use the serial cable. If it succeeds then it is sending the take picture command via the regular USB cable.

There is another issue with variability in the actual exposure duration because the computer is multi-tasking. Controlling short exposures in the camera does not suffer that variability which would be more important for short exposures. My exposure plan uses a range of exposures from 1/4000th to 2 seconds. I did not want to try to have the PC control those very short exposures.

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On 7/15/2017 at 8:30 PM, astroman133 said:

I read the same advice about using a serial cable to speed up the lag between exposures. After some experimentation I decided to ignore it. I tested with my T5i and found that I got acceptable performance without the serial cable, especially when saving to the camera's memory card. My lag without the serial cable is less than 2 seconds. That allows me to capture everything that I want, especially just before, during, and after totality. Based on my performance I decided to forego the purchase of a serial cable that would likely only be used for the eclipse.

The serial cable is primarily for older cameras that do not support control of BULB exposures via USB. I do not know whether it is possible to configure BYE to use the serial cable for short exposures. That will need comment by Guylain or someone else who is using it in that way. You may also be able to test by configuring BYE to use the DSUSB cable; set BYE up to take short exposures; unplug the serial cable from the camera and start the capture plan. If the plan fails it is trying to use the serial cable. If it succeeds then it is sending the take picture command via the regular USB cable.

There is another issue with variability in the actual exposure duration because the computer is multi-tasking. Controlling short exposures in the camera does not suffer that variability which would be more important for short exposures. My exposure plan uses a range of exposures from 1/4000th to 2 seconds. I did not want to try to have the PC control those very short exposures.

 

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Hi Rick, Thanks for the advice.  I actually already bought the cable in rush the other night but I will sell it on ebay as I did some testing similar to your plan yesterday.

My latest plan is:

I am using a T3i connected to an Orion ST80 which will be mounted on an Explore Scientific Twilight II Tripod.  

 

 

Results of the Test:

6 frames (1/2000, 1/200, 1/20, 1/8, 1/4, 1) took 46 sec to complete the circuit and download to the computer.  If I download to the camera alone it only takes 28 sec to complete the circuit.

4 frames (1/2000, 1/200, 1/20, 1/2) took 18 sec to complete the circuit and download to the camera alone to complete the circuit.

I may use the 4 frame plan as I am not sure of the quality of a 1 sec exposure since I am on a fixed tripod.  Also, I will have it loop from 2 min before to 2 min after the eclipse.

Thanks you and Guylain for your response.

Cheers Kurt

 

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On 7/15/2017 at 8:25 PM, admin said:

You should download 3.1.12-RC9 in the download pre-release section, I have fixed a few bugs and shaved about .5 to .8 second between exposures.

Using a serial cable in BYE will not speed anything up, the USB cable and Serial are equal in terms of speed.

Regards,

 

 

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Hi Guylain, Thanks for the advice, I downloaded the latest version of BYE as you recommended.  I actually already bought the cable in rush the other night but I will sell it on ebay as I did some testing similar to your plan yesterday.

My latest plan is:

I am using a T3i connected to an Orion ST80 which will be mounted on an Explore Scientific Twilight II Tripod.  

Results of the Test:

6 frames (1/2000, 1/200, 1/20, 1/8, 1/4, 1) took 46 sec to complete the circuit and download to the computer.  If I download to the camera alone it only takes 28 sec to complete the circuit.

4 frames (1/2000, 1/200, 1/20, 1/2) took 18 sec to complete the circuit and download to the camera alone to complete the circuit.

I may use the 4 frame plan as I am not sure of the quality of a 1 sec exposure since I am on a fixed tripod.  Also, I will have it loop from 2 min before to 2 min after the eclipse.

Thanks you and Rick for your response.

Cheers Kurt

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