Noob In The Room

[deepend]

Just downloaded the trial version a couple of days, and this is my post and need to find a crash course tutorial

 

Steve's Place says that BYEOS "enables our Canon cameras to be connected directly to the telescope allowing our laptop to image the stars, capture dark frames, assist with focus, enable drift aligning, planetary imaging". For the past 4 months, I've been shooting with just a bridge camera on a camera tripod, but my EOS650D just arrived a few days ago, so this will be totally new for me. I will use it with a 11-16mm, a 60mm and a 150-600mm. I also have a CG2 mount with an Astromaster 130EQ, and iOptron CubePro and SkyTracker are on their way as I type this. I would like to try out the camera + either lens on these 2 new mounts before getting my refractor arrives and doing prime.

 

What I'd like to know is : Will BYEOS work with only in Prime Focus mode, or can I just use the Canon and a camera lens, or do Eyepiece projection or Afocal as well, on a camera tripod? This is at least just for the sake of the focussing. 

 

Thanks,

 

Roger

[deepend]

Many thanks, Guylain & Seigell.

 

All the iOptron stuff arrived today.

 

Since I'm at 4° latitude, everyone says I need to do drift alignment since I can't see Polaris. Does this mean that BYEOS will solve all my AP problems assuming that I stick to my Canon?

 

Will have a long hard look at that video tonight if the skies cloud up (as expected)

[astroman133]

It may be a bit hopefull to say that BYE will solve all of your AP problems.  It's not that BYE isn't great...It is.  It is just that there are literally dozens of things that can go wrong with an AP session and many of them are outside of the realm of camera capture.

 

There is a lot to learn, but two of the most important items for a beginner are to get a spot-on polar alignment and to get the camera in focus.  BYE will definitely help with both of those steps.

 

The advantage of using BYE for polar alignment is that you can more easily see the drift, so your center the star, watch for drift, adjust the mount, and repeat cycle can be sped up.

 

Good Luck!

[admin]

BYE will solve all of your problems, including getting rid of the clouds.... just kidding of course.

 

BYE won't solve all of your problems, but it should help you achieve your goal a little easier.

 

The DARV approach to drift alignment gets a lot A+ from people who uses it.

 

http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/articles/darv-drift-alignment-by-robert-vice-r2760

 

Regards,

[s3igell]

There are several Polar Alignment routines which work at most all Latitudes (except maybe 90*N ), depending upon the equipment which you have and the skills that you learn.

 

Polar Scopes (obviously requiring a view of Polaris or the Octans South Polar Region) provide from "Rough" to "Decently Accurate" Polar Alignment Results, depending on the Focal Length and Optics Quality and Reticule Accuracy.

Drift Alignment, whether via BYE/BYN (actually more "BYE-Assisted" as BYE does require that you are familiar with a Drift Alignment procedure) or DARV or PHD2 or AlignMaster or other, is one of the common approaches.

Another is the All-Star Polar Alignment routine built-in to many of the EQ Mounts - beginning with Celestron.  This ASPA routine allows you to use a selection of Stars from the Hand Controller Alignment Star Lists, and shows you where to adjust your Mount Alt/AZ knobs "To".  These routines can produce results every bit as Accurate as Drift Alignment.

 

There is essentially a Polar Alignment Routine for every Skill Level, Inclination, and Latitude...

[deepend]

BYE will solve all of your problems, including getting rid of the clouds.... just kidding of course. hahahah I wish, as I'm sure everyone else would too !

 

BYE won't solve all of your problems, but it should help you achieve your goal a little easier. I think this in itself would be more than enough. 

 

The DARV approach to drift alignment gets a lot A+ from people who uses it.

 

http://www.cloudynights.com/page/articles/cat/articles/darv-drift-alignment-by-robert-vice-r2760

 

Regards,

[deepend]

Seigell,

 

Initially I was using a very rough magnetic north alignment but it was never accurate enough. Then I was given to understand that drift alignment was the be-all and end-all to polar alignment for us poor dudes near the equator ..  and I'm reading so many versions online that I don't really know which one to follow. Needless to say, they're all confusing .. Or perhaps I'm the one that's confused. In any case, I don't have a reticle eyepiece, so BYE should be great for that. Can you recommend an easily-followed link a workable drift alignment routine?

 

Unfortunately, I'm going more for the iOptron range for my portable needs, since Celestron doesn't seem to have anything portable enough for my backpack, which means I can't use ASPA.

 

 

 

There are several Polar Alignment routines which work at most all Latitudes (except maybe 90*N ), depending upon the equipment which you have and the skills that you learn.

 

Polar Scopes (obviously requiring a view of Polaris or the Octans South Polar Region) provide from "Rough" to "Decently Accurate" Polar Alignment Results, depending on the Focal Length and Optics Quality and Reticule Accuracy.

Drift Alignment, whether via BYE/BYN (actually more "BYE-Assisted" as BYE does require that you are familiar with a Drift Alignment procedure) or DARV or PHD2 or AlignMaster or other, is one of the common approaches.

Another is the All-Star Polar Alignment routine built-in to many of the EQ Mounts - beginning with Celestron.  This ASPA routine allows you to use a selection of Stars from the Hand Controller Alignment Star Lists, and shows you where to adjust your Mount Alt/AZ knobs "To".  These routines can produce results every bit as Accurate as Drift Alignment.

 

There is essentially a Polar Alignment Routine for every Skill Level, Inclination, and Latitude...

[s3igell]

A "Magnetic North" Alignment is Very Rough for Polar Alignment usage - the Starting Point for Polar Alignment is "True North"...

(But you knew that...)

 

If you already have one of the smaller iOptron Cubes or SkyTrackers or  SkyGuiders, then check out the Mounts / iOptron forum on AstronomyForum.net or the iOptron Forum on CloudyNights for details of their "Polaris Not Visible" Polar Alignment Routine (early details made it sound like it was going to turn out much like Celestron's All-Star Polar Alignment routine).

[deepend]

Seigell

 

 

A "Magnetic North" Alignment is Very Rough for Polar Alignment usage - the Starting Point for Polar Alignment is "True North"...

(But you knew that...) 

Indeed I did, and used my smartphone to get True North, but how true is true?

 

If you already have one of the smaller iOptron Cubes or SkyTrackers or  SkyGuiders, then check out the Mounts / iOptron forum on AstronomyForum.net or the iOptron Forum on CloudyNights for details of their "Polaris Not Visible" Polar Alignment Routine (early details made it sound like it was going to turn out much like Celestron's All-Star Polar Alignment routine).

Oh yes, both the CubePro and SkyTracker have arrived, and will check out the AstronomyForum threads.

 

Thanks

[deepend]

In points 9 & 10, I might have a problem with the iOptron SkyTracker :

 

9.  As soon as the first five seconds have elapsed, then press the W on the telescope keypad to cause the star to move to the opposite side of the sensor.

10. For the first minute continue to move the telescope West.  As soon as the first minute has elapsed, immediately reverse the telescope direction.

Being just a camera tracker and not a GoTo mount, there is no directional controller. It just has a speed rating (sidereal or 1/2 sidereal) and a North/South (hemisphere) switch.

 

Could I expose the 5 seconds, start the motor for 60 seconds, then "cheat" and flick the hemisphere switch to South in the hope that the direction will reverse?

 

Same question for other non-GoTo mounts, like a regular CG3 with a simple motor drive. Or is drift alignment basically for GoTo mounts only?

 

Thanks

[s3igell]

Again, that is something best asked in an iOptron Sub-Forum at AstronomyForum.net or CloudyNights.com - where you can benefit from the larger number of iOptron Users (and sometimes even the iOptron Employees or Owner).

[deepend]

Done Thanks for the reminder, Seigell

[admin]

The short answer is all of the above.

 

BackyardEOS controls your camera to take images, it does not care whether the camera has a lens connected or if it attached to a telescope, of even just the body itself.

 

Regards,

[s3igell]

Make sure that you watch Guylain's Video Demonstration of BackyardEOS.

 

It should answer several of the questions you are About To Ask and highlight How BYE Will Become Central To Your AP Imaging Sessions...