TheSkySearchers

Hey All,

I am stuck inside. Well, not really, just spitting rain outside.

I received my new ASI 533 camera yesterday. With Hurricane Sally just off shore South of me, I really can't do much beside play with this camera. Not a terrible thing at all!

Last night, I downloaded the ascom drivers and connected the 533 to Astrophotography Tool the first time. Awesome!

Playing with the cooling was pretty cool. For some reason, APT did hang many times on the warming routine. I am not really sure of the cooling/warming process and how/why it works, but several times APT did hang (well, not really hang, just stopped) during the warming process.

I downloaded N.I.N.A just to see how the camera cooling worked. I have never used N.I.N.A. before. I tried it awhile ago, but it didn't play well with my Nikon.

N.I.N.A. has very nice graphics. It is nice to see the camera cooling load in the N.I.N.A. graphics. No issues with connection at all.

Cooling in N.I.N.A. was quick and very intuitive. Worked very well and warmed back up smoothly. I connected the focuser and scope and all connected well.

I haven't explored the plate solving in N.I.N.A yet. I am curious. I am a dedicated APT user, but my first impressions of N.I.N.A is really good.

I know that a lot of folks that use SGP. Just curious if anyone uses N.I.N.A. and how was their experience.

Juno16 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 8:52 pm I am not really sure of the cooling/warming process and how/why it works, but several times APT did hang (well, not really hang, just stopped) during the warming process.

It does have a warming routine that you can change. APT allows controlling the camera warming to a "Target CCD T" in small "Warming Steps" making a "Pause" between every step. This way the warming is smoother and prevents thermal shock. If there is an available external Temperature sensor, the Warming Aid will use it to suggest the endpoint of the warming.

I'm still firmly in the APT camp even though I have N.I.N.A. loaded on the imaging laptop.

Cheers,
JT

Hey Jim, since you're hunkered down waiting for Sally to blow by, you can at least start building your dark library. It's one advantage of a cooled camera!

Hello Jim

Glad you like your new ASI533. I'm looking forward to your skies clearing!

APT stopped when cooling a couple of times with my new 294, I just started it again. The warming was ok.

As above, a dark library is a good idea while you're waiting.

Regards

Graeme

I use N.I.N.A. with a DSLR and my new EQ6 R-pro and love it, once you get it all set up it works great.

For plate solving I use Astap ( its super fast ) some good videos for setting it up, not sure if I can post a link (not up on the forum rules yet).

Stay safe.

JayTee wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:32 pm

Juno16 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 15, 2020 8:52 pm I am not really sure of the cooling/warming process and how/why it works, but several times APT did hang (well, not really hang, just stopped) during the warming process.

It does have a warming routine that you can change. APT allows controlling the camera warming to a "Target CCD T" in small "Warming Steps" making a "Pause" between every step. This way the warming is smoother and prevents thermal shock. If there is an available external Temperature sensor, the Warming Aid will use it to suggest the endpoint of the warming.

I'm still firmly in the APT camp even though I have N.I.N.A. loaded on the imaging laptop.

Cheers,
JT

Thanks JT!

I really enjoy APT and plan to stay with it. I was curious about N.I.N.A and I am impressed with it. I like to see the cooler power graphic. I will connect to N.I.N.A in a minute and measure the load at different temperatures. I have read that you should push the cooler too hard. I guess that I will base my darks temperature on what I learn.

Is there any "rule of thumb" creating darks? I thought that I would start with a "summer" set at 0C and "winter" set at -10C. The "summer" set at 0C would be about 25-30 degrees below ambient. Would that be pushing the cooler too much?
I am running the cooler with N.I.N.A. at 0C. The cooler power is 47% at about a 25 degree drop from ambient.

Thanks

Thanks everyone for the tips!

Graeme [mention]Graeme1858[/mention] , I raised the time out setting in APT and no issues.

Sally kept moving easterly and we hardly had any effects here. My son is in Pensacola and there is a lot of damage and bad flooding there.

JT,

I use the ASI1600mm and do exactly what you mentioned. I run at 0C in the summer and -10 in the winter. At 0 in the summer months I am usually between 25 and 30% power.

The library also has to include the differences in gain. I have a Narrowband Gain and a Color Gain. I use the same offset for both.

This gives a total of four libraries when you combine different temperatures and gains, each with varying times.

Mike

Congrats on receiving the camera, Jim. It's good that you have this chance to "kick the tires" a little before actually trying out a session.

I downloaded N.I.N.A. a while ago and tried it out with the Canon. It worked fine, targeting, plate solving and meridian flips were handled well. My only gripes were that 1) it wouldn't record the camera temperature, and 2) as an old guy I was uncomfortable with the Discord support model. I went back and forth with the developer about the temperature. As the reported value isn't the sensor temp for a DSLR, he was reluctant to report it and have it used to match darks to lights. Maybe when I get to a cooled astrocam I will give it another go.

Bob

mbocca wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 11:46 am JT,

I use the ASI1600mm and do exactly what you mentioned. I run at 0C in the summer and -10 in the winter. At 0 in the summer months I am usually between 25 and 30% power.

The library also has to include the differences in gain. I have a Narrowband Gain and a Color Gain. I use the same offset for both.

This gives a total of four libraries when you combine different temperatures and gains, each with varying times.

Mike

Thanks Mike. Very helpful information. Those are the two temperatures that I will start with. I only need a set of each, but I have no idea what to set my exposure to until I take some light frames and check out the histogram.
I expose the dslr at iso 400 for 180-240 seconds using an IDAS LPS D-1 filter. The L-Enhance should be on the way soon.

I plan to leave the gain at 100 (unity for the 533) until I get more familiar with the setup.

I might set up the camera in a dark room and just shoot some 30 second and 60 second darks at 0C and -10C just to have something.

Thanks again!

bobharmony wrote: ↑Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:46 pm Congrats on receiving the camera, Jim. It's good that you have this chance to "kick the tires" a little before actually trying out a session.

I downloaded N.I.N.A. a while ago and tried it out with the Canon. It worked fine, targeting, plate solving and meridian flips were handled well. My only gripes were that 1) it wouldn't record the camera temperature, and 2) as an old guy I was uncomfortable with the Discord support model. I went back and forth with the developer about the temperature. As the reported value isn't the sensor temp for a DSLR, he was reluctant to report it and have it used to match darks to lights. Maybe when I get to a cooled astrocam I will give it another go.

Bob

Yeah Bob, big change from the dslr just from fiddling around with the 533. Looks like I have several cloudy nights ahead unfortunately.

When I do get out, I need to first achieve focus, then shoot for a plate solve. Sounds very exciting!

I had trouble using the Nikon with N.I.N.A. It would connect, but live view wasn't right. With the ASI camera and N.I.N.A. the camera, scope, and focuser connected perfectly first try. It was a pleasant experience although I still plan to use APT.