First light for ASIAIR.

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Greenman Great Britain
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First light for ASIAIR.

#1

Post by Greenman »


Hopefully first light for the ASIAIR this evening. Now connected to the home network work and on my office table works well.
Small steps to start with just going to PA the main camera and then try some plate solving. If all that works I aim the to get something to process (that would be bonus time). :sprefac:

Plan for the next session would be to add the guide scope and guiding into the mix... let’s see :?

Oh, I will be around more now, just waiting for my bonus calculations to be done; in the top tier in my final sales year. My old guys rule tee shirts are now relevant :lol:
Cheers,

Tony.

Image

Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447

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Gordon United States of America
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Re: First light for ASIAIR.

#2

Post by Gordon »


Congratulations on the ASIAIR Tony!!

I should make it much easier to run everything!
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Greenman Great Britain
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Re: First light for ASIAIR.

#3

Post by Greenman »


Ah now, a clear night - but not too much progress. I set up in the early evening and all looked well, I was even able to control the scope 100ft away in the living room. I went outside when astronomical darkness fell (21:30), lo and behold it had disconnected. It would not reconnect, played around for a couple of hours and managed to almost polar align when it disconnected again.

Read up a bit today, and I think the issue was running the ASIAir from my 12v battery. It seems the Air is sensitive to the correct voltage. Never had any trouble running before from the supply, but I suspect as it got colder the battery’s output became unstable. I found I had a 12v 5A mains supply sitting around, and extended it’s lead with a handy power extension that comes with the Air. It’s been running happily since 11am with no drop outs. Just about to shift it up to the observation post and see what happens... think there’s too much high cloud to image tonight.

Patience, Lotus blossom, patience... Says my Kung Fu master. 8-)
Cheers,

Tony.

Image

Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447

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Gordon United States of America
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Re: First light for ASIAIR.

#4

Post by Gordon »


Small steps.....

Sounds like you have fixed the power issue.
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Greenman Great Britain
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Re: First light for ASIAIR.

#5

Post by Greenman »


Hi Gordon, yes that does seem to be the issue, been in position now for several hours an is quietly tracking Polaris... Well that’s what I’ve told it.
Cheers,

Tony.

Image

Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447

Image
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Greenman Great Britain
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Posts: 2296
Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:39 pm
4
Location: Nether Heyford, UK
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Re: First light for ASIAIR.

#6

Post by Greenman »


:dance: OK, this is amazingly good - so simply point the scope north then just run a quick calibration. Work on the handset is done in 30 seconds, over to the mobile phone. Polar align - plate solves, found 224 stars, rotated about 15 degrees the solved PA. Took me 14 mins to hit an alignment within 2’. Picked Messier 44, NGC 2632 - Beehive, Praesepe, from the list of the best.

Scope slewed, failed on first plate solve. Auto rerun, solved and centred, set unity on ASI553 dialled up from 2 seconds to 60 seconds and bang M44 with round stars...

Then the high cloud rolled in, even with no visual a shot showed the cluster covered in mist. Clear the night was over. But I am very impressed with the ASIAIR. Compared to last night I’m over the moon!
Cheers,

Tony.

Image

Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447

Image
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