Polar Alignment Failure ion NINA

[hatflyer]

I have ASTAP installed in the right directory for NINA, yet when I try to plate solve in NINA, it says "No star database found at C|Program Files|astap; Download the h18 and install." But I did that already. Astap.exe is in that directory, along with a bunch of numbered files. What the heck happened? A prior set-up with this laptop worked. Now not.

[Lady Fraktor]

Hello hatflyer, I moved your posting to the AP software so hopefully more AP guys will see it.

[Juno16]

Hi hatflyer,

If you go into NINA, Options, Plate Solving, you should see basically these settings in red (forgive the crude annotations).

I know that you said the astap.exe and the “H files are in C:\Program Files. Double check that folder and make sure they are not in the C:\Program Files (x86) folder.

Good luck!

[hatflyer]

Hi hatflyer,

If you go into NINA, Options, Plate Solving, you should see basically these settings in red (forgive the crude annotations).


A3065D19-4749-4987-B739-5C4D831BFD68.jpeg

I know that you said the astap.exe and the “H files are in C:\Program Files. Double check that folder and make sure they are not in the C:\Program Files (x86) folder.

Good luck!

Yep, all setting and the executable are all proper. If there were too few stars, could that cause such an error?

[Juno16]

Not sure if too few stars would cause that particular error.

I just tried to solve an old image file (fits) manually in N.I.N.A. Framing. I got the same error as you did where ASTAP could not find the files it needed in C:\Program Files\astap. I was on my desktop (not my imaging pc) which has N.I.N.A. installed, but not astap.
I downloaded the H18 database and the astap application and now old image files solve manually in N.I.N.A.

Does that work for you?

To load an image manually and plate solve:

Open Framing
Choose Image Source: File
Click Load Image
Select a Raw of Fits file from existing data
A popup box will say"Image has to be solved for framing. Should new reference coordinates be taken", choose Yes.
Assuming that ASTAP is installed correctly, the solved image will appear with the center RA and DEC coordinates.

Notes:
Make sure that the camera Camera Parameters are correct in Framing.
When you click the Load Image button, the Load Image box will appear asking for you to select an image. I advise an unprocessed light frame.

[hatflyer]

Ok, so I did the exact same procedure, and today it works (well, I'm indoors but it makes it to the plate solve). How it can work today with the exact same procedure and set-up as last night is beyond me. Thanks.

[Juno16]

Doesn’t make sense. Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it before you get outside again.

[hatflyer]

Not sure if too few stars would cause that particular error.

I just tried to solve an old image file (fits) manually in N.I.N.A. Framing. I got the same error as you did where ASTAP could not find the files it needed in C:\Program Files\astap. I was on my desktop (not my imaging pc) which has N.I.N.A. installed, but not astap.
I downloaded the H18 database and the astap application and now old image files solve manually in N.I.N.A.

Does that work for you?

To load an image manually and plate solve:

Open Framing
Choose Image Source: File
Click Load Image
Select a Raw of Fits file from existing data
A popup box will say"Image has to be solved for framing. Should new reference coordinates be taken", choose Yes.
Assuming that ASTAP is installed correctly, the solved image will appear with the center RA and DEC coordinates.


Capture.PNG



Notes:
Make sure that the camera Camera Parameters are correct in Framing.
When you click the Load Image button, the Load Image box will appear asking for you to select an image. I advise an unprocessed light frame.

Not sure what u mean, a Raw of Fits file to upload. Also, as for reference coordinates, what are those? Coordinates of my location? Coordinates of the mount orientation?

So to plate solve NINA needs to know where my mount is and its current orientation, or is astap able to solve just by the image?

Thanks.

[hatflyer]

Not sure if too few stars would cause that particular error.

I just tried to solve an old image file (fits) manually in N.I.N.A. Framing. I got the same error as you did where ASTAP could not find the files it needed in C:\Program Files\astap. I was on my desktop (not my imaging pc) which has N.I.N.A. installed, but not astap.
I downloaded the H18 database and the astap application and now old image files solve manually in N.I.N.A.

Does that work for you?

To load an image manually and plate solve:

Open Framing
Choose Image Source: File
Click Load Image
Select a Raw of Fits file from existing data
A popup box will say"Image has to be solved for framing. Should new reference coordinates be taken", choose Yes.
Assuming that ASTAP is installed correctly, the solved image will appear with the center RA and DEC coordinates.


Capture.PNG



Notes:
Make sure that the camera Camera Parameters are correct in Framing.
When you click the Load Image button, the Load Image box will appear asking for you to select an image. I advise an unprocessed light frame.

Not sure what u mean, a Raw of Fits file to upload. Also, as for reference coordinates, what are those? Coordinates of my location?

So to plate solve NINA needs to know where my mount is, or is astap able to solve just by the image?

Getting an error when I upload a photo of mine. Large FOV, use W08 databse. Then not enough stars. errors all over.

When an image is gotten from NASA Sky Survey the framing seems to work.

Thanks.

[Juno16]

Not sure what u mean, a Raw of Fits file to upload. Also, as for reference coordinates, what are those? Coordinates of my location?

>>>Sorry, spelling error. Should read "a Raw or Fits file".

So to plate solve NINA needs to know where my mount is, or is astap able to solve just by the image?

>>>I really don't think that N.I.N.A. needs anything. ASTAP is doing the work

Getting an error when I upload a photo of mine. Large FOV, use W08 databse. Then not enough stars. errors all over.

>>>Not sure about the errors. What is your FOV?
Have you tried plate solving a fresh image? Maybe something that was exposed for several seconds vs. several minutes. It will work for a wide exposure range, but I think it is picky about grossly miss-shaped stars.
If you are interested, you can download and try to solve an image that solves in my copy of N.I.N.A. It is a single light frame of the Leo Triplet (M66).



When an image is gotten from NASA Sky Survey the framing seems to work.

>>>I could be wrong, but I don't think that ASTAP is involved when using the NASA Sky Survey.

Thanks.

[hatflyer]

Not sure what u mean, a Raw of Fits file to upload. Also, as for reference coordinates, what are those? Coordinates of my location?

>>>Sorry, spelling error. Should read "a Raw or Fits file".

So to plate solve NINA needs to know where my mount is, or is astap able to solve just by the image?

>>>I really don't think that N.I.N.A. needs anything. ASTAP is doing the work

Getting an error when I upload a photo of mine. Large FOV, use W08 databse. Then not enough stars. errors all over.

>>>Not sure about the errors. What is your FOV?
Have you tried plate solving a fresh image? Maybe something that was exposed for several seconds vs. several minutes. It will work for a wide exposure range, but I think it is picky about grossly miss-shaped stars.
If you are interested, you can download and try to solve an image that solves in my copy of N.I.N.A. It is a single light frame of the Leo Triplet (M66).



When an image is gotten from NASA Sky Survey the framing seems to work.

>>>I could be wrong, but I don't think that ASTAP is involved when using the NASA Sky Survey.

Thanks.

The image does show in Framing. I guess that means it is plate solved, even with my camera parameters?

Do u have a RAW 1?

FOV...is that angle of view, diagonal? If so, for my 35mm it is 63 degrees.

Btw, When I take an image manually of scenery (not stars, it is daylight now), it shows the subject in full. When 3 point aligning, the image window is almost all black. Does NINA only show what it thinks are stars in the image in 3 point alignment, and thus it is all black, as there are no stars?

Thanks.

Can u try to solve this image?

[Juno16]

The image does show in Framing. I guess that means it is plate solved, even with my camera parameters?

If you loaded it from a File Image Source, apparently so.

Do u have a RAW 1?

No, I only have FITS files produced by my ASI533 MC-P camera.

FOV...is that angle of view, diagonal? If so, for my 35mm it is 63 degrees.

Btw, When I take an image manually of scenery (not stars, it is daylight now), it shows the subject in full. When 3 point aligning, the image window is almost all black. Does NINA only show what it thinks are stars in the image in 3 point alignment, and thus it is all black, as there are no stars?

When running the NINA 3-point polar alignment pluggin, you should definitely see stars in the images produced by the 3-point polar alignment. If not, try increasing settings like time, iso, or gain.

Thanks.

Can u try to solve this image?



Not very easily, but working on it!

[Juno16]

I cropped out the non-sky structures and submitted the cropped version to Astrometry.net. The image solved.

You might have to do some more research into the px x px resolution of your camera sensor and enter into NINA.

Looks like you are shooting with a dslr and lens. Do you plan to mount the camera on an EQ mount and capture images with NINA? I know that I got it to work in APT, and I am sure that it will work in NINA if that is your goal.

Please let us know what your goals are and what equipment you have.

Your star shapes look like "y's", so that might have issues with ASTAP also.

You might also try All Sky Plate Solver. It takes more time and isn't as sensitive to star shapes.

Also, what is your focal length and sensor size???

[hatflyer]

I cropped out the non-sky structures and submitted the cropped version to Astrometry.net. The image solved.

You might have to do some more research into the px x px resolution of your camera sensor and enter into NINA.

Looks like you are shooting with a dslr and lens. Do you plan to mount the camera on an EQ mount and capture images with NINA? I know that I got it to work in APT, and I am sure that it will work in NINA if that is your goal.

Please let us know what your goals are and what equipment you have.

Your star shapes look like "y's", so that might have issues with ASTAP also. Capture.PNG

You might also try All Sky Plate Solver. It takes more time and isn't as sensitive to star shapes.

Also, what is your focal length and sensor size???

Yeah, that lens is iffy on capturing round stars. It was slightly out of focus i think. Anyway, I uploaded another to astronomy .net, and it solved. I shoot in RAW, but that site seems to not allow that file type.

I have a Nikon D5500, a crop sensor ((23.5 x 15.6 mm)) and the lenses I want to use are 20mm, 35mm, 85mm, and hopefully longer with my 70-300mm. I live in about Bortle 7. I am able to capture >1000 stars in my limited view (southern sky only, in norther hemisphere), so I'm hoping longer exposures will yield more objects.

[hatflyer]

I cropped out the non-sky structures and submitted the cropped version to Astrometry.net. The image solved.

You might have to do some more research into the px x px resolution of your camera sensor and enter into NINA.

Looks like you are shooting with a dslr and lens. Do you plan to mount the camera on an EQ mount and capture images with NINA? I know that I got it to work in APT, and I am sure that it will work in NINA if that is your goal.

Please let us know what your goals are and what equipment you have.

Your star shapes look like "y's", so that might have issues with ASTAP also. Capture.PNG

You might also try All Sky Plate Solver. It takes more time and isn't as sensitive to star shapes.

Also, what is your focal length and sensor size???

Yeah, that lens is iffy on capturing round stars. It was slightly out of focus i think. Anyway, I uploaded another to astronomy .net, and it solved. I shoot in RAW, but that site seems to not allow that file type. I want to upload ones I just took, but the micro SD has fallen and disappeared.

I have a Nikon D5500, a crop sensor ((23.5 x 15.6 mm)) and the lenses I want to use are 20mm, 35mm, 85mm, and hopefully longer with my 70-300mm. I live in about Bortle 7. I am able to capture >1000 stars in my limited view (southern sky only, in norther hemisphere), so I'm hoping longer exposures will yield more objects.

[Juno16]

Well, the good part is that your solver (ASTAP) is working. Now, you will need to get the settings for the camera and focal length set up so that ASTAP will solve your images. Just a matter of getting the settings right.
I am not sure, but I would think that having trees and other non-sky objects in the images would not be good for solving. Not sure about that though. I've never tried to solve that type of image.

What is your goal? Are you trying to image horizon shots that include the night sky? If so, why do you want to plate solve? Maybe you are you only interested in solving starfields?
What are you using for a mount?

[hatflyer]

Well, the good part is that your solver (ASTAP) is working. Now, you will need to get the settings for the camera and focal length set up so that ASTAP will solve your images. Just a matter of getting the settings right.
I am not sure, but I would think that having trees and other non-sky objects in the images would not be good for solving. Not sure about that though. I've never tried to solve that type of image.

What is your goal? Are you trying to image horizon shots that include the night sky? If so, why do you want to plate solve? Maybe you are you only interested in solving starfields?
What are you using for a mount?

The goal is to capture as deep sky images as I can. My mount is the Star Tracker AZ-GTi. What do u mean my solver is working? All I've gotten are errors. Just that it runs at all?

I am analyzing an image from pre-mount/tracking days. It asks if reference coordinates should be taken (see below). Where will it look and what are reference coordinates? ASTAP needs coordinates of the mount, meaning my latitude and longitude?

Anyway, choosing yes and no, both ways it got to the point of the bar in the upper left showing solving progress (see image 2). Never got that far before. In the end tho no image is shown. It's blank. No errors, but no image.

[Juno16]

Yeah, I just meant that the solver is installed and is running.

Not sure where the reference coordinates are coming from. I originally thought that they were coming from the fits header or image file, but not so sure of that. Without reference coordinates, I would think that the solver will be in "blind" mode.

If you need location coordinates of the mount for ASTAP or N.I.N.A., yes, they are latitude and longitude. I just use my iphone compass app.

Running out of ideas, but you are closer. I use N.I.N.A with a dedicated AP camera and solving has worked really well. Even when the camera is visibly out of focus or under/over-exposed.

I used to image with a D5300 (Ha modded). I tried N.I.N.A. with the Nikon (about 3 years ago) and I could not get it to work for me. I used AstroPhotography Tool (APT) with the Nikon and it worked very well. I'm sure that N.I.N.A. has improved greatly since then.

I tried to plate solve several of my "old" Nikon NEF raw files in N.I.N.A. (ASTAP) and it fails. Could simply be the camera parameters were not correct, but probably not.

Do you have a single NEF file of the sky without structures such as trees or houses? The original NEF file usually contains the camera/lens info. I could try my copy of N.I.N.A. one more time.

Might want to strongly consider getting on the N.I.N.A. Discord server for support. Enourmous support power there. If you are not used to Discord, but prepared for some live support and questions. It might just be the best course.

[Juno16]

@hatflyer

I just got my copy of N.I.N.A. ASTAP to plate solve my old dslr images (NEF files). I set the Camera Parameters in Framing to:

4000x6000 (px) should be your sensor size (and the D5300).
The D5300 sensor pixel size is 3.89 um. The D5500 should be the same?
I know that I was using a 714mm fl scope (I don't remember if I had a focal reducer then, so I used the 714 mm value).

I also changed the telescope focal length and focal ratio in N.I.N.A., Options, Equipment, Astometry.

I think that if you use the parameters above and entered the lens fl in Camera Parameters and the fl/fr in Astometry, you might have some success or are closer!

Let me know!

[hatflyer]

@hatflyer

I just got my copy of N.I.N.A. ASTAP to plate solve my old dslr images (NEF files). I set the Camera Parameters in Framing to:

Capture.JPG

4000x6000 (px) should be your sensor size (and the D5300).
The D5300 sensor pixel size is 3.89 um. The D5500 should be the same?
I know that I was using a 714mm fl scope (I don't remember if I had a focal reducer then, so I used the 714 mm value).

I also changed the telescope focal length and focal ratio in N.I.N.A., Options, Equipment, Astometry.

I think that if you use the parameters above and entered the lens fl in Camera Parameters and the fl/fr in Astometry, you might have some success or are closer!

Let me know!

On my PC, I think there was some progress. First it said star database limit reached. Then wide FOV, use database V17. Did that, and I think it solved (see image - does that seem solved?).

BUT, that's on my PC. On my laptop, which is what I will be using with my mount, I can't get past the error from that damn pop-up window, "No star Database Found."

Maddening, as all settings on my laptop and PC are the same, I have V17 and V18 and astap.exe in the Program Files directory. This error has popped up often in the past, tho not always. Now it is always, even when I reboot my laptop. How is this possible?

Btw, I am trying to get help on Discord too. And 1 other place also. Obviously not solved yet. Well, maybe on my PC. Do I have to lug that thing with me when shooting?

Thanks for the help.