Eastern Veil

The Eastern Veil Nebula, remnant of a Supernova about 8,000 years ago. This is a narrowband image of a portion of the Cygnus loop, in the constellation Cygnus.

Super nice! Outstanding image! Visited your web site as well; really appreciate that you’re sharing the details. Do you also have a filter wheel under automation?

I’ve been fascinated by the easy (?) and low cost automation RPi with Stellarmate offers. I’m not one for staying up all night, and these solutions may be what I do in the future. Your results are very encouraging! Thanks for sharing them.

Looks like something out of one of the superhero comics!

FPP wrote in post #19063506
Looks like something out of one of the superhero comics!

Thank you FPP!

SailingAway - I’m using the ZWO 7 position filter wheel. I’m controlling all through the StellarMate OS.

I’m using a Mac. I was having trouble pulling together a well function setup since ,UCD of the software and drivers are made for Windows and Linux. It can be done on Mac, but I found it easier to use StellarMate, controlling the equipment with Linux. I connect wirelessly with my Mac. With the scheduler function I can do multiple targets if I wish.

The StellarMate is great, but can also be frustrating at time. If you are willing to put in the time to get it working I think it is worthwhile. I had some difficulty getting it to assign serial ports for both my mount and focuser. No one said this hobby would be simple!

Gorgeous! Awesome job putting the work into it!

Wow! Very nice vivid color.

rdricks wrote in post #19063515
SailingAway - I’m using the ZWO 7 position filter wheel. I’m controlling all through the StellarMate OS.

I’m using a Mac. I was having trouble pulling together a well function setup since ,UCD of the software and drivers are made for Windows and Linux...

Right - I’m facing much the same challenge, but just at the beginning. Astro is plenty expensive... but I’m happy on Mac, and work in a Mac-centric college program. If I can avoid it, I’d rather not invest in a PC laptop as well.

Not to mention, my tastes run to camping at star parties in the Pacific Northwest. All to be battery powered, and a little Raspberry Pi is going to be a lot easier to keep running all night than any laptop. I imagine myself snug in my little teardrop trailer, on an iPad, setting up an imaging run for a setup a few feet away. Not quite a pipe dream, I think

That’s a fascinating focuser as well. What a great idea from Astromechanics - you’re running AF through Stellarmate? Are you doing any guiding?

My setup is self contained, I have attached a photo below. I do use a separate guide scope and camera. I use three Talentcell batteries. They are easy to move and I have no problems running through the night. One is connected to the main camera (filter wheel and focuser chained off main camera), one to the mount, and a smaller one runs the RPi4 and powered hub. The Guide camera and main camera are plugged into the hub, the mount directly into the RPi. I had to do it that way to get the ports recognized properly.

I’ve 3D printed a mounting system that attaches to the tripod. Once attached I can add different printed “modules” to hold various items. The RPi4 connects to my home WiFi, but one of the nice things about StellarMate is that if it does not find the network to connect to it creates its own hotspot. So if I go somewhere out of WiFi reach I just boot it up and connect my MacBook to the StellarMate network.

An image of my setup is below. I use a separate bar to attach the guide scope to the side. The cable sleeves prevent the cables from getting tangled, and make it easier to plug everything in. There’s a PoleMaster on the mount for quick polar alignment.

The KStars/EKOS program does everything. I’m using it for scheduling, plate solving, guiding autofocus, and image capture. It can be finicky, but once you get it working it is great. A lot of people seem to be moving towards the ASIAir device as well, I’ve heard it is easier to setup but I’m not familiar with it’s capabilities. There is also an iPad app to control it, but I haven’t played with it.

From what I’ve read, ASIAir and ASIAir Pro are really similar to Stellarmate, and the Pro has a 12v power distro in the same case as the RPi4 as well, which is a pretty cool step up in simplifying power for multiple devices. If you want to go the “one big battery” route.

I’m not sure if the software is any different - it’s built on the same KStars/Ekos and Indi stuff as Stellarmate.

Somewhere I read that you’re restricted to ZWO cameras (and DSLRs) with ASIAir. I don’t know if that’s true, but if so that’s a turn-off. And ASIAir is short-run stuff, both models backordered right now.

Thanks so much for sharing the details of your setup. It is nice that it’s self-contained and manageable once you’d integrated everything. I’d hoped that this summer would include lots of AP learning... maybe it will.

Great colors, amazing work!

Thank you RickNJ!