- Видео 5
- Просмотров 29 301
Peter Cox
Добавлен 5 янв 2018
Skywave Collimator for Ritchey-Chretien Telescopes
An excellent tool to remove guesswork from collimating RC telescopes. However, there's a bit of a learning curve, so I wanted to make this video to help other users get over the hump.
SkyWave Collimator page: www.innovationsforesight.com/education/aitelescopecollimation/
Cloudy Nights thread I refer to (advisable to read the whole thing): www.cloudynights.com/topic/757247-ai-based-wave-front-sensing-and-collimation/page-12#entry12196135
Quickstart guide: www.innovationsforesight.com/Wavefront/SkyWaveCollimatorToolQuickStart_2.pdf
SkyWave Collimator page: www.innovationsforesight.com/education/aitelescopecollimation/
Cloudy Nights thread I refer to (advisable to read the whole thing): www.cloudynights.com/topic/757247-ai-based-wave-front-sensing-and-collimation/page-12#entry12196135
Quickstart guide: www.innovationsforesight.com/Wavefront/SkyWaveCollimatorToolQuickStart_2.pdf
Просмотров: 2 968
Видео
All Sky Timelapse, April 29/30 2021
Просмотров 1473 года назад
The all-sky camera is a vital tool for my astrophotography. It allows me to monitor the sky conditions from inside and evaluate risk to the gear in the event of clouds appearing. It also helps me diagnose image problems after the fact. It's also beautiful to look at the nightly timelapses. Last night was particularly pretty with a waning gibbous moon rising at about 12.40am. I recently added th...
All Sky Timelapse, March 16/17, 2020
Просмотров 3603 года назад
Clear nights are rare, but when they come we definitely appreciate them!
Balancing telescope third axis
Просмотров 4,1 тыс.3 года назад
When your declination axis won't balance, it's because you have gear hanging off it so the center of gravity is not directly over the saddle plate. I show you how to correct this!
Skyshed Roll-off Roof Observatory Tour
Просмотров 22 тыс.3 года назад
A quick overview of my ROR showing how the motorized roof is configured.
Hi Peter, I am new to Skywave and found your video extremely useful. Is the spreadsheet you created to calculate the coordinates for off-axis test stars still available somewhere? It seems that the Dropbox link on Cloudy Nights is no longer active. Thank you!
Nice video Peter. How low on the horizon can you shoot with this size shed and wall height?
Hi Peter, slightly ota question: did you get appreciable/measurable improvements in you stars fwhm after the collimation procedure? Many thanks for your very informative video btw!
Does it work for Newtonian telescopes ?
Does ice ever get in the "rails" and prevent it from opening?
Hi Peter, could you share the Excel sheet for creating the sequence in N.I.N.A.? The file posted on Cloudynights is no longer available. Thank you for this great, understandable video about the Skywave Colliminator.
Loved it! I hope you have good insurance!
Fire insurance, that wiring job is such a mess 🤪🥸
Hi Peter, thanks for the video. I had an old crappy motor and some chain driving my roof last year, but i ripped it out as it super noisy and not really reliable. Just by chance i do have a garage opener with the exact same rail system, so many thanks for the idea of using it. I also have a web enabled Relay that has ascom drivers written for it, so just wondering how you wired your motor into your relay to trigger the opening and closing ? Also share information about the tilt sensors that you are using. Many thanks, Rich.
Great solution! Note though that with the Skywatcher Esprit line of scopes, you can rotate the whole focuser assembly by unlocking the ‘captain wheel’ - the silver looking ring in the back. By rotating it, you achieve 3d Dec balance without using an extra counterweight.
@petercoxphoto - any chance you can share how you setup your dragonfly ? or share the macros / scripts on github ? thank you - your observatory is amazing !
Hey just stumbled upon your video, great stuff! Do you mind sharing your sequence with us?
I just had a chance to use your tutorial and collimate my RC with your method. A million thanks to you ( also to the guy who wrote that useful spreadsheet). This is making things a lot more smooth and straightforward, especially for the collimation of the secondary wich was still quite tedious to do in skywave. I'll start looking into developping a plug in for nina that will just do all the images without having to fill 9 coordinates by hand ( don't know if I will succeed but this is worth a look).
Thanks, I'm glad it was useful! It would be amazing to have a Nina plugin that would do that work. Please let me know if you are successful.
Hello. Im really interested in plugin for NINA.
Hi @Antiath, as well as you I'm just starting to develope something to avoid filling the 9 cohordinates by hand. Actually I was thinking to build a sequence with Powerups variables instead of a plugin. Did you succed in building yours and you can share it?
@@davidecattani8282 nope. I'm really not familiar with xml and the documentation of nina for plug in development is not helpful in this regard. I just managed to build a blank plug in but getting to something useful proved to be a bigger challenge than expected for me. So this is postponed until my othe projects are done, wich could end up being forever. If you manage to build something where we don't have to compute and fill the 9 coordinates ourselves , please do share you results.
Excellent setup. Lots of great automation and safeties.
Just purchased the Skywave Collimator for my AGO iDK17". Of all the videos I've looked at yours has concrete, actionable information. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Hello. Planning on buying a new RC. I have never used one. I am still doing some prior research. Do you feel it will be enough just to use the skywave system for collimation? I mean to say what if i do not wish to use/buy any other physical collimation tools. Thank you for the great video. ashv
Fellow RC user here. I would advise to still get at least a good laser collimator. Before I started using Skywave, I already owned a Farpoint laser and a Takahashi microscope to perform rough collimation. They were never enough to properly collimate the RC, I had to rely on Star tests to fine tune collimation ( now I fine tune with Skywave). But they were useful to do the rough alignement and they still are. Normally, those tubes hold collimation quite well and they are collimated in the factory (and sometimes by the vendor too) so you would only need to use Skywave after that to fine tune. But if you were to disassemble everything to clean the mirrors, you completely lose this tuning. That's where a good laser can help get everything back to a point where Skywave can work. And by good laser, I mean a well collimated one. Even a cheap chinese laser cando the job if its own collimation is checked and ajustable.
@@Antiath Thank you for the advice
Hello Peter, thank you for this video. Question about Nina sequence which is very interesting. Do you have a tip to share with us in order to generate this sequence easily based on the first image ? I'm looking for a solution to generate the sequence based on the centered star position. William
That is a neat idea. Maybe this can done with the help of a NINA plugin ! I never developped any but I will certainly look into it, this could be very useful.
Have you built it?
Thanks for taking the time to share your work Peter. Inspired! I love the garage door kit. Can I ask where you sourced the little sensors that are on your scope to confirm they are "parked" correctly? And who cares about the wiring, can sort that when you get bored from taking amazing images!
Nothing to sort out with the wiring. It works perfectly, so nothing to fix. The sensors are from Lunatico Astro.
Interesting, thanks. One question, each time a star is calculated, will a credit be spent? That is, in your example you spent at least 9 credits, one for coma and eight for astigmatism. Is this correct?
Credits are only consumed once per image, not per star. And credits are only consumed if the collimation score of the star you analyse has a score better than 6 or so.
So you can analyse as many stars in a given image as you want at the cost of at most one credit
@@PeterCoxPhoto thank you for you response since in the web page it's not clear enogh
HI Peter, thanks for your video. I bought a PPU to colimate my RC scope, and was looking around for some (Home made) instructions, so Ifound your "fresh" one !
Glad to help!
Great setup! Which tilt sensor do you use and which software do you use to bring it all together with the cloud watcher etc.?
I use the Dragonfly as mentioned. The tilt sensors are also from Lunatico.
How much did the shed cost to build? Debating this or their actual dome
Just love it!! I am looking to put two scopes inside soon to be built. R OR. My question is, how far apart do the permanent piers need to be? I’m noticing that they don’t need to be aligned side-by-side. I could have them offset?
Peter, nice setup. I purchased a gate opener and in the stock configuration using it's controller, it only runs at one speed and tends to be difficult to close my roof without slamming. I see yours slowed down near the closed position. Is that the motor or the Dragonfly controller. Do you happen to know the make/model of the motor you are using or where you sourced it.
Hi Christopher - I got this motor: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081GXM72K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It had the same problem, no soft start and stop. I bought a new controller for it (same manufacturer, drop-in replacement) - www.ebay.com/itm/272298001857 That controller adds the ability to soft start and stop. It's not perfect as sometimes it "forgets" when to slow down. I suspect it might be due to higher than optimal resistance to movement of my roof, so YMMV. Still a big improvement though. I also recommend wiring open, close and stop commands to separate relays rather than a single toggle.
@@PeterCoxPhoto Thanks Peter. I'm going to investigate a soft close control board for my Topens gate motor. I will email that EBay seller to see if they have a compatible control board. Can't I ask how the control board knows when to start the soft close (slow down). Is there a switch/sensor or does it just use some adjustment of the offset from closed and open?
Woww, could you share the designs for this? 🤩
The plans are available for purchase from Skyshed themselves. Google them and you'll find it easily.
Great setup Peter. I’m planning to build an observatory in the next year or two and you’ve given me some great ideas. Thank you 🤓👍
Just what I needed. Thanks much.
How much does the counterweight weigh? I have looked at the part you have on line and it comes with a 3 pound weight. That seems a bit heavy for my setup. Thanks
You can get a 1.5lb weight separately
@@PeterCoxPhoto Have not been able to find the parts separately, but thanks. DEC balance just baffles me. Great video
Hi Peter , great setup, I am in the stage of installing the Dragonfly and finding it difficult, if its not too much to ask, could you send me a few close-up photos of you setup, and briefly indicate the different connection to the roof opening/closing etc. if too much a problem, dont worry. Thanks Charles
I'm not able to do that at the moment, but if you follow the documentation, especially the sample scenario it's pretty clear. Failing that, get in touch with their support, it's very good.
Wiring, why does everyone build a nice shed then fail with wiring. Nice shed…
The wiring works just fine. Scopes can move without anything snagging. It may not look pretty, but it's perfectly functional. Sort of a ridiculous comment, but then there's always someone I suppose.
Wiring looks terrible
Hi Peter, I came to your video because I am having the same situation, however mine is a little bit confusing. So I add the side mounted weight and I balance the general Dec and axial Dec, just like you. Everything is fine. Then I move to rebalance the RA and when I point the scope up and let go, it finds its equilibrium in a horizontal position and no matter where I put the counterweights I cant find proper balance. It indicates that I have a axial inbalance in RA also, so I came up with a solution to offload some weight to the opposite side of the rotation and found equilibrium in RA. THEN I found out, that doing this throws off balance in DEC, so I rebalance, but it throws of balance in RA and the loop goes on...Can you suggest a solution for this one? I am scratching my head for days...Thanks in advance! Kind regards from Slovakia.
Hi Denis - sorry, I can't say I've come across this problem.
This video is just priceless. So much wasted nights because I didn’t know what was the problem with my DEC. I thought always that I have it well balanced. But after meridian flip, the nightmare of guiding will automatically start. I can see why now. Thank you very much!!!
Excellent, thank you for doing this 👍🏻
question, if in the middle of the night, while imaging your sensor activates and the roof shuts, won't it hit your scopes? Or will it also first put your scopes in the right spot again before closing it?
The roof won't close if the scopes are in an unsafe position - there are tilt sensors on all of them. So if the weather is bad, they all park and once that's done, the roof closes.
Hi Peter - great observatory set up you have there! Am looking to install similar motor to yours, and (eventually) the Dragonfly as well - but have a quick question - well, two actually... 1. Can you over-ride the Dragonfly for occasions when you actually want the roof open but don't want the Dragonfly to register the fact it is Unsafe and then close it again..? Perhaps an extra switch/sensor in the circuit somewhere that the Dragonfly can test for? 2. Is the SOLO necessary to have the Cloudwatcher running autonomously with the Dragonfly? Many thanks! Darren
Hi Darren - no problem! 1. You can. For each relay you can define limits in software (don't open this if certain conditions exist). I have one set on the roof relay that if a different, otherwise unused relay is closed, the roof relay can't change state. This allows me to leave the roof open during daytime, for example (which is considered unsafe by the Dragonfly). 2. I really consider the Solo a vital part of the package, I didn't want to faff around with connecting it to another computer that might crash or hang. The Solo is very reliable and makes the whole thing very painless. Jaime from Lunatico is also an excellent help when you're getting set up, he'll give you excellent support.
@@PeterCoxPhoto Awesome! Thanks Peter! The motor arrived today (7th) so looking forward to getting that installed over the next couple of weeks!!
i had not learnt anything new on this subjecf for a long time, thank you for this !
Hero!!!!!!!
Fantastic, very impressive observatory. Thank you for the video.
I owe you a beer. Thank you so much for your video which explained precisely where I was having issues and how to solve them. This video deserves huge number of views. Thank you again.
Glad to help!
Love your design. I hope to see more on your Observatory.
@peter Cox, this looks like an ADM Dovetail Side Mounting Counterweight Kit 'D' Series. I have myself a Skymax 127 mak which has a Skywatcher. Any idea of a product that would do the same for me as reading on FLO, the D series wont fit my dovetail which requires a V series. ADM doesn't make V series, so not sure what to do. Any help is much appreciated!
Hi Tom - if you can't find a similar side counterweight for the Vixen dovetail on your mak, the simplest solution would be to replace it with a Losmandy-style one.
@@PeterCoxPhoto maybe you're right, but that would mean I'd have to purchase many new losmandy mounts for my various scopes Vs buyong a single counterweight to share between them all if need be. Hmm this is annoying. So are you saying that and don't do this counterweight in a V style and only D style? :(
@@PeterCoxPhoto ADM now has one of these for a Vixen/V-series dovetail bar.
@@runningmanastro I purchased one after watching Peter's video. Thank goodness they have them now
@@tomsharman3136 Actually, ADM makes one that has BOTH the D and V, all in the one :) I have the DV kit from a while back, really convenient as I could use it on both Vixen and Losmandy plates.
The rails that run the roof do they come from Skyshed ?
They don't. Sourced them from a local garage door supplier.
beast mode
Looks really nice. Do you have any written details about all the equipment and where you got it like the gate opener and all the sensors? Why did you choose gate opener instead of garage door opener?
Thank you for showing your observatory. I have built a budget one and have bought the same motorised system as yourself. I was deciding on ways to attach to the roof and operate and hadn't considered having it inside.
Cant wait for more videos, how is your CEM 70 and 40 doing for you? I purchased both this year. Great video. Clear skies!
Thanks Jered. The mounts are both doing well although the CEM 40 doesn't track quite as well as I thought it might. Averages around 1-1.5arcsec total RMS. I suspect there's some fiddling I need to do, but as the error is way below the image scale I'm using it for, it's not critical to figure out at this point. The CEM70 tracks around 0.8 RMS reliably.
Awesome
I saw the light… Now I know how to set an analog gate opener in my own shed. Thanks for that clever demo, Peter!
Glad to help! I do recommend mounting the rack on a piece of angle iron as I did. If you attach it directly to wood, eventually the wood will warp and it won't drive properly.