Thanks for the video. I have only had one night with my ASIair and EAF here in the UK due to constant clouds. I also plan to use my setup for planetary and lunar. How do you recommend using the manual focus via the app for those targets? I assume the brightness/star size function is only usable for stars so I will need to do this purely visually with exposures until happy with the focus?
Thank you for this great video. Would it work properly also with a dual narrowband filter like L-Extreme? In this case what is the suggested exposure time to see enough stars for good focus using such filter? Thanks
yes .. just extend exposure times by a few seconds till you get enough stars .. you will see in preview mode how it looks -- I use Lext L Ult ad ALP-T all ok with AF
it depends ... if you have a longer focal length then you might see elongation of stars if the mount does not have tracking turned on ... but you don't need to be guiding .. just the mount tracking in sidereal rate
I just took deliver of an EAF and am going to connect it to my RedCat51 (I have the fitting hardware already). Great to see an auto focus sequence running. A question: When you start the run, you need to be near focus - does it matter which side of focus you start? I assume the ASIAir will run the routine and if it notices the star getting more out of focus, it will swap direction.
no it does not matter which side - as along as its close to focus - the ASIAIR will back out the focuser and then drive it inwards so just get close and it does the rest
I never need EAF until getting a longer focal length scope. My RedCat51 keeps focus all night long, but the AT115EDT would drift from focus as the night cooled.
Happy New Year, Simon. Thank you for the great video. The ZWO EAF was a lifesaver for me! I really love it and I think it's so much more accurate (for me, anyway) that using a Bahtinov mask and allows 'hands-off' operation throughout an imaging run. Is there some kind of unique ID through which the ASIAir can identify different EAFs? I use two different ZWO EAFs and found that the ASIAir seems to remember the last focus position, regardless of which EAF was used. I didn't know if there was some setting I wasn't using properly. Also, do you know if ZWO has any plans for something like a clutch in future revision to manual focus is available? (Right now, if I want to use visual focusing without the ASIAir, I just remove the focus motor but leave the bracket on.) Thanks again!
multi EAF on same ASIAIR is on the dev roadmap - not aware of anything with a clutch right now sorry but def use the hand controller - I will be covering something soon in a video that night help though ... stay tuned!
Thanks Simon for a great video. I had a devil of a time finding it. I was looking for setting up the EAF in daylight with the air. I gave up in Google and came here typing in just EAF and there you were! Just what I was looking for. I watched it three times to make sure I didn’t miss anything. One question… What happens when the focuser is all the way home (in) and extended (out). Will the coupling break or ??? Jam the focuser or just beep twice hitting enough resistance? Thought I’d ask before I try it. Do I reset that max steps to that travel range then. You made me a subscriber. I like seeing the screens and the scopes over the talking heads. FYI Nicely done. Clear skies! 🔭😊
thanks and you are most welcome ! lots more coming soon too - aimed at filling that gap for this kind of problem :) to answer your question ... all the way in ... well it will just stop when it detects the obstruction and beep - coming out ... you need to be careful as some focuser drawer tubes will come out all the way! ... thats not good :) often they also have stops too ... same thing will happen when it detects the stop ... Seeing the screen close up helps to show the detail and I will highlight what controls do .. and slowly!!! :) appreciate the feedback ... thanks and also thank you for the sub Sir . rgds Simon
we def have an ASCOM version of the focus set up coming ... Maxim ... I'd have to hunt for that its not something we have at hand ... I'll have a look if there is a way to have a look at it
Best tutorial on the EAF install and operation! Thank you so much! ZWO should have that on their website. Question: why using the coarse and not the fine focus? I have the SVBONY 550 and was able to mount it to the fine focus Seems to work fine so far.
Good question! The fine focuser does not have enough movement on some scopes - it means you step size would be much larger on some scopes to get a good V curve and thanks for the amazing feedback :) appreciated !
@@TeamAstroworkz Thank yo so much for the superfast response. My setup seems to work but certainly does not look so elegant as the one where the motor is attached to the coarse focus. I will see if there are any issues in the time coming. Thanks again and keep up the great work!
Thank you for the clear and concise information. I appreciate what you are doing, and how you are doing it, with detailed, bulleted instruction. However, it seems that your channel is quite ZWO centric. And judging by the sea of red on your bookshelves, we are in for even more. Any plans on non-ZWO content? Mini PCs? Mount tuning? Non-ASI Air solutions?
I appreciate that! Yes absolutely - I have a mini PC article in work actually as an alternative to ASIAIR for those looking for more advance imaging platforms or non zwo ones and we have some scopes and mount reviews and filter reviews coming too - we are very aware of not getting too into red ;) We will def look at other cameras too as we move forward and get more interest from other equipment sources
Thanks for the sub! and appreciate the comments as the effort that goes into these are pretty substantial ... I can relate to anyone on YT that makes videos now I do my own LOL
@@TeamAstroworkz I'm buying the Eaf in the next week or so . Which lead me to your video . Very professional, clear and easy to understand. You're a gentleman and you should be proud of your videos . Clear skies from Ireland.
This is very timely. Lately my EAF has been "finding focus" that is waaaay out of focus, ruining a whole night's worth of images. Not sure what has happened, since it was working fine until recently.
Ensure your initial focus point, bevor running the AF routine is in good focus, not doughnuts, even if they are small. I noticed that if the AF routine is started with my focuser too out of focus that the entire process results in unsharp stars.
@@screwyouyoutube5493 that would be fine but in the middle of the night I’m not awake to check that and besides it’s going from a point where it is in good focus but then it might either change filter or there’s a temperature shift, causing the autofocus routine to kick in.
Good point about setting it up during the day. I just wasted a night guessing where the focus should be and letting NINA's auto-focuser work it out. Yeah, don't ever do that.
@@TeamAstroworkz awesome, thankyou. I still manually focus. Shall have to get myself one. It's a pain touching the focuser while trying to get the focus spot on!
This is great. I wish I had found this guide before I tried to do it myself. It’s a steep learning curve! So a big thanks for doing this.
Outstanding video! Thank you for the conscience explanation and instruction.
correct! 2:16 i had to design and print a custom bracket for the televue tv-102. thanks for the video, it was confirming of many things!
It truly is an amazing unit, love mine.
THis is excellent video. Great help my friend. Stay blessed.
Thanks, you too!
This is great! Thanks for the video. I don't use EAF but maybe I should look into it.
You should! They are awesome and thanks for the comments - that video was a LOT of work - its much appreciated :)
Do it man it's great 👍👍👍
Great looking setups here 😲
Thanks! 👍
Excellent instruction video. Particularly like the clear voice.
Thank you kindly!
Thanks for the video. I have only had one night with my ASIair and EAF here in the UK due to constant clouds. I also plan to use my setup for planetary and lunar. How do you recommend using the manual focus via the app for those targets? I assume the brightness/star size function is only usable for stars so I will need to do this purely visually with exposures until happy with the focus?
yes manual for planets / lunar - AF won't work on these too bright :)
Thank you for this great video. Would it work properly also with a dual narrowband filter like L-Extreme? In this case what is the suggested exposure time to see enough stars for good focus using such filter?
Thanks
yes .. just extend exposure times by a few seconds till you get enough stars .. you will see in preview mode how it looks -- I use Lext L Ult ad ALP-T all ok with AF
Thank you for a great video, I have a question, do I need to use tracking for setting up auto focus? Thank you
it depends ... if you have a longer focal length then you might see elongation of stars if the mount does not have tracking turned on ... but you don't need to be guiding .. just the mount tracking in sidereal rate
I just took deliver of an EAF and am going to connect it to my RedCat51 (I have the fitting hardware already). Great to see an auto focus sequence running. A question: When you start the run, you need to be near focus - does it matter which side of focus you start? I assume the ASIAir will run the routine and if it notices the star getting more out of focus, it will swap direction.
no it does not matter which side - as along as its close to focus - the ASIAIR will back out the focuser and then drive it inwards so just get close and it does the rest
I never need EAF until getting a longer focal length scope. My RedCat51 keeps focus all night long, but the AT115EDT would drift from focus as the night cooled.
Happy New Year, Simon. Thank you for the great video. The ZWO EAF was a lifesaver for me! I really love it and I think it's so much more accurate (for me, anyway) that using a Bahtinov mask and allows 'hands-off' operation throughout an imaging run. Is there some kind of unique ID through which the ASIAir can identify different EAFs? I use two different ZWO EAFs and found that the ASIAir seems to remember the last focus position, regardless of which EAF was used. I didn't know if there was some setting I wasn't using properly. Also, do you know if ZWO has any plans for something like a clutch in future revision to manual focus is available? (Right now, if I want to use visual focusing without the ASIAir, I just remove the focus motor but leave the bracket on.) Thanks again!
multi EAF on same ASIAIR is on the dev roadmap - not aware of anything with a clutch right now sorry but def use the hand controller - I will be covering something soon in a video that night help though ... stay tuned!
@@TeamAstroworkz Thanks, Simon! I'll be watching. 🙂
THANK YOU! Do you have a version of this video using SGP rather than ASIair?
nice idea .. request accepted :) I'll do one for you !
Thanks Simon for a great video. I had a devil of a time finding it. I was looking for setting up the EAF in daylight with the air. I gave up in Google and came here typing in just EAF and there you were! Just what I was looking for. I watched it three times to make sure I didn’t miss anything. One question… What happens when the focuser is all the way home (in) and extended (out). Will the coupling break or ??? Jam the focuser or just beep twice hitting enough resistance? Thought I’d ask before I try it. Do I reset that max steps to that travel range then. You made me a subscriber. I like seeing the screens and the scopes over the talking heads. FYI Nicely done. Clear skies! 🔭😊
thanks and you are most welcome ! lots more coming soon too - aimed at filling that gap for this kind of problem :) to answer your question ... all the way in ... well it will just stop when it detects the obstruction and beep - coming out ... you need to be careful as some focuser drawer tubes will come out all the way! ... thats not good :) often they also have stops too ... same thing will happen when it detects the stop ... Seeing the screen close up helps to show the detail and I will highlight what controls do .. and slowly!!! :) appreciate the feedback ... thanks and also thank you for the sub Sir . rgds Simon
It would be great to see a video on the EAF and setting up using MaxIm DL 6 for Auto Focus.
we def have an ASCOM version of the focus set up coming ... Maxim ... I'd have to hunt for that its not something we have at hand ... I'll have a look if there is a way to have a look at it
Best tutorial on the EAF install and operation!
Thank you so much! ZWO should have that on their website.
Question: why using the coarse and not the fine focus?
I have the SVBONY 550 and was able to mount it to the fine focus
Seems to work fine so far.
Good question! The fine focuser does not have enough movement on some scopes - it means you step size would be much larger on some scopes to get a good V curve and thanks for the amazing feedback :) appreciated !
@@TeamAstroworkz Thank yo so much for the superfast response. My setup seems to work but certainly does not look so elegant as the one where the motor is attached to the coarse focus. I will see if there are any issues in the time coming. Thanks again and keep up the great work!
I've had the Auto Focus fail during a Plan run. Is there a way to abort the Plan run when this happens?
Can the EAF move between Hyperstar and 6.3 positions automatically? I have to twiddle like crazy today.
Thank you for the clear and concise information. I appreciate what you are doing, and how you are doing it, with detailed, bulleted instruction. However, it seems that your channel is quite ZWO centric. And judging by the sea of red on your bookshelves, we are in for even more. Any plans on non-ZWO content? Mini PCs? Mount tuning? Non-ASI Air solutions?
I appreciate that! Yes absolutely - I have a mini PC article in work actually as an alternative to ASIAIR for those looking for more advance imaging platforms or non zwo ones and we have some scopes and mount reviews and filter reviews coming too - we are very aware of not getting too into red ;) We will def look at other cameras too as we move forward and get more interest from other equipment sources
Thanks
Very welcome Sir thanks for the generous tip
Beginner question... So, the autofocuser only works if used with the ASI wi fi unit. Many thanks
no it works with ASCOM too :) so any ascom astronomy software
Great video. 👍 sub and liked .
Thanks for the sub! and appreciate the comments as the effort that goes into these are pretty substantial ... I can relate to anyone on YT that makes videos now I do my own LOL
@@TeamAstroworkz I'm buying the Eaf in the next week or so . Which lead me to your video . Very professional, clear and easy to understand. You're a gentleman and you should be proud of your videos . Clear skies from Ireland.
@@moemode thanks! really glad you liked the video ...we are new and just out of the blocks so the comments are appreciated - lots more coming :)
This is very timely. Lately my EAF has been "finding focus" that is waaaay out of focus, ruining a whole night's worth of images. Not sure what has happened, since it was working fine until recently.
Ensure your initial focus point, bevor running the AF routine is in good focus, not doughnuts, even if they are small. I noticed that if the AF routine is started with my focuser too out of focus that the entire process results in unsharp stars.
@@screwyouyoutube5493 that would be fine but in the middle of the night I’m not awake to check that and besides it’s going from a point where it is in good focus but then it might either change filter or there’s a temperature shift, causing the autofocus routine to kick in.
Do these new 5V EAF require a powered USB port?
yes as the controller is powered from the USB port - but they are reasonably low power
Good point about setting it up during the day. I just wasted a night guessing where the focus should be and letting NINA's auto-focuser work it out. Yeah, don't ever do that.
Good lesson to avoid frustration!!
How do you use the EAF without the ASIair? Can you plug it in to your laptop? Hope thats not a stupid question!
not at all stupid ... and yes sure you can - you can use it under ascom or ASI Studio etc no issue
@@TeamAstroworkz awesome, thankyou. I still manually focus. Shall have to get myself one. It's a pain touching the focuser while trying to get the focus spot on!
Try talking abit slower lol
just play it at .75 speed if it’s too fast for you