Great tutorial! Just what I searched for. Good to see I can use Kstar and Ekos to creat mosaic sequence. A reason I ordered a goto mount... Crate a sequence and have a rest.
Excellent presentation although a full screen view would help with detail. Although its 9:30 am in the morning I was able to create the schedules for practice. My version of KSTARS/EKOS is 3.5.9 Stable so the Mosaic tool is somewhat different.
Ekos Mosaics creation and scheduling has apparently changed CONSIDERABLY since your video and the Stellermate documentation apparently only recently updated. An updated video would be extremely helpful. Thanks
Hello Christopher, really great tutorial; I didn't even know that Ekos has this mosaic feature. Also, the scheduler I never used. This is a really informative video. I'll definitely look up your other contributions about Ekos. g.
Glad I found your videos. I have a similar set up and few people do detailed videos with Kstars/Ekos. I’m going to attempt to use the mosaic/scheduler this upcoming week on vacation. I noticed you use an offset of 10 with the 533MC Pro. Any particular reason? I actually have a million questions for you, but not at this time. Great pace and detail in the video.
Really good video, much appreciated. I'm in the phase of choosing imaging software between three candidates: Kstar/Ekos, NINA and APT. This video really helped explaining how EKOS capturing/mosaic works. Thanks!
I know this is a couple years old video, but it is still helpful. My question is about continuing a scheduled mosaic on the next night after running out of time for all the parts to complete all at once. Thanks for any how-to suggestions or guidance.
Nice. Good audio. I liked the focus on on subject better than the lengthy format. I am new to Echos. Yet, I expect the sequence to define camera settings independant of the target. I am using a mono camera, so a sequence would run frames for each filter the project calls for. The scheduler would pull a sequence and add the target information. Your imaging with the ASI533 (a OSC camera), so you could have separate sequences for you L-eNhance (for hydrogen nebulae) other sequences for Lunar filters, and sequences for L-Pro (galaxies). You also need sequences to cover your f/ratios because f/ratio impacts the exposure time. You might also need sequences to cover major bortle zones.
Hi Michael, when using a mono camera, you would just need to setup an exposure sequence with all the filters you would use (RGB/Lum/Ha). An exposure sequence is usually defined for a specific object/target. Once you have the sequence defined, you can then save that sequence and use it with the scheduler. Regarding the equipment, this is defined by the "Profile". Each profile would have the equipment defined (including the focal lengths and objective size). I noticed that in the last year or so, there have been a number of good videos out there regarding Ekos/Indi; also look for Astroberry videos which are another good source. I have not gone over any of my videos on how to setup the different focus options when using filters. I prefer the offset method., but it takes a bit to setup. Maybe another video. Thanks for your comments, and clear skies.
Great tutorial. Thanks. It's very hard to find any good instruction on how to use the scheduler in Ekos. Much appreciated. I too find as the years go on, i need my sleep! I've seen it mention elsewhere that maybe the scheduler can be a bit unreliable. Have you let it perform a meridian flip during the sequence?
Glad that this has been helpful. I have only had one failure during a meridian flip which was a failure to start guiding when doing a schedule job. I plan to continue to evaluate and test. With earlier releases, I did not a number of issues, but it's gotten a lot better.
Jason, just as an additional data point for you, I have been using the scheduler for the last few sessions and I have flipped each time with out issue. I’m sure that will change, but so far I’ve been successful.
Thank you for that video. I will try this tonight. One question: How can you display the captured image in that overview tab? For me its always in an external FITS Viewer window and the overview is grey with that standard crossed-circle image. I am capturing FITS with a DSLR - is that the reason?
In order to view from the "summary screen", under the "Kstars" window, select "Settings Tab", "Configure-Kstars", select "EKOS", then "Capture" tab, and make sure that the "Summary screen preview" is checked. This will place the image on the summary screen.
Hi Christopher, Thank for this. I have been experimenting with the scheduler for the last few sessions and it’s been so great not having to babysit my rig and get some sleep. I particularly appreciate you showing the mosaic tool. It’s not very intuitive in my opinion. It sounds like you have a similar set up to mine in the sense that you might not have a permanent observatory. I drag my equipment out each night I wanna image, and drag it back in the morning after. Does the scheduler save your progress as you move through each job? Or if you have to shut down and restart another night does it start all jobs over?
Yes, the internal guider works well. I think the PHD2 is a little better, but in a way more complicated to setup. I am actually on the "fence" which I prefer. I think with the scheduler, the internal guilder seems to be better integrated (and less that could go wrong).
Ekos is constantly changing and evolving. I believe the videos were using 3.5.7 stable at the time. I tend to not frequently update when a new version is offered and I no longer use the nightly builds as I want a stable environment. I even go to the extent of testing the updated versions on a test server prior to migrating it to my "prod" server. I may at some point go over the newest version in a video.
Great tutorial! Just what I searched for. Good to see I can use Kstar and Ekos to creat mosaic sequence. A reason I ordered a goto mount... Crate a sequence and have a rest.
Excellent presentation although a full screen view would help with detail. Although its 9:30 am in the morning I was able to create the schedules for practice. My version of KSTARS/EKOS is 3.5.9 Stable so the Mosaic tool is somewhat different.
Ekos Mosaics creation and scheduling has apparently changed CONSIDERABLY since your video and the Stellermate documentation apparently only recently updated. An updated video would be extremely helpful. Thanks
Yes it has changed. When wx conditions improve, I'll see about making an updated version. Thanks for your comment.
Ah. I have just watched this. Now I'm told it's out of date? Might be a good idea to remove it altogether?
Hello Christopher,
really great tutorial; I didn't even know that Ekos has this mosaic feature. Also, the scheduler I never used. This is a really informative video. I'll definitely look up your other contributions about Ekos.
g.
Glad I found your videos. I have a similar set up and few people do detailed videos with Kstars/Ekos. I’m going to attempt to use the mosaic/scheduler this upcoming week on vacation. I noticed you use an offset of 10 with the 533MC Pro. Any particular reason? I actually have a million questions for you, but not at this time. Great pace and detail in the video.
Really good video, much appreciated. I'm in the phase of choosing imaging software between three candidates: Kstar/Ekos, NINA and APT. This video really helped explaining how EKOS capturing/mosaic works. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
I know this is a couple years old video, but it is still helpful. My question is about continuing a scheduled mosaic on the next night after running out of time for all the parts to complete all at once. Thanks for any how-to suggestions or guidance.
Nice. Good audio. I liked the focus on on subject better than the lengthy format.
I am new to Echos. Yet, I expect the sequence to define camera settings independant of the target. I am using a mono camera, so a sequence would run frames for each filter the project calls for. The scheduler would pull a sequence and add the target information. Your imaging with the ASI533 (a OSC camera), so you could have separate sequences for you L-eNhance (for hydrogen nebulae) other sequences for Lunar filters, and sequences for L-Pro (galaxies). You also need sequences to cover your f/ratios because f/ratio impacts the exposure time. You might also need sequences to cover major bortle zones.
Hi Michael, when using a mono camera, you would just need to setup an exposure sequence with all the filters you would use (RGB/Lum/Ha). An exposure sequence is usually defined for a specific object/target. Once you have the sequence defined, you can then save that sequence and use it with the scheduler. Regarding the equipment, this is defined by the "Profile". Each profile would have the equipment defined (including the focal lengths and objective size). I noticed that in the last year or so, there have been a number of good videos out there regarding Ekos/Indi; also look for Astroberry videos which are another good source. I have not gone over any of my videos on how to setup the different focus options when using filters. I prefer the offset method., but it takes a bit to setup. Maybe another video. Thanks for your comments, and clear skies.
Great tutorial. Thanks. It's very hard to find any good instruction on how to use the scheduler in Ekos.
Much appreciated. I too find as the years go on, i need my sleep!
I've seen it mention elsewhere that maybe the scheduler can be a bit unreliable. Have you let it perform a meridian flip during the sequence?
Glad that this has been helpful. I have only had one failure during a meridian flip which was a failure to start guiding when doing a schedule job. I plan to continue to evaluate and test. With earlier releases, I did not a number of issues, but it's gotten a lot better.
Jason, just as an additional data point for you, I have been using the scheduler for the last few sessions and I have flipped each time with out issue. I’m sure that will change, but so far I’ve been successful.
Thank you for that video. I will try this tonight. One question: How can you display the captured image in that overview tab? For me its always in an external FITS Viewer window and the overview is grey with that standard crossed-circle image. I am capturing FITS with a DSLR - is that the reason?
In order to view from the "summary screen", under the "Kstars" window, select "Settings Tab", "Configure-Kstars", select "EKOS", then "Capture" tab, and make sure that the "Summary screen preview" is checked. This will place the image on the summary screen.
Hi Christopher,
Thank for this. I have been experimenting with the scheduler for the last few sessions and it’s been so great not having to babysit my rig and get some sleep. I particularly appreciate you showing the mosaic tool. It’s not very intuitive in my opinion. It sounds like you have a similar set up to mine in the sense that you might not have a permanent observatory. I drag my equipment out each night I wanna image, and drag it back in the morning after.
Does the scheduler save your progress as you move through each job? Or if you have to shut down and restart another night does it start all jobs over?
Hi Chris, just a question: The guider you're using, is that the built in guider in Ekos? And if so, does it work well?
Yes, the internal guider works well. I think the PHD2 is a little better, but in a way more complicated to setup. I am actually on the "fence" which I prefer. I think with the scheduler, the internal guilder seems to be better integrated (and less that could go wrong).
IMHO the internal Ekos guider also gets my vote. The only time I’ve had an issue is when my rig has somehow become unbalanced. Dang kids… ya know 🙃.
Hello Christopher, which version of ekos are you using? I use version 3.5.9 and I see many differences
Ekos is constantly changing and evolving. I believe the videos were using 3.5.7 stable at the time. I tend to not frequently update when a new version is offered and I no longer use the nightly builds as I want a stable environment. I even go to the extent of testing the updated versions on a test server prior to migrating it to my "prod" server. I may at some point go over the newest version in a video.
@@ChristopherKovacsw0anm thank you