Detailed setup page 2

My astrophotography setup in more detail page 2

By now the telescope have cooled or reached ambient temperature, this is important to obtain a clear end sharp picture trough the mirrors/lenses. I check the collimation( Newtonians only) and fine adjust if necessary with my collimation tool.

I turn on the power, this is done by switching on the Battery pack which acts as the main 12V DC power supply for all the equipment except for the PC, and ensure all electrical components is working ( Dew heaters, camera etc.) I connect the USB cable to the Laptop witch is controlling the telescope throughout the hole session. Polar align the telescope correctly with Earth’s rotation axis by makeing sure the guide camera and guide scope are in focus and able to se (and later track) the stars.

I then need to focus the main telescope by adjusting the focuser knob to get the stars sharp, by doing that you will be able to platesolve and orient the telescope to a specific point in the sky, and later in the session to get the sharpest pictures.

I am now ready to start up my Laptop!

When the Laptop bots up and Windows 10 starts, I launch the Pegasus Astro- Pocket Powerbox application and this connects the Laptop to the Powerbox which I have placed physically on the telescope-mount.
Next I open the PHD2 application and connect the mount and guider. This opens the EQMOD software utility that connects to the mount allowing me to control the mount without a hand controller. This software also controls the guiding and sends guiding correction to the mount.
Now its time to “Polar Align” the mount/Telescope. I launch SharpCap and select the polaralignment tool from the menu. After following the adjustment procedure in the application, the Telescope-mount is now inside limit( good/Excellent )and polar aligned.
Lastly I launch N.I.N.A. This is the software I use for capturing my images.
I also use Stellarium, is nice to have, it shows the night sky and its objects presented in high graphical quality. This software can also show in which direction the telescope is pointing and allows you to move it between different objects.

Before I will open N.I.N.A. and load my hardware profile (Eg. 200PDS/Z61 and Canon Eos/Zwo 485). to connect all hardware units( camera, auto-focuser, Telescope, guider), a few things needs to be done.
So first things first, at this point I need to focus the camera either with the auto-focuser or manually and by using a Bahtinov mask. This is done most efficient by pointing the telescope at a bright star. I start out by manually turn the focuser wheel/run manual autofocus to a close enough focus point where the platesolver software is able to recognize the stars and orient the mount and telescope. Adjust now from this coarse condition to fine adjustment with autofocus module in N.I.N.A. or by using the Bahtinov mask as mentioned earlier. When this process is done and the stars look pin sharp and crispy its time to test the mount/telescope/software and make sure that it knows exactly where it is and is able to point to the objects that you select. This is focus adjustment and plate-solving.

Turning on the battery pack by pushing the power butten

This feeds all accessories with power except the Laptop.

When the Laptop boots up and Windows 10 starts, I launch the Pegasus Astro- Pocket Powerbox application

This connects the Laptop to the Powerbox which I have placed physically on the telescope-mount.

This shows my start panel settings

Power output is 12v, 0.4 amp and auto dew is enabled.

On the config menu I have set the LED to on to visually see the Powerbox is on

The battery level and consumption gives a nice status throughout the session

Next I open the PHD2 application and connect the mount and guider

This opens the EQMOD software utility that connects to the mount allowing me to control the mount without a hand controller. This software also controls the guiding and sends guiding correction to the mount.

The PHD2 Advanced settings "Global menu" as I prefer them

These settings will vary depending on which telescope, camera, guidescope and mount being used.

This is my Guidecam settings

In this menu I have specified my Guidescope parameters and guider settings.

One very important note, in the PHD2 menu/tools, is to set the "Enable server". For N.I.N.A. to communicate with PHD2 use features like dithering and for receiving guiding data, its important to "enable server".

The settings in this menu is often the settings I adjust during initial guiding to obtain the optimal guiding graph and performance

In PHD2 I push the "connect equipment" icon

This launches a box showing my Equipment profile where I have specified my Mount, guider and guidecam.

My Guider camera properties is set to 8-bit

The ASCOM driver properties for my mount brings up this setup window

The communication parameters are especially important for establishing proper communication between Laptop and mount. I use USB serial port com4 on my Laptop as the communication port, this might be different on your Laptop, check your port in Windows device manager. A very IMPORTANT note is the option " Allow auto meridian flip", this shall NOT be enabled- I use N.I.N.A. to control the meridian flip.
I then push the "connect all" and the guidecam and mount connects the hardware via the ASCOM drivers.

Mount position indicator and stops.

I have modified these settings to stop the mount/telescope from hitting the tripod legs when in motion. The stop values prevents the mount/telescope from rotating any further when reaching these extreme positions.

This brings up the EQMOD tool which compares to a software version of the handcontroller

This brings up the EQMOD GUI which compares to a software version of the handcontroller

My EQMOD setup is shown here

The Site information is interesting as well as defining the mount limits. Also make sure the telescope/mount is physically positioned in the zero/90 degres position before synchronizing the park position transducers.

When "park" position now is re-defined I unpark the mount

The mount is now able to rotate freely on my command

Next I open SharpCap to prepare the telescope for polar alignment

I confirm my guidecam(ZWO ASI120mm mini) is connected and active. The exposure and gain settings are set to ideal values.

Clicking the menu option "Polar align" will open a seperate window

Clicking the Tools menu option "Polar align" will open a seperate window

The telescope is pointing roughly towards north (Polaris) and Stars appear in the SharpCap camera view. Click next

SharpCap has now platesolved the stars in the sky and located the north celestial pole.

I then press next before I rotate the telescope in the RA axis

We have now have rotated the telescope 90 degrees from the starting point

SharpCap has calculated the error or the offset value from the north celestial pole that we are aiming for. I press next before adjustment

I adjust the Alt/Az by rotating the knobs and lever while observing the real-time values in SharpCap

The values is still not within limits

When correct adjustment has been made and only a very smal error is left, the "excellent" will show

The Polar Alignment of the telescope and mount is now complete.

This is my Stellarium configurations

In the location setting I enter my exact coordinates from where I do my observations. Since I have no internet connection the "Get location from network" is ticked off.

One thing that I use is the ability to see the meridian line running between north to south. When the telescope approaches this line during a astro-photography session it needs to orient it self to be able to continue to move freely and follow the object in the sky. This line in Stellarium is indicative only. The automatic telescope Madeiran- flip needs to be set up in PHD2 and N.I.N.A.

In the configuration menu/Plugin I have enabled "Remote control "

By enabling this feature, I am able to synchronize/upload object coordinates from Stellarium to N.I.N.A.( In N.I.N.A. we have to specify that we use Stellarium as well).

Tick on "server enable" and " enable on automatically on startup"

Port number is the default 8090 which I also use in N.I.N.A. to enable this service feature.

This plugin need to be enabled to " Telescope control"

When enabled and configured I can send slew comands from Stellarium to the mount. If I select an object and press "ctrl 1" the telescope will slew to this object( or where it believes this object should be, for precise telescope aiming, I always run a N.I.N.A plate-solving)

I have selected these settings to enable telescope control

Click "Choose ASCOM Telescope"

I select my ASCOM telescope mount driver and press ok

I have chosen a name for my telescope/Mount

This is my telescope connected to Stellarium

In the upper right corner of Stellarium, You can find the "Occulars" settings

In the sensors menu I have entered the data of my cameras. This enable me to chose a specific camera and telescope in stellarium and preview a target inside the picture frame to see how it will fit.

Like the Sensors, I have also added data for my telescopes

Likewise in the "lenses" menu, my focal reducers and magnification lenses are also added here. In N.I.N.A there is also a framing function based on telescope and camera specifications.

This is the search menu of Stellarium

I type the name of the object and hit "enter" the crosshair will mark the object

I hit "ctrl 1" on the laptop keyboard and the telescope will slew to this target that i have selected

Now its time to launch N.I.N.A. This is the software I use for capturing my images.

I select my profile tha I have created in the "options/Generel menu. I can select multiple configurations depending on my camera and telescope selection.

Firstly i connect my camera

It should appear at the top, otherwise find it in the dropdown menu. A pop-up appear when connection is succesfull.

The Focuser is then connected

The focuser is connected and I am able to move it by enter new values in the target position field.

I then connect the telescope in the same manner

when the telescope connects I am also able to control it from N.I.N.A.

Lets connect the guider

N.I,N.A. is dependent on the PHD2 Guiding software. PHD2's internal server must be enabled for dithering and guiding telemetry to work. The guider- settings works with my equipment but the Dither settings, which determine the size of telescope/mount movement/travel in a random direction between each picture or a number of pictures, is an area where I still experiment to improve and reach for the optimal settings.

The PegasusAstro Pocket Powerbox Advance( USB hub) can be connected although it's not absolute necessary.

This equipment feature will give some of the same options featured in the Pegasus app.

On the General tab under options is where my different profiles is located.

The profiles chooser is loaded when I launch N.I.N.A. This selection can be selected or de-selected on this page. At the bottom of the page is an option to parse location data from Stellarium.

My advanced settings on the General page.

On the equipment page is where I have entered my camera and telescope date.

This page also include the option to define the planetarium software, in my case Stellarium.

Polar allignment

Collimation

Stellarium and N.I.N.A. configuration and Focus ajustment

The Laser Collimator is an essential tool for me to use every time i do astrophotography

Before I begin, the secondary mirror is already adjusted with the laser beam aligned and hitting the doughnut circle on the primary mirror. It is therefore only the primary mirror that I need to adjust before i begin my imaging session.

I insert the laser tool and turn it on

This procedure can be done at home. The laser beam must travel trough the focuser and hit the secondary mirror and on to the doughnut shaped spot in the middle of the primary mirror. If the light beam is off and not in the center, adjustment is needed on the secondary mirror in front of the telescope.

Adjustment on the secondary mirror

Adjust the mirror on the three screws/bolts until the laser beam is inside the doughnut shaped circle on the primary mirror. Be careful not to look into the laser light. If the secondary mirror is greatly misaligned, it's necessary to loosen the center screw/bolt and hold the mirror firmly while adjusting the three screws. Be careful not to touch the secondary mirror while doing this and do not drop any tools onto the primary mirror. When this adjustment is satisfactory, I just need to ajust the primary mirror.

I adjust the primary mirror on the back end of the telescope to get the laser spot centered

I let my telescope cool to the outside temperature for at least an hour before making any adjustments on the primary mirror.

I loosen the three lock screws on the back end of the telescope

When the lock screws is loose, I adjust by turning the bigger adjustment bolts until the laser dot is centered on the scale (on the collimation tool) when centered, I fasten the lock screws evenly.

I put the laser Collimation tool into the focus tube and turn it on

Be careful not to look directly into the laser light. The laser tool must be rotated with the graticule facing backwards in the direction of the bottom of the telescope. If the laser dot projection is off a bit as seen here, I adjust it to reach center of the graticule scale by adjusting the three knobs holding the primary mirror. Remember to untighten the locking screws and tighten it again afterwards. Now my telescope is collimated.

Detailed setup page 3