Sharing the following checklist developed to aid new users to get all of the hardware & software working nicely together. Still a draft checklist and needs to be thoroughly tested, and if you have any suggestions, additional detail, or a change in the sequence in the setup that improves the reliability of the setup, please comment and share. Will continue to test and refine - unfortunately we've got cloudy, snowy weather, 24F with 4" of snow today in Central Iowa - no Mercury transition viewing possible today. Jim
Format below is Checklist no., Short Description, Long Description of Task
ASIair Setup Checklist
1.0 ASIair Setup
Initialize ASIair unit (currently using v1.3 with Firmware 3.37)
2.a Scope & Mount
Balance Scope, level tripod, put mount in Park, and align tripod for Polar Alignment
Secure power strip & blocks
Set Home (Park) Position - Menu>Utilities>Home Position>Set
2.b Lens Caps
Remove any lens caps
2.c Version
Current Version (11/10/2019) - update as needed
Handcontroller: GEM 5.31.9200
Mountcontroller: 7.15.8270
13.0 Hibernate
If needed, enable Hibernate to save current Alignment information when powered off
3.a USB Cables
Connect USB cable to Handcontroller, guide & imagining camera, EFW and EAF
Do not use the camera USB hub - connect each camera to ASIair
Connect Main, Guide, EAF and EFW
Confirm 12V 3A power source for cameras
Confirm 5V 2.5A power source for ASIair
3.b Power Cables
Connect power cables to mount, ASIair and camera cooler & turn power; plug in & power on Netgear WiFi Extender; and turn on power strip
3.c Dew Heater
Connect RCA power cables for Dew Heaters and turn power on
4.0 Cable Wrap
Check for any possible cable wrap fouling and set or adjust for slew limits
5.0 Power On
Turn on power strip, confirm power to ASIair, mount, dew heater & iPad and/or laptop
Confirm GPS is powered on and communicating with Mount
6.a WiFi
Confirm SkySafariPro Communication Settings (ASIair is a proxy server)
IP Address 10.0.0.1 & Port Number 4030 (Set to Night visiion to see values)
Do not enable or turn on Auto-Detect SkyFi
6.b WiFi
Select WiFi connection on iPad (Setting > WiFi)
ASIAIR_14694636_5GEXT
6.c Open App
Open ASIair App
(suggest clearing App from memory by double clicking home button and swipe up ASIair App)
6.d WiFi
ASIair WiFi Settings - confirm Network ASIAIR_14694636 with 5G WiFi ON
7.a Main Camera
Main Camera Settings - select & turn on imagining camera, confirm focal length, gain & cooling settings
7.b File Name
Customize File Name (change Target name in AutoRun Settings)
7.c Guide Camera
Guide Settings - select & turn on guide camera & confirm focal length
Confirm guide camera is focused
7.d Settings
Gain: 50
Calibration Step: 2000ms
Max DEC Duration: 2000ms (1000 - 3000ms range)
Max RA Duration: 2000ms (1000-3000ms range)
7.e Auto Restore
Auto Restore Calibration: TBD
7.f Dithering
Dither Settings: TBD
8.a Mount
Telescope Settings - Celestron AVX (Serial - USB-RS232 & Baud 9600)
When telescope (mount) is selected & turned on, a prompt for Alignment, select Aligned. Note: If no mount information is displayed, then close & restart the App (double click home button on iPad and swipe up to close the ASIair App) to restore the mount information
8.b Polar Align
If Polar Alignment has been completed with PoleMaster, then recommend a one-or three- Star alignment, otherwise perform Plate Solve Alignment
8.c Mount Info
Mount Information may not be displayed after selection; may require the ASIair App to be closed, reconnected and restarted to show mount information
8.d Confirm
Confirm Lat & Long values
TBD - using mobile device information to Sync lat/long to Mount
Confirm Time of Day & Zone
Goto Auto-Center: TBD
Select exposure time
Tracking: TBD
Goto Home Position: TBD
Confirm RA/DEC
9.0 Filter Wheel
Filter Wheel Settings - TBD
10.0 Focuser
Focuser Settings - TBD
11.0 Storage
Storage Settings - confirm adequate SD card storage space
12.a SkySafari
Connect to Mount Scope>Connect; confirm working slew buttons
12.b SkySafari
Confirm Date & Time (automatic DST is on), Location, & Coordinates
12.c Preview
Preview image (2-10 second exposure)
12.d Plate Solve
Select Plate Solve, and if successful, then Sync the Mount
12.e Sync SkySafari
Open SkySafari APP and connect to Telescope & Mount
12.f Confirm
Confirm location in SkySafari
12.g GoTo Object
Select adjacet deep space object in SkySafari, GoTo object
12.h Plate Solve
Return to ASIair, Preview image, plate solve and confirm deep space object
12.i Set Crosshairs
Select Crosshair to confirm image is centered in Main Camera
13.0 Guide Camera
Start Guiding
14.0 Imaging
Start Imaging (confirm settings in Autorun)
15.a Shutdown
Caution - do no power down ASIair until the unit stops writing to SD card (e.g., no blinking green lights, and red power lights are not blinking)
15.b Shutdown
Stop camera cooling and allow the camera to stablize over 5 minutes
15.c Shutdown
Move mount to Park/Home position, set to Hibernate (if not moving tripod)
15.d Shutdown
Power off ASIair, mount, dew heater, router extender and powerstrip
ASIair Polar Align, Auto Run & Capture Images
1.a Main Focus
Remove lens cap, and preview & confirm Main Camera in focus
1.b Confirm
Confirm Main Camera Settings
2.a Align to NCP
Confirm Mount & Telescope are generally aligned with Polaris (NCP)
2.b Focus Mask
Confirm focus with Main Camera (using Bahtinov mask)
2.c Preview
Preview with TBD seconds exposure and confirm focus & gain of the Main camera
2.d Preview
Preview with TBD seconds exposure to confirm focus and visible stars
2.e Plate Solve
Perform Plate Solve, and if success solved, then select Polar Alignment (PA)
3.a Polar Align
Select Polar Align, follow on screen instructions
3.b Polar Align
Press Next, confirm exposure time (2-5 seconds), and press Right Arrow to start plate solving; and image will be captured and plate solved
3.c Polar Align
Mount will rotate until Polaris is approximately centered in Main camera FOV, and another preview and plate solving will be started, and prompted with Error Calculated message, then press Next
3.d Polar Align
Screen will display Target image and Adjustment for Alt/Az bolts
Right Arrow - tighten to move left Alt bolts; Left Arrow - tighten to move right Alt bolts
Up Arrow - tighten to move back Az bolts; Down Arrow - tighten to move front Az bolts
3.e Polar Align
Refresh and preview image
3.f Polar Align
Adjust Alt/Az bolts to produce a Total Error of less than 20 arcseconds
3.g Polar Align
Continue to adjust Alt/Az bolts to resolve Total Error; refresh screen & reimage; and follow on-screen instructions
3.h Polar Align
Polar Alignment Completed
4.e Park
Select Go to Home Position (set Home Position using Handcontroller), allow mount to slew to Home (Park) position
4.f Hibernate
If needed, enable Hibernate to save current Alignment information if powered off
Menu>Utilities>Hibernate
5. Select Object
Select an Object
5.d Select Object
Go to Telescope & Mount Settings, select Tracking On
5. Select Object
Go to Preview, expose the Mount control window and search for object (when you select the search bar, also select M, NGC, IC or Named Star under search bar or select object from history)
5.f Center Object
Select Choose Object (e.g., M31 Andromeda Galaxy), and select GoTo
Message will be displayed for selected object and location, and after slewing stops, then close the Mount control window
5.a Center Object
Select Preview and complete a TBD second exposure
5.b Center Object
Select Plate Solve
5.c Center Object
If Plate Solve is successful, then select Sync & GoTo to move mount to object (e.g., M31); mount should slew to the object
5.d Center Object
Confirm location in SkySafari (e.g., centered on M31); open SkySafari App, and then connect to Telescope, and SkySafari screen will slew to position of Telescope; confirm object is centered in SkySafari
5.e Center Object
Repeat the Plate Solving process to confirm the image is centered.
Press Play button to capture image (adjust exposure to capture image).
Adjust Histogram (select Auto) to improve the image
If image is visible, then apply Crosshair to confirm image is centered.
Optional - confirm image with an additional Plate Solve, including a Sync & GoTo
Confirm object is centered in SkySafari.
6.a Guide
Remove Guide Camera lens cover and start ASIair Guidance
6.b Guide
Select Guidance graph; select exposure (1-4 seconds), press refresh
6.c Guide
Select a guide star, and confirm quality
If guide scope is properly focused, then graphic confirms suitability of guide star - a "sharp peak" graphic rather than a flat top represents a good guide star
6.d Guide
Evaluate guidance performance in Guide screen graphic
7.a AutoRun
Return to Preview screen and select Auto Run
7.b Target Name
Enter Target (e.g., M31) and select Group by Shot
7.c Shutdown
Select how to end AutoRun - Shutdown ASIair and GoTo Home Positiion
7.d AutoRun
Select imaging critera (e.g., Exposure, Bin, Repeat), and Type of Image (Light, Bias, Flat, Dark); confirm total time for imaging
7.e Delay
Set time delay for First and Between subexposures
7.f Confirm
Confirm the estimated captured image size will not exceed capacity of SD card
7.g AutoRun
Start Imaging Session (press Play button)
7.h AutoRun
Check quality of image - use Histogram (select Auto) to adjust the image, and click on preview image to see full screen to evaluate the guidance error and star quality (evaluate flat field)
