Strange times for asiair: Page 3

Strange times for asiair

Lain402

Have you heard about this ? :

Byrdsfan1948

w7ay Hey Chen, Yep I totally agree with all your saying. Having said that what really amazes me is that if we assume the the ASIAIR is both the fishing line as well as lure for ZWO, I at least would expect that it would be by far the most robust product in their entire line. Speaking only for myself it has been a two edged sword. I appreciate how it made my way into this hobby much easier than it might have been otherwise. But then on the other hand for some of us, ( me included ) it is sort of like using a small computer to solve Calculus problems without me the user, having a basic understanding of Algebra, Geometry and Trig. Personally I appreciate that I was able to skip those steps to get started, but I now better understand that there is still a need to go back and take the time and make the effort to learn those courses if I am ever going to become as proficient as I would like to be .

Again personally, perhaps because of my business background, the various issues we have seen with the Pro and Plus as well as some issues with some other of their products have caused me to put a full stop on further investments with ZWO. I stress full stop, NOT I've jumped ship......... BUT I most certainly will be testing the waters elsewhere in the near future.

If I were to guess I would assume that the ASIAIR Pro and Plus are the very face of this company. To put it another way, essentially they play a huge role in Corporate Image. As galactique so well says: for $300 I'm satisfied. But $300 does not go very far in this hobby.....

HAHA yes that video is very funny. I have not watched it all yet, but will later. BTW did you see the You Tube videos he and a few other's did about 6 months ago about some crazy game changing filter that was supposed to allow imaging during the day ? :-))) I don't know if they are still on You Tube.

Lastly, if you don't mind could you post an image of the PE graph for your RST -135? I found your post here, about a month ago that shows the PE graph for the ZWO AM5. I agree that keeping up with the first derivative change in velocity (acceleration) is key for guiding. I also agree that AM5 graph looks like it might be a challenge. Almost like at some points guiding might almost need to keep up with the second derivative of velocity, Jerk !! :-)) But I have not been able to find a RST-135 graph to compare it to. You say it's very close to sinusoidal, I'd love to compare them. Hopefully far more so than the AM5 appears to be............ Feel free to e-mail that to me if you wish if you still have my e-mail Thanks Al

w7ay

Byrdsfan1948 Personally I appreciate that I was able to skip those steps to get started, but I now better understand that there is still a need to go back and take the time and make the effort to learn those courses if I am ever going to become as proficient as I would like to be .

Remember what Euclid told Ptolemy? That there is no Royal road to Geometry -- everyone has to learn geometry the hard way.

I can only paraphrase Euclid by saying there is no such thing as "Simple As 1,2,3." You get stuck at 3 and can go no further.

if you don't mind could you post an image of the PE graph for your RST -135?

I don't have an unguided graph handy (you can find guided graphs that I have posted to this forum), but if you search the Cloudy Night archives, you should be able to find a curve someone else (not RainbowAstro) made and Fourier Transformed to show that except for a small third harmonic term, the other terms are virtually not present.

Chen

Lain402

Byrdsfan1948

Byrdsfan1948 BTW did you see the You Tube videos he and a few other's did about 6 months ago about some crazy game changing filter that was supposed to allow imaging during the day ? :-))) I don't know if they are still on You Tube.

9 months ago and it was obviously an April fool !

https://youtu.be/8QzXeUe1xg8

w7ay

Byrdsfan1948 RST -135

This is a moderately recent, and pretty comprehensive review of the RST-135. Notice that it too mentions the need of large, fast corrections to keep up:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/user/products/large/Supplementary%20Manual%20V16.pdf

I think most people know by now how to tame a strain wave mount. With an encoder, the RST-135E's period error is down to 2.5". Good enough for doing unguided photography with short focal lengths, without the use of any computer (just an intervalometer). But needs good polar alignment, nevertheless.

Chen

w7ay

Lain402 9 months ago and it was obviously an April fool !

Flew too close to the Sun obviously, and got their brains fried.

(Refer to Greek mythology if that is a mystery :-).

By the way, it is easy to see Venus at Noon with unaided eyes. Need good sky transparency, although I have also seen it through thin clouds.

Chen

Byrdsfan1948

Lain402 HAHA THANKS!!! OK Yes I see that now............. But missed it then .....

galactique

Chen,
I cannot speak to the ZWO target audience, but the Youtube video of Trevor Jones wrt Raptor highlights
the potential problem of this new channel to market; that involving paid Youtube Influencers.

Being naturally wary/sceptical/cynical helps me try to sort the wheat from the chaff.

How did it come to this? I watched last the movie about Fessebook/Zuckerberg, script by Aaron Zorkin; nuff said.

w7ay

galactique paid Youtube Influencers

"Paid" is the key word. Follow the money.

That is why I declined the offer from ZWO last year for a free ASIAIR "Plus," and other "gifts" of new hardware from time to time from ZWO. One year, they wanted to send me moon cakes for Chinese New Year.

I also don't want to deal with working through ZWO's bugs. It is one thing helping others when it is cloudy for me, and another thing when I am stuck with untested, flakey equipment when the sky outside is clear.

On top of that, I don't want to deal with "gifts" from a foreign country when it comes time to file my taxes. These shills on YouTube and FaceBook must have good accountants. I already avoid stocks from foreign countries since you need an entire tax form just to deal with their dividends; and those are even legit transactions, and not bribes.

Chen

Swizerlan

w7ay Do you have a youtube channel?

Swizerlan

astrosatch I love asi air so much I wont buy a paramount mx because its tied to bisque proprietary products. This thing changed the way I image, there is no going back.

w7ay

Swizerlan Do you have a youtube channel?

Nope. I just have my own web site (www.w7ay.net) if I have something useful to publish.

Chen

« Previous Page