ZWO ASI 178MC plate solving in NINA using ASTAP - what settings?

eastridingstars

I’ve been DSO imaging for some time using a ZWO ASI 183 mono camera with a William Optics GT 71 refractor. For plate solving, used ASTAP in NINA with the H18 star database. No issues at all. Have created a new profile in NINA for the ZWO ASI 178MC. Pixel size is the same (2.4) and focal length is also the same as same scope. Only field of view is different : 1.02 x 0.68 for the 178 versus 1.81 x 1.21 for the 183.

I have not been able to plate solve yet using NINA and ASTAP with the ASI 178. Do I need to change any settings in NINA? With the 183, exposure is 2 seconds & binning 1x1. Should I increase exposure time, try binning 2x2, increase gain or try something else? I can experiment but if anyone is using NINA and ASTAP successfully with the 178 would be grateful for details of your settings.

Tech@ZWO

eastridingstars
I found the plate-solving range on ASTAP page, it is under range.
Do you have the raw images? Check if the stars are fine and enough. you need to increase the exposure time, or bin2, or increase gain if don't have enough stars.

eastridingstars

Tech@ZWO Thanks for the chart! Pairing the asi178mc with a WO GT71, my FOV is 1.02 x 0.68 degrees so it looks like I need to have an exposure time of around 20 seconds. That’s a long interval - way more than I’m used to. For comparison, the ZWO asi183 fov with the same scope is 1.8 x 1.2 degrees.