ASIAIR v3.0 has been released!: Page 17

ASIAIR v3.0 has been released!

gsiastro

Thank you! Problem resolved 😊

If2lC64I

So far I had only ne issue with Asiair 3.0.0 and Asiair Plus device:

After switching back from manual focus menu the device disconnects from wifi and automatically reconnects again. But after that the Asiair app is in a different mode than the device itself, which remained in focus mode. Workaround is to restart the app and enter device again.

Happens with Asiair app on most recent IOS and Android versions, in Asiair own wifi and in station mode via home wifi. Both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

Mount AM3N, guide camera ASI 178MM, main camera Nikon D850

I revert back to Asiair 2.5.2 with firmware 13.41 and see if it works better.

gsiastro

If2lC64I I have the same Problem...

gsiastro

If2lC64I I did the same: reverting back to Asiair 2.5.2 with firmware 13.41 - problem solved 😊

Dsqh3WbQ

I've got a question regarding guide camera darks. I have two AA+s and 4 rigs. Two rigs have a 220mm mini guide camera and two have 120mm minis. As it stands, it seems I have to take new darks any time I swap the AA+ from one rig to the other that uses the same model guide camera. Is there already a way to set up the same model guide camera for two different rigs using the same AA+ to have two separate dark files for each camera or might this be something that can be implemented?

Moontanner

Dsqh3WbQ or might this be something that can be implemented?

The chances of that happening are slim to none IMO.

Out of interest, have you found any benefit to using the dark on setting during guiding? I ask because I found the guiding was sometimes worse with it turned on.

elakrab

Moontanner

Lags are one of the most critical things in guiding. Asiair implements guide camera streaming (video feed) for guiding which introduces a massive improvement over still images that are used in phd2 for example, particularly over usb2 and slow computers. Ekos recently implemented the same, which also reduces drastically the overheads too.

The point is that if you introduce dark subtraction, the computation needs to happen on the fly, real time, at least once per second or so. And that will undoubtedly introduce lags, particularly if you guide at bin1. Keep in mind those rockbox sbcs are quite unerwhelming in computing power, particularly the asiair mini and the air cameras. I think the plus and the pro are a little snappier.

Dsqh3WbQ

Moontanner I have always used darks for my guide cameras. Even back when I used a pc and phd2 for rig control. It's a must in my book...don't want to be guiding on a hot pixel. Even if they do give the best "guiding" results...lol

Luxo

It’s similar to a scenario I sometimes have with the ASI2600MC DUO, and one or two more additional cameras - ASI120MM Mini, ASI676MM or ASI533MC Pro - any of which can be used as a guide camera, in addition to the 220 in the DUO.

Darks should be associated with a soecific camera but ZWO didn’t really think about this possibility.

There’s another issue too - if you have two guide cameras of the same model there’s no way to tell which is which… these cameras don’t have a serial number (unique identifier).

The chances of ZWO doing anything about it are nil, IMHO.

The alternatives are:

one ASIAir per rig.
don’t use darks for the guide camera.

Dsqh3WbQ

Luxo That is exactly the problem. I have two of the same model cameras 2 120s and 2 220s. The bare minimum would be to allow multiple dark frame sets to be taken...AND a custom file name for each set. That way the dark file set can be selected for the camera in use....no serial number needed. Sure, this takes personal involvement for it to work, but it sure beats taking new darks every time I swap rigs.

Moontanner

elakrab
I'd never really considered the extra lag from processing as a possible cause. It makes sense in theory.
It's hard to evaluate ATM due to the variable seeing conditions and I feel like dancing guide stars were a big part of the issue as well. I was getting guide stars with blacked out pixels at times, until I figured it was better to run with darks turned off. I'd been doing that for years without issue anyway.

V3.0 has been running pretty well for the last few nights. Last night's seeing was horrendous until the very early hours, so most of those subs will go straight in the bin.
The only issue I've been having is the CAA not returning to the initial position at the end of my plan. It's not getting lost or losing it's rotation limits at all. It just needs a manual rotation to 90deg before I shut things down for the evening. (I've given up opening tickets with support as they've gone totally dark).

Luxo Just been advised by the vendor not shipping until end October. Which suggests the end 2026 indication from the local retailers is probably correct.

I'll let you know how the Synlink stacks up. TSA outdoors (SW Aus) emailed me at 1am to let me know they had local stock available and I decided to pony up and give it a whirl. There's a few boxes of old ASIAir incompatible equipment that I'm keen to repurpose rather than toss out.

FERNANDEZ

Bonjour j'ai des déconnexion intempestives
Avec l'asiair message "auto reconniting" en mode autorun
Si vous avez une solution

Merci

Luxo

Bonsoir Fernandez ! La solution la plus rapide pour rétablir la connexion consiste à éteindre puis redémarrer votre téléphone ou votre tablette, puis à vous reconnecter. L’ASIAir devrait être toujours en fonctionnement.

FERNANDEZ

Je viens de m'apercevoir qu'à la fin de ma séquence en mode autorun ex:40pose c'est à la dernière pose qui se met en" auto reconnecting"

C'est normal?

Luxo

Moontanner
Re the lag… using ASIAir Plus and no dark frame, it’s possible to set the guide camera to 0.1s cycle time, but in reality it achieves something like 4-5 frames/sec, not 10, it keeps up but can’t go faster, indicating it discards frames it can’t process - which is OK.

This suggests the total lag is around 0.2 sec by the time it has issued corrections to the mount.

You could then set a dark frame and see if it runs noticeably slower.

Moontanner

Dsqh3WbQ don't want to be guiding on a hot pixel.

Fair call. I've heard about hot pixels becoming guide stars, but never saw it in practice personally.
My sky conditions are never ideal. Even when I had a rural house in southern NSW(AUS) it wasn't a great site for astrophotography.
I can imagine how different equipment and proper dark sites could create problems with hot pixels. When I get off my backside and drag things along on an adventure, I'll be sure to take guiding darks into account.

Dsqh3WbQ The bare minimum would be to allow multiple dark frame sets to be taken

Yes, please. It would be nice to have the option to use more than one gain setting with a matching dark set as well.

elakrab

Dsqh3WbQ

Never been an issue for me. I have never seen the guider stuck at a hotpixel. Stars normally take more than 1 pixel and I bet most modern guiders include a filter for star size.

An alternative method to a dark subtraction would be a hot pixel masking, kstars/ekos offers that possibility. But again, never been an issue for me with the 120mm, 462m or 662m. Maybe they were an issue with even older cameras like that 130mm

Moontanner

Luxo
Interesting. I'm assuming you were looking through your logs to check the results?
Is this connected to your IOS device via WiFi while sitting next to the mount? Your connected equipment is not that different from mine in regards to the processing loads.

The most I've pushed my mount guiding is into the 0.5 second range on a good night. The ASIAir Plus (newer version) seemed pretty flat out and was dishing out great numbers consistently. It was only my gut feeling though and I dialled things back out of instinct as a buffer.

The next few nights are going to be a bust here by the looks of things. Just enough to get the Moon photo-bombing most of the night. Typical.

The Synlink is at the Brooky PO already. I should have that by Friday to start doing some testing over the weekend.
Two of the three old cameras I hardly use anymore are ZWO. It's ironic that they were part of the reason I said "stuff it" and ordered the competition.

Luxo

Moontanner
I watched the guider cycle time while sitting next to the rig. What caught my interest is that in some conditions the CQ350 responds fast enough to track the seeing, and the guide star appears distinctly more steady that it did at 1Hz

As for the actual rate achieved, yes that’s from the guide log.

Moontanner

elakrab
Surely pixel scale would also come into play? I started out at 1500mm FL and went up to 2500mm within a month or two as a totally clueless beginner. I've never used a guide scope so the guide stars are always covering plenty of pixels.
Wouldn't those tiny little finder scope guiders throw up tiny little stars when pointing away form the busy areas?

Purely speculation here, as I've never tried one. I am looking at setting up my DSLR to take away on weekend stays out of town with the ASIaAir mini attached. Any input from experience is always welcome.

elakrab

Not really, even with the sharpest refractor/lens I have, the SV535, each star has a typical size of 1.6 pixels or so on an imx585 with 2.8 micron pixels, well above 1. On my sv545, redcat and sqa70 it is more like 2 pixels, and we are talking about dedicated astrographs.

These guidescopes are all of them way softer. I bet the typical FWHM is of 3-4 pixels (that is for instance the sizes on a good 'seestar'), probably even more. On my 30mm guidescope I even need to specifically cut uv and ir because otherwise the stars are so defocused I cannot guide appropriately. Don't underestimate star bloat.

Moontanner

elakrab Thankyou for the detailed reply. I try to never dismiss concepts entirely until I've tested them myself, or have been shown otherwise by those that have done the legwork.
It's good to know that my common sense isn't necessarily "the common sense" in this regard. I'll still test it though.

« Previous Page Next Page »