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Re: Astrophotography Done with the iEXOS-100, EXOS 2, and G11 Post your Pictures and Details! Lets Show What These Mounts Can Do.
#G11
#astrophotography
#iEXOS-100
#EXOS2
Dave Cherry
Ladies and gentlemen The PMC Mount at its best!
I have just started imaging the bubble nebula, the guiding in PHD is below 0.5 RMS! 0.44 RMS to be precise That is with a 8 inch 200pds sitting on top of it (1000mm FL) along with guide scope/camera , red dot, laser,,etc.. if there are any doubts what your PMC mount can do , here is the proof. this is just about 10mins of exposure time! How bout that mount! Cheers! Dave  -- Scopes: Sky Watcher 200PDS, Skywatcher 72ED Mount: Explore Scientific PMC8 EXO2 Cameras: ASI 294MCPRO Coooled, Altair guide cam + 50mm scope Software: Sharpcap Pro ,PH2, Stelarium Startools
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Re: M81
#Off-Topic
On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 08:26 AM, Michael Anderson wrote:
Mount: Celestron AVX w/ All Star Polar Align & Polar ScopeHi Michael, Thanks for sharing your image. I must however point out that this is the PMC-Eight forum. You don't appear to be using a PMC-Eight mount so this thread is not related to this forum. This thread will be locked. -- Jerry Hubbell Vice President of Engineering Explore Scientific, LLC. jrh at explorescientific.com www.explorescientificusa.com 1010 S. 48th Street Springdale, AR 72762 1-866-252-3811 Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment Wilderness, VA Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM) Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF Cameras: QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance, Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!
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Re: M81
#Off-Topic
Timothy Myers
Very Nice
-- Tim Myers Telescopes: Celestron 4SE, Celestron 8SE, SkyWatcher 100ED Pro Mounts: 4-5 SE, 6-8SE, EXOS-2GT with PMC-Eight Cameras: ASI1600MC Imaging Camera, Cooled, ASI120 Guide Camera Focuser: ZWO EAF Scope Mini PC: Topton Pentium Laptop: Lenovo Software: CDC, SharpCap Pro, NINA, PHD2
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Re: Raspberry Pi
Kent,
I’m using the new Raspberry Pi4 with 4gbs of ram and I have it booting of off a 120gb SSD drive, with the drive it boots up 5-10x faster than of off the micro sd card. I’m using it with Kstars/EKos for my visual and Astrophotography needs. The system works great because it only needs 5 volts and less then 3 amps to run it, it’s great for a portable set up. I connect through either my IPhone or android tablet thru VNC viewer, the only down fall I see is that sharp cap isn’t available on Linux so I do bust out the laptop to get polar alignment, you could do thru PHD2 but I like sharp cap better, EKos also can plate solve as long as you have an internet connection. But so far I like the setup, it’s light and amazingly pretty powerful for something no bigger than a credit card. I also run the Astroberry version of Linux which is Raspian with astronomy software installed for you, as well as INDI, so no messing around with ASCOM and drivers. -- Meade LX 80 6" SCT and Meade DS 114mm Newtonian Meade 2nd Digital Series Goto mount with 497 bandbox ExploreScientific Exos II with PMC-8
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Re: Pluto blink comparator astrophotography
#astrophotography
#EXOS2
#VIDEO
On Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 04:16 AM, Shailendra Sharma wrote:
Hi Shailendra, If you don't mind, please post this as a new topic. This is off topic for this message thread. -- Jerry Hubbell Vice President of Engineering Explore Scientific, LLC. jrh at explorescientific.com www.explorescientificusa.com 1010 S. 48th Street Springdale, AR 72762 1-866-252-3811 Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment Wilderness, VA Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM) Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF Cameras: QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance, Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!
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Re: Pluto blink comparator astrophotography
#astrophotography
#EXOS2
#VIDEO
Wes Mcdonald
Shailendra This is a good question 1. The larger the aperture the more photons you collect per unit time 2. The shorter the focal length the larger fov of a fixed pixel size in the imaging camera 3. The larger the aperture the smaller the diffraction limit of the scope which governs the smallest resolution. Small aperture of 80mm has about 1.7” resolution limit. A 127mm has about 1.1”. A 152mm has .92”. Some image with a 51mm which as a resolution limit of 2.7”. Note seeing limit is somewhere between 1” and 2” most places, seldom as low as 1” 4. We want to match the effective pixel size to the overall seeing of the atmosphere. Also pixel size (in arc seconds) should be matched to your guiding performance. In general we presume guiding has small errors and thus adjust our imaging train to optimize the pixel size to our atmosphere seeing. There is no need to sample the image more than twice as good as the seeing allows. Note I am assuming we have a scope for which the diffraction limit is about the same or smaller than the atmospheric seeing 5. Sooooo. We use a big aperture to shorten our exposures times. This relieves pressure for long guiding performance. It is also important if you are using narrowband filters to reduce those exposure times. We use a focal reducer to change the focal length to adjust the image scale of a camera pixel to better match it to the seeing and diffraction limit of the scope. In practice if you have about a 120mm or larger aperture your diffraction limit is not a concern. ES 127 is perfect. 6. If the scope has a long focal length, the pixel scale is small. This is a waste since your image resolution is limited by the seeing. It also limits your overall field of view unnecessarily. Thus for long focal length scopes we use focal reducers to optimize both our field of view and pixel scale to seeing limits. 7. Field flateners don’t do much to the resolution, but rather it corrects distortion at the edges of the lens field of view. Often flateners are included in the optics of focal reducers. So these points address your question and add up to a set of parameters you have at your disposal to tune your image train to achieve your goals. Understand these considerations are relative to imaging deep space objects. Planetary imaging has a different set of considerations which would make another email. In general I feel the sweet spot for imaging is about 900 mm fl. For DSLR cameras this yields pixel scales at about 1”. There is no reason to go to longer focal lengths. At 127mm you get enough photons to be able to expose at relatively low gain (iso 320) for 3 or 4 minutes for your subs and take nice images for many many DSO. If you can get a larger aperture with a focal length in this range (with or without a focal reducer) and it is light enough for your mount then larger is good. The exos2 ends up being able to handle a wide range of apertures as evidenced by the forum equipment lists. For visual, aperture is king. Your eye needs photons. Wes
-- Wes, Southport NC EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100 ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC 110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power Electrical Engineer, Retired
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M81
#Off-Topic
Michael Anderson <mikey.ma1982@...>
Here is a single unfiltered 2 minute exposure of Bode's Nebula.
-- Michael Anderson: Earthling Handle: MrThump30 Home World: Planet Earth Scope: ES Comet Hunter Mak-Newt 152mm F4.8 Mount: Celestron AVX w/ All Star Polar Align & Polar Scope Camera/Eyepiece: Canon M50 DLSR, Orion StarShoot Pro Mono / Hyperion MK4 8-24 Zoom Finder Scope/Autoguider: ES 8x50 RA Finder Scope / Orion 50mm Guide Scope Hardware/Software: Computer: HP 15" Laptop, Windows 10 / Programs: ASCOM 6.4, PHD V2 Cooler: Rubbermaid 48Qt Beer: Cold Coffee: Black Music: Jethro Tull
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Re: Raspberry Pi
Mirko Gude
Hi Bogdan,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
thanks. After flashing the FTDI chip the connection from EKOS to EXOS2 works via serial. And surprisingly: I was able to switch back to Wifi with the flashed cable. I used CoolTerm, there is also a version for Raspberry Pi. That’s nice, because so I don’t need an additional cable ;-) Some notes for people who wants to try the same with a Mac and VirtualBox: After flashing the FTDI Chip the cable was not recognized from the Virtual machine. Only unplug or reboot did not help, but after reassign the cable in the VirtalBox USB settings and restart, the flashed cable with the changed setting was shown in FT_Prog. Best Regards, Mirko
--
Mounts: ES PMC-8 IEXOS 100, ES EXOS2-GT
Scopes: Skywatcher 80/600
Cameras: Nikon Z6, D7000
Lens: Sigma 150-600mm, Sigma Art 135mm/1,8, Nikon Z 50mm/1,8
Msc: LRTimelapse Pro Timer 2.5, Raspberry Pi4
Software: PixInsights, Kstars, Starry Night, Redshift
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Re: Pluto blink comparator astrophotography
#astrophotography
#EXOS2
#VIDEO
Yes, it’s at the lower right. I should try to find a way to blink at a faster rate. Might be easier to see.
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Re: Slewing behavior: POTH Hub vs Device Hub
#ASCOM
#iEXOS-100
On Sat, Aug 15, 2020 at 04:05 PM, Timothy Myers wrote:
What is the status of the PMC-Eight ASCOM Server? is it in beta yet?Soon, Chris and I are working on it. -- Jerry Hubbell Vice President of Engineering Explore Scientific, LLC. jrh at explorescientific.com www.explorescientificusa.com 1010 S. 48th Street Springdale, AR 72762 1-866-252-3811 Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment Wilderness, VA Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM) Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF Cameras: QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance, Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!
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Re: Pluto blink comparator astrophotography
#astrophotography
#EXOS2
#VIDEO
Wes Mcdonald
I believe so. pops in and out. really something. Wes.
On Sat, Aug 15, 2020 at 3:47 PM Timothy Myers <tim_s_myers@...> wrote: I don't feel so bad if Wes couldn't see it, after reading the hint, Lower Right I did see an object moving back and forth from left to right, was that it? --
Wes, Southport NC EXos2-GT PMC-8, iExos 100 ES ED 127, 10" LX200GPS+wedge, Astro-Tech 8" Newt, ETX-90, 60mm no-name guide scope ~ 260mm FL Polemaster, Orion ST-80 and SAG, ZWO 290MM, D5300 astro modified Nina, Bootcamped Mac Mini control computer, RDP to iMAC 110 amp hour lead acid deep discharge battery for field power Electrical Engineer, Retired
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Re: Cloudy Nights Thread that may be of interest
I posted some comments
-- Tim Myers Telescopes: Celestron 4SE, Celestron 8SE, SkyWatcher 100ED Pro Mounts: 4-5 SE, 6-8SE, EXOS-2GT with PMC-Eight Cameras: ASI1600MC Imaging Camera, Cooled, ASI120 Guide Camera Focuser: ZWO EAF Scope Mini PC: Topton Pentium Laptop: Lenovo Software: CDC, SharpCap Pro, NINA, PHD2
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Re: Slewing behavior: POTH Hub vs Device Hub
#ASCOM
#iEXOS-100
Timothy Myers
What is the status of the PMC-Eight ASCOM Server? is it in beta yet?
-- Tim Myers Telescopes: Celestron 4SE, Celestron 8SE, SkyWatcher 100ED Pro Mounts: 4-5 SE, 6-8SE, EXOS-2GT with PMC-Eight Cameras: ASI1600MC Imaging Camera, Cooled, ASI120 Guide Camera Focuser: ZWO EAF Scope Mini PC: Topton Pentium Laptop: Lenovo Software: CDC, SharpCap Pro, NINA, PHD2
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Re: Pluto blink comparator astrophotography
#astrophotography
#EXOS2
#VIDEO
Timothy Myers
I don't feel so bad if Wes couldn't see it, after reading the hint, Lower Right I did see an object moving back and forth from left to right, was that it?
-- Tim Myers Telescopes: Celestron 4SE, Celestron 8SE, SkyWatcher 100ED Pro Mounts: 4-5 SE, 6-8SE, EXOS-2GT with PMC-Eight Cameras: ASI1600MC Imaging Camera, Cooled, ASI120 Guide Camera Focuser: ZWO EAF Scope Mini PC: Topton Pentium Laptop: Lenovo Software: CDC, SharpCap Pro, NINA, PHD2
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Re: Raspberry Pi
Irimie Bogdan
Hi Mirko, To control the mount always use the flashed fdti cable. Used the same tutorial for flashing the cable.
On August 15, 2020, at 9:00 PM, Mirko Gude <mgude@...> wrote: Hi Bogdan, your input is very interesting for me. Today I’ve made some progress. I updated my EXOS2 to the latest firmware (firmware = 6B09T17AEXOS2) . As a Macuser it was not so easy, but after preparing a Win10 Machine with VirtualBox and the very useful helper tool PMC8_ConnectionManager I got success. I’ve used a FT232R USB UART (FTDI Chip) serial cable. After firmware update I switched to serial via terminal on the Raspberry Pi. But than I was not able to connect Kstars/Ekos over serial. With cuteCom on RPi I was not able to switch back to Wifi/TCP. After this I’ve tried some other options (PMC8_ConnectionManager and P8-Parallax-Serial-Terminal on the virtual Windows machine and CoolTerm on the Mac). It was a little bit confusing, because after ESX! I got never the response ESX1! But never mind, at some point the Wifi connection was back again ☺ So maybe the command works in the background without showin a response. Which cable do you use for controlling the EXOS2 via RPi4? Is it a normal one or a FTDI Chip cable? I found also a thread about flashing the FTDI Chip cable. Do you use a flashed cable? And wow! 5 minutes unguided sounds really good for me. I’ve also made some attempts with QHY Polemaster and RPi4. But at the moment my results are not so good. Thanks and best regards, Mirko
-- Mounts: ES PMC-8 IEXOS 100, ES EXOS2-GT
Scopes: Skywatcher 80/600
Cameras: Nikon Z6, D7000
Lens: Sigma 150-600mm, Sigma Art 135mm/1,8, Nikon Z 50mm/1,8
Msc: LRTimelapse Pro Timer 2.5, Raspberry Pi4
Software: PixInsights, Kstars, Starry Night, Redshift
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Re: Raspberry Pi
Mirko Gude
Hi Bogdan, your input is very interesting for me. Today I’ve made some progress. I updated my EXOS2 to the latest firmware (firmware = 6B09T17AEXOS2) . As a Macuser it was not so easy, but after preparing a Win10 Machine with VirtualBox and the very useful helper tool PMC8_ConnectionManager I got success. I’ve used a FT232R USB UART (FTDI Chip) serial cable. After firmware update I switched to serial via terminal on the Raspberry Pi. But than I was not able to connect Kstars/Ekos over serial. With cuteCom on RPi I was not able to switch back to Wifi/TCP. After this I’ve tried some other options (PMC8_ConnectionManager and P8-Parallax-Serial-Terminal on the virtual Windows machine and CoolTerm on the Mac). It was a little bit confusing, because after ESX! I got never the response ESX1! But never mind, at some point the Wifi connection was back again ☺ So maybe the command works in the background without showin a response. Which cable do you use for controlling the EXOS2 via RPi4? Is it a normal one or a FTDI Chip cable? I found also a thread about flashing the FTDI Chip cable. Do you use a flashed cable? And wow! 5 minutes unguided sounds really good for me. I’ve also made some attempts with QHY Polemaster and RPi4. But at the moment my results are not so good. Thanks and best regards, Mirko
-- Mounts: ES PMC-8 IEXOS 100, ES EXOS2-GT
Scopes: Skywatcher 80/600
Cameras: Nikon Z6, D7000
Lens: Sigma 150-600mm, Sigma Art 135mm/1,8, Nikon Z 50mm/1,8
Msc: LRTimelapse Pro Timer 2.5, Raspberry Pi4
Software: PixInsights, Kstars, Starry Night, Redshift
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Re: Raspberry Pi
Irimie Bogdan
Hi all, Sorry for the late reply first of all. I will reply to the post even people have already provided some answers. Equipment used. RASPI 4 with 4GB 64GB storage Exos2 Main camera Nikon D610/Nikon D3100a Guiding camera ZWO 120M GPS module for Location and Time Vk-162 Glonass Navigation Works Scopes TS420 / William Optics Spacecat Connection Method Serial, because reliability and old school using fdti cable. The story: I'm mainly a Linux user and also for me was a challenge to switch the mount to serial. You can use the terminal to connect via serial cable and run the ESX! command to switch to the com mode. To switch back you will need a normal serial cable not programed fdti serial cable. The issues comes when you want to upgrade the firmware. For that I have an old windows box. Connectivity to the raspi i do via VNC from laptop because the screen is bigger on the laptop but i monitor all using my tablet. Only the polar alignment and acquisition process start i do it with the laptop. The PA is working for me only using the guidescope/camera. Via Nikon and main scope I failed. Good thing is that with EXOS2 and a very good polar alignment I managed to get 5 min unguided at 420 mm . Im quite happy with my choice already recommended the mount to some people. Regards Bogdan
On Thu, Jul 9, 2020, 08:33 Mirko Gude <mgude@...> wrote:
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Re: Raspberry Pi
Mirko Gude
Hi Pavel,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
thanks for your answer. I’ve checked minicom, but then the I found „cuteCom“ which has a GUI and for only one command it’s easier than minicom. With my IEXOS 100 it works. Best Regards, Mirko
Am 04.08.2020 um 20:58 schrieb Pavel <pavel.vondricka@ff.cuni.cz>: --
*Mounts:* ES PMC-8 IEXOS 100, ES EXOS2-GT *Scopes:* Skywatcher 80/600 *Cameras:* Nikon Z6, D7000 *Lens:* Sigma 150-600mm, Sigma Art 135mm/1,8, Nikon Z 50mm/1,8 *Msc:* LRTimelapse Pro Timer 2.5, Raspberry Pi4 *Software:* PixInsights, Kstars, Starry Night, Redshift
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Re: Connecting the G11 or EXOS 2 PMC-Eight To An Existing WiFi Internet Router
#EXOS2
#G11
#TECHNICAL
On Wed, Aug 12, 2020 at 05:59 PM, Mike Forbes wrote:
I am thrilled by the results I have had over serial. Stable rock solid. It amazes me that when you make a setting change in one program, for instance "Park", it registers in everything connected to the Poth Hub. Blows my mind, lol.Hi Mike, I am glad you are getting good results with your serial connection. When you go back to the WiFi connection you may want to use the channel selection dongle included with your PMC-Eight to change the WiFi channel on the PMC-Eight. Your local WiFi environment may be interfering with your connection making it drop out. Thanks for your kind words, we very much appreciate it. -- Jerry Hubbell Vice President of Engineering Explore Scientific, LLC. jrh at explorescientific.com www.explorescientificusa.com 1010 S. 48th Street Springdale, AR 72762 1-866-252-3811 Author: Scientific Astrophotography: How Amateurs Can Generate and Use Professional Imaging Data Remote Observatories for Amateur Astronomers: Using High-Powered Telescopes From Home Mark Slade Remote Observatory (MSRO) IAU MPC W54 Equipment Wilderness, VA Mounts: ES PMC-Eight G11 + Telescope Drive Master (TDM) Scopes: ES 165 FPL-53 ED APO CF, ES 102 FCD100 ED APO CF Cameras: QHY174M-GPS + FW, QHY163C Misc: 3-inch 0.7x Focal Reducer Field Flattener, Filters: Luminance, Red, V-band Photometric, Diffuser, 200 lpmm Spectral Grating Software: MaxIm DL 6, Cartes du Ciel, Astrometrica, AstroImageJ, AutoStakkert!
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Re: Connecting the G11 or EXOS 2 PMC-Eight To An Existing WiFi Internet Router
#EXOS2
#G11
#TECHNICAL
Mike Forbes <mikeforbes059@...>
Jerry, This is wonderful news. I have had connection issues with the PMC-Eight wifi since purchasing the Exos-2 a month ago. I will wait for a bit to try what is on the PDF because with the connx issues in wifi to use the Explorestars app, it forced me to begin to learn APT, plate solving software, connx with Stellarium, and using them all with the Poth Hub and Sharpcap using the serial port. I am thrilled by the results I have had over serial. Stable rock solid. It amazes me that when you make a setting change in one program, for instance "Park", it registers in everything connected to the Poth Hub. Blows my mind, lol. For one, I truly appreciate your continued support in the forum. I believe that ES has a terrific product in the Exos-2. It is my first EQ goto mount and I am enjoying it very much. With appreciation, Mike Forbes
On Wed, Aug 12, 2020 at 7:47 AM Jerry Hubbell - Explore Scientific VP Engineering <jrh@...> wrote:
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