Solar auto guide

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Arrakis97
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Solar auto guide

Post by Arrakis97 »

Hello everyone :)
For my H alpha animations of chromosphere or protuberances I use my 80/480 apo with Daystar Quark with / without the addition of a Televue Barlow 2x. The total focal length ranges from 2000mm to 4000mm (with Barlow).
I shoot with Fire Capture 500 frames every 50 sec for a maximum of 2 hours. I tried using Fire Capture's autoguide feature with no results; due to the low contrast of the image, the software loses the pointing anchor on the image.

Since I do not have a fixed location, the alignment of the mount is not perfect: I keep the angle of inclination of the R.A. axis fixed and I drew on the floor the support position of the tripod legs; I usually have to make small corrections at 1x speed every minute.
It is a bit tiring, but also beautiful because it reminds me of adolescence when I drove entirely by hand using my first self-built Newtonian.

At the end of the shooting I process first with Autostakkert and then perfectly center the frames with ImPPG; only in very few cases, perhaps due to the low contrast of the images, ImPPG did not correctly center the individual frames.

However, it would be useful to be able to move away from time to time having the certainty of not ruining the shot and therefore a solar autoguide would be useful; on the forum I found this old post : viewtopic.php?t=16260 .
Before tackling the no small expense, I would like to understand if the precision of the Hinode solar guide is such as to allow it to drive well even with a focal length of 4000 mm. getting good shots.
I hope that, based on your experience, you can help me in this choice.

Thanks to everyone in advance for the help you can provide me
Carlo


Carlo Casoli
https://www.flickr.com/photos/carlocasoli/
TEC140 Apo with Baader D-ERF 160 mm, Beloptik Telecentric 5x, Coronado PST, Solar Spectrum S.O. 0.5 A
LUNT Tha 80 D.S.
Tecnosky 80/480 Apo
Daystar Quark Cromosphere H alfa Filter
Lunt B600 Ca K filter
Baader Herschel Wedge
Ioptron CEM70-G & Tripier
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marktownley
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Re: Solar auto guide

Post by marktownley »

Yeah, Hinode solar guider works well.


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
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Arrakis97
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Re: Solar auto guide

Post by Arrakis97 »

marktownley wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:00 pm Yeah, Hinode solar guider works well.
Thanks Mark
I’m using Ioptron CEM70G; on Cloudynight I found one post related to Hinode Solar guide on Ioptron mount; it seems that Ioptron St4 port has a different set up and it is not compatible with Hinode Solar guide ST4 cable. Some one can confirm this problem? It is possible use Hinode solar guide without ST4 cable, and using Ascom drive on the personal computer?
Bye
Carlo


Carlo Casoli
https://www.flickr.com/photos/carlocasoli/
TEC140 Apo with Baader D-ERF 160 mm, Beloptik Telecentric 5x, Coronado PST, Solar Spectrum S.O. 0.5 A
LUNT Tha 80 D.S.
Tecnosky 80/480 Apo
Daystar Quark Cromosphere H alfa Filter
Lunt B600 Ca K filter
Baader Herschel Wedge
Ioptron CEM70-G & Tripier
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rsfoto
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Re: Solar auto guide

Post by rsfoto »

Arrakis97 wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 11:38 pm
marktownley wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:00 pm Yeah, Hinode solar guider works well.
Thanks Mark
I’m using Ioptron CEM70G; on Cloudynight I found one post related to Hinode Solar guide on Ioptron mount; it seems that Ioptron St4 port has a different set up and it is not compatible with Hinode Solar guide ST4 cable. Some one can confirm this problem? It is possible use Hinode solar guide without ST4 cable, and using Ascom drive on the personal computer?
Bye
Carlo
Hi,

Changing the ST4 cable is an easy fix ...


regards Rainer

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North 22° West 101°
hk160
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Re: Solar auto guide

Post by hk160 »

I have the Hinode for guiding my Coronagraph and I am very satisfied with it. Easy to use and great accuracy.

I use it with a Vixen AP mount. I did talk to Hutech, and since they were not exactly sure about the Vixen port configuration for their ST4 port, they made an extra cable for me and sent it free of charge with the unit.

It was a good experience dealing with Hutech, and I would suggest you get in touch with them to describe the specifics of your setup - I am sure they will be able to help you.


Klaus


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Arrakis97
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Re: Solar auto guide

Post by Arrakis97 »

Thanks Klaus.
Today I put my question to Hutech, and i recived answer in few hours: full compatibility between HSG and Ioptron mount, CEM70G use standard ST4 port.
I confirm your words about high level of quality for Hutech customer support.
I’m going to buy HSG :)


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