Too complicated to explain. I think it is some kind of spell casting. No, they do not talk to each other. But the computer controlling one should also be controlling the other to get he most out of it. Sure you could, but why would you want to. Yes, one can, and one could. But remember people are still taking FILM pictures with barn door trackers. But that is not at all a good situation for productive imaging sessions. Alex What is the advantage of autoguiding and photographing from the same machine if they are separate processes? Yes, it's a full suite of imaging software. Kstars is just the planetarium software. Ekos is the imaging component. BTW - I know Nina Sharp from near your neck of the woods in Maryland. There are many Sharps, including Sharp Crater on Luna and Sharp Mountain on Mars. I have heard of Ekos but have not read up on it yet. For intervalometer, try digicamcontrol. It can do timed Bulb exposures, control the camera, and live view on your computer screen. It supports Canon cameras. It's definitely not as capable as BYE or APT, but for the most basic functions for image acquisition, it's fine. I use digicamcontrol for my D800 exclusively. It's open-source, but doesn't look like there is a Linux port available, and I am not skilled enough to compile. Any luck running it on WINE or VirtualBox? Otherwise Entangle looks pretty good too, though it doesn't connect to PHD. The Ekos website says that it supports DSLRs, so that looks good. Entangle is basically just a GUI for GPhoto2, so if Ekos can access the GPhoto2 library, then it should be able to do everything that Entangle can do. It does work via GPhoto: So that is awesome. At least two good choices there for Linux users to do astrophotography with DSLR cameras. Edited by Nicole Sharp, 11 October 2018 - 10:03 PM. It's open-source, but doesn't look like there is a Linux port available, and I am not skilled enough to compile. Any luck running it on WINE or VirtualBox? Otherwise Entangle looks pretty good too, though it doesn't connect to PHD. Sorry I can't help on the port. I just knew it's open source. I run it on my Mac under Parallels Desktop. So I guess wine or virtualbox on Linux should work too. The advantage of running imaging and guiding on the same machine is that they can talk to each other if the programs allow so for automatic dithering. Sorry I can't help on the port. I just knew it's open source. I run it on my Mac under Parallels Desktop. So I guess wine or virtualbox on Linux should work too. The advantage of running imaging and guiding on the same machine is that they can talk to each other if the programs allow so for automatic dithering. Here we go again. CS2 was never really free. To download it, you have to basically lie about already owning it. Personally, I'm not comfortable with that. Completely understand your point, I too have moral standards. But I don't think they'd allow you to download this let's face it really very old software version unless they thought that there would be something in it for them i. In other words, they are getting free advertising and everyone's a winner. Corporations this big aren't stupid you know! It's open-source, but doesn't look like there is a Linux port available, and I am not skilled enough to compile. Any luck running it on WINE or VirtualBox? Otherwise Entangle looks pretty good too, though it doesn't connect to PHD. Well make your mind up, you haven't actually got a camera and now you're worried you can't connect to PHD? Are you taking the mickey here? You've had lots of good advice from well-meaning people here. If you seriously want to have a go at this, follow initial advice. Get hold of a DSLR of your own. Point camera at stars. Astrophotography is not some kind of game you download on your phone and get instant results. It's a skill which you learn over years and years. We all started from where you are. Edited by PhilEdmonds, 11 October 2018 - 10:53 PM. Well make your mind up, you haven't actually got a camera and now you're worried you can't connect to PHD? Are you taking the mickey here? You've had lots of good advice from well-meaning people here. If you seroiusly want to have a go at this, follow initial advice. Get hold of a DSLR of your own. Point camera at stars. Stop wasting our time. These are serious major purchases that I will have to live with for decades to come. I have to be sure that everything will work exactly the way I want it to, before I actually buy anything. It's not something that should be rushed into. If I buy a DSLR camera and then find out I can't use it with Linux, I would be upset. I really like using Linux whenever I can. I actually do have a Windows license, but choose to use Linux instead, since it is superior :-o :-. I'm not a fan of multibooting though, so only have Linux right now. It should be noted that I don't have a working laptop either. I have to get a new telescope, new camera, and a new laptop to be able to do everything together. Each purchase requires extensive research though to make sure that everything works together for the demanding and careful science that is astrophotography. Hardly a waste of time. Edited by Nicole Sharp, 11 October 2018 - 10:57 PM. Everybody has moral standards. Some people's are just lower than others. It says right there on the download that it is only for those who already own it. They are not going to sell too much new software to people who think they are getting a great deal by freeloading on a what? The reason it is still there is because they promised to people that it would be there in perpetuity when they first sold it. But, they do not want to go the expense of maintaining it separately any more. Adobe does not need that kind of advertising. Corporations are people according to Citizens United. Some people are this stupid. Really, Cloudy Nights has a policy against advocating downloading software that does not belong to you, or downloading against the terms of the license. It is not okay to do so. Alex Hi Nicole, OK perhaps my words were a little harsh. I've just given you the starting point. Once you point a camera at the night sky any camera! So get out there and point a camera upwards! On the software side, I think you will find things a lot harder if you stick to your Unix path. Almost all the software that we guys use is Windows-based, and so much of it is free or very nearly so. Much of it written by our fellow amateur astronomers. And one very important point - this stuff is FUN!!! The thrill when you take an image of a constellation for the first time will stay with you. Although this hobby is exasperating at times, expect one good night for every 5 bad nights! Phil :- Edited by PhilEdmonds, 11 October 2018 - 11:15 PM. Changing the pointing of the telescope a little bit every time after an exposure is completed, so a star or a celestial object does not continuously fall on the same bad pixel all the time. This can dramatically reduce the impact of any fixed pattern in bias, dark, or flat field, and produce higher quality images after the stacking. Looks like you still have a lot to learn. There are many knowledgeable and kind people here. Give it some time and you will get there. Everybody has moral standards. Some people's are just lower than others. It says right there on the download that it is only for those who already own it. They are not going to sell too much new software to people who think they are getting a great deal by freeloading on a what? The reason it is still there is because they promised to people that it would be there in perpetuity when they first sold it. But, they do not want to go the expense of maintaining it separately any more. Adobe does not need that kind of advertising. Corporations are people according to Citizens United. Some people are this stupid. Really, Cloudy Nights has a policy against advocating downloading software that does not belong to you, or downloading against the terms of the license. It is not okay to do so. Alex I found out about the CS2 download about 5 years ago from all the guys on Cloudy Nights who pointed me at it! Relax, you'll give yourself a coronary :- I have a fully paid-for license key here for Windows XP. But I don't seem to be able to download it from Microsoft? Believe me, corporations are not citizens by any definition of the word, and they are only concerned about their bottom line. Which is fair enough. But please don't try to tell me they do anything for altruistic reasons! Edited by PhilEdmonds, 11 October 2018 - 11:30 PM. These are serious major purchases that I will have to live with for decades to come. I have to be sure that everything will work exactly the way I want it to, before I actually buy anything. It's not something that should be rushed into. If I buy a DSLR camera and then find out I can't use it with Linux, I would be upset. I really like using Linux whenever I can. I actually do have a Windows license, but choose to use Linux instead, since it is superior :-o :-. I'm not a fan of multibooting though, so only have Linux right now. It should be noted that I don't have a working laptop either. I have to get a new telescope, new camera, and a new laptop to be able to do everything together. Each purchase requires extensive research though to make sure that everything works together for the demanding and careful science that is astrophotography. Hardly a waste of time. I spent years searching for minimal effort that can yield maximal results. With the Hyperstar I do not need to autoguide at all. Will a Canon mirrorless do as good or a better job than the SL2? My main fear was that the mirrorless might not accept the clip-in filters that I already own light pollution, narrowband, IR-pass, etc. I do not wish to use a nonmodded camera, so let others sort out the modding. Next is whether using the LiveView before the long exposure sub will increase noise in the frames. It did the last time I tested that in a DSLR... I decided to let others resolve this. You will wish to replace your camera in 3 or 4 years max anyway. I am resigned to Windows. I would suggest a sensible approach would be to decide on your big budget items first, mount and OTA. The rest are relatively inexpensive. You can defer the OTA into the far future if you have some decent camera lenses for daytime use already. Hi all, I quickly went through the thread and nobody seem to have mentioned that on Canon DSLR it is possible to install MAgic Lantern. Magic Latern is a post market open-source firmware for Canon DSLRs. It runs from the SD card and does not require to flash the internal rom... Among heaps of functionalities that I never use, MAgic Lantern has a built-in intervalometer and bulb function that work like a charm... Edited by micvon, 12 October 2018 - 05:14 AM. Hi all, I quickly went through the thread and nobody seem to have mentioned that on Canon DSLR it is possible to install MAgic Lantern. Magic Latern is a post market open-source firmware for Canon DSLRs. It runs from the SD card and does not require to flash the internal rom... Among heaps of functionalities that I never use, MAgic Lantern has a built-in intervalometer and bulb function that work like a charm... One caveat, MagicLantern doesn't work with Canon mirrorless cameras. I think some of us would be interested in this. So far I haven't found any software for Canon mirrorless other than through hacks that supports intervalometer control or control via usb port.. I loved gphoto2 back when I still had a dslr, and would like to go back to using Linux again if gphoto2 truly supports the Eos M series cameras. I tried it briefly last year when they first announce such support but alas it didn't work as advertised. Nicole, it might be worth your while to check out. He's the current maintainer of Kstars and Ekos, and he has some really nice explanations of how to get things running. As a couple examples, check and. Both seem very relevant to what you're asking. I think Jasem is also on the forums here, but I don't know what his account name is. You might also want to check out the thread here on the forums; Oleg has collected an impressive bunch of Linux astronomy software there. There are also a fair number of Linux-related threads in the subforum. Personally, I use a combination of DSS, GIMP, RawTherapee, PixInsight and occasionally StarTools when processing my images, all running on Linux. I haven't found any open source, free software that has gradient reduction abilities as good as those in PI or ST, and when I started wanting to do automated annotation of images with hundreds of PGC galaxies, PI was kind of a necessity. No need for cracks, keygens, etc. What I haven't done under Linux is image acquisition: the actual getting the images off the camera and into a computer. So far, I've just used live view in the camera itself and an SD card to transfer images. No EAA or autoguiding, either. Or, just use an SD card to start. What I haven't done under Linux is image acquisition: the actual getting the images off the camera and into a computer. So far, I've just used live view in the camera itself and an SD card to transfer images. No EAA or autoguiding, either. Or, just use an SD card to start. Am curious whether the effort in extracting the SD card from the DSLR body for platesolving or any other purpose knocks your rig out of alignment? Warren The Ekos website says that it supports DSLRs, so that looks good. Entangle is basically just a GUI for GPhoto2, so if Ekos can access the GPhoto2 library, then it should be able to do everything that Entangle can do. It does work via GPhoto: So that is awesome. At least two good choices there for Linux users to do astrophotography with DSLR cameras. I swear by ekos, it is a one stop shop for everything you need, and are asking about + more. It is cross platform compatible. I use a Mac, with kstars and an ekos client to connect to my raspberry pi. The RPi, controls my camera, and the mount. Watch the ekos videos on youtube and give it a try. If you are in the field and you don't have a linux machine or laptop to connect using the ekos client, stellar mate OS will default to access point mode, if it does not detect your home wifi network. Then you can connect to the RPi via vnc, or teamviewer. It has a full GUI installation of ubuntu based linux, with ekos and kstars, you can then control everything in the field via phone or tablet. It works very very well, from polar alignment to slewing + tracking, and setting up photo sequences for un attended exposures at the intervals of your choice. I use Ekos with a Canon Rebel T6 1300D and an iOptron Smart Eq Pro+ and I am very happy with the results. It even has an offline plate solver feature so your can align, and slew similar to the way that the celestron star sense auto-align works. I highly recommend it. Am curious whether the effort in extracting the SD card from the DSLR body for platesolving or any other purpose knocks your rig out of alignment? I basically don't ever take the card out until the end of the night. In other words, I don't do platesolving; just polar alignment and then using live view to manually plate solve. I can take the SD card out without affecting much, though; I think I've had one or two nights where I filled a card in the middle of the night and needed to switch. And I've had plenty of times where I needed to switch batteries much the same operation.
