Advanced AstroDMx Capture for Windows with an INDI server on a Windows computer.
At this point I should point out that it is not obligatory to run an INDI server with AstroDMx Capture. It is best in any case to connect directly to natively supported cameras. The INDI server is only required for the use of the advanced features such as mount control and focuser control.
To date we have been running an INDI server on a Raspberry Pi Linux machine. The Raspberry Pi can be out with the scope as with the setup below where the INDI server is being used by AstroDMx Capture to control the mount, a focuser, and PHD2 auto-pulse-guiding.
The system we have been using is shown in this diagram
With Posix compliant Operating systems such as Linux and macOS, the INDI server could be run on the imaging computer that is running AstroDMx Capture.
The problem for Windows computers however, is that Windows is not sufficiently Posix compliant to be able to run an INDI server directly.
Not everyone has a Raspberry Pi computer. Moreover, at the time of writing, due to global supply problems, it is almost impossible to obtain a Raspberry Pi at its intended very low cost. Not everyone has an older computer that they could rejuvenate by putting a Linux operating system on it and also install an INDI server, so the following system is probably the most appealing solution.
As we showed HERE in February 2020, it is a simple matter to install a virtual Linux machine on a Windows computer. (That was back in the days before Nicola had ported AstroDMx Capture over to Windows, and this was a way of running AstroDMx Capture on a Windows computer).
Screenshot of a Windows 11 computer running an Oracle Virtual Box Lubuntu virtual machine.
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The USB ports have to be set to pass through to the virtual Linux machine so they are accessible to the INDI server running on it.
Now the virtual Linux machine running on Windows is still useful but this time for running an INDI server on the Imaging computer that is running AstroDMx Capture for Windows.
This is the system that we have been testing recently using a single Windows computer to run AstroDMx Capture for Windows plus the INDI server.
Nicola has implemented an experimental dark theme for AstroDMx Capture for Windows, bringing it into line with the versions for the other operating systems. She has also made some improvements to the UI that will make their way into the release version.
We normally use a separate Linux computer on which to run the PHD2 guiding software which connects via the network to the same INDI server. However, it is possible to run PHD2 also on the imaging machine whatever the operating system. It is best to run the different pieces of software on different desktops of the OS.
For these experiments two telescope/camera systems were used:
An Altair Starwave ASCENT 60ED doublet refractor with an 0.8 reducer/flattener and an Altair quadband filter in conjunction with a prototype SVBONY SV605MC monochrome, 14 bit CMOS camera using a beta Windows SDK, or a William Optics 81 mm ED APO refractor with a 0.8 flattener/reducer and an Altair quadband filter and an SV605CC OSC 14 bit CMOS camera.
On two evenings the scopes were separately mounted on a Celestron AVX GOTO mount and an extension cord was used to connect the mount to the Hand controller which was indoors with the Imaging computer. The hand controller was connected to the imaging computer via USB to connect to the INDI server on the virtual Linux machine.
PHD2 autoguiding the Altair session
An SVBONY SV165 guide-scope fitted with a QHY-5II-M guide camera was mounted on the imaging scope and both the imaging scope and the guide scope were fitted with Kiwi USB powered dew heater strips. The USB power was provided by a mains USB adapter.
As usual, the mount was placed on marks on the concrete base which give a reasonable polar alignment. AstroDMx Capture passed the time, altitude and location coordinates to the hand controller via the INDI server. The hand controller which now contained all of the correct information was set to its previous alignment and was unparked by AstroDMx Capture.
First setup:
Altair Starwave ASCENT 60ED doublet refractor with an 0.8 reducer/flattener and an Altair quadband filter in conjunction with a prototype SVBONY SV605MC monochrome 14 bit CMOS camera.
The mount/scope was sent to a bright star to check focus with a Bahtinov mask
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The mount/scope was sent by AstroDMx Capture for Windows to the Horsehead/Flame nebulae, plate solved and the object centred in the field of view.
AstroDMx Capture for Windows was used to capture 20 x 3min FITS exposures.
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The data were stacked and partly processed in Siril, and post processed in the Gimp and PT Photo Editor-Pro.
The Horsehead and Flame nebulae
The mount/scope was sent by AstroDMx Capture for Windows to the California nebula, plate solved and the object centred in the field of view.
AstroDMx Capture for Windows was used to capture 16 x 2min FITS exposures.
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The data were stacked and partly processed in Siril, and post processed in the Gimp and PT Photo Editor-Pro.
The California nebula
William Optics 81 mm ED APO refractor with a 0.8 flattener/reducer and an Altair quadband filter and an SV605CC OSC 14 bit CMOS camera.
The mount was set up exactly as before. AstroDMx Capture passed the time, altitude and location coordinates to the hand controller via the INDI server. The hand controller which now contained all of the correct information was set to its previous alignment and was unparked by AstroDMx Capture.
AstroDMx Capture for Windows sent the mount/scope to the bright star Betelgeuse to check focus with a Bahtinov mask.
The field of view was plate solved:
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And the star was centred in the field of view to facilitate focusing.
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The mount/scope was sent by AstroDMx Capture for Windows to NGC2264 The Cone nebula/Christmas Tree cluster, plate solved and the object centred in the field of view.
AstroDMx Capture for Windows was used to capture 18 x 3min FITS exposures of NGC2264
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The data were stacked and partly processed in Siril, and post processed in the Gimp, Starnet ++ v2 and PT Photo Editor-Pro.
NGC2264
The mount/scope was sent by AstroDMx Capture for Windows to The Monkeyhead nebula, plate solved and the object centred in the field of view.
AstroDMx Capture for Windows was used to capture 20 x 3min FITS exposures of The Monkeyhead nebula
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The data were stacked and partly processed in Siril, and post processed in the Gimp, Starnet ++ v2 and PT Photo Editor-Pro.
The Monkeyhead nebula
Channel mixing and colour curves in the Gimp were used to produce an alternative rendering of the Monkeyhead nebula.
Other features of AstroDMx Capture that were explored and worked correctly were:
(1) When the mount is overdue for a meridian flip, AstroDMx Capture can capture a snapshot of the field of view being imaged. Then AstroDMx Capture can instruct the mount to perform a flip.
When the flip is completed AstroDMx Capture can plate solve the snapshot and then instruct the mount/scope to centre the field of view so that exactly the same field of view as before the flip is available for capture. The Flip and Flop controls can be used to place the orientation of the image to be the same as before the meridian flip.
If a camera is used that produces no amp glow such as the two cameras used in these sessions (the SV605CC and the SV605MC), then imaging can be resumed and the two data sets combined (assuming no dark frames are used) for stacking. If calibration frames are used (and it is the conventional wisdom that they should be) then the pre and post median flip image sets must have their own calibration frames. Nevertheless, plate solving a snapshot to exactly relocate the field of view can be very useful.
(2) Planetarium software, such as Stellarium, can be set up to use the same INDI server and can be used to select a star or extended object and instruct the mount/scope to go to the object. In setups such as the one we use where the mount is placed on marks on the concrete base, the polar alignment is not perfect, and is slightly different with each imaging session. This results in Stellarium not pointing at exactly the same point in the sky after plate solving because Stellarium knows nothing about the pointing error of the mount. This does not matter at all. AstroDMx Capture has an update button that updates the RA and DEC values from the mount after slews have been initiated by external software.
(3) AstroDMx Capture now has available for selection the Hip and HD star catalogues so that any one of a huge number of catalogued stars can be selected and the mount/scope sent to the star. This can be very useful for composing the image of an extended object by centering the selected star which is suitably located ‘within’ the extended object.
