HOCUS FOCUS Plugin for NINA! The Video you have been waiting for!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- How would you like better Autofocus, Accurate Star Detection, and I'll even throw in an Aberration Detector that can help you identify and correct your Backfocus Distance and Sensor Tilt issues. Sound too good to be true? Nope! It is now reality thanks to the Hocus Focus plugin for NINA 2.0. Created and maintained by George Hilios (Jokogeo), this plugin is a "Must Have" add-on to your NINA installation. Your astrophotography will improve as a result of adding and using this plugin!
Starizona Reducer/Corrector:
SCT Reducer 0.63x: bit.ly/3uFzbFC
SCT 2 Inch Rotating Back: bit.ly/3JPiGgx
Don't forget to go visit James Lamb's Channel!!
/ aero19612
Want a deeper understanding or need help setting up AF?
Other videos you should watch:
Quickly Setup Autofocus in NINA: • Setup NINA Auto-Focus ...
NINA Updated Offset Plugin: • NINA Filter Offset Cal...
NINA Configuring Filter Offsets: • Configuring Filter Off...
If you find my videos helpful and would like to help support my content making efforts at no additional cost to you, you can use the below links when making regular purchases and I receive a small commission (Please don't feel any obligation at all to do this):
Amazon: amzn.to/3hXjKTN
OPT Corp: bit.ly/3u9QWfF
High Point Scientific: www.highpointscientific.com/?...
Like, Subscribe, and turn on Notifications to be alerted when more videos in the series are available.
Software Used in this Video:
NINA: nighttime-imaging.eu/
CCD Inspector: ccdware.com/ccdinspector_over...
For more of my Astrophotography related content, go to:
www.PatriotAstro.com
/ patriot_astro
-------CHAPTERS-------
0:00 - Intro and Overview
3:47 - Install the Plugin and Testing NINA
7:53 - Enable Hocus Focus
9:39 - The Star Annotator
14:23 - The Star Detector
18:22 - Detection Testing
19:59 - Autofocus Info
21:11 - AF Configuration Review
23:14 - Hocus Focus AF and Saved AF
24:54 - Addressing a Problem
26:37 - Aberration Inspection Intro
29:02 - A Look at the Inspector
33:15 - Outcome and Validation
34:18 - Wrapping-up
![NINA Offline Framing is Here! [New Video Link in Description]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/koy74EM8BWI/mqdefault.jpg)
![NINA Offline Framing is Here! [New Video Link in Description]](/img/tr.png)
Thank you! I've been waiting for this one!
You and me both! Whew,... so glad this one is in the books!
As usual, great work!
Thank you! Cheers!
Honestly one of the best NINA focus videos I've seen. Thank you!
That's, as usual, an awesome video. Thank you Chad.
My pleasure!
Thank you Chad! This is what I’ve been waiting for!
You and a whole bunch of other people! :) Hope it helps!
Great stuff! Thanks to you and George for putting this together. I look forward to future videos!
It's all George!
Another great video, thanks for the clear explanation!
Glad it was helpful!
Very well structured and presented. Thanks a lot!
Thanks!
Amazing video as usual
Thanks again!
Your NINA videos are so helpful. Thank you so much for the tutorials. Cheers from Poland
Totally brilliant video Chad. Just what I needed today. :)
So glad I could help!
Great vid, thanks for a great explanation, tested last night and all good.
Great to hear!
Awesome video Chad!
Thank you!
Absolutely fantastic run through on hocus focus. Thank you for putting this together. Will be keeping this video as reference for when I start using Hocus Focus.
Awesome, thank you!
Welcome Back! and thanks for the Video. Cant wait
CS and Greetings from Germany :)
Hey, thanks!
Excellent work!!! Thank you
Thanks!
Thank you Chad for this very thorough video. Really useful information.
Glad it was helpful!
Another great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
What an absolutely incredible video. This has so much info it blows my mind. Keep up the good work Chad 👍🏻
Baby steps! :) Lots of power in that plugin!
Thank you.. Excellent presentation of the key capabilities.
Glad to help!
Very thoroughly explained, I will be looking into running thru this neat new little tool. Thanks Pal. 🙏👍
Let me know how it turns out!
Another excellent Video/Tutorial Chad! There's a tonne of really good information and I look forward to testing Hocus Focus tomorrow night on my EDGE 8 w/ FR. Thanks again for all your detailed videos and easy explanations - Clear skies!
I’m so glad I could help! Let me know how it works out!
Excellent work. Both you and the developer!
I have been away from my telescope for the last three months. I can't wait to get back into it and see how NINA evolved since then.
NINA uses dog years for tracking. So 3 months means you are almost 2 years of features and plugins behind. :) And BTW, ALL the credit goes to the NINA devs and George specifically in this case. This stuff is amazing!
Excellent, thank you for such a clear explanation of Hocus Focus.
It is not lost on me that it is a lot of work doing a video like this, much appreciated!
Glad you thought so. Let me know if you have any questions.
Brilliant and very much appreciated. Thank you so much.
Thank you!
Awesome video Chad, super useful thanks. Will be install the plugin ASAP.
Sound was sooo much better BTW, nice job. :)
Baby steps. :) I'm using the same mics but moved over to using a Zoom H5 instead of the builtin mic-port on the camera. I just stitch in the new audio after. Much better! Now I need to focus on ...focus. Aaargh! The camera is driving me crazy.
This is so well explained, love it! I`ve also tested a couple of your templates and the work just fine. Thanx a lot. Keep up the good work ⭐🔭
Thanks, will do!
Thank you so much. I just used hocus focus to setup my imaging train and your tutorial was dead on. I have everything spot on now. Thanks for taking the time to produce this. I wouldn't have known what to do otherwise.
Fantastic! Glad to help!
That was an extremely helpful video Chad. Thank you :)
Thanks!
@@PatriotAstro no seriously. This video saved the day (night :)) I'm using a hyperstar on my C6. A few nights ago I had an accident and the Hyperstar got stuck on the bearing that holds it to the corrector plate and the whole thing came loose with the risk of falling on the primary 😯. I managed to fix for that but the whole assembly was now out of collimation. I thought I was doomed for hours of realignment. The next day, you released this video. That night, one hour is all it took to fix everything with the help of this video. Especially the part about the aberation inspector. Huge credit to Hucos Focus as well 🙂
You’re an outstanding speaker and educator. I’ve now watched a few of your videos for help in setting up and using Nina, as well as setting up and using a mini/micro PC. They are always clear and with enough information to help me get started as well as get me to the next level. Thanks so much!
Wow, thank you!
Phenomenal information. So much to take in. I'm relocating my big truss Newton miles away from its current location. I'm going to gradually work my way through your video as I rework the image train.
Great! Let me know if you end up with any issues or questions.
Very nice vidéo, you make the internet better !
Excellent video. Thank you for these clear explanations. I am going to use it with my RASA (I was looking for a tool like that one).
Hope it helps!
Since I know of no one in my area that does astrophotography I am greatly appreciative of all your videos and work. Thanks so much, this has helped me a ton! Although I have issues with camera tilt on my ASI 2600mm Pro, I feel much more comfortable at trying to attack the problem.
Bad data in = bad data out. So many don't actually get that, super nice video! And I like the granularity Nina provides here. The advice you're giving is super on-point, you have an extra subscriber.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks! I try to boil it down and grab attention where I need to do so. Let me know how it all works out!
Excellent informative video! As a side note, I've been impressed with the Starizona IV 0.63 reducer as well. It completely removed my desire to upgrade to the Edge SCT. I am surprised by the lack of information about it online.
I still need to work through a few minor issues, tilt, etc ... but out of the gate this reducer is infinitely better than the Celestron one. :)
This (and several other plugins) has been on my backlog for a while now, but we've had a nice run of clear nights lately and I didn't want to touch a (more or less?! ) running system, even though my AF curves often leave much to be desired! I feel like this video really gave me the confidence to give it a go on my next imaging session (of course, it's clouded over, so who knows when that will be 🤣). Thanks for your effort, it was clearly a lot of hard work! Clear skies 💫
Great to hear!
Chad, this plug-in looks awesome. i have an 11-inch RASA that i only MARGINALLY tuned with CCD Inspector. Can’t wait to try this. Thank you! (Doug)
Let me know how it goes!
Great explanation Chad, as usual very thorough and understandable
But I guess I will have to look at the video another few times before checking my sensor tilt
You can run the aberration detector and just note the results... then walk (or run) away and think about them. Try to think about, is it tilt, flexure, or do you have other optical issues like collimation, etc? Fix what you can before you attack the issues that are measured in microns. :)
Awesome just getting into auto focus. I’m starting with my Stellarvue 102 apo and the focus motor for it from Stellarvue. I have Nina 2.0 . There is no school to go to to learn astrophotography. Having videos like yours to watch means that I can get it. From the beginning of on my knees doing polar alignment to my skills I have now was only possible with UA-cam and people like yourself that take the time to teach how it’s done. Thank you.
Super happy to help! I know what it was like for myself to push through the learning curve with far fewer resources than we have today and I just hope to streamline the learning process so everyone can ENJOY the hobby rather than fight with it... :)
Just ordered a Rigel Systems electronic focuser for my AT80EDT, so I'm looking forward to trying this out.
Excellent! Let me know how it works out.
Your NINA videos are seriously good! I watched them for four hours yesterday in anticipation of using Hocus Focus to check my backfocus. We hosted a public event with 300+ people and my laptop battery died before I could try it out!
That's always what happens isn't it! Glad the videos are proving to be helpful!
Hi Chad. I just wanted to say thanks for all your great videos. I just recently started using the advanced sequencer (using your advice and instruction videos) and true to your word I can't believe I waited this long. Well, now it's time for Hocus Focus. Next will be using a couple Wyse 3 camaras (picked up through your affiliate links). You and James Lamb have made a strip photography much more fun by providing well organized and executed instruction videos. Thanks. Bob
I am so glad you find the videos helpful. I am always amazed at what James is doing over on his channel. I love his work. He puts so much effort into his own research that I’m glad he gets to share it with the world.
Great video Chad. I've been having problems with my William Optics Z73ED and Flat73R reducer/ flattener, to the extent that I was not sure whether my elongated stars at the frame edges were related to back focus or problems with the reducer/ flattener. This video will help me solve this issue :)
...and it could be both issues, like what i had, ... But it will point you in the right direction!
Amazing ... thanks!!!
Glad you liked it!
Well done Chad! I tested this last week and it was spot on, no tilt after adjustments, with my edge11 and 6200mm. I am so glad he made this plug in. In the past, I would have to manually do an autofocus run and watch all four corners to document my focus locations to adjust tilt which was very time consuming, and now it is automated. This will be the go to platform for tilt adjustments, ASTAP does a good job and never had good consistent results with CCD inspector, but this plug in will be the way to go from now on and will only get better with time. Thanks again for your time spent and keep up your hard work and dedication!
P.s. thanks for the shot out to my good friend James Lamb! I am sure he would appreciate that.
Thanks! James is amazing. His attention to detail and overall process leaves you feeling inadequate. LOL. That's a compliment, BTW. :)
Fantastic video.
Thank you very much!
New sub just earned! 👍
Thanks for providing this tutorial on HF. I had tried HF in the past, but had all sorts of issues and found that I had to ultimately uninstall the plugin, but figured it was just not mature yet. Once I get my rig back together for galaxy season, I'll give HF another try. looks very promising for sure! Oh, and regards to James Lamb's channel. I would say it's a must!
Great! Let me know how it goes. And, yes, James Lamb's channel is AMAZING. You have to love techie deep dives, but he gives you a full analytical run through every single time.
Pretty sure I managed to capture an image of your C8 in low orbit the other night... :P
Another really great video, Chad!
There was a day or 2 where upper orbits were possible based on my frustration. Chasing my tail with that Celestron reducer was driving me crazy!
perfect vid, tyvm
Glad to help
Very informative and inspirational to sort out the issues I'm having. Determined to get my Mele Q3 into action to run NINA/HF asap, as I feel my asiair is not up to the job (focusing is somewhere between fair and awfull) without giving me clues where to look for next.
Let me know how it goes and feel free to reach out with any questions. You can find my email in this channel about page if necessary.
This video is outstanding! And perfect timing for me as well. I have been asking some of the very questions Hocus Focus is designed to answer. Especially back focus. I have an Edge 800 and am seeing a lot of spherical Aberration from center to edge. I am guessing it is my back focus but I was at a loss for how I would know without trial and error. Now I have a tool that can help me make more informed choices. You did a great job organizing the information and building this video. I look forward to many more of your videos in the future! 👍
That’s great! It is an incredible plug-in and very helpful. I actually need to run mine through the tool again after adjusting some of my optics. I’m getting some funny looking stars and this is going to help me get back on track. :-)
@@PatriotAstro I discovered my imaging train is 28mm short. I actually used Astrometric Stacking Program and FITS Viewer (ASTAP) to see the distortion of a few of my images to understand how misshaped my stars are from center to edge. And the pattern matches that of my back focus being too short. Then I took everything apart and realized I had miscalculated the distance many years ago when I first set things up. I decided this would be a good time to change to a better OAG and guide camera to get a larger field of view for guiding. Soon, I will rebuild the imaging train and remeasure the distortion. I have made good use of Nina's focus tools already and hopefully my guide stars will be much more "normal" after I get the back focus dialed in.
One question - if I have Nina run auto-focus periodically throughout the night, that will cause PHD2 guiding to get messed up. Do you have any tips on using an auto-focus and guiding at the same time?
Holy crap! So helpful. Thanks for this video!! I just fell in love with NINA. Shhh, don't tell my wife.
Your secret is safe with me. :)
My boss has me staying in a hotel rather than commuting a few hours each night. Looks like I found something to do with the extra time! Thank You!
LOL! Yep!
Will make one of my favorite video, thanks a lot.
Thanks!
Great now I have to replace my c8 reducer corrector. Great video as I just bought a focus motor for my Stellarvue svx 102t. I’ll probably watch this video a hundred times . I learn by repetition. I use Nina and just loaded 2.0 into it. Big star party in Northern California end of June , need to be ready.
:) Let me know if you end up ith eny questions. Glad to help!
Wow-an HFR of 3.02 on a C9.25? That’s about 1.0 better than I was getting with the built-in NINA routine. Thanks again for making this video and giving us such a clear understanding of it. Refining my basic autofocus settings probably didn’t hurt any.
That's great! It can take some time to dial it in, BUT well worth it! Great results!
Thank you!
Chad, Thank you so much for creating thses great and informative videos. Keep them coming please. I just purchased the Starizona 0.63 reducer/Flattener for my Celestron 8 SCT. May I ask you how you achieved the correct backfocus in terms of spacers? Will the standard ZWO 55 mm work?
Small world! I have only today fitted the Starizona SCT corrector to my old Meade LX-90. Sadly, however, I have not got the nice result you have. I still have a lot of coma on one side of the image (presumably because of tilt since the mechanical connection to a focuser is not good with this product). Thanks for the video. It will be really helpful!
This will let you at least see both visually and in statistics/numbers what is happening. You should be able to get closer to a solution by having tangible data to work with. It’ll take some experimentation, but you will get there. :-)
Thank you Chad!
Glad to do it.
Thanks!
No problem!
Thank You !
You bet!
Thanks so much for the style and content of your videos, Chad. They have become my “go to’s” while navigating my learning curve. Concerning Focal Reducers - what is better about the Starizona vs the Celestron? I just purchased the Celestron 0.63 but have not had a chance to use it on my C11.
I used the Celestron one for years and it was ok but I was always frustrated with the stars in the outer 30% or so. I had to crop a lot, or just live with egg shaped stars. And that was with my 1600mm, when I put the 2600mm on there, I found it pointless since the additional sensor space was filled with bad stars. From the documentation, it seems that the best image is at 105mm backspacing from the end of the reducer optics to the imaging sensor. I tested 20+ backspacings at 105mm, inside 105mm, and outside 105mm. I never got a flat field. The docs also say it is a reducer/corrector, but they lean away from "flattener" and never say they will provide a flat field, just a better corrected field than if you were not using it. The Starizona IV is not perfect either but it is far better and much flatter. The other thing I like about it is that when you use their 2-inch sct back to connect it, the length pushed me beyond my focuser so my rotator can work without colliding with anything. Anyway, after a bunch of research and forum user reviews, I moved to the starizona and am much happier with my images now.
@@PatriotAstro Thanks Chad!
great video
Great video instructions! Highly appreciated that you have taken the time to walk us through Hocus Focus.
For me as someone who is new to auto focus in astrophotography I was able to set up my focuser within 5 minutes to reach a match of the focus trendline of 99%. 😃
I am totally impressed of the precision of these little gadgets and the software that is controlling them.
Just one little additional feature I would like to see in the Equipment -> Autofocus. Today there is just one field to specify to which step the focuser should move. I would love to see two additional fields to enter values. Many people don´t have their rig set up all time and have to set it up each night of photography.
Target position (the one present today)
Full Retraction of focuser (for storage)
Go to point of Focus (initial move of the focuser to a predefined point)
This would give the user two fixed fields to start and end the session plus one field to optimize the starting point of the focus routine for each session.
This way the user would have the possibility to move the focuser like today but also to predefine the focuser position to store the telescope with retracted focuer. On top the focuser can be moved by one click to the position of focus when setting up the equipment.
As you seem to have good connection to the developer I think placing such enhancements to you may lead to higher chance of success if you find them useful too.
I can see where you are going but I think some of this ends up being sort of relative depending on if you physically move the tube/configuration, etc. I do see where you are going with this and will need to think about it a little more.
@@PatriotAstro Thanks a million for your answer. I think it does not be too complicated in terms of design. Just 3 fields to enter the step where to go with a Go button. One named Fully Retracted, one named Tested Focus and then the field that we currently have to just go to any step. So just a little helper to get rid of additional files where we have the focuser steps for full retraction and the tested focus stored. 😃
Thanks for your job ! I can't wait to test these new features ! Unfortunately, weayther does'nt seem to collaborate .... :(
It never does... :(
Awesome video!
Thanks Dave! It was certainly time consuming to make. Although, it didn't help that the plugin pointed out all my issues and I felt obligated to start fixing everything! LOL
@@PatriotAstro well, just remember to start with the typical settings 😀 I will certainly be taking a closer look at this plug in as I know my lunt back spacing is wrong, and possibly the edge11.
@@DavesAstrophotography LOL! Oh man, start buying connectors, thread adapters, and spacers now...
@@PatriotAstro I've actually got a couple of baader varilock adjustable spacers which are good for testing.
@@DavesAstrophotography I was playing with some really tight space after the rotator, OAG, and Filter Wheel. It was a bit painful. :)
Your videos are EXTREMELY helpful. I am so grateful that you take the time to create these so the rest of us can "get a clue" as to what's going on.
Thank you!!
When Patreon becomes available I'll be happy to buy you a cup of coffee or two, in the meantime I'll continue to shop via the links you provide.
I do hope to be back at it soon and appreciate the donation as well. Thank you so much!
Super nice video! Thanks, Chad! Stupid question: is there any way, with or without hocus focus, to have some sort of temperature compensation to gradually update focus between each sub without running a full autofocus routine? I think that would great. Thanks!
You can enable temperature compensation in NINA if your driver also has it enabled. I haven't used this honestly as it is kind of inconsistent for me depending on the speed of the change in temperature and the timing of the thermal effect on my equipment. There is also a trigger that will kick off an autofocus if a certain about of temp change has occured, and there is another instruction that can move the focuser based on a slope/intercept model. I think most people today are using the "AF on HFR Change %" Trigger instead to correct for any detected AF requirement wether it be temperature or airmass, etc.
Thanks Chad, fantastic explanation as always. I think my issue may be solved by selecting wide range to stop my 0 HFR at the ends of my "V" curve. Just need a clear night to have a play!
If I went back to basics to reset up my focus routine, should I do this with Nina AF or Hocus Focus or does it not matter? Thank you
If you plan on using HF all the time during sessions, I would configure it there so it is apples to apples.
Another masterpiece signed Chad! 👍 I have 1 observation and 1 question not related to the content of the video: 1- I am a huge fan of Starizona reducers. I have of their Apex for my refractors and the older SCT reducer. Love them all!! 2- How do you guide the SCT? Do you use an OAG? I have been struggling with this for a while now. thanks!!!
Thanks! The Starizona reducer is night and day to the Celestron one. So much better all the way to the edge! I guide my SCT using an OAG. I've tried so many of them but keep coming back to the Celestron OAG. It is very bulky but has a great 12.5 prism and various connectors to get my imaging train where it needs to be.
Chad, great video. When you run your fautofocus runs, do you use 2x2 binning?
Ha, well that was the most difficult video I have tried to watch since first trying PixInsight.
I have the RASA 8, and like your comment, my "corner stars are trash". They are egg donuts. ASTAP describes my subs as having "extreme tilt".
Most people seem to think that their problem derives from camera sensor tilt. Well, I have 2 cameras and both of them (ASI 2600s) have almost the same bad corners. I performed the experiment of rotating the camera 180 degrees with subs before and after. Strongly on both cameras, the tilt rotated with the camera. ZWO says that's tilt in the optical train. I switched from my Starizona Filter Holder, which is supposed to nail the backfocus to an engineered adapter of exactly 28.73mm, the ideal back spacing. Neither of these adapters helped the tilt. Ok, if it doesn't like "ideal" what does it like? I have added shims to the Starizona, but so far no improvement, so I will start going the other way.
This is where NINA comes in. My ASIAIR Pro, so easy to use, won't help me with this, so I have purchased a mini pc for NINA and Hocus Focus. Getting it to recognize my equipment. I looked at defocused bright stars and they look round, but collimation will also be ruled out.
So many people seem to be buying the hyper expensive octopi to just twist out the tilt from "wherever it is". But wait, I have 2 cameras! 2 Octopis? No, why should I be limited to 1 camera? That's not right.
The RASA might end up getting a ride back to California. For the price of 2 octopi, I could buy a nice Newtonian and rule out where the tilt is. I don't imagine no tilt, but I do imagine "Mild" tilt, not "Extreme".
I will be watching your video again and Lamb's until the procedures are more understood. Wish one of you used a RASA, it doesn't use a flattener.
I completely understand the frustration. And it can be challenging to sort out where the tilt is coming from. shim after shim, and test after test until you get closer and closer. At some point hopefully you can get it to be 'good enough'. I too wish the correction solutions were more affordable. I'd love an octopi myself!
Chad, I love your videos & this channel. You are very professional & I’m learning a lot👍 Everything is awesome but for one thing, at least for me. You move 1,000 mph on the mouse! As of date I have only taken 3 snapshots and am still trying to get my rig to fully functional through ASCOM & my laptop. And to add to that my computer skills are very basic & minimal. Yes, I confess, at the present time I am what you would call an astrophotography “Dummy”🤪 But the good news is that I am getting better and that’s because of you & those out there like you making great tutorials. If you won’t slow down, and I understand, then can you please put some kind of highlight around your pointer. Sort of like what they do on the puck of a televised hockey game, so I can track where it was & is? I’m spending a lot of time in rewind👀 Please have mercy on me:)
I completely understand. It is a big catch 22. If I go slower, I lose people because it is slow, ... If I go faster, I lose newer people who are not familiar. What I may trying doing at some point is mix in some Live sessions where it can only happen at the speed of the real world. :)
Great video! glad the C8 didn't fly!
You and me both... :)
Yet another fantastic and slick video, Chad. Well done. Something unrelated but related to something in your video - how do you get the altitude box in the bottom left-hand corner?
It is a panel you add to imaging by clicking the icon up on the top left. It is right near the word "Info" I think and called Altitude Chart. I beliebe it is a crosshairs icon if memory serves me.
@@PatriotAstro Thanks, Chad. Nope, can't find it at all. Weird. I bet it is just staring at me too! ;)
Hi Chad, excellent video, as always! I've been testing and using Hocus Focus ever since it's available, and I agree, that the additional features give some excellent extra. Unfortunately the star detection seems to have some problems, as on all cameras I have and both optics I use Hocus Focus detects stars of HFR 1.3-1.8 even if the scope is closed or definitely out of focus (LARGE donuts!). Did you experience a similar behavior?
I haven't seen this behavior. Are you in the NINA Discord? If you get in the that, you can find jokogeo in the Plugin-Discussions channel and work through it with him. He's always looking for ways to solve edge cases for people.
@@PatriotAstro I asked George, sent him some examples and he found the reason. He'll get some more samples from me and I'm sure he'll fix it quite fast
SUPERB. I've been working on this for years with the rasa 11. I helped with the beta octopi and with the Baader beta filter plate. I had octopi beta and now the updated final. I can't get this one to zero in. CCD inspector is weak... trying focus focus but I'm not getting helpful charts.
Another great video, thank you! How did you get the Backfocus Error to display? At 31:32 you selected something that made the information, Back Focus Error: - 1 (Move sensor AWAY FROM flattener) to display on the focus chart? And where can I find more information on analyzing the information that Aberration Detector is providing me? Thanks again!
Sorry I missed this comment earlier! It actually just appears at some point once it is done processing. You may just need to wait for the data to be finalized. As far as analyzing the info, look for my email adress in the about section of the YT page and reach out. Glad to help. I may need to do a video on this but there are so many related optical issues that overlap, it gets a bit tricky.
@@PatriotAstroThank you for replying. I suspect NINA or Hocus Focus has made a change because in Beta 056 after the process has completed mine displays Inner HFR: 1.94 , Outer HFR : 1.96, Backfocus HFR Delta 0.02, with no suggestion as to what corrections to make. No problem though, I can work through the process. Thanks again!
First of all, I love to see your videos. I trie out hocus focus and it wasnt possible to get a fine plot. It as a horrible zig zag and NINA couln't find the correct fokuspoint. I only changed the three settings from HF to NINA an everything worked fine. Whatever as the cause of that failure. I just anted to mention, that not everywhere HF works fine. Just go on with your excellent work.
If you want, feel free to send me a picture of the focus curve and some of your settings to the email you can find on my UA-cam account page. You can continue to use Nina‘s auto focus however if it works for you. There’s really no reason why that isn’t a valid approach. But, Hocus Focus does have superior detection algorithms, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t work for everyone. But again, there is 100% nothing wrong with sticking with Nina‘s process if it is working for you. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. :-) glad to help you try to get it working if you want to give it a shot.
@@PatriotAstro Ooops, I didn't expect an answer that fast. Thanks anyway. Unfortunately I had to interrupt the attempt, because it wouldn't find an end. Afterwards I regretted taking a screenshot. The next problem is, that I have to go to my observatory, because the computer there is tuned off. If you are interested, I can send a hand drawing how it looked like. The json fille of the nice AF graph is on that computer. I can send it also.
I only wanted to show, that there are still some issues in HF. I'll give it a try with another optical train. This attempt was made with a C8 without reducer. I'll try it with a refractor with a shorter focal length. CS.
@@stergiosfykatas624 No need to hand draw it or rush to solve it. If you’re happy with where you are, that should be the focus (no pun intended). But if you do want to have a second set of eyes look it over, the next time you have a chance and some time, switch back to hocus-focus and take some screenshots of the results and configuration. With long focal lengths, especially without a reducer, definitely adjust some of the parameters as I do in my video. If you get this plugin right, you will definitely have better focus with Hocus Focus. This plug-in excels at extreme focal lengths and a few other use cases. But again, if you’re happy where you are, there really is no reason to change anything at all.
@@PatriotAstro Don't worry, I love to make experiments. I will give it another try to get the weird graph and then make some adjustments. I will report.
After my pc broke down and getting a new one, I tried out nina autofocus ending in a failure. I switched to hocus focus and at least it worked, allthough the curve as not fine. This time nina mae problems. It was the same scope an focuser. If you are interested to take a look at the curves please tell me where to send them.
Starizona flattener reducer is discontinued according to Opt. One left and at $400 it is nearly three times the price of the Celestron and as much as a small telescope.
Starizona is definitely still making their latest model Corrector Reducer(IV I think). It is more expensive than Celestron for sure, but if you want to improve your investment in your current SCT, it is far superior.
FYI you may want to update your affiliate links since opt is no longer in business. Thanks for the help!
I know… It’s so painful. I have to go back into every video. I really need to see if there’s a UA-cam API that will let me script this or something. :)
It’s been cloudy here in Northern California so I watch you auto focus video again and being that I have a C8 with the celestron 6.3 corrector I’m thinking about replacing that reducer flattener with the starizona. Then I think why not sell the C8 and get the edge 8. I noticed that some subs had tictac stars like nearly half with 5 minute exposures. That could be something else in the imaging train or phd2 issues or cable management . I don’t get that problem with the Stellarvue 102 apo or spacecat. So is is just the field of view outer edges it does better or it just a better over all Star correction. 400 plus tax but we get what we pay for. Thanks
SCT telescopes are so challenging from this perspective. Eccentric stars really could be a number of things, but assuming that you’re not running into a physical issue and grading properly on a decent mount… It’s almost always just going to be a nature of the optics themselves. Backfocus, collimation, quality of the mirrors and mirror movement, etc. SCTs require a flattener of some sort to correct for the problems with the design itself. The Starizona flattener is far superior to the Celestron one. Now with that being said, the other problem we have is that as we mature as astrophotographers… We buy better cameras with bigger sensors. Bigger field of view means trying to grab more light further away from the center… Which is really not what an SCT wants to do. :) At the end of the day, an SCT is extremely challenging… But once you begin to master it, is one of the more flexible designs allowing you to get great views of nebulas, distant galaxies, planets, and the moon. The sun, well that’s not really practical with an SCT… But that’s why we buy a second telescope. :-)
Great video! Is live stacking with PI Tools plug-in on your list?
it is. I need to start over. I had started as soon as it came out last year but need to re-do it all with the more recent changes.
Hi PA im currently using my Nikon Z6 and 150-600mm lens on a HEQ5 mount i am also running nina though very new to it but learnt the basics of 3 star plate solve and meridian flip , regards to focusing i am still looking on the back of my camera and manual focusing the lens / ive also useing a 3rd party plugin so i can focus via the pc but the viewing quality is rubbish
so i have 2 questions ,... 1 whats would you say would be the best way to focus my dlsr ? 2 if and when i get a dedicated astro camera how would i focus that without an autofocuser as there is no screen on the back of the camera to help and money is really tight so cant really afford the focuser yet
many thanks in advance :)
Very nice video. One question: with backlash it is intuitively clear that one could end up with a flattish section of the curve. I have the opposite issue where, starting from the right, the curve drops rapidly at first and then produces a nice bowl. Is it obvious what this would be a symptom of?
This is a guess, but I bet you added a backlash compensation value directly to your driver as well and it is being double added (driver and Nina) on the first turn around to the new direction.
@@PatriotAstro Excellent point. I'll definitely check that.
One question about Autofocus, what is a good HFR ? The less is the better. But for exemple I'm using filter in front of an asi533mc, I need to add spacer for the backfocus because of the filters and I guess I can find what is the good number of spacer I need to add with the HFR ?
interesting times. I came back to Astro imaging and discovered for myself, the ease of use of the Asiair plus. Nina would have been something that I would have used, but now..Asiair plus is all you really need isn't it?
I love ASIAIR, I really do (and have one myself) but I use it sparingly for travel. It does work quite well but there are still many things NINA can do that aren’t in the AIR (yet) not to mention the flexibility NINA’s plugins provide plus the ability to accelerate features from other tools as they are released in PHD2, Sharpcap, windows, etc. But, If it is all you need, I say use it! It works.
Once more, Captain Chad drove the starship so well…
LOL, That's me... Captain Chad! :)
If possible, in the videos, speak more slowly because I use Italian subtitles for the translation, so you have time to read them.
Thank you👋👋
Noted. I try to make the content as clear as possible for everyone... a lot of preparation before filming and during editing. Hence, the long break i have been taking. I'll be back soon though! :)
Hey Chad. I installed HF and tried to use it for the first time last night. (I have NINA's regular AF working fine, but I was curious to see if HF would do a better job). I switched on the annotation option, but I can't get HF to annotate the stars in the image window. Not sure what I am doing wrong. It also gave me very weird focus curves on a few trial AF runs, so I have - reluctantly - switched back to using NINA for autofocus. Do you have to change all your settings between NINA's AF and HF? I expected it to just run ok based on my NINA settings.
You should be able to start with NINA AF settings and go from there. The HF stuff is really more about tweaking the Detection settings since once you enable HF for Detection and Annotation, it uses those algorithms rather than the NINA ones. If you look up my email address on the about page of this channel you can send me some screenshots of curves and config info and I can try to help you along. Also, if NINA is working for AF for you, HF isn't necessarily required. NINA can work quite well. HF can be a little faster and work better with certain focal length scopes, etc - but not a mandatory plugin if you are already happy.
Does this help manual focusing for a computer-connected camera?
Not so much manual focusing. Usually you would monitor HFR while taking images or use a bahtinov mask for that.
Great videos. Issue with hocus focus that fails saying "out of memory." CCD is a QHY 600M with large files with each image. Computer has 16 gigs memory. Could you run the focus imaging at bin 2x2 to decrease file size? Would the 2x2 binning change the hocus focus outcome. I have not seen this issue addressed by anyone. What do you think?
Honestly, I’ve never seen this. My recommendation would be to make sure you’re running the latest version of Nina, the plug-in, and the QHY drivers. Let me know if you’ve sorted anything out. Sorry to hear you’re having this problem.
Based on the comments here and in other videos, is this really only useful for SCT's?
Love your stuff. Can I support you by buying you a pop filter?
So what actually happened was that I recorded with my gain too high and I clipped in a bunch of places. Believe it or not, Adobe Audition fixed a bunch of it. But, alas, some still remained. :(
wow
Make sure you look at the pinned comment below the video. The procedure has changed a bit since the feature has become so popular.
I have followed your videos to the best of my ability, and have set up my NINA installation with Hocus Focus as you suggest, but still my sessions are a dismal failure (though they work fine when I would use an ASIAIR). So something is wrong in my setup that I cannot figure out. What would cause the system to take a perfectly focused scope (as determined through my using a Bahtinov mask prior to initialising a sequence) and go through its routine only to settle on a way out-of-focus focus point, ruining my images? For my life I cannot figure it out!
You can find my email address on the channels about page. Maybe send me a couple screenshots of what your focus curves look like. I’m guessing your focus curve need some adjustment that I can probably help with but I need a couple images to go by.
@@PatriotAstro Thanks; I'll see if I can send you a screenshot when I have a moment. I have had terrible skies for the past several months so I have not had a chance to try again.
Thanks for a really useful video. Have a beer on me!
Thanks so much! I certainly appreciate it!