Very nice explanation Kurt! And thank you for mentioning me :) I'm quite happy that all that AF stuff I added to NINA (curves fitting, better star detection, better HFR calc, ROI, better OSC handling, etc.) is being useful! Overshoot backlash comp is the cherry on top, courtesy of the original creator of NINA, Isbeorn :) Quick tip: you may want to stop the loop exposure before starting AF - as it is, the loop exposure and AF are fighting for camera time - one of the instances where NINA is too parallelized!
Yeah it is a great program. I used it all the way through on the second night after downloading it. NINA works more like SGP which I never was able to figure after multiple nights but APT is much easier in my opinion. APT works differently and I have gotten used to it so I am able to blast through it. I am using both for now will continue to to practice with both.
@@AstroQuest1 I didn't get on with SGP things crashes or bugged up and preferences etc were always lost. APT worked but Nina just pushes to another level that I am happy with. Autofocus is extremely awesome. 2.27 HFR for me. Would be great to see if you can work out Polar alignment and make a video to see how accurate it is compared to Sharpcap Polar Align :)
Nice explanation Kurt the model really demonstrated the problem and solution. I was doing the APT-NINA-APT shuffle myself :) Cuiv's channel really is the best reference for NINA newbies since it seems all resources are directed at development and the documentation is lagging badly. I'm more of a RTFM guy than ask a bunch of foolish questions in a forum. "Best to thought a fool ....." :) I bumbled through a full NINA session a few nights back other than the initial alignment because you can't beat APT's Goto++ and short list of alignment stars. Which kind of demonstrates one of NINAS shortcomings. I am certain I could have aligned in NINA it just did not have such a self explanatory function button like Goto++. As comfortable with APT as I am If they don't update the focus routine and include in sequence focusing soon (which does not look likely) I can see myself jumping to NINA full time.
You hit nail on the head Rob. My main concern is the focus issue. I have lost to much data due to focusing and I don't see the point if you are on a target and and then have to move off the target to look for a bright star and then go back. APT does have more alignment stars and the Goto++ feature is fantastic which is the other reason I still use APT. Agreed Cuiv's channel is the best reference. Short, quick, and to the point. - Cheers
Thanks for that. NINA certainly has some great features. I do like APT though so using both looks cool and quick. Now I need to wait a couple of months for dark skies to return to try out all these things. Look forward to future videos.
Last night I set up my telescope and did the autofocus twice, once with APT's single star routine and once with NINA's multi-star routine. The outcome was identical - same stepper number !!! With APT I entered the back-focus number and with NINA I used the overshoot method. I hope to try it again tonight, will see if the results are the same. Last night was very clear with no moon. I'm using ZWO EAF to autofocus
Awesome Monty. It is great when everything works out. I have been very happy with the EAF since I figured the backlash. It is good info the APT's new autofocus works. - Cheers
puzzled - why is APT being used with NINA. Also nina doesn't know APT'S settings, they both use the focuser driver which was left in APT and loaded in NINA so (same settings).
I loaded all of the setting in NINA and APT independently. The reason I use APT is I am very familiar with it and I like the way does things I.E. Goto++. Having said that, NINA has an awesome focus/autofocus routine so I use it. I stop the camera in APT so there is no interference and turn it on in NINA and have it do its thing. Ain't got a clue why it works as I am not a computer tech by any means - it just does.
Thanks for the demonstration Kurt. I have been waiting for clear skies to get out and try this. Question I have is, can you have camera connected in APT and also in NINA? You said in the video you turned off the camera in APT, but I saw it was still connected, so I am not sure what you meant by that. Did you mean Live View was off? I would like to keep the camera connected once it has cooled. Disconnecting the camera in APT will turn off cooling. Also, in the previous video you mentioned something about monitoring your focus with NINA while running imaging plan in APT. Is there a way to run NINA and monitor focus while imaging in APT, or is that a future video? Again great stuff. Thanks
Sorry about the confusion Robert. The answer is yes! Basically the camera is still connected to APT and cooling, I just meant it is not taking pictures otherwise NINA and APT will interfere. When I turn NINA on I also have the temp set at -10 C. I think the next video I do will be how I am using both. I did mention monitoring while imaging in APT and I did it once having both cameras on at the same time so while APT was collecting on a 90 sec exposure, I turned on NINA and did the check - The only problem is it only worked once. I tried it the next night and it crashed. Sooo, what I have been doing now is I will temporarily stop imaging in APT and go over to NINA and check. It is still very quick and I do from in the house - TeamViewer. - Cheers Kurt
@@AstroQuest1 Ok, that's what I thought. I was planning on running the same scenario tomorrow night. Do autofocus, run APT, and then stop APT and autofocus. It'll be great when APT has an autofocusing routine like this. Clear skies.
Thank you Kurt! This is great! Do happen to know would I also put my backlash overshoot number in the "In" field if I'm using an SCT like the EDGE HD 8"? My backlash is little bigger in the out direction than the in, I think... not by much but a little.
@@AstroQuest1 Much appreciated man, I'm about to go all in with NINA, Go-To, plate-solving, sequence/acquisition, auto-focusing, guiding(PHD2)... If it ever gets clear here, I live in WA state so you can image how few clear night I have :) Clear skies man!
Hey Paul, not sure what "that" is but basically all focusers have some amount of "gear slop". My previous videos on this subject I discuss step size, however, with backlash overshoot method it is not that important. Your suggestion of putting numbers in until you get a good curve should work. - Good Luck
Very nice explanation Kurt! And thank you for mentioning me :) I'm quite happy that all that AF stuff I added to NINA (curves fitting, better star detection, better HFR calc, ROI, better OSC handling, etc.) is being useful! Overshoot backlash comp is the cherry on top, courtesy of the original creator of NINA, Isbeorn :) Quick tip: you may want to stop the loop exposure before starting AF - as it is, the loop exposure and AF are fighting for camera time - one of the instances where NINA is too parallelized!
Thank you Cuiv! I never would have known that, in fact I thought it was supposed to be on. - Cheers Kurt
I have given up on apt and now using Nina. 1 press of the button and it done it all from start to finish. Very impressed and it's free.
Yeah it is a great program. I used it all the way through on the second night after downloading it. NINA works more like SGP which I never was able to figure after multiple nights but APT is much easier in my opinion. APT works differently and I have gotten used to it so I am able to blast through it. I am using both for now will continue to to practice with both.
@@AstroQuest1 I didn't get on with SGP things crashes or bugged up and preferences etc were always lost. APT worked but Nina just pushes to another level that I am happy with. Autofocus is extremely awesome. 2.27 HFR for me. Would be great to see if you can work out Polar alignment and make a video to see how accurate it is compared to Sharpcap Polar Align :)
@@cryptoalchemist10minutes44 Funny you mention that, I just started using Sharpcap but saw N.I.N.A. has that feature as well...
Nice explanation Kurt the model really demonstrated the problem and solution. I was doing the APT-NINA-APT shuffle myself :)
Cuiv's channel really is the best reference for NINA newbies since it seems all resources are directed at development and the documentation is lagging badly. I'm more of a RTFM guy than ask a bunch of foolish questions in a forum. "Best to thought a fool ....." :) I bumbled through a full NINA session a few nights back other than the initial alignment because you can't beat APT's Goto++ and short list of alignment stars. Which kind of demonstrates one of NINAS shortcomings. I am certain I could have aligned in NINA it just did not have such a self explanatory function button like Goto++. As comfortable with APT as I am If they don't update the focus routine and include in sequence focusing soon (which does not look likely) I can see myself jumping to NINA full time.
You hit nail on the head Rob. My main concern is the focus issue. I have lost to much data due to focusing and I don't see the point if you are on a target and and then have to move off the target to look for a bright star and then go back. APT does have more alignment stars and the Goto++ feature is fantastic which is the other reason I still use APT. Agreed Cuiv's channel is the best reference. Short, quick, and to the point. - Cheers
Thanks for that. NINA certainly has some great features. I do like APT though so using both looks cool and quick. Now I need to wait a couple of months for dark skies to return to try out all these things. Look forward to future videos.
Thanks John. Here's to clear and dark skies.
LOVE your Channel, please DO MORE!
Thank you! Will do!
Last night I set up my telescope and did the autofocus twice, once with APT's single star routine and once with NINA's multi-star routine. The outcome was identical - same stepper number !!!
With APT I entered the back-focus number and with NINA I used the overshoot method. I hope to try it again tonight, will see if the results are the same. Last night was very clear with no moon.
I'm using ZWO EAF to autofocus
Awesome Monty. It is great when everything works out. I have been very happy with the EAF since I figured the backlash. It is good info the APT's new autofocus works. - Cheers
puzzled - why is APT being used with NINA. Also nina doesn't know APT'S settings, they both use the focuser driver which was left in APT and loaded in NINA so (same settings).
I loaded all of the setting in NINA and APT independently. The reason I use APT is I am very familiar with it and I like the way does things I.E. Goto++. Having said that, NINA has an awesome focus/autofocus routine so I use it. I stop the camera in APT so there is no interference and turn it on in NINA and have it do its thing.
Ain't got a clue why it works as I am not a computer tech by any means - it just does.
What focus graph do you use, trend lines or parabolic?
Hi Roger, I have been using Trends and Parabolic (3rd one on the list).
AstroQuest1 I have only been using trend lines and haven’t had much success so far. I will try the option that you use. Thanks
Thanks for the demonstration Kurt. I have been waiting for clear skies to get out and try this. Question I have is, can you have camera connected in APT and also in NINA? You said in the video you turned off the camera in APT, but I saw it was still connected, so I am not sure what you meant by that. Did you mean Live View was off? I would like to keep the camera connected once it has cooled. Disconnecting the camera in APT will turn off cooling. Also, in the previous video you mentioned something about monitoring your focus with NINA while running imaging plan in APT. Is there a way to run NINA and monitor focus while imaging in APT, or is that a future video? Again great stuff. Thanks
Sorry about the confusion Robert. The answer is yes! Basically the camera is still connected to APT and cooling, I just meant it is not taking pictures otherwise NINA and APT will interfere. When I turn NINA on I also have the temp set at -10 C. I think the next video I do will be how I am using both. I did mention monitoring while imaging in APT and I did it once having both cameras on at the same time so while APT was collecting on a 90 sec exposure, I turned on NINA and did the check - The only problem is it only worked once. I tried it the next night and it crashed. Sooo, what I have been doing now is I will temporarily stop imaging in APT and go over to NINA and check. It is still very quick and I do from in the house - TeamViewer. - Cheers Kurt
@@AstroQuest1 Ok, that's what I thought. I was planning on running the same scenario tomorrow night. Do autofocus, run APT, and then stop APT and autofocus. It'll be great when APT has an autofocusing routine like this. Clear skies.
Thank you Kurt! This is great! Do happen to know would I also put my backlash overshoot number in the "In" field if I'm using an SCT like the EDGE HD 8"? My backlash is little bigger in the out direction than the in, I think... not by much but a little.
Hi Damian, it should not matter if you are using the backlash overshot method, Just make sure it it more than the maximum backlash.
@@AstroQuest1 Much appreciated man, I'm about to go all in with NINA, Go-To, plate-solving, sequence/acquisition, auto-focusing, guiding(PHD2)... If it ever gets clear here, I live in WA state so you can image how few clear night I have :) Clear skies man!
@@DamianVines I hear with the weather. I have been using NINA for everything lately and works really well. Good Luck.
I couldn't really follow that. How do you figure your step size? This may come down to me putting numbers in there until my AF curve looks good.
Hey Paul, not sure what "that" is but basically all focusers have some amount of "gear slop". My previous videos on this subject I discuss step size, however, with backlash overshoot method it is not that important. Your suggestion of putting numbers in until you get a good curve should work. - Good Luck