My portable, automated astrophotography rig

Are you sick of manually doing everything and making mistakes? Perhaps you're looking to increase the efficiency of your astrophotography set up. Let's talk about how you can create an automated, autonomous astrophotography rig. It focuses, plate solves, rotates and filters without any intervention while still staying portable!
Monochrome imaging work flow: • Narrowband Filter Guid...
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:00 Benefits of automation
3:55 Automation hardware
4:15 Camera
5:08 Focuser
5:35 Filters
6:25 Rotator
7:30 Automation software
8:20 Hardware setup & order
10:25 Automated image gallery
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[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Excellent overview! Yessssss, I was waiting for the NINA mention and I wasn't disappointed :p Now I want a rotator.... For now I've been using the manual rotator function in NINA. By the way, flats are far less focus sensitive than many make it seem (dust mote size on sensor depends strictly on distance from sensor and angle of incidence), so reproducing exactly the focus point for flats isn't been necessary, even on super sensitive systems like the F2 Hyperstar paired with APS-C sensor. Also, small tip for modern cooled cameras without amp glow like the 533, 268M, RisingCam with IMX571, etc when using dithering: darks don't make a difference in my tests. If the camera is cooled to zero or less, I just take 2s long bias/dark flats and use that as my bias calibration for everything (tip stolen from other NINA contributors).

[@yoyomaster223]

You really should have more subs than you actually have. Quality of your content is awesome!

[@neokart3926]

Absolutely

[@Nico.75]

Definetely!

[@OutlandishJourneys]

Great overview! Thanks for sharing...excellent info! :)

[@KopLamp]

Nice video + presentation. I had a similar video last week - back when my mount was still working... I use the ASIAIR Pro/Plus.

[@CuivTheLazyGeek]

Don't ever try NINA's advanced sequencer and plugins! It would turn you away from the ASIAIR :p

[@rtpman1953]

Yes, repeatability is the key. I use all the gear you mentioned other than a rotator. However, I use NINA's manual rotator. It would be nice to have one but over the years I have been able to group my images by rotator angles. So, tonight I maybe do images that best roughly fit 47 degrees, the night after it might be 70 degrees. I may elect to do the flats later but of course, it needs to be done before I tear down and go home.

[@southbronxny5727]

I'd like to see some traking info in phd2 with the harmonic drive. Also some unguided images to see when trailing starts.

[@highasheaven9239]

Great video! I would have enjoyed seeing a few screenshots of software / b roll while you were speaking, it could have made it more dynamic and understandable (seeing the rotator or the eaf in action for instance). Also, any reason you went with the pegasus astro and not the primalucelab rotator? Primalucelab would have been a *perfect* fit with the anodized red!

[@alexisfarfaro5378]

Awesome. Can you please share more on portable mounts sophisticated enough to support guiding? thanks

[@Praetorianguard2001]

Dude not to kick dirt but how do you spend 75% of your video not showing your equipment?

[@benjiwhittle]

Hey roro. Great vid again:) do you have any tips for automating flats too? How do remote observatories do this where you don’t even go near the scope?

[@markferguson7126]

Great video! I'm building almost an identical system to what you show/describe, with the goals being the same - full automation so I can get sleep. Redcat 51, QHY268M, filter wheel, etc. My future desire is to swap this imaging train between the Redcat and a C8 Edge HD based on what I want to accomplish. Given this, I'm planning to go with the larger QHYCFW3L (2"x7 filter wheel), which consumes 21.5mm of backfocus. I also hoped to use a Falcon Rotator (18+1mm) and an OAG (10mm) in the train, but I'm out of backfocus distance to include all these. Did you not choose an OAG over the rotator because the rotator is much more of a game changer for automated imagining and your separate guiding scope provides more than enough guiding accuracy for your needs? Thanks for the additional detail on your equipment choices. Having just discovered your channel, there is a ton of great content I'm looking forward to working through!

[@danharvey4449]

Great video, thank you, just one quick question, I see that the rotator is 19mm including adapter, a ZWO 2inch filter wheel in 20mm at a cooled zwo camera is 17.5mm taking back focus to 56.5mm - does the 1.5mm make difference to start shapes in your normal backfocus in 55mm? thanks and keep the great videos comming :-)

[@AstroWithRoRo]

The RedCat51 doesn't have a back focus requirement as it's a Petzval design and doesn't require a flattener. In general, it depenfs on how fast your scope is as to whether 1.5mm will matter. The general advice is that you want it within 1mm. Note that filters will also ad extra back focus distance (usually 1/3 of their thickness).

[@srikanthmeg]

why you chose redcat over rokinon? pls tell

[@AstroWithRoRo]

The RedCat is very different to the Rok135. It's a much better quality lens with a much flatter field, it has twice the focal length and is much sturdier, and heavier.

[@Cosaamia]

Yawn

[@derekbaker3279]

When will you be launching your own channel, so we can see how superior your videos will be?