- Power Jack Is Intermittent
- Cleaning the Astrid 3D printed case
- I have multiple Astrids, do I need a computer for each one?
- What's the best device to control Astrid?
- Unattended setups, do I need to leave my tablet/computer/phone?
- Is Astrid for Prepoint only?
- Which video analysis software is supported?
- Which light curve analysis software is supported?
- Astrid, Hot Climates, Cold Weather, and moisture
- Stealth Mode - removing lights for unattended operation
- Stretching (display)
- Plate Solving Arrows On Manual Equatorial Mounts
- Star/Planet/Moon Saturates At Highest Video Frame Rate
- Optical Train Dimensions and BackFocus Distance
- Does Astrid Require Internet
If the power jack is intermittent, then please push the plug fully into the jack. Astrid's power jacks are high-power, high-grade power jacks designed for long life (unlike many astro devices). To enagage the jack fully, it needs to be fully pushed in which may take some pressure, especially when new.
There are 2 types of cases that ship with Astrid, the older Resin Case, and the newer FDM printed ASA case.
For the Resin case ONLY, use Acetone to remove marks the case, be careful to to touch anything with the acetone which is not the resin case as it will melt plastics.
For the FDM printed case, clean it damp cloth or a bit of Isopropyl Alcohol.
The case should only be cleaned with power off, being careful not to use access solution that will get into the device.
Only one computer/tablet or phone is needed to control all Astrids
No, you only need one for all the Astrids you own, it can be unplugged and moved to another Astrid
A tablet that can run VNC (e.g. iPad) is the most convenient to control Astrid as it's very portable and a reasonably large screen. However a phone could be used (smaller screen) or computer (larger screen but more bulky)
No, Astrid will keep runing despite you not being connected to it, take your tablet/computer/phone with you.
Astrid can be used with Goto scopes too, any scope supported by Indilib is supported by Astrid
Currently, only Bob Anderson's PyMovie has support to read the RAVF video files that Astrid generates. Astrid does not generate ADV format files due to the lack of 10-bit RAW support. Astrid player can convert to FITs files, but you will lose audit information that Astrid generates and that conversion would take a long time. Limovie and Tangra do not support RAVF at this time, if you wish to see Astrid run with these applications, please contact their authors to request. Once the light curve has been extracted by PyMovie, it can be read in PyOTE, AOTA, ROTE or Occular.
Once the light curve has been generated in PyMovie, it can be analyzed in PyOTE, AOTA, ROTE or Occular.
Astrid normally runs above ambient temperature, so generally inside the case little moisture or ice will accumulate. However if the temperature outside is substantially below freezing, to the point that condensation would form on the case when brought inside, then it is advisable to place in a container until warmed to room temperature and then open the container to remove any remaining moisture. This would be the same treatment you would apply to a telescope.
Astrid is not waterproof and shouldn't be subjected to rain or snow. Also, it's not weatherproof, so don't leave it outside permanently, as is the same with most astronomical equipment.
One user loosely covers Astrid on top with a plastic bag leaving space for venting if they have concerns about rain overnight. Astrid does generate heat, and it's advisable not to completely enclose it to avoid overheating.
Also, Astrid is subjected to Canadian weather and so far has been tested to -30C with no issues encountered to date.
In hot climates, make sure you have adequate venting around Astrid.
Astrid has a number of leds on it that may blink or glow, they are made available so that the status of the device can be seen:
- GPS LED (red flashing once per second with GPS fix)
- Raspberry Pi: Red LED (power) and Green LED (activity)
- Network Status LEDs (Green and Yellow, flashing or static)
To use Astrid stealthily, just cover these LEDs with electrical tape on the case. (the GPS LED can be accessed by unbolting the case where the Astrid Logo is, and covering the LED on the GPS board with electrical tape). Scotch Super 33+ is a suggested electrical tape.
Additionally, the Raspberry Pi Red/Green LEDs and Network Status LEDs can be switched off from software via the "Light Out" tool in Astrid Tools on the desktop.
Astrid has built-in stretching with 3 different methods. Astrid never stretches the data it saves, which is always saved in raw format. Stretching is only to make stars easier to see on the display.
CLAHE (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization - This can be thought of as an auto-stretch and is Astrid's default. It will automatically adjust and can handle thin clouds, light pollution, smoke, different exposure settings, and glow due to the sun near sunrise and sunset. High values of CLAHE can look soft sometimes, so experiment with the varies settings provided.
Histogram Equalization - This is a method that adjusts the contrast using histogram equalization so the image is more uniformly distributed across the entire range of values. We have found it to perform a little less well than CLAHE, but your mileage may vary.
Min Max - This manual method evenly distributes the image between Min and Max. Values below Min will be black, and values over Max with be White, with everything between distributed evenly as levels of gray. Min and Max are between 0 and 255 with Min being less than Max. Some Min/Max values are predefined for your convenience, but adjusting them using "Custom" is often required. Although Min/Max gives you superior control over stretch, if conditions change (clouds, smoke, light pollution, sun, exposure), you will likely need to change your Min/Max values.
When Astrid Plate solves, it provides arrows telling the user where to move the telescope. If the scope has Goto, the scope can then move automatically to the location of the target, but if it's a manual scope, the user needs to slew the scope. Depending on the users' preference, The plate solver can print 2 direction arrows (Altitude and Azimuth) or 1 arrow (overall direction).
With Alt/Az mounts, it's simple: Move the mount in the direction of the arrows using the scope's Altitude and Azimuth adjustments.
For Equatorial mounts, the user needs to think in terms of where the scope is visually pointing and make RA/Dec adjustments to slew the scope to the desired location. Another way to think about this is that it's the same process you would use with an Equatorial mount if you were star hopping from a chart. You would look at the chart and say I need to go from this star to that star and I need to go up and right and make the RA/Dec adjustments and combine them were necessary to get there.
Occasionally, if the telescope is very large, or stars are bright, the Astrid sensor may saturate at the highest frame rate. The first method to reduce the brightness is to reduce the gain. If it is still saturating after that and you need to reduce the brightness further, then use a Neutral Density (ND) filter. ND filters for 1.25" are cost-effective and screw into the barrel of the IOTA 0.5X reducer.
For the optical train dimensions for calculating backfocus, or for ordering the correct adapter to work with a Hyperstar, see the following:
Note: To reduce the focal length further, spacer rings (e.g. 5mm) can be added between the focal reducer and the IOTA C/CS Mount to 1.25" F adapter. A typical SCT can benefit from 3 x 5mm spacer rings and still have focusing range.
An alternative, if you don't require the focal reducer is a straight C/CS Mount to 1.25" Barrel Connector SVBONY C Mount to 1.25" Video Camera Barrel Adapter
- A: Metal M42 to M48 Male to Female Step-Up Coupling Ring Adapter
- B: C Mount(25mm 0.75mm Pitch) to T T2 (42mm 0.75mm Pitch) Coupling Ring Adapter
Astrid requires the internet for a few features, but it is designed for fully autonomous mobile use without internet. It can be used where there is no cellular or wifi signal.
Internet is not required for:
- Plate Solving: Ted ships the majority if not all of the Plate Solve catalogs on the USB drive, so an internet connection is not required, all plate solves occur with local data from the USB drive and are offline. If you are setting up a new scope and have deleted unused plate solve files, Astrid will prompt and download for the missing files when starting up when connected to the internet if the correct focal length has been entered in the settings. Plan to roughly configure any new scopes where you have internet.
- Objects (except SIMBAD)
- Occultation Events
- Prepoints
Internet is required for:
- Occasionally once every 3 months to download the latest IERs data for earths' rotation (this happens automatically when connected to the internet)
- Syncing events with OWCloud
- Looking up SIMBAD objects (but you can then save those to the Custom database that is offline)
- Software Upgrades
General advice is to connect to the internet before you leave home and:
- Do a software upgrade if necessary
- Sync your stations from OWCloud
- Download any astro targets you may want to do photography of via SIMBAD and save to Custom (doesn't apply to occultation events)
- Shutdown
- Setup at your deployment location (with or without internet)