far laboratories - Astronomy Technology Today

SIMPLE REMOTE OBSERVATORY OPERATION
purpose. As mentioned above, when guiding
with the DSI Pro, another Shoestring
adaptor is required to interface the PC to
the mount’s autoguide port. Software used
is CCDSoft for the SBIG camera, PhD
Guiding for the DSI Pro, and Images Plus
for the Canon.
I have used a variety of remote DC
focus motors, controlled via the PC
through either the Meade mounts (which
all incorporate DC focus motor controllers)
or through yet another Shoestring
Astronomy device, the FCUSB. The
FCUSB connects to a USB port and drives
a DC focus motor under either the provided
manual focus software, or in autofocus
mode using Maxim/DL or CCDSoft and
provided ASCOM drivers. I have only fiddled
with autofocus to date but I intend to
use it more in the future. My next imaging
refractor will be an FSQ-106 with a
Robofocus controller and motor (they are
in transit but not yet here). I plan to use
autofocus with that setup most of the time,
as the Robofocus includes position
encoders and a temperature sensor, both of
which make it supremely suitable for autofocus.
Now is a good time to mention that
all the cables installed to this point must be
carefully dressed; if they tangle during
remote operation it will at best louse up an
image and at worst it will break something!
A typical session begins with the obligatory
trip out to the observatory. I open the
roof, power up the camera(s) and mount,
and initialize the mount. I install the guide
camera on the telescope I’ll be using for
guiding that night, and the imaging camera
(either the Canon or the SBIG) on the telescope
I’ll be using for imaging. I set the
focusers to their approximate positions
(from experience). I then go back inside to
wait for dark and for the temperature to
equalize. When I’m ready to begin I fire up
the home PC and link to the observatory
PC. I start TheSky software and link that to
the mount. I start my camera software
(either CCDSoft or Images Plus) and link
that to the camera I’ll use that night. I start
PhD Guiding and link that to the DSI Pro
and to the mount’s autoguide port.
I then slew the telescope to a fairly
bright star and take test images with both
cameras. I fine tune the focus of each, then
slew away from the bright star and, using
longer exposures, critically focus the imaging
camera on dimmer stars. So long as the
telescope is cooled down, I probably won’t
have to fiddle with either focus again – but
I keep an eye on images from both cameras
as the evening progresses.
Next, I slew the mount to the first target
for the night. I take a test shot with the
imaging camera to ensure that the object is
framed to my satisfaction and adjust the
mount if necessary. Then I start the guide
camera and ensure that there’s an appropriate
guide star available (with the DSI Pro at
reasonable focal lengths, there always has
been). I select a guide star and permit PhD
Guiding to self-calibrate. When using a selfguiding
SBIG camera it’s usually even easier
– but I found that guiding through narrowband
filters caused problems and I
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62 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY