11–20 of 27 posts
I used Astra on one of my old observatories (an aging Explora-Dome) and I can say it's definitely a very nice experience compared to "legacy" tools like ACP from DC3. That being said, however, it kind of sits on the lower end of functionality compared to existing commercial observatory control offerings like Starkeeper's Voyager platform, especially when it comes to advanced scheduling features and scripting. Still,…
Are there open source software platforms used for industrial processes? Can I download software to control a refinery, brewery, car plant? With the interest in digital twins, would not be terribly surprising if I could simulate pretty complicated processes.
Astra Astral (maker of uv) Astro (javascript web framework) I am trying to keep these terms straight in my head -- it's hard
Excellent. Now all I needs is my own observatory. Oh, and the land in a location worthy of building that observatory. That's said only half jokingly. I already have my mount, a primary scope, a second scope for guiding, and a camera. So it is something a boy dreams about doing when he grows up.
Just for poking around, SharpCap has a live stacking mode which helps finding the darker stuff
I used Astra on one of my old observatories (an aging Explora-Dome) and I can say it's definitely a very nice experience compared to "legacy" tools like ACP from DC3. That being said, however, it kind of sits on the lower end of functionality compared to existing commercial observatory control offerings like Starkeeper's Voyager platform, especially when it comes to advanced scheduling features and scripting. Still,…
I just released Astra, so I'm impressed how quickly you got set up!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just released Astra, so I'm impressed how quickly you got set up!
How do you feel about Alpaca in actual use? I've been skeptical about controlling something expensive with a REST api, not that I have anything to back up that feeling, but it always raised my eyebrow
- Will it work with MaximDL to acquire images and autoguide, or will it simply not need it at all? - Will it work with PWI3 for autofocusing? - Will offset tracking (at custom dRA, dDec rates) be implemented at some point to track artificial satellites? - Will it at some point implement targeting using TLEs and MPC elements? - I am extensively using #WAITZENDIST and other #WAIT directives to wait for an object to be at certain altitude - would be really good to implement that in observation plans (a single plan can do a number of things sequentially.) - Can plans launch custom Python scripts and read/write stuff from/to files?
I probably want too much at this point, but sincerely wishing you best of luck with this incredible project, will definitely follow all the developments!
Fantastic news. As ACP is no longer in development, I am starting to slowly look for a replacement, and a few things that come up in my mind: - Will it work with MaximDL to acquire images and autoguide, or will it simply not need it at all? - Will it work with PWI3 for autofocusing? - Will offset tracking (at custom dRA, dDec rates) be implemented at some point to track artificial satellites? - Will it at some point…
Satellite tracking to be implemented in the future, working on it these months with a student of mine.
Object scheduling timing is down to the user - but the wait directives does sound like a useful feature!
Custom python scripts are possible, please check out here: https://docs.withastra.io/user_guide/custom_observatories
I also recommend checking out the introduction video that covers install and setup :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIElFSS1hkA
Fantastic news. As ACP is no longer in development, I am starting to slowly look for a replacement, and a few things that come up in my mind: - Will it work with MaximDL to acquire images and autoguide, or will it simply not need it at all? - Will it work with PWI3 for autofocusing? - Will offset tracking (at custom dRA, dDec rates) be implemented at some point to track artificial satellites? - Will it at some point…
Astra Astral (maker of uv) Astro (javascript web framework) I am trying to keep these terms straight in my head -- it's hard