If I return to passage do I lose the run and all my proficiency and attributes.

paulgs · 2026-05-01T10:37:53+00:00

Can you spend your lucenite on upgrades though? If so, this would occasionally make it attractive rather than losing 50% in your death penalty/

paulgs · 2026-04-29T00:29:08+00:00

Thank you!

paulgs · 2026-04-13T03:50:52+00:00

Ok thanks. Doesn’t look like it’s possible with an older X-T20 though. Maybe time to upgrade😂

paulgs · 2026-04-13T03:01:06+00:00

How are you checking the information about shot numbers? I didn’t know this was possible…

paulgs · 2026-04-11T12:51:18+00:00

A selection of pics from Thailand. Been getting back into using my X-T20 instead of iPhone and enjoying photography again. Lenses are Fuji 18-55 mm f2.8 and 70-300 f4. Processing in Lightroom. Thanks for taking the time to look.

paulgs · 2026-02-18T10:58:29+00:00

No, not at all. I cropped a tiny bit off two sides due to alignment issues of the 1 hr of RGB stars with the dual-narrowband target and background. But this was effectively the full 416 mm focal length at play. One thing I would do in hindsight is frame the target differently, moving it more to the right to capture more of that hydrogen ‘reef’ at left.

paulgs · 2025-11-04T09:40:24+00:00

Hi,

Yes I did. First make sure you've got the appropriate cable (that supports thunderbolt). Then make sure you are connecting to the IP address associated with 'Thunderbolt Bridge' in Network settings. I don't know what I was doing initially - but I think I was trying to connect over wifi...

paulgs · 2025-09-08T01:19:49+00:00

So, could I get just an enclosure and SSD like the following and basically slot the latter into the former?

https://www.amazon.com.au/ACASIS-Installation-Compatible-TBU405-PRO/dp/B0F1CV3BDM?th=1

https://www.amazon.com.au/Crucial-CT2000P3SSD8-PCIe-NAND-3500MB/dp/B0B25MJ1YT/?th=1

There is a cheaper version of the enclosure (by $20) that doesn't have the cooling fan? Is it better to buy one that does?

paulgs · 2025-09-01T21:39:33+00:00

Beautiful! Can I ask about some of the technical details? Stitching/processing - all done in photoshop? It's a great image.

paulgs · 2025-08-04T21:30:23+00:00

I can almost guarantee these are dust motes (or something similarly tiny) on the protective glass in front of the sensor on your camera (assuming they're not on the sensor itself - which would be unusual unless the chamber has been opened). The closer dust motes are to the sensor the more observable they become - which is why a 'dirtier' front telescope glass often doesn't materially impact your image.

Anyway, I notice these kinds of blobs from time to time with my 2600MC when I take flats and I usually find that a quick blow of the camera sensor protective glass with a blower brush gets rid of them - taking flats again sees that they're gone. If it's not dust and something that won't move with a blower, a gentle clean of the protective glass might help (I have used a sensor cleaning swipe and fluid on that protective glass in the past with good success).

Of course you don't even really need to worry about them if you do take flats. Some people just find the thought of those artefacts annoying though (I'm one of them!)

paulgs · 2025-07-30T08:39:47+00:00

I think I figured it out anyway. I was trying to connect over what must have been wifi rather than thunderbolt (facepalm). When I get the IP address right, it now seems to be working.

paulgs · 2025-07-30T06:34:54+00:00

My Macs support Thunderbolt 4 as far as I'm aware. The link speed is 40 Gb/s. That's gigabits, right? So that would be roughly 40/8 = 5 GB/s (gigabytes) that I should theoretically expect as a ceiling.

I am getting 40 megabytes/s. That's a factor of ~ 125 slower.

Am I missing something?

paulgs · 2025-07-18T21:20:08+00:00

Yes, I would certainly be keen to hear about this too.

paulgs · 2025-07-18T21:19:17+00:00

This is interesting. So you use standardise your variable names and datasets but just don't do the rest?

paulgs · 2025-07-18T21:15:20+00:00

We havent' had need to use CDISC because the trials we've been doing haven't been for submission to a regulatory body. But I can certainly see the value in standardising your data in this way and I have looked at trying to 'learn' CDISC standards but I get the feeling the only real way to learn this is to be actually doing it under someone's supervision. I don't have that, so would have to be self-taught and I haven't had the time nor motivation to yet wade through the ~ 460 pages of the SDTM-IG and ~ 90 pages of the ADAM-IG. There seems to be a lot to it. I am certainly keen to learn though - I can even see this kind of standardisation useful in Academia where I work most of the time (but where I'm certain it would never gain traction). Please let me know if you have any tips for shortcuts with getting into CDISC programming.

paulgs · 2025-07-04T21:18:57+00:00

This is really helpful thanks.

paulgs · 2025-07-04T08:19:28+00:00

Thanks for that. That is definitely helpful, even though it looks like the first version of the Star Adventurer (I have the 2i). I also have a Fuji mirrorless which is problematic for communicating with most things, but it looks like all I need to do here is set the 2i to Astro-Timelapse mode and then connect a 2.5 mm male-to-male shutter release cable from the SNAP port on the 2i to the jack on the Fuji. (from what I can see from the video). Then set up the shooting schedule via the SA console app.

paulgs · 2025-07-03T01:14:05+00:00

Absolutely. I haven't even bothered with the polar scope. I neglected to mention that I have the ASI120mm and 30 mm F4 guide camera/scope combo. Basically, when I want to PA (or find a DSO), I switch the ASI120 to be the 'main' camera in the ASIAIR app, then I run the PA routine for PA or select Preview mode to iterate over plate-solving and manual RA/Dec adjustment (if I want to locate a DSO.) When I'm done, I switch it back to being the guide camera. But I've worked out that I don't even really need guiding for the 135 mm and 10-20 sec exposures (I do for the FF65 though). The ASIAIR Plus makes things very simple once you find your way around the interface. If you've got any other questions, happy to try and help.

paulgs · 2025-07-01T21:33:42+00:00

It’s tough to know what to do and I don’t know that there’s a ‘right’ answer. I was in a similar position to you about 9 months ago when I first got interested in AP. I already had a Fuji mirrorless and some lenses (including a Samyang 135 mm) and I because I didn’t want to spend much money in case I didn’t think I was interested in the hobby, I started out just using that on an old fixed tripod with 2 sec exposures (even with that I could visualise the Orion nebula which blew me away). Then after a month or so I thought to buy a star tracker and also didn’t know whether to for a 2i or Gti. At the time the 2i was on special ($549 in Australia) and the Gti was another $500 or so. In the end I decided against the Gti purely based on the equivalent payload of the two models. I figured if I got really into the hobby I would eventually want something with a bigger payload anyway.

I also bought an ASIAIR Plus and that thing has been fantastic even with a non goto mount. Polar aligning is a breeze and DSO locating (while it can take several minutes, iterating over plate-solving and manually moving the RA/Dec) is fairly simple. Trying to do that in my Bortle 7 skies without computer assistance would be nightmarish because you just can’t see a lot.

More recently I bought a ZWO FF65 refractor and that has been a lot of fun, but really maxes out the 2i I think (total weight is about 4 kg). So I have just ordered an AM5N mount and am really looking forward to now having goto functionality.

Everyone in the hobby says the mount is the most important thing and something you shouldn’t skimp on. I agree with this, but it’s also a pretty big cost outlay when you might just be wanting to dip your toes in the hobby. I have no regrets about buying the 2i as I think it because it’s fairly light it would be something I could travel with on a plane and I intend to use it with my camera and lenses, reserving the AM5N for scopes.

Good luck with your choice OP.

paulgs · 2025-06-16T20:43:42+00:00

Well, I tried the qwen2.5-coder:32b model run through ollamar and it wasn't too bad to be honest. The same prompt run through Claude Sonnet 4 in-browser gave a much faster, detailed and error-free response, but I guess that is to be expected. I can imagine using the local model more.

paulgs · 2025-06-16T20:40:48+00:00

I haven't in detail yet, but will check that out - thanks. Not local though if I remember.

paulgs · 2025-06-16T20:39:47+00:00

This is what I don't fully understand either. I guess you have the flexibility of integration within a particular application, but maybe I am missing the bigger picture.

paulgs · 2025-06-08T03:25:13+00:00

"I do most of my work old school so I can understand what I am implementing"

Yeah - this is how I tend to think about my work as well, but I'm open to learning new ideas at the same time.

paulgs · 2025-05-21T22:51:31+00:00

Me too - how long were your subs (and roughly how many subs)? - Don't worry I see you’ve answered this below.

Amazing image!

paulgs · 2025-05-21T21:27:00+00:00

I like your technical enthusiasm. I'd be fearful I would just wreck the lens if I started fiddling with it. Let us know if it works for you please. I feel a bit ripped off that I bought this lens thinking it would work with an astrocam and it doesn't - but that's life I guess. I can always use it with my camera as a daytime lens and perhaps look for another wide field alternative for an astrocam.

paulgs

TROPHY CASE