I'm back with another problem, and it's a big one. 

Per JonW's advice I am now able to connect to my LXD 75 mount using network protocol. The next step in this frustrating process is to autoguide in this configuration using an LPI as the autoguiding imager and use the DSI as the main imager. I am able to get an image through the DSI but can't get an image through the LPI. I either get a black or a white image. I've tried adjusting the gain, offset, and histogram sliders, checked the autocontrast box. No image, either solid black or solid white, nothing in between. LED on the LPI is on. Tried 3 diffrent USB cables. All are fine. I have taken images of the moon with the LPI by itself so I know the LPI works. It just won't work as an autoguiding imager. When I try to draw a centroid box, the can guide scope message appears and the will cal and guide buttons are active but within 30 seconds an error message appeared : "Unhandled exception, External componenet has thrown an exception". Details show a lengthy list too large to post here. The program becomes unresponsive and I have to shut it down. In my opinion I think that this is a driver issue. I tried another open USB port and reinstalled the LPI driver. Attempted to open LPI imager program and got the blue screen of death. Windows XP crashed and restarted. On restart, error message states "system has recovered from a serious error". I am just about ready to throw this imaging system in the trash. Are there any new drivers for the LPI? Haven't found any on Meade's website. It seems that the LPI is causing a conflict, is unstable, and is causing XP to become unstable. All I want to do is autoguide with the LPI so I can take accurate long exposure images through the DSI. It doesn't seem like too much to ask for. I am so close. This is closest I have come. I don't want to give up, most people would have ended this misery a long time ago. Is there anyone out there successful using this system?  If not, I will give up on Meade, get a Canon DSLR and guide with a webcam using Guidedog or other autoguiding software. Please help.

jupiterjk

Hi jupiter jk,

I'm not an LPI user, but sure I remember seeing a post similar to this. The solution was to load the latest windows DirectX drivers. Another good tip is to get it working on a daylight image before trying it out "for real".

Hope this may be of some use...

Jon

PS, this was the post: http://autostarsuite.net/forums/thread/16827.aspx

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8" Mead LX-90 + DSI III
Isle of Wight

Hello JonW,

Thanks for responding and thanks for the directx tip. I will give it a try. I have been trying to work out the bugs in this system for a while. I am trying to find a sequence of plugging cameras in and turning things on in such a way as to consistently run the program in a reliable manner. With the LPI, sometimes I get a grainy start up image that I can adjust and have a live image, but more often I get a completly black image. If I use the sliders, I only get a white image, no live image, no timer countdown, nothing. I am not having any problems with the DSI. It is so disappointing to be out in the field, spend hours setting up equipment and running this program only to have it crash and end up with nothing but a big headache and wasting precious time.

I am running Directx9. The newest version is Directx10 and I believe it is geared towards gamers using Vista. I'll give it a try anyway. The other options I have are to use the DSI as the autoguiding imager and use a DSLR piggybacked or use two DSI's, one as the main imager and the other as the autoguiding imager. Since I have incurred this fatal error, I think I am going to have to take the LPI out of the equation. The LPI seems to function on its own. I took a beautiful 15 shot mosaic of the moon with it, manually guided. When I try to run the DSI and the LPI simultaneously, that's when trouble starts.

I'll post my results after my attept to fix this problem. It may take a while.

 

Thanks,

jupiterjk

Howdy.
Welcome to Astro Imaging, an at times extremely frustrating but otherwise very rewarding hobby!
My LPI is in the cupboard and has been for several years! LOL! I use an old DSI 1 Colour to guide and a DSI Pro 2 to image, works great! I also use a variety of programs to guide with, whatever works best on the night, from Envisage, PHD Guiding(free) to MaximDL+DSLR(costly).
Would love you to post your image of the moon in your gallery on this site with a direct link to it so we can view it. No need to be shy!!

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LXD55 SN10
LX90 8"
Orion 80 ST
Celestron 102
DSI & DSI PRO2
Atik Electric Filter Wheel
EQ6 Pro & EQMOD
Canon 40D
Lots of other Astro bits

I have also been struggling with the lpi and envisage, though my problem was Vista (see my thread if interested). Having got the lpi working in Vista (thanks Jon for the link) I compared guiding in Envisage versus PhD. PhD is much simpler and more reliable than Envisage in my short (this week only, breaks between incessant rain in U.K.) experience. It recognises the lpi happily, autocalibrates and just doggedly stays on the star that you choose. I have an ETX 125 so not the best mount in the world but PhD kept hold of the star where Envisage seems to drive it all round the screen.

Try PhD (its free) and see if this helps you.

Stewart

Hi jupiterjk,

From what you describe, it may not be DirectX problem. I'd have thought if you can hook up and image from the LPI, then there should be no reason why you can't run a DSI too? Must be someone out there running a DSI and LPI together. I have seen (very rarely though) occasions where I get "white screen" from the DSI IIIc. This seems to be linked to changing from a long exposure time with dark subtract to a very short exposure time (dark subtract stays checked even though there's no darks available). checking out the dark subtract box seems to bring the picture back, though sometimes need to re-start Envisage. Also, Envisage is not the most stable piece of software I've seen, and it has randomly locked up when drawing tracking boxes on stars.

That aside, I think that if you can get hold of a DSI, this would be a much better solution in the longer term due to the improved senisitivity over the LPI (more choice of guide stars, etc). I've seen DSIs change hands for next to nothing ebay recently (I only paid £80 for my DSIc BNIB).

As Stewart & TheDecepticon have pointed out, you have other choices in terms of image capture software, some free, some very expensive, and they would be worth a try (even the expensive ones have trial versions). Not something I've done yet, but it's on the list things to do once I've resolved my own issues around around optimising my LX90 to work with the DSI IIIc.

I also agree with the sentiment that it takes some time to master this "art". I started in astro-imaging November last year, and only now just about beginning to understand and piece together what's needed to get reasonable images as opposed to "snapshots" (my progress is plotted out in my gallery if you're interested). This hobby is a bit like an onion, there are many layers to get in place if you are chasing perfection. This link will take you to just about the best reference I've seen in terms what (and the reasons why...) is behind reliably capturing good images: http://www.willbell.com/aip/index.htm. But, there's no substitute for experience... Fortunately, there's plenty of experience to call on through this community (I would probably still be struggling, if not given up, if it weren't for other members advice).

Jon

 

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8" Mead LX-90 + DSI III
Isle of Wight

Hi JonW,

Good point about dark frames. I'll try it. There is a place where it asks if you want to delete existing darks. I'll have to play with that setting and see what happens. Stewart recomended PHD autoguiding software. I'll give that a try, too. My friend has a DSI also. He and I will use the two together at a star party coming up soon. I am familiar with the book you recomended "The Handbook of Astronomical Image Processing". I met Jim Burnell at the Rockland Astronomy Club Summer Star Party held at a campground in Savoy, Massachusetts, USA a few years back. He showed me his astro imaging set up.  The sooner I get this autoguiding problem sorted out, the sooner I will be taking better images. I took a look in your gallery, nice images. I especially  liked the Ring Nebula. Check my gallery when you have a chance. More photos to be added. Astrophotography is a learning process and I consider my project a work in progress.

To The Decepticon,

I started posting photos in my gallery per your request. I'm new to this website and don't know how to create a direct link to it, but it is under jupiterjk in the photo gallery. I'm about halfway down the list. I saw your gallery, too. Nice photos and scope.

Thank you all, my friends. I'll return with a post of my progress.

Don't forget, I'm just a beginner, well, sort of.

jupiterjk

 

PS: here is the link to my gallery http://autostarsuite.net/photos/jupiterjk/default.aspx

 

Hi jupiterjk,

Keep up the good work... Great moon shot from the LPI montage ..!

Hope you get your problem resolved soon. Moving to autoguiding will open up more choice of targets (and challenges) for you once you get it going. Learning and new challenges are always just around the corner in this game...

Jon

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8" Mead LX-90 + DSI III
Isle of Wight

Thank you! Great shot of the moon! Keep it up, and as JonW has said, auto guiding will bring on more targets and challenges for you. Keep posting, and maybe you might want to join the Certified DSI Imager program too!

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LXD55 SN10
LX90 8"
Orion 80 ST
Celestron 102
DSI & DSI PRO2
Atik Electric Filter Wheel
EQ6 Pro & EQMOD
Canon 40D
Lots of other Astro bits

Hi, Jupiter

I haven't used an LPI in quitwe a while, but I seem to recall that it must be the first imager (left-most tab) when used with other cameras. Probably too simple to be the problem, but hey, you never know...

Chuck

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Chuck Reese
CDIP Certified: Nebula, Galaxy, Solar System, Stars & Clusters Imager
CDIP Mentor: Nebulae & Solar System Categories
For information on the Certified DSI Imager Program, see:
http://autostarsuite.net/forums/1427/ShowForum.aspx

I was curious about the exposure you're using on the LPI. I sometimes get screen that are all black or all white if my exposures are way too short. I also wonder if there's a conflict caused by using an LPI (USB 1.1) with a DSI (USB 2.0). You may have to use two independent USB ports (say one built-in, the other on a PCI card) to get them both to work. I've used up to 4 DSI's (2 DSI's and 2 Pro's) at the same time so I know Envisage can handle multiple imagers, but it's been a long time since I tried running an LPI at the same time as a DSI.

-John

Hey guys,

Good news. I was successful in autoguiding with with PHD and the LPI. I did a test on Vega. I got a lock on it and it held onto it for a test of about 20 minutes. Just when I was ready to do a test shot on M31, the clouds rolled in. Hey, the clearsky clock said clear all night! Typical New England weather. And dew, I'd rather not talk about it. I was fighting it all night. Everything was soaked. 

Now that PHD is installed and running, I will have more time to spend on imaging. I do need to make adjustments, stacking exposures and reducing noise, in advanced settings, in order to be able to find and guide on fainter stars with the LPI. I will also try the DSI as a guider. I did have to go to the ASCOM website and download and install the LX200 classic Autostar I telescope driver. This supports the Meade LXD 75.  Also, while PHD is running, it won't allow communication protocol with Autostar. It won't share the same comport so I can't control the scope using the starmap. Handcontroller function is ok. Envisage is ok and I get an image with the DSI. In PHD setup, you have to select usb webcam from the list of cameras it supports. It basically sees the LPI an a generic webcam. I was a little concerned when I didn't see LPI in the list. It connects no problem and states "LPI connected". I also have a modified Logitek web cam ( lens removed, 1.25" adapter ) that I can try. Great day time terrestrial images with it through the ETX90 OTA. We'll see how it works on stars.

Chuck,

I will try your suggestion to plug in the LPI first and start it first in Envisage. I have to designate it as the guide camera and set it to monochrome in Envisage. If I can get it to peaceful coexist with the DSI in Envisage, I will have full comm control, using the Meade software as a complete integrated software package, I hope. At least, for now, I have an autoguiding solution that works and I can start producing some good images. As I learn more, I will share my experiences so all can benifit.

 

Thanks everyone for all your help,

jupiterjk