So I am fortunate to have invested in all new equipment and going from APT to N.I.N.A to many learning curves for me all at once. However I want you to know how much you are appreciated and it is good to take breaks, from time to time. Thanks for Inspiring me Samson from San Diego
Such great videos. I've been wanting to move to NINA for a while but these just make it so clear why I should and how to do it. Thank you for putting in the time and effort to create these - much appreciated.
Very comprehensive!!! I will watch the other parts on setting up the focuser and plate solving. I will use a OSC first, then I will include a filter wheel for my other camera - WFH allows me to watch your videos. Skies are cloudy... so I can learn it first.
Thanks for the help with the sequencer as I am starting with NINA after Sharpcap. Next to automate meridian flip hopefully. The only thing I can't manage is getting the images in the star atlas despite putting it in the correct folders. Most mysterious.
Very informative as always. I’m in the process of switching to N.I.N.A and most things are going well. A few minor issues with my QSI660 where the built in Filterwheel wasn’t recognised but after reinstalling the QSI driver it seems ok. Only the gain setting proving a problem. Normally you can chose high, low or auto for the CCD but not sure how to get this in N.I.N.A but sure I’ll get there. Tried the contrast detection autofocus and got a nice result indoors. Hope to get out and try imaging the Lagoon and the Trifid nebulae when the weather improves. A tip for all who might be reading this would be to make a checklist to follow for setting up gear and imaging. I spent 5 minutes yesterday checking com port values for my mount before realizing it wasn’t getting power because the desk supply I use wasn’t on. There are so many things that are easy to miss or forget. I remember wondering why my guide cam wasn’t finding stars with even a 5 second exposure only to eventually spot that the lens cap was still on guide scope because I mostly use an OAG and that’s not on my checklist for that. It may take time to do but will save a lot of time and frustration in the long run. Clear skies everyone.
Glad to see you're on your way to making it all work with NINA! You should also try asking on the Discord channel about the gain, as I have no idea how it works or is controlled for CCD cameras. The ASCOM camera class does mandate the gain to be a number, so I would assume that in the background, those "high", "low", and "auto" values are hard-coded to numbers (or the driver is not ASCOM compliant). Clear skies and good luck with the setup!
This was great! I've been using SGP and like the NINA interface much better. I've been following along and setting up with each of your videos and am ready to go the next clear night. Having the same camera and focuser as you really makes the settings easy to follow. Ha!
I was an SGP user myself when I switched to NINA over a year ago! Glad that the videos are helpful, and of course I chose the camera and focuser just for you! :D Wish you clear skies and a successful imaging night!
Thanks for the video I am just switching over to Nina and without your video's it would not have been possible. 1 thing I don't know how to do is how to set limits in eqmod to stop the eye piece end to not hit the tripod legs when the telescope is pointing at 0 degrees in the sky or near meridean flip. It would be great if you could make a video on that :) Not sure if you show it somewhere else in your video's but couldn't find it. Cheers and keep them coming David
I didn't show it, as there is another good video that explains that! Here it is: czcams.com/video/AoPld2oEnnA/video.html . Good luck & clear skies (and HODL!)
awesome as always Cuiv!. Wanting to get my head around the dithering, is that a part of NINA or is that more within the PHD2?.. maybe a video showing that part of the process would be awesome!
Very clear video. If the dither is set to ON in NINA, what should the dither settings under the Global tab in PHD2 be? Is there a conflict if they are both on? Thanks.
Hi Cuiv, quick question about the sequence editor (applies also to the new sequencer II): What do the numbers in brackets mean in the target name tab at the top? Also what is the significance of the asterix that often appears there? I cannot find any mention of this in the documentation. BTW I am checking daily for a video from you on the new sequencer in NINA 1.11. I am already using it, (and loving it), but you always have great insights to share that few of us would think of. Hope you are healthy and doing well. Dave
WARNING! I was having trouble with PHD2 so I decided to end my imaging. I ran the warming routine for the camera and whilst I was waiting for the camera to warm I found the issue with PHD2 so I decided to start the Sequencer again. After a few minutes I realised that I did not start the camera cooler again. NINA normally warns you when you start that the camera cooler is not on or the target temp has not been reached. I think it would be good if these warnings can be displayed if the Sequence has been paused and restarted.
Very helpful! Just started with NINA (coming from APT) and this is simply amazing technology. Thanks for making it a fair bit easier to understand. Your videos are very well done. Do you have your images, that you process, online somewhere? Would love to see your end results.
Thanks Sean, glad it is helpful! I'm posting my ongoing images online, and I do have a website with my images, but I think I'll remake it because it's getting a bit old in the tooth :) I'll share the link in my video descriptions once done!
I’ve been watching your NINA videos non stop because I finally decided to download it since you are always raving about it and the QHY driver has support for it. I started playing with it today but noticed that I don’t see any images in the Sequencer window. Do I need to change or enable a setting for this to appear? Thanks for your great videos.
So much to do :D I will have something on flats soon, but more on how I take them with a flat panel, without using the flat wizard in NINA. I will get to that flat wizard soon though!
Trying to move from APT to N.I.N.A. I understand the sequencer until I get to trying to set up taking Dark frames, actually the whole support process of Darks, Flats, Dark Flats, and Biases. I have found that N.I.N.A is more friendly for dedicated Astro cameras than DSLRs which I am using - Nikon, no Liveview supported - comment by the designer (No Nikon to experiment with). But, I digress. Can you show a work sequence of shooting a Light sequence and then how to then shoot Darks and Biases? I kind of, have figured out about Flats/Dark Flats for DSLR, but still working on the settings to just get a nice histogram - 50% @16340 DSLR full well is still full 100% saturation on a histogram imported to GIMP instead of that nice mid-range curve. If set up in a sequence, the sequencer wants to plate solve to a location - hard to plate solve with the cap on for any kind of Darks.
Excellent ... you are really getting good at this. I am now ready to use NINA for a full sequence tonight. But first, I have one question ... How do you handle taking calibration frames in NINA? Can you make them part of a sequence template? I was thinking of 3 events ... one for darks, one for bias, and one for flats. But then another question ... can NINA pause and prompt you to cover the scope, change to manual setting on a DSLR, etc?
I think I'm going to make a video on how I take my calibration frames! There is no such functionality as you describe - I typically just create a specific sequence for that and do things manually.
Cuiv, if you hadn't done the slew before starting the sequence then should it have slewed to the target as soon as you clicked the sequence start button? I tried this the other night but the mount did not move when I started the sequence. Was there an issue with this feature in 1.09? And do you recommend switching to the nightly builds?
If the sequence is set to slew to target it would slew - unless you forgot to unpark the mount! Whether the mount is parked is actually checked in the latest Betas (no longer nightlies for 1.10!) so on that front it has indeed been enhanced. I would definitely recommend using 1.10, especially that it is now in Beta!
PHD2 actually is the one doing the Pulse Guiding, with PHD2 connected directly to the mount (to indeed avoid the ST4 cable!). So NINA will just instruct PHD2 to guide, and PHD2 will do so, via whatever PHD2 has been configured to do - for me it is always pulse guiding direct to the mount. Clear skies!
Cuiv, The Lazy Geek Thanks! I was wondering that since other software like APT does requires to specifically select “Pulse Guiding” in order to do the job and there is no such option in N.I.N.A., good to hear that by default it works with PHD2 to pulse guides the mount!!! Many thanks!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Hello Cuiv, a question about the "Direct Guider" you mentioned, is there a setting somewhere in NINA that we can specify the number of pixels for pulse dithering?
Hi Cuiv, can I define an end action script to be executed at the end of a sequence? This is possible in SGP and in my case I have programmed a script that closes the roof of my observatory and switch off all power.
Hello Cuiv, great series of videos, thank you. could you add a sequencer video that shows how you can get the each sequence setting the same as the last - or next, as in, if I was to do a mosaic sequence with a OSC camera with say a 4 by 3 grid - or 12 " targets " it is first off a pain to put all the same info in 12 times and second if I make a mistake then that target needs to be done again. Is it possible to better automate the process? thanks. Ed
Thank you for the feedback! I will try to cover the Sequence template soon. What you describe is possible (in the 1.10 nightly). You want to first: - Create your exposure program for a single target in the sequencer as usual (using the default target "Target" is fine) with your preferred settings - Use the floppy icon to save that as an XML - Go to Options -> Imaging -> Sequence, and in the "Sequence Template" point to the file you just saved - Create your mosaic in the framing wizard and select "Replace as Target" - All the targets will be created based on your template Hope this helps!
Wellllllll, it might indeed reduce how frequently your refocus... but glass itself will expand/contract with temperatures! So that big mirror or that triplet objective will likely require some refocusing even if the tube is carbon!
Hey Cuiv, another good one! I always found the sequencer to be very intuitive, but looking forward to some enhancements. Any idea if "notification" capabilities (eg. send a txt msg on error) are part of the redesign? Thanks.
Hey Cuiv, do you know if there is anything in development for mount limits set within N.I.N.A. Kstars/ekos can do this and I think SGP can as well. It would be a great addition, I find the mount limits in EQMOD to be so difficult to set correctly and very confusing and clunky to do. I know in kstars/ekos it is simple as setting an altitude limit.
Nothing like that in NINA - NINA takes the approach that mount limits should be set in the mount - I don't think there is a plan to add that in (makes the software more complex, and duplicates features). I agree that EQMOD is not intuitive in terms of setting the limits, but once done, it works and it works very well
Very clear instructions thank you. I'm going to try nina this evening instead of APT. One question, I use a dslr and would like the images to save on the sd card not my laptop, is this still possible ?
No worries! I would highly recommend testing NINA during the day (as much as possible!) to avoid frustration at night. I know the devs have had trouble with DSLRs, so make sure yours works fine with NINA first! At this stage, NINA saves to disk, and cannot save to the SD card...
I haven't seen that before - those objects are from a free catalog that's outside NINA, so NINA would have no control over that... Did you download the whole atlas here (bottom link)? nighttime-imaging.eu/download/
WTH didn't I know about NINA??? I am only just now discovering this incredible software. Thanks for all the info.
Hahaha it's absolutely amazing! Check out also Patriot Astro's tutorials!
So I am fortunate to have invested in all new equipment and going from APT to N.I.N.A to many learning curves for me all at once.
However I want you to know how much you are appreciated and it is good to take breaks, from time to time. Thanks for Inspiring me
Samson from San Diego
This whole series has been incredibly helpful. Thank you!
Such great videos. I've been wanting to move to NINA for a while but these just make it so clear why I should and how to do it. Thank you for putting in the time and effort to create these - much appreciated.
Very comprehensive!!! I will watch the other parts on setting up the focuser and plate solving. I will use a OSC first, then I will include a filter wheel for my other camera - WFH allows me to watch your videos. Skies are cloudy... so I can learn it first.
Thank you! WFH can be very useful for learning new things :) Hope you get clear skies soon!
Thanks for the help with the sequencer as I am starting with NINA after Sharpcap. Next to automate meridian flip hopefully. The only thing I can't manage is getting the images in the star atlas despite putting it in the correct folders. Most mysterious.
Im giving NINA a try tonight! Thank you for your informative videos on the matter. I should be up and running in no time :D
You got this! Have fun & clear skies - and if something goes wrong, don't fret, it's all part of the fun :)
@@CuivTheLazyGeek it went swimmingly! So glad I jumped on board.
@@shawnharvPhotography Awesome!
Very informative as always. I’m in the process of switching to N.I.N.A and most things are going well. A few minor issues with my QSI660 where the built in Filterwheel wasn’t recognised but after reinstalling the QSI driver it seems ok. Only the gain setting proving a problem. Normally you can chose high, low or auto for the CCD but not sure how to get this in N.I.N.A but sure I’ll get there. Tried the contrast detection autofocus and got a nice result indoors. Hope to get out and try imaging the Lagoon and the Trifid nebulae when the weather improves. A tip for all who might be reading this would be to make a checklist to follow for setting up gear and imaging. I spent 5 minutes yesterday checking com port values for my mount before realizing it wasn’t getting power because the desk supply I use wasn’t on. There are so many things that are easy to miss or forget. I remember wondering why my guide cam wasn’t finding stars with even a 5 second exposure only to eventually spot that the lens cap was still on guide scope because I mostly use an OAG and that’s not on my checklist for that. It may take time to do but will save a lot of time and frustration in the long run. Clear skies everyone.
Glad to see you're on your way to making it all work with NINA! You should also try asking on the Discord channel about the gain, as I have no idea how it works or is controlled for CCD cameras. The ASCOM camera class does mandate the gain to be a number, so I would assume that in the background, those "high", "low", and "auto" values are hard-coded to numbers (or the driver is not ASCOM compliant). Clear skies and good luck with the setup!
AWESOME, thanks a lot for this masterclass! I am starting to have feelings for you Cuiv 🤣🤣
Great video, it has really helped me to sought out N.I.N.A. setting in a very short time. Many thanks.
This was great! I've been using SGP and like the NINA interface much better. I've been following along and setting up with each of your videos and am ready to go the next clear night. Having the same camera and focuser as you really makes the settings easy to follow. Ha!
I was an SGP user myself when I switched to NINA over a year ago! Glad that the videos are helpful, and of course I chose the camera and focuser just for you! :D Wish you clear skies and a successful imaging night!
Thanks for the video I am just switching over to Nina and without your video's it would not have been possible. 1 thing I don't know how to do is how to set limits in eqmod to stop the eye piece end to not hit the tripod legs when the telescope is pointing at 0 degrees in the sky or near meridean flip. It would be great if you could make a video on that :) Not sure if you show it somewhere else in your video's but couldn't find it. Cheers and keep them coming David
I didn't show it, as there is another good video that explains that! Here it is: czcams.com/video/AoPld2oEnnA/video.html . Good luck & clear skies (and HODL!)
awesome as always Cuiv!. Wanting to get my head around the dithering, is that a part of NINA or is that more within the PHD2?.. maybe a video showing that part of the process would be awesome!
Sounds good, I can make a video on that :)
Very clear video. If the dither is set to ON in NINA, what should the dither settings under the Global tab in PHD2 be? Is there a conflict if they are both on? Thanks.
Hi Cuiv! Awesome videos...I have been watching for 3 hours now lol...Maybe you would like to come on AstroWorld and show some NINA Stuff! Awesome Job!
Thanks for watching!! I7ll have to think about that offer...
@@CuivTheLazyGeekNot a problem! Awesome job on the vids you do great work!
Hi Cuiv, quick question about the sequence editor (applies also to the new sequencer II): What do the numbers in brackets mean in the target name tab at the top? Also what is the significance of the asterix that often appears there? I cannot find any mention of this in the documentation. BTW I am checking daily for a video from you on the new sequencer in NINA 1.11. I am already using it, (and loving it), but you always have great insights to share that few of us would think of. Hope you are healthy and doing well.
Dave
WARNING! I was having trouble with PHD2 so I decided to end my imaging. I ran the warming routine for the camera and whilst I was waiting for the camera to warm I found the issue with PHD2 so I decided to start the Sequencer again. After a few minutes I realised that I did not start the camera cooler again. NINA normally warns you when you start that the camera cooler is not on or the target temp has not been reached. I think it would be good if these warnings can be displayed if the Sequence has been paused and restarted.
Very helpful! Just started with NINA (coming from APT) and this is simply amazing technology. Thanks for making it a fair bit easier to understand. Your videos are very well done. Do you have your images, that you process, online somewhere? Would love to see your end results.
Thanks Sean, glad it is helpful! I'm posting my ongoing images online, and I do have a website with my images, but I think I'll remake it because it's getting a bit old in the tooth :) I'll share the link in my video descriptions once done!
I’ve been watching your NINA videos non stop because I finally decided to download it since you are always raving about it and the QHY driver has support for it.
I started playing with it today but noticed that I don’t see any images in the Sequencer window. Do I need to change or enable a setting for this to appear? Thanks for your great videos.
You need the object catalog, it's at the bottom of the download page on the NINA website.
Yes, a calibration tutorial would be great!
So much to do :D I will have something on flats soon, but more on how I take them with a flat panel, without using the flat wizard in NINA. I will get to that flat wizard soon though!
Hi, thanks for sharing.....one question, how do you send your pictures directly to your other computer?
Trying to move from APT to N.I.N.A. I understand the sequencer until I get to trying to set up taking Dark frames, actually the whole support process of Darks, Flats, Dark Flats, and Biases.
I have found that N.I.N.A is more friendly for dedicated Astro cameras than DSLRs which I am using - Nikon, no Liveview supported - comment by the designer (No Nikon to experiment with). But, I digress.
Can you show a work sequence of shooting a Light sequence and then how to then shoot Darks and Biases? I kind of, have figured out about Flats/Dark Flats for DSLR, but still working on the settings to just get a nice histogram - 50% @16340 DSLR full well is still full 100% saturation on a histogram imported to GIMP instead of that nice mid-range curve.
If set up in a sequence, the sequencer wants to plate solve to a location - hard to plate solve with the cap on for any kind of Darks.
How do you manage to go to bed when a sequence is running? What if it rains while you’re asleep?
Excellent ... you are really getting good at this. I am now ready to use NINA for a full sequence tonight. But first, I have one question ... How do you handle taking calibration frames in NINA? Can you make them part of a sequence template? I was thinking of 3 events ... one for darks, one for bias, and one for flats. But then another question ... can NINA pause and prompt you to cover the scope, change to manual setting on a DSLR, etc?
I think I'm going to make a video on how I take my calibration frames! There is no such functionality as you describe - I typically just create a specific sequence for that and do things manually.
Cuiv, if you hadn't done the slew before starting the sequence then should it have slewed to the target as soon as you clicked the sequence start button? I tried this the other night but the mount did not move when I started the sequence. Was there an issue with this feature in 1.09?
And do you recommend switching to the nightly builds?
If the sequence is set to slew to target it would slew - unless you forgot to unpark the mount! Whether the mount is parked is actually checked in the latest Betas (no longer nightlies for 1.10!) so on that front it has indeed been enhanced. I would definitely recommend using 1.10, especially that it is now in Beta!
Noted the option for pulse dithering, but does nina support pulse guiding through PHD2? I want to avoid the ST4 cable. Thanks.
PHD2 actually is the one doing the Pulse Guiding, with PHD2 connected directly to the mount (to indeed avoid the ST4 cable!). So NINA will just instruct PHD2 to guide, and PHD2 will do so, via whatever PHD2 has been configured to do - for me it is always pulse guiding direct to the mount. Clear skies!
Cuiv, The Lazy Geek Thanks! I was wondering that since other software like APT does requires to specifically select “Pulse Guiding” in order to do the job and there is no such option in N.I.N.A., good to hear that by default it works with PHD2 to pulse guides the mount!!! Many thanks!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Hello Cuiv, a question about the "Direct Guider" you mentioned, is there a setting somewhere in NINA that we can specify the number of pixels for pulse dithering?
Hi Cuiv, can I define an end action script to be executed at the end of a sequence? This is possible in SGP and in my case I have programmed a script that closes the roof of my observatory and switch off all power.
Thanks for watching! Yes, you can, in the latest Betas! It's under Options -> Imaging -> Sequence.
Hello Cuiv, great series of videos, thank you. could you add a sequencer video that shows how you can get the each sequence setting the same as the last - or next, as in, if I was to do a mosaic sequence with a OSC camera with say a 4 by 3 grid - or 12 " targets " it is first off a pain to put all the same info in 12 times and second if I make a mistake then that target needs to be done again. Is it possible to better automate the process? thanks. Ed
Thank you for the feedback! I will try to cover the Sequence template soon. What you describe is possible (in the 1.10 nightly). You want to first:
- Create your exposure program for a single target in the sequencer as usual (using the default target "Target" is fine) with your preferred settings
- Use the floppy icon to save that as an XML
- Go to Options -> Imaging -> Sequence, and in the "Sequence Template" point to the file you just saved
- Create your mosaic in the framing wizard and select "Replace as Target"
- All the targets will be created based on your template
Hope this helps!
@@CuivTheLazyGeek Thanks Cuiv.
Hi…If you have a carbon fiber tube, would you increase the time for autofocus above 60 min or just not do any time- based autofocusing?
Wellllllll, it might indeed reduce how frequently your refocus... but glass itself will expand/contract with temperatures! So that big mirror or that triplet objective will likely require some refocusing even if the tube is carbon!
Hey Cuiv, another good one! I always found the sequencer to be very intuitive, but looking forward to some enhancements. Any idea if "notification" capabilities (eg. send a txt msg on error) are part of the redesign? Thanks.
I am not sure actually, but I'm sure it could be :)
Hey Cuiv, do you know if there is anything in development for mount limits set within N.I.N.A. Kstars/ekos can do this and I think SGP can as well. It would be a great addition, I find the mount limits in EQMOD to be so difficult to set correctly and very confusing and clunky to do. I know in kstars/ekos it is simple as setting an altitude limit.
Nothing like that in NINA - NINA takes the approach that mount limits should be set in the mount - I don't think there is a plan to add that in (makes the software more complex, and duplicates features). I agree that EQMOD is not intuitive in terms of setting the limits, but once done, it works and it works very well
@@CuivTheLazyGeek You motivated me to watch a video and actually take time to figure out how to set them. All set and feeling safe!
Excellent!
Very clear instructions thank you. I'm going to try nina this evening instead of APT. One question, I use a dslr and would like the images to save on the sd card not my laptop, is this still possible ?
No worries! I would highly recommend testing NINA during the day (as much as possible!) to avoid frustration at night. I know the devs have had trouble with DSLRs, so make sure yours works fine with NINA first! At this stage, NINA saves to disk, and cannot save to the SD card...
@@CuivTheLazyGeek ok thank you for your response I'll have a go at this shortly. Many thanks again for the great content
Hi Cuiv
I'm getting 404 message on some of the sky Atlas objects.
Why?
Thx
I haven't seen that before - those objects are from a free catalog that's outside NINA, so NINA would have no control over that... Did you download the whole atlas here (bottom link)? nighttime-imaging.eu/download/