I finally got out last night and tried SGP/platesolve 2 without any sucess (Im sure I am the error). In looking at the settings, What should the gain be set at and how do you know where to set it for each camera?
The biggest reason I’ve had for failed plate solves is incorrect pixel scale. Gain really isn’t a big factor unless you have it very low with short exposure and it’s not capturing enough stars. I have the ASI071MCPro and use the same gain I use for imaging, which is 90.
You set the pixel scale in the hardware profile under the camera tab.
If you are unsure of the pixel scale, there are a few ways to get a cord estimate and once it actually plays solves, it will give you a much closer pixel scale number that you can put into your hardware profile.
I now have the scaling set correctly thanks to help from members of this group. The reason the plate solve failed was because I could not do an star align because of mechanical limitations with the scope crashing into the Celestron mount. My new mount should be here tomorrow and I will go back out when the weather clears up a bit. Im as new as new can get to using software to control the scope/accessories and astrophotography.
For future reference, you can manually calculate your image’s pixel scale with a simple math routine:
PixelScale = ((CameraPixelSize * Binning) / OTA FocalLength) * 206.265;
The pixel size is in microns and the focal length is in mm. The calculated pixel scale is in arc seconds.
charlie
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What scope and mount are you using?
It seems odd you can’t do an alignment.
i have the nexstar 8SE. The reason i couldn’t do all alignment was because of the focuser and camera assembly stick so far out, i can only raise the scope elevation so much before they crash into the mount when i use the sky-align
That’s for the information, it’s good to know
Ah. I see. I had an 8" LX200 Classic with the same issue when I was using a DSLR.
Congrats on the new mount.