Platesolve 2 as a blind solver

Sequence Generator Plate Solving
1

Does anyone use platesolve2 to blind solve? Is it possible to get PS2 to do this?

If so, what is the initial context for a successful blind solve?

Currently I use ANSVR for my initial (blind) solve and it’s very reliable which is a big plus, but takes typically 4 minutes to solve. I’ve tried to optimise this by asking questions in the forums, but the settings i’ve tried haven’t improved things much.

So I was wondering if PS2 can do a blind solve. I have tried it, but it searches and does not reach a conclusion, SGP then falls into ANSVR as my failover.

Next question, which might lead me away from PS2, is about ASTAP. I tried it in April (on one clear night in 74 cloudy ones ) but it threw me into the ASTAP interface and there seemed to be no process or signpost for what to do… Has this improved? is it seamless as is ANSVR and PS2?

thanks for help,
Paul

2

I have found it it is not possibl to use PS2 to blind solve. I’ll try ASTAP again.

3

FYI the non-blind solvers depend on the image scale, in the control panel camera dialog, being set correctly. That is part of the hint info (the other being where your mount thinks it’s pointing) sent to the solver.

That should get set with a successful blind solve, but if you change your setup, or profile, etc. it might be wrong or blank.

If that is set, and you’re reasonably in focus, either PlateSolve2 or ASTAP should work.

4

PS2 works fine for small offsets. But as soon the offset is 10, 20 degrees PS2 takes too much time to solve. For those large offsets you use either can use Astrometry.net or ASTAP. For ASTAP to work correctly you have to specify the pixel scale and so on correctly in the settings.