ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEADE LUNAR PLANETARY IMAGER Last updated: 31 March 2007

Subject:	lpi and envisage with vista
Sent:	Friday, March 30, 2007 04:55:44
From:	Stewart.Long@bcm-ltd.co.uk (Stewart.Long@bcm-ltd.co.uk)
Has anybody managed to get the lpi and envisage software to work using
vista? My xp laptop died and I replaced it with a shiny new vista
machine. I have had no success getting my lpi recognised, so it is now
effectively redundant. Meade has zero information on their 'support'
pages about vista. Do any of the more computer knowledgable folks on
this forum know how to get the lpi to work? Saturn is smiling down at me
at the moment and I can't image it!

Many thanks,

Stewart=

Subject:	LPI
Sent:	Friday, March 16, 2007 15:06:07
From:	Jean Perfettini (jperfettini@doctors.org.uk)
Please receive my continuous thanks for this remarkable website: you
must be so pleased when you look back at it...

Tonight, problem with the LPI:

- I have just bought a new laptop running on Windows Vista Home Premium
Edition: the laptop is, I suppose, state of the art: 1 Go Ram, 80Go hard
disk memory, a real graphic card, etc.

First remark: not too impressed by Windows Vista: it crashes, and quite
often!

Anyway: I installed Autostar Suite, updated it, and checked it: works
nicely to slew and focus the ETX 125.

Here comes the trouble: when plugging the LPI, it says: "Windows has
found the pilot to install the LPI but - insufficient memory - check
with the manufacturer (Meade) for an update of the installation pilot".
I haved tried to "tweak" the virtual memory, to no avail, it is
impossible to have the LPI installed. I went to Microsoft update and
downloaded the latest ActiveX update: nope, nothing better.

I am amazed as this is the biggest of all my computers in terms of RAM;
the other PCs on Windows XP with only 256 Ko RAM accept easily the LPI,
so "insufficient memory"?

Has anyone come across this problem? I have sent this message to Meade
today and wait for their answer.

Has anyone got an idea of how to sort that out?

I am so sorry that we are not even discussing astronomy here, but awful
and exasperating computers compatibility problems...

With so many thanks and best wishes,
Jean Perfettini

And:

For information I have been in contacvt with Meade and still await for
an anwser; I have been in touch with Philips and they assured me that
they are working on updating the pilots for the webcams to run on Vista
(yes, Toucam owners might get a nasty surprise! Stick to Windows XP); it
seems that Vista has taken everybody by surprise, while swearing a 99%
compatibility with everything (astronomers must be stacked in the 1
remaining percent!); yes, I like Microsoft less and less...

With kind regards and best wishes
Jean Perfettini

Subject:	LPI and DSI pictures of Saturn
Sent:	Wednesday, March 14, 2007 16:22:52
From:	Tim Wood (timwould@gmail.com)
I took the opportunity last night to use my ETX-125 to take some
pictures of Saturn using both an LPI and the DSI. I have seen questions
come up in the past from people inquiring on the differences between the
two Meade cameras. The most obvious is the DSI is really intended for
Messier objects and the LPI is intended for Planets. However, the DSI
seems to work on planets quite well.

Last night's seeing conditions were okay-to-good and I am in a light
polluted area; not a real big deal for Saturn. I simply used Autostar to
combine about 100 good images (set at 90% quality) in TIFF format with
both cameras. I did have to refocus the ETX-125 when I switched to the
DSI. I also used a 2X Barlow on both. I did change the post processed
files from TIFF to JPG in order to save some bandwidth, but the image
quality was largely unaffected.

The DSI's chip is more sensitive and I did have to adjust the exposure
time lower in order not to get a washed-out image. The biggest
difference I see is the color of the planet. The LPI tends to give a
yellow hue and the DSI has an orange hue. Also the DSI gets slightly
better resolution due to having more pixels. Sorry, I guess I should
have kept notes on everything I did, but this was non-scientific.

I have been able to get better quality pictures of Saturn in the past
form both cameras, but last night's seeing wasn't perfect and I just let
Autostar do the job. Most of the time, I use FITs format and combine
only the best images in Registax. Then I combine the color images in
Photoshop CS2 and do some final image tweaking there.
 
Regards, Tim Wood

LPI


DSI

Subject:	LPI Image of Saturn
Sent:	Tuesday, March 13, 2007 14:00:14
From:	Brian Miller (millers18@att.net)
Finally the night sky and my schedule were in agreement. We have been
having unseasonably warm weather, and with it, amazingly clear skies. I
got to sit outside for several hours with my ETX 125 and LPI last night.
I didn't even need to put on a jacket until 10:30 pm! The sky was clear
and moonless, but there was some atmospheric turbulence that made it
difficult to focus. I will be getting a new lap top with a better
display in the near future, so hopefully my images will improve. In the
meantime, here is one of the images I captured of Saturn. Details are as
follows: Meade ETX 125 UHTC polar aligned, Meade LPI, ScopeTronix .5x
barlow, and Lumicon IR Cut filter. Details of the LPI exposure were:
Gain: 50, Offset: 22, Min Quality: 75%, Expose: 1.0, Edge Enhance: Hard.
This is a stack of 410 images, with contrast slightly adjusted and
sharpened in Photoshop. Hope you find the attached image suitable for
your site.



Hope all is well. Enjoy Oracle!
 
Sincerely,
 
Brian Miller
Spring Valley, CA 

Subject:	Looking for an LPI adapter
Sent:	Thursday, March 1, 2007 11:03:16
From:	Dave Wallace (d_wallace@ecrm.com)
I have a 500 mm focal length camera lens that I'd like to mate to my LPI
for wide-field imaging.  The camera lens is actually a small Cassegrain
telescope (f/10), so it's very compact.  It also has some unique design
features, starting with the fact that the manufacturer elected to take
advantage of the existence of T-rings -- the lens ends in a MALE
T-thread.

So what I'm looking for is sort of the INVERSE of the Meade variable
camera adapter:  it's more like a visual back but for T-thread. 
Specifically: it should provide a 1-1/4" eyepiece holder at one end and
a female T-thread at the other.

Ever hear of any such thing, Mike?

And:

It looks like this product:
http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_tamf.htm
might be the solution -- it's supposed to be able to mate a T-thread to
a 1-1/4" eyepiece.

The article wasn't too helpful since I want to retain the ability to use
the lens on a camera as well.

Subject:	LPI IMAGER HELP!!! Last updated on 26 January 2007
Sent:	Sunday, February 25, 2007 04:58:19
From:	Kim Miau Lee (robin051@gmail.com)
To Jamie Houck,

Hello, may I know what's the resolution setting that you are using
currently? What's the size of your monitor? I guess this problem is
related to the dpi setting. Please let me know more.

Regards.

-- 
-Robin Lee
My Astronomy Blog- www.AstronomyNotes.net

Subject:	LPI IMAGER HELP!!!
Sent:	Tuesday, January 23, 2007 20:20:18
From:	Jamie Houck (j_melong@hotmail.com)
For the past three days I've been trying to get my LPI Imager to work on
my laptop. Everything is registering with the computer to be working
correctly, but when I open Envisage the buttons on the top left corner
do not appear. I'm missing buttons such as Gain, Offset, and Exposure.
I've tried everything I can think of to try to resolve the problem. I've
added and removed the program many times, but it does not help... also,
reloaded the drivers, but no luck. I made sure my pixels were set
correctly and that I was using small icons. All of this i've read on the
forum from other users who also had trouble with the program. I went to
Meade's website and updated AutoStar Suite, so i have the latest
version.

My laptop is an IBM ThinkPad and I'm running Windows 2000 Pro. It has a
Pentium 3 700mhz processor.

I did however get it to work on my home PC. At first it gave me trouble,
but after re installing it a couple times, it finally took. I'm running
Windows XP on my desktop.

I've tried calling Meade's Customer Service and they have no clue as to
what the problem is. I've been trying to figure it out for the past
three days and I'm getting more frustrated with each passing day and
failed attempt. I Purchased the Imager and the laptop especially for the
imager and I cannot use it. Any suggestions would be greatly
appreciated. Please forward suggestions to the following address
j_melong@hotmail.com Thank you for your time.

Jamie H

Subject:	etx 70 fotos
Sent:	Friday, January 12, 2007 13:44:50
From:	jkdfjsks sfsfsdds (stealthapache888@hotmail.com)
I send you some fotos that i have take.

I believe that for a starter like me ( 3 weeks from the day that bought
the telescope) is a good foto. All so i dont understand why many people
say that etx 70 is a toy, is not capable for astrofotography etc.I
believe that with a litle effort we can bring out the best of any
gadget.I like the 70 very mouch and i believe that people who in
holidays buy the telescope from a big supermarket like me , must give it
a shot for astrophotography.

many thaks
Stelios Ambazidis

Subject:	ETX 70 AT
Sent:	Wednesday, January 3, 2007 14:28:28
From:	jkdfjsks sfsfsdds (stealthapache888@hotmail.com)
Gongratulations for your awesome site.
I have one etx 70 at for a week.(this is my first week)
After the first test i start take fotos with LPI.
I understood that is not manufactured for long epxposures and deep sky
imaging...
This week is almost full moon on the sky.I make some tests on M45, on
the Moon, and on M31.
I attach the images.My question is about M31. I have read in internet
about how BIG (!!!) M31 is.
EVERYWHERE !!! The problem is that with the best of my knowledge i have
see a very very small object that is like a galaxy... Is this M31 ?
Not only with LPI but with the view from my etx.
Is moon so powerfull that cut M31 so much ?
I fully understand the leveling and alt/az setup + train drive + all the
setup of etx 70 at.
I use the goto function and always dead center is this very very small
object.

the fotos :
MOON
LPI+ETX 70 AT +AUTOSTAR



M45
LPI + ETX 70 AT +AUTOSTAR ENVISAGE +DRIZLE
20 X 1 SEC STACKED WITH ENVISAGE



M31 ?
LPI +ETX 70 AT+ AUTOSTAR ENVISAGE
10 X 5 SEC STACKED WITH ENVISAGE+(PHOTOSHOP CS2 )



thanks
Stelios Ambazidis
Drama
Greece

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