ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEADE DEEP SKY IMAGER Last updated: 18 July 2009

This page covers the various models of the Meade Deep Sky Imager and DSI Pro with your comments, tips, and photos. Contributions welcome. In order to showcase the DSI you may occasionally see images taken with other telescopes on this page.

Subject:	Re: Drivers for DSI/DSI Pro (original)
Sent:	Thursday, July 16, 2009 07:26:15
From:	richard seymour (rseymour@wolfenet.com)
One thing that Autostar Suite v5.5 gives you 9if you haven't installed it already)
is the new v5.6 ASU (Autostar Updater), which is much smarter about not damaging
old 497 Autostars with the new 497EP programming.

ASU 5.6 is now available as a separate download from Meade's site,
http://www.meade.com/support/auto.html
but back in May, AutostarSuite v5.5 was the only way to get it.

have fun
--dick

Subject:	Drivers for DSI/DSI Pro (original)
Sent:	Tuesday, July 14, 2009 06:04:01
From:	Peter Hughes (peterchughes@hotmail.com)
searched the archive on this one and can only find references to
downloading Autostar Suite.  I just downloaded AS 5.5 from Meade"s
website and then tried to connect my (various) CCD imagers to it on a
new Acer One (XP SP3) netbook.  The LPI drivers were present ,
downloaded via MS's Install Wizard, and the camera is recognised and
visible in Envisage.  However, when I look for DSI drivers, the Install
wizard returns 'driver not found'. any ideas on this one?  Really I am
looking for a link to the DSI driver, seperate from AS 5.5, (which I
have downloaded twice, just to make sure I didn't miss anything).

Just as an aside, these new(?) small-form netbooks are a wonder, this
one measures about 8.5" by 6", has a 160Gb hard drive and costs
$400-500US!!  Much as I would like to migrate to the big 'Apple', (I
aready have the excellent iPod Touch for my planetarium software) I
can't really justify it - on cost alone.

Clear Skies
Peter C Hughes
Grand Cayman  

And:

From:	richard seymour (rseymour@wolfenet.com)
Good question...

I really don't know... i'm away from all of my hardware for a week,
so i can't just plug in my DSI and try.
I did my 5.5 update on top of the existing Suite so many things (such as
the DSI driver) are obviously old.
Which, of course, suggests the answer of installing a previous version,
and simply updating it to 5.5
The LPI driver under Envisage -is- dated 1 May 2009, which is when i updated.

You might visit/join the two DSI-related yahoo groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/autostarsuite
and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade_DSI

..since other folks may have hit the same issue.

Netbooks are fun, aren't they?  (i don't have one, but i support some at work)

have fun
--dick

And:

Thanks Mike and Dick,
As usual, you do a great job of helping us think 'outside the box' ;)

I have rolled back to AS v5 and will go from there. I should have
thought of that, since I have an older PC with this version and it
recognizes all the imagers. Just a major hunt required now to find out
where Meade have hidden the drivers as they seem to be located randomly
and in different places in each version of AS!

CS
Peter Hughes
Grand Cayman

And an update:

Please pass on the following info to anyone who might be thinking of
installing AutostarSuite 5 or 5.5 on a new laptop (this advice applies
to Windows XP SP3 in this case, but maybe useful to those using other
O/S).

On attempting to install the DSI Imager, the Install Wizard may not find
the driver, it needs more specific directions.  Eventually I found the
required drivers in PROGRAM FILES/MEADE/AUTOSTARSUITE/ENVISAGE/2K-XP.
point the install wizard to it and the driver loads successfully.

The question is now whether I should roll forward to AS 5.5 again, has
anyone done analysis on the difference between 5 and 5.5, if so what
would be the benefit for a user who doesn't own the new ETX-LS?
  
Clear Skies,
Peter C Hughes
Grand Cayman 
Website: www.sv-kilifi.com 

Subject:	RE: ETX-125 Autoguiding
Sent:	Monday, July 13, 2009 20:13:24
From:	Reply ToMe (response1234@hotmail.com)
1. I did the CALIBRATE MOTOR.
2. I was using AutoStar 3.2. Just upgraded to 5.5

Still no success with the Autoguiding. See attached pix. They are part
of a series taken from the PC screen.

  DSC02192 - just after starting autoguiding
  DSC02193 - connection is confirmed and the software now says "Guiding". 
  DSC02196 - star and tracking box have drifted far from start point
  DSC02198 - star and tracking box have drifted nearly off screen in 3 min 34 sec.

I have tried Corr Gain from 0.20 to 1.00 to no avail. Either the Hand
Control or On-Screen arrow keys will move the telescope in both RA and
Dec. It appears there is no actual tracking data getting to the mount
even though the On-Screen arrows will move the mount.

I did a search of your site for "autoguide ETX". I really couldn't tell
for certain that anyone was actually performing autoguiding of an ETX
mount.

Which brings me back to my original question:
Is anyone actually using an ETX mount with either off-axis or separate
scope autoguiding to take multi-minute exposures? Is the ETX mount
really capable of this type of operation?

Before emailing you the first time I had spoken with the Customer
Service person at Astronomics, where I bought the ETX-125. He said he
did not actually know of anyone who is autoguiding the ETX mount. I have
not yet called Meade.

Bob Zuelsdorf

Subject:	ETX-125 Autoguiding
Sent:	Thursday, July 9, 2009 12:41:37
From:	Reply ToMe (response1234@hotmail.com)
I am trying to use a Meade DSI-1 to autoguide my ETX-125. Without yet
using a 2nd camera to actually take images, I am trying to get the DSI
to simply autoguide the ETX-125. I am working in equatorial mode.

The Deep Sky Imager program appears to work properly up to the point of
actually guiding the telescope. Aiming at a star, such as Spica, gives a
view of the star on the PC screen. A Hartmann mask is used to assure
focus. A tracking box is drawn around the star.  The program will
indicate "Guiding". However the star, and tracking box, drift well away
from the center of the screen. Using either the Hand Controller buttons,
or the on-screen arrows, the star can be re-centered. Sort of. Sometimes
there is no immediate response to the arrows, then a big jump in
position, perhaps right out of the tracking box. I have spent enough
time with my eye in the illuminated retcile eyepiece of my old 8" SCT to
know that the drive reaction should be much smoother than this.

The drive has been re-trained, Drive Percentages from 30% to 100% have
been tried. The ETX tracks but it does not autoguide. With good polar
alignment and no DSI it will follow an object for half an hour and still
keep it in the field of a 15mm or 26mm eyepiece. With the DSI if I hit
the "Disconnect" button I can tell little if any difference in the
drift.

The "track and stack" operation of the DSI software is proper. Testing
on some lunar images the stacked pix begin to blur with just a stacking
of images, but remain sharp with track and stack operation.

Is anyone actually using an ETX with either off-axis or separate scope
autoguiding to take multi-minute exposures? Is the ETX mount reallly
capable of this type of operation?

Thanks for any help,

Bob Zuelsdorf
Grass Valley CA

Subject:	M42 The Great Orion Nebula
Sent:	Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:35:46
From:	Dennis Fisher (dfisher@bricmont.com)
Although this particular object has been photographed more times than
anyone would care to remember, I thought my version was significant
because of how I took it and to show that something like this can be
achieved by just about anyone without a lot of expensive high end
equipment.  The image was taken in late March 2009 and was obtained by
stacking 80 exposures at 15 seconds each in the suburban light polluted
skies over Pittsburgh, Pa.  The pictures were taken with a Meade DSI
imager (one of the earlier models) through an Orion 4.5" Imaging
Reflector that was piggybacked on a Meade ETX 90.  The scopes were polar
aligned but not perfectly so there was some drift between images but not
enough during each exposure to generate noticeable streaking.  The 15
second time duration of the individual exposures was short enough to not
require any strict, precise guiding (manual or automatic).  The pictures
were stacked using Registax version 4 and post processing was done with
Paintshop Pro.  Hope you like this!
 
Dennis Fisher

Subject:	Question about nebula filters and DSI Pro II .
Sent:	Thursday, February 12, 2009 08:40:12
From:	Todd and Abbie Ausenbaugh (toddandabbie@bellsouth.net)
Do nebula filters work well with the DSI Pro II ? If so which ones work
best? Some narrow band filters say they do not work well with
astrophotgraphy,but are they refering only to 35mm film photography?Are
the narrow band filters only for visual use?

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