A “new” hand me down computer is now at the telescope and last night was the first shakedown for all of the newly installed software. The hardware remains the same for now but over time the software exceeded what the old computer could handle. But that also means setting up each piece of software as a new configuration.
ASCOM interface platform, Stellarium planetarium, SharpCap polar align and reference star align, PHD2 star guiding, EQMOD mount control, Astro Photography Tool, ASI camera drivers, and so on need to be running correctly to take in image. I had most of these loaded already but the telescope and cameras need to be connected with a stary night to get everything sorted.
The moon is around half full and the skies were not very clear so I chose to do some quick 30 second, iso 800 exposures of the Great Globular Cluster as a bright target in the darkest corner of my view. This image is only 20 some sub exposures but gets everything verified in good working order. Not nearly as nice as the last one posted two years ago but this was just a practice run!
