ASIAIR Plus First Light

I use the asiair pro and it truly transformed my imaging and reduced my frustrations associated with star hopping and loads of lost time doing that. I often use telescopius to frame my image and Import into asiair which works great. take note of the various catalogue names of the dso your looking for as it doesn't hold all names and I've had to disconnect my WiFi to asiair on mobile to connect to house WiFi to get alternative search name..but I should spend time getting both on house network really. the new functionality of sky atlas is great. look in advanced section too as there are alternatives to PA.  enjoy!

I use the asiair pro and it truly transformed my imaging and reduced my frustrations associated with star hopping and loads of lost time doing that. I often use telescopius to frame my image and Import into asiair which works great. take note of the various catalogue names of the dso your looking for as it doesn't hold all names and I've had to disconnect my WiFi to asiair on mobile to connect to house WiFi to get alternative search name..but I should spend time getting both on house network really. the new functionality of sky atlas is great. look in advanced section too as there are alternatives to PA.  enjoy!

*** I actually started out with Stellarmate and could never get it to work reliably. So many wasted nights because of it.

I also have NINA on a mini PC with Stellarium and PHD2 which I really like. I'll be using it for my second scope (which has a Celestron autofocuser). 

Really interested to see how smoothly the session goes tomorrow night ☺️

***

Ron Clanton:
I've tried a lot of different software apps for capturing images... ASI Imaging, Nebulosity, SharpCap and lately StellarMate/EKOS.  I bought my ASIAIR Plus about two months ago and it has surpassed all of the others.  I use mine in Station mode for connecting with my permanent setup.  I have experienced exactly zero issues... no MF issues, tracking issues, plate solving issues, focusing issues, etc.  My guiding has been consistently low (0.4 - 0.5).  I am slightly miffed that I had to buy a ZWO EAF to replace my Celestron electronic focuser... but it's a small price to pay to get to use this device.

My only complaint is that the documentation is woefully incomplete.  You will have no problems getting started and taking images, but it takes a bit to understand when to use the different modes... preview, autorun, plan, etc.  Feel free to ask question on these as needed.  Ultimately, I've been able to do everything I needed.

Good luck!

Ron

*** That's sounds great Ron. I persisted with Stellarmate/Ekos for months but was persistently let down by the software bugs and connection issues. A real shame. I think it would be an excellent product if more development/debugging resources were put into it. 

I still have a Mini PC with NINA/Stellarium/PhD2 so there is nothing to stop me using that if required but I'm mostly looking forward to relatively streamlined imaging sessions where I can enjoy/focus on imaging beautiful targets of deep space objects without battling equipment/software issues. 

***

I picked up my ASIAIR Plus today and will hopefully get my first light tomorrow night.

I'm interested to hear other people's experiences with it and any tips or tricks. 

I have been using NINA with a mini PC which is excellent but looking forward to using the ASIAIR for one of my telescopes as it's a fair bit more plug and play. 

My initial impressions are that the interface and options are a lot simpler than other astroimaging software (including NINA) with a lot less configuration. I also like how it can be controlled using a phone or IPAD.

This should hopefully translate into quicker setup and more imaging time. 

I've had some very positive feedback from my local astronomy society from people who use it but I'd be really interested to hear what people think here; good, bad or otherwise.

On a side note I suspect there can be a touch of snobbery within the Astrophotography community in relation to the ASIAIR PLUS.

It's probably some form of Stockholm syndrome were people get used to battling hardware and software issues and/or like the flexibility/extensibility of open source Astro imaging software programs (bugs and all).

The Asiair is an easier point of entry into the field of Astrophotography than NINA and the like. 

More advanced users that require options like dome control or filter offsets might not find it adequate. 

That being said, in the majority of use cases, it’s doing the job. There’s a reason that it’s so popular. 

Frankly, I bought two so I can run two setups at the same time. 

One thing to watch out for though. Even though I have the Plus with the better WiFi, I was getting connectivity issues at first. The connection was dropping out.  

After much head scratching and experimenting, I discovered that if it’s placed too close to a stepper motor like on a filter wheel or focus motor, it was interfering with the signal. 

I dropped it down and mount it to the tripod leg with a Velcro strap now. Problem solved. 

I can’t help but wonder if people with encoder equipped mounts might experience a similar situation.

Ron Clanton:

• You can identify objects that aren't in the included catalogs and image them.  However, I haven't been able to figure out how to add them to my "favorites".
• I haven't been able to figure out how to insure that the mount doesn't image below a certain elevation.  I have trees around my house and I would like to set limits.  Plus, I don't know if it will currently stop tracking when the object goes below the horizon.  It may do this... but there is nothing in the documentation.

The contextual menu in My Favorites has to button to the right of the target name. One is add, one is delete. There is no edit capability, you have delete and re-enter a fav.

So far there are no tracking limits and no alt/az option (which would be useful for making flats or defining a Stow position different from Home). Add your request to the New Feature list and it might happen some days. Both are popular add-on features.

Best investment for $299.00.  Eliminates time consuming plate solving and polar alignment is a breeze.  You'll love it!!

Pat

Bob Rucker:
I started out using various PC based solutions and struggled with managing driver updates and getting various branded components to play nice with each other. I ended up diving into the ZWO ecosystem and now image with the ASIAIR Plus connected to an EFW, EAF and my 294MM. This ended up being a game changer for me and my ability to image. In fact, I consider myself to be the lazy astronomer since I set up my session in the plan mode and catch some Z's while the ASIAIR does its thing.

The other positive about the system is the ongoing continuous improvement ZWO is making with the platform. I was an early adopter of the original ASIAIR version 1 and the evolution of both the hardware and software has been impressive. I'm part of the ZWO beta testing team and it has been a privilege working with them as they have been very responsive to making the functionality better with each new software update.

While out remote imaging with some of my fellow astrobuddies I've looked at some of the features other capture software offers. Some of the added capabilities are certainly nice but I find that I prefer the simplicity and reliability of the ASIAIR. This lets me save my mental gymnastics for attempting to figure out the mysteries of Pixinsight!

Pi insight is a whole other hill to climb. But check out Bill Banchards set of tools for it. He’s written a bunch of free macros that largely automates the processing. I’ve gotten stunning results using them. Better than I’ve done on my own.  Cuiv the Lazy Geek has a YouTube video on them.

I also just got an AsiAir plus together with an ASi2600mc and an EAF - amazingly smooth and stable combination, I must admit. And a lot easier than running NINA, Stellarium and PHD on a laptop - freezing outside :-)

Autofokus is an absolute dream. 

So is Polar Alignment - neber been soo easy, not even in nina. 

Guiding works really well, especially due to excellent polar alignement, but fokussing the guidescope is a bit of a hassle - I wonder why the image is mich brighter and has less contrast than in the camera view. 

A few questions on the AsiAir plus yet are open to me - maybe one of you guys has some experience or advice:

- autofocus did not kick in in live stacking neither at beginning nor at defined times - so my first series went out of focus

- plans only allow to set exposure times, not gains. Would love to experiment different combinations in a plan …

- autorun, livestack and plan end up the Images in different folders, which I find confusing getting it all back together

Hi Robert and everyone,
Well it seems this is indeed a popular topic, judging by the number of responses in just a few hours !

As others have done, I tried laptops and every different type of control/imaging software you can imagine.

Then I discovered the ASIAir.
I started with the AsiAir Pro, then brought an ASIAir Plus to go with a new OTA, so I run them both in parallel.

Both have been great !

Things I like the most :-
- super-easy PA - particularly if you have a clear view of the Celestial Pole, and still doable (although more difficult) if you dont.
- re-centering after slew
- automated Meridian Flip
- can program auto-focus after switching targets or filters
- seamless integration with other ZWO hardware - EAF, FW and AM5 mount - all work together beautifully
- WiFi works well most of the time
- can run the  ASIAir app on a Mac (with M1 chip)
- guiding works really well
- Autofocus is great - helped enormously by a custom-designed EAF adapter that provides 2:1 gear reduction for better performance

Things that aren't so great :-
- documentation is terrible
- the UI is a bit strange in places - very difficult to understand the workflow
- the target list is somewhat lacking - although it contains many popular targets, sometimes you have to try names from different catalogs
- WiFi can be temperamental at times
- Dont really like the Sky Atlas - I prefer Luminous, which lets you easily align to objects in 'Sky' mode
- Actual session times are always much longer than predicted - due to settling and auto-focus
- ASIAir hasn't always followed instructions to stop and go to home position - providing some nice images of my swimming pool
- No way to plan a session to begin at a specific time - have to enter a delay from hitting the start button
- ZWO technical support is nowhere near as good as their products
- Setting up WiFi connection to AM5 or station mode is a bit clunky

Things Ive adapted
- The ZWO Autofocus adapter mount is terrible - I use a custom mount with belt drive which gives much better performance
- I prefer to run the UI over ethernet - it's more reliable and a lot faster if you want to watch image capture
- I use a desktop Mac via ethernet for setup, and an iPad via ethernet when imaging
- if using a guide camera, make sure to enter the correct focal length - it isn't calculated automatically as it is for the main camera

Wish List
- Like Arny, I'd like to be able to switch gains during a session plan - Ive already asked ZWO to implement this
- More control over filenames - I'd like names to begin with the exposure time rather than the target name
- Would like to be configure plans in the app without needing to be connected to the device
- Would like to run more than one plan at a time, each with its own start time
- Slew limits - to avoid my FW hitting the tripod leg, and stop a session when the target disappears behind my roof
- Custom OTA position - eg to slew the OTA to face up for doing flats

Like Bob, Im also member of the ZWO beta testing team, and have proposed these improvements - hopefully they will be implemented one day

Gary JONES:
Hi Robert and everyone,
Well it seems this is indeed a popular topic, judging by the number of responses in just a few hours !

As others have done, I tried laptops and every different type of control/imaging software you can imagine.

Then I discovered the ASIAir.
I started with the AsiAir Pro, then brought an ASIAir Plus to go with a new OTA, so I run them both in parallel.

Both have been great !

Things I like the most :-
- super-easy PA - particularly if you have a clear view of the Celestial Pole, and still doable (although more difficult) if you dont.
- re-centering after slew
- automated Meridian Flip
- can program auto-focus after switching targets or filters
- seamless integration with other ZWO hardware - EAF, FW and AM5 mount - all work together beautifully
- WiFi works well most of the time
- can run the  ASIAir app on a Mac (with M1 chip)
- guiding works really well
- Autofocus is great - helped enormously by a custom-designed EAF adapter that provides 2:1 gear reduction for better performance

Things that aren't so great :-
- documentation is terrible
- the UI is a bit strange in places - very difficult to understand the workflow
- the target list is somewhat lacking - although it contains many popular targets, sometimes you have to try names from different catalogs
- WiFi can be temperamental at times
- Dont really like the Sky Atlas - I prefer Luminous, which lets you easily align to objects in 'Sky' mode
- Actual session times are always much longer than predicted - due to settling and auto-focus
- ASIAir hasn't always followed instructions to stop and go to home position - providing some nice images of my swimming pool
- No way to plan a session to begin at a specific time - have to enter a delay from hitting the start button
- ZWO technical support is nowhere near as good as their products
- Setting up WiFi connection to AM5 or station mode is a bit clunky

Things Ive adapted
- The ZWO Autofocus adapter mount is terrible - I use a custom mount with belt drive which gives much better performance
- I prefer to run the UI over ethernet - it's more reliable and a lot faster if you want to watch image capture
- I use a desktop Mac via ethernet for setup, and an iPad via ethernet when imaging
- if using a guide camera, make sure to enter the correct focal length - it isn't calculated automatically as it is for the main camera

Wish List
- Like Arny, I'd like to be able to switch gains during a session plan - Ive already asked ZWO to implement this
- More control over filenames - I'd like names to begin with the exposure time rather than the target name
- Would like to be configure plans in the app without needing to be connected to the device
- Would like to run more than one plan at a time, each with its own start time
- Slew limits - to avoid my FW hitting the tripod leg, and stop a session when the target disappears behind my roof
- Custom OTA position - eg to slew the OTA to face up for doing flats

Like Bob, Im also member of the ZWO beta testing team, and have proposed these improvements - hopefully they will be implemented one day

*** Thanks Gary. That accords with the feedback from other people and my own initial impressions.

I did pick up almost straight away that you can't adjust the gain in the image session so really it's something that needs to be preset after doing a previous and looking at the histogram. I don't see that being a huge issue as so far I haven't really been adjusting gain during image capture. 

Also, I assumed that you would be able to live stack while capturing subs using autorun but that isn't the case. Should be something they can easily address Though.

I don't expect I'll be using the live stacking feature for this reason as there is no auto refocusing ability currently. 

Setting mount limits does appear to an important change that needs to be made too.

​​​​​

Looking forward to seeing how it goes tonight. If it performs as people have fed back I'll be very happy and it sounds like the software will only get better as they release future versions.


***

Hi Robert,
Thanks - I hope you found the feedback helpful.

A couple of things :-
- I agree that adjusting gain is helpful - particularly for minimising noise when trading gain vs exposure time
- Yes, you can't live stack in AutoRun, but you can do it the other way around ... do a Live Stack, and check 'Save Every Frame when Stacking'.

Some tips :-

1. Take care when selecting your gain ...
It's tempting to increase gain to visualise faint features like nebulae, but that decreases dynamic range and increases the risk of saturating stars, which is very difficult to fix. Watch this space for a solution - scroll down to the bottom where it mentions "Stellar'. I usually shoot at unity gain to maximise dynamic range.

2. When you mention no auto refocusing ability - do you mean that Live Stacking doesn't support auto focus, to that you aren't using an auto focusser ?
Autofocus would normally be initiated manually at the beginning of a session, and automatically every x hours / x°C temp change / filter change / target change, so I imagine it would work whether the imaging mode is live stacking or AutoRun - although I haven't actually tried it myself.

I see from your profile that you're another Aussie (Im in Sydney) - and we have almost identical gear

Good luck tonight - hope you will be posting some spectacular images tomorrow