Hello Carsten,

On Sunday 10 June 2007 15:02, Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
<snip>
>
> Hello Clive,
>
> Programming with a Fits library is not a problem per se, I have done that
> quite extensively using CFITSIO. But Fits is not Fits in many cases. There
> are quite a few variants of it and some programs are very picky about
> getting the right variant, I was more looking for what kind of processing
> and info on which Fits variant the relevant Linux applications would
> require.

If your going to use Registax for stacking then use the format that Registax
can understand unless you have some other idea's that your not letting on
right now.

I think the FITS INT is the format that Registax can understand if my memory
is correct (don't bank on it though) ;-)

>
> FITS files are usually 16bit and mostly monochrome (but not always). Some
> of the variants I have come across
>
> 3x16 bit unsigned monochrome integer FITS (one file per channel)
> 3x16 bit signed monochrome integer FITS (one file per channel)
> 1x48bit planar RGB integer FITS ("FITS3P")? (one file, 3 channels)
> 3x8bit FITS (one file per channel)
> Similar as above, but floating point FITS
>  RAW FITS - 1x8bit unbayered integer
> RAW FITS - 1x16bit unbayered integer
> etc....

Some of these ring a bell.  Capturing in some of the formats above using my
DSI threw up errors when trying to use Registax program in Windows to do the
stacking routine.

FITS is suppose to be standard but from my own experience and yours by the
sound of it there is nothing standard about the FITS format.

>
> I guess we will make an educated guess and see if it works :-)
>
> Clear skies
> Carsten A. Arnholm
> http://arnholm.org/
> N59.776 E10.457


--
Kindest regards,

Clive.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.rogers/

Fighting for darker skies.
From 52:26:31N 01:27:48W

Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
>Hu Ken,
>
>Ken Hough wrote:
>
>>None of the variants (ie Ubuntu, Ubuntu+KDE, or Kubuntu) had 'curl'
>>installed by default.
>>
>
>True, so the script will
>a) check whether curl has been installed manually
>b) if not install, it will install it
>
>In any case the result should be a system with curl installed. Did it fail
>somehow?
>
Yes! In every case, but it correctly reported that package 'curl' could
not be found. I'll try to repeat the report by uninstalling 'curl' and
re-running the script, so I can give you an accurate report.

Just done this.
After unistalling 'curl' the script gave the following:
------------------------------------------------------
wxAC_install.sh: wxAstroCapture install helper

Info: distrib determined as - feisty
Info: Checking for curl
Package: curl
Info: installing  curl
Info: Checking for Gdebi
Package: gdebi
Version: 0.2.4ubuntu1
Python-Version: current
Status: install ok installed
Info: Gdebi seems already installed
Info: Could not find the curl executable
  possibly curl is not installed - cannot install the public key via script
  you may get curl with sudo apt-get install curl
Info: the wxWidgets repository entry seems already to exist
Info: The wxAstroCapture prerequisites should be met now

  you may do the following now:
  find the debian package (wxastrocapture_n.n-n_i386.deb)
  rightclick - Open With - Gdebi package installer
  if you are ready click Install Package
------------------------------------------------------

After reinstalling 'curl' I got:
------------------------------------------------------
wxAC_install.sh: wxAstroCapture install helper

Info: distrib determined as - feisty
Info: Checking for curl
Package: curl
Version: 7.15.5-1ubuntu2
Status: install ok installed
Info: curl seems already installed
Info: Checking for Gdebi
Package: gdebi
Version: 0.2.4ubuntu1
Python-Version: current
Status: install ok installed
Info: Gdebi seems already installed
Info: the wxWidgets repository entry seems already to exist
Info: The wxAstroCapture prerequisites should be met now

  you may do the following now:
  find the debian package (wxastrocapture_n.n-n_i386.deb)
  rightclick - Open With - Gdebi package installer
  if you are ready click Install Package
------------------------------------------------------

This is not exectly as for the original installation, because I now have
the wxWidgets package installed.


>>>This is the nature of debian install, i.e. it is possible to express
>>>dependencies between packages, and this is what we exploit here.
>>>
>>deb users make a big thing of this, but RPM systems also express
>>dependencies which can be used to 'automate' installations. eg via
>>YAST.
>>
>
>Yes, in the install description we recommend using YAST on SuSE with the RPM
>package.
>
I have to admit that I am getting to like to the Ubuntu/deb system.
>
>>The problem with adding things is that this can slow things down a
>>lot. K3CCDTools has a lot of useful features, but compared with some
>>other capture programs, it is rather slow.
>>
>
>K3CCDTools has been and is my favourite webcam capture and processing
>program on Windows :-) I wrote a turorial for it once. I use the latest
>versions, and I find it very efficient. But it does not run on Linux....
>
Unfortunately, but it looks like we won't need it for much longer.  ;-)
>
>>>Ok, good to hear! Maybe you could make a short writeup on using
>>>icewm with wxAstroCapture and put in the Files section?
>>>
>>>
>>Maybe I'll compose some general notes about using lightweight display
>>managers. There are others, but icewm is quite MS Windows like. I
>>could perhaps include suggestions wrt matches of hardware and
>>software.
>>
>
>That would be nice. I guess we might see some users interested in that.
>
Another item on the todo list.  ;-)
>
>>So I better start researching this topic with a view to modifying my
>>webcam. I'm an old hand with a soldering iron. ;-)
>>
>>Will this be for the standard SC webcam mods?
>>
>
>Yes. Serial and parallel port long exposure control. If you can get it to
>work with the existing windows programs, it should work with wxAstroCapture
>(once the feature is released).
>
I had better start learning about it.

Ken Hough

Hu Ken,

Ken Hough wrote:
> None of the variants (ie Ubuntu, Ubuntu+KDE, or Kubuntu) had 'curl'
> installed by default.

True, so the script will
a) check whether curl has been installed manually
b) if not install, it will install it

In any case the result should be a system with curl installed. Did it fail
somehow?

>> This is the nature of debian install, i.e. it is possible to express
>> dependencies between packages, and this is what we exploit here.
> deb users make a big thing of this, but RPM systems also express
> dependencies which can be used to 'automate' installations. eg via
> YAST.

Yes, in the install description we recommend using YAST on SuSE with the RPM
package.

> The problem with adding things is that this can slow things down a
> lot. K3CCDTools has a lot of useful features, but compared with some
> other capture programs, it is rather slow.

K3CCDTools has been and is my favourite webcam capture and processing
program on Windows :-) I wrote a turorial for it once. I use the latest
versions, and I find it very efficient. But it does not run on Linux....

>> Ok, good to hear! Maybe you could make a short writeup on using
>> icewm with wxAstroCapture and put in the Files section?
>>
> Maybe I'll compose some general notes about using lightweight display
> managers. There are others, but icewm is quite MS Windows like. I
> could perhaps include suggestions wrt matches of hardware and
> software.

That would be nice. I guess we might see some users interested in that.

> So I better start researching this topic with a view to modifying my
> webcam. I'm an old hand with a soldering iron. ;-)
>
> Will this be for the standard SC webcam mods?

Yes. Serial and parallel port long exposure control. If you can get it to
work with the existing windows programs, it should work with wxAstroCapture
(once the feature is released).

Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Clive Rogers wrote:
> Hi Carsten,
>
> On Sunday 10 June 2007 11:25, Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
> <snip>
>>
>> We added the RGB24 feature to enable ruse of Registax under Wine, so
>> it is nice that it works :-) Of course, this is just one step along
>> the road. It will be needed to store images in other formats as
>> well, to enable other processing applications, typically native
>> Linux ones. If some of you who read this have specific knowledge,
>> please share. Fits is for example very relevant, but Fits has many
>> flavours so if you have concrete information about which Fits
>> flavours are used by which applications, please share.
>
> You might want to take a look here about Fits images.  This might help
> simplify the use of Fits images.
>
> http://hea-www.harvard.edu/saord/funtools/
>
> I see no use or reason in this day and age to use the command line
> when a GUI is far superior,  well it is to me.  Hence I don't/won't
> use this type of tool that uses the command line ;-)
>
> Myself I have a DSI camera which is 32 bit Fits files.  I use either
> DS9 from http://hea-www.harvard.edu/saord/ds9/
> or CinePaint from
> http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=75029
> to work on my Fits files.  Glasgow is the new CinePaint but this is
> still work in progress and is not ready for use as yet.
>
> Hope some of this is of help.

Hello Clive,

Programming with a Fits library is not a problem per se, I have done that
quite extensively using CFITSIO. But Fits is not Fits in many cases. There
are quite a few variants of it and some programs are very picky about
getting the right variant, I was more looking for what kind of processing
and info on which Fits variant the relevant Linux applications would
require.

FITS files are usually 16bit and mostly monochrome (but not always). Some of
the variants I have come across

3x16 bit unsigned monochrome integer FITS (one file per channel)
3x16 bit signed monochrome integer FITS (one file per channel)
1x48bit planar RGB integer FITS ("FITS3P")? (one file, 3 channels)
3x8bit FITS (one file per channel)
Similar as above, but floating point FITS
  RAW FITS - 1x8bit unbayered integer
RAW FITS - 1x16bit unbayered integer
etc....

I guess we will make an educated guess and see if it works :-)

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
>Hi Ken,
>
>Many thanks for the detailed report! Please see comments below
>
>Ken Hough wrote:
>
>>1. The instalation script 'wxAC_install.sh' should be run from an open
>>terminal window, so that the results can be properly viewed without
>>the window closing. In all of the base systems used, the package
>>'curl' is
>>not installed by default and is required by the script. This cannnot
>>be seen if the script is simply run from a browser.
>>
>
>I agree it is advisable to run 'wxAC_install.sh' from a terminal window.
>Regarding 'curl', the script is supposed to check the existance of 'curl' on
>the system and download/install it as required. Does it not happen on your
>system?
>
None of the variants (ie Ubuntu, Ubuntu+KDE, or Kubuntu) had 'curl'
installed by default.
>
>>2. After installing 'curl' and rerunning the script, other packages
>>are installed. Many of these are Ubuntu/gnome related and are not
>>present on the Kubuntu CD, thus requiring a lot of Internet downloads.
>>
>
>The other packes are not so many really, only Gdebi and wxWidgets and what
>they depend on.
>
It didn't count them, but it did seem to be a lot on the Kubuntu system.
>
>>3. On installing wxastrocapture_0.3-1_i386.deb via Gdebi......, two
>>more quite large (and important) packages must be
>>downloaded/installed before wxAstroCapture can be installed
>>
>
>This is the nature of debian install, i.e. it is possible to express
>dependencies between packages, and this is what we exploit here.
deb users make a big thing of this, but RPM systems also express
dependencies which can be used to 'automate' installations. eg via YAST.

> The
>dependencies refer to system packages and wxWidgets packages in the
>additional http://apt.tt-solutions.com/ubuntu/ repository to be downloaded
>automatically instead of manually. The script adds this repository and thus
>enables automatic download of the required packages. This simplifies
>installation.
>
>
>>This installation process does work under both KDE and Gnome, but does
>>REQUIRE broadband access to the Internet. Dialup is not a practical
>>option. Linux hacks tend to be quite inventive and persistent and look
>>for ways around problems. This might not be so for 'newbies', so I
>>suggest a few more notes be included with any release version of
>>wxAstroCapture.
>>
>
>Yes, you are correct that a decent internet connection is assumed during
>install. I will add a note about that in the installation description, but
>this should not be too surprising :-) The description already explains that
>packages must be gathered/installed, but an explicit note about need for
>internet connction during install should make it even clearer.
>
>The assumed procedure is: Download/install/test with an internet connection
>available. Use does not require internet.
>
>
>>Secondly, about running wxAstroCapture:
>>I haven't yet had the opportunity to do any astro captures, but I
>>have a simple setup which allows me to use my webcam in conjunction
>>with an old 35mm bellows and 3 1/4" enlarger lens (equiv to ca 600mm
>>lens on a 35mm format), so I have been playing with terrestrial
>>subjects.
>>
>>I like the simplicity of the GUI. It works! Please don't be tempted to
>>overcomplicate this. Keep any future additions/functions out of the
>>way.
>>
>
>Thanks. I like simple GUIs myself, and we will attempt to keep it simple. Of
>course, when we get to adding features like long exposures, we need more
>controls. The working philosophy is and will continue to be "as simple as
>possible, but no simpler" :-)
>
-- or "simple is beautiful".

The problem with adding things is that this can slow things down a lot.
K3CCDTools has a lot of useful features, but compared with some other
capture programs, it is rather slow.
>
>>I've confirmed that an AVI file (recorded as RGB24) can be processed
>>via RegiStax v4 running under wine/Linux. I must now get onto Cor
>>Berrevoets to correct my original notes about using Registax under
>>Linux.
>>
>
>We added the RGB24 feature to enable ruse of Registax under Wine, so it is
>nice that it works :-) Of course, this is just one step along the road. It
>will be needed to store images in other formats as well, to enable other
>processing applications, typically native Linux ones. If some of you who
>read this have specific knowledge, please share. Fits is for example very
>relevant, but Fits has many flavours so if you have concrete information
>about which Fits flavours are used by which applications, please share.
>
I've recently found a reference to, but haven't got around to looking at
'ds9'.  See<http://hea-www.harvard.edu/RD/ds9/>
This seems to be a heavyweight application which is available for Sun
Solaris, Sun Solaris64, Linux, Linux64, MacOSX Intel and PPC, Darwin
Intel and PPC, and Windows XP. It handles various FITS formats. Program
'Help' and the user manual give info about various FITS formats.
>
>>As might have been expected, wxAstroCapture runs and looks OK under
>>KDE. Under gnome, it runs OK, but with the default setup, text is not
>>properly formatted within buttons, etc.
>>
>
>Can you show a screenshot and provide some details on which system etc.
>where this happens?
>
Will do!
>
>>I ran wxAstroCapture under the icewm display manager and the GUI
>>looked OK. icewm is a lightweight display maager which is much less
>>demanding on resources than memory/processing hogs like KDE and gnome.
>>
>
>Ok, you are experimental, nice :-)
I do experiment, but this was done purely as a practical measure.
> We are going for "mainstream" KDE/Gnome
>at first,
The sensible thing to do.
> using Linux at all is radical enough for many with Windows
>background (remember, part of the goal is to enable Windows users to
>consider Linux).
Understood, but In my experience, the first experience of Linux that
that many will risk will be on that old (low spec) computer that's
sitting in the corner. Trying to run the likes of KDE or gnome on such a
machine is likely to disappoint.
> So the main focus is to provide decent functionality in a
>simple way on the most popular distributions and in their default
>configurations. We have to prioritize adding required features against
>porting to new environments. I think the current set of OS/environments is a
>decent one, but we are of course interested in reports on what happens when
>you try other things.... and maybe extend the list of standard environments
>assuming it can be done without too much effort.
>
>
>>I used to use icewm on an old low spec Toshiba laptop to allow me to
>>use Open Office at a sensibly fast speed. On this machine, the much
>>larger/slower KDE caused so much swapping to the hard drive that OO
>>was not a viable option.
>>
>
>Ok, good to hear! Maybe you could make a short writeup on using icewm with
>wxAstroCapture and put in the Files section?
>
Maybe I'll compose some general notes about using lightweight display
managers. There are others, but icewm is quite MS Windows like. I could
perhaps include suggestions wrt matches of hardware and software.
>
>>I've already suggested that some means of showing recording
>>time/numner of frames be included.
>>
>
>This has been implemented and will come in the next version... :-)
>
I can't wait.   ;-)
>
>>WRT the webcam setup options, I didn't see any way of selecting the
>>image size/format. it seems to be set at 640 x 480 pixels. Lower pixel
>>formats would allow recording at higher frame rates, which might be
>>appropriate for some subjects.
>>
>
>You are right. We already have an item on our list regarding this. But I
>think long exposures has higher priority now.
>
So I better start researching this topic with a view to modifying my
webcam. I'm an old hand with a soldering iron. ;-)

Will this be for the standard SC webcam mods?
>
>>Otherwise, I do like the present webcam setup options. This is much,
>>much better than the setup options which appear when using the recent
>>'pwc' driver. <http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/>.
>>
>
>
>Thanks, I guess you mean the video properties.
Yes!
> This was indeed a piece of
>work that took quite some time and was one of the the major parts of the
>initial version.
>
>We *are* using the pwc driver on Linux, however. It is worth noting that on
>Linux, the pwc driver does not provide any Source/Format dialogs like the
>Philips webcam drivers do on Windows. So the dialog used in wxAstroCapture
>is entirely our own design (hence it was quite some work!),
a good result!
> and we use it on
>both Windows and Linux. On Windows you can access the builtin driver dialogs
>using Camera | Driver dialogs | Source/Format. But I agree they are mostly
>redundant as they are both big and modal-only :-)
>
>(On windows it is possible to first open our properties dialog, then the
>modal Camera | Driver dialogs | Source dialog. If you change things in the
>builtin driver dialog you can see how our dialog reflects the changes
>automatically)
>
>
>>I sometimes use my telescope/webcam from the back of my car along with
>>other astromomers (and non-astronomers). It's good then to be able to
>>display images on my laptop for all to see. I have a couple of
>>Microsoft apps which can provide full screen displays of webcam
>>images. It would  be very nice if this could be done via wxAstroCapture.
>>
>
>I have added this additional request to our list.
>
Not urgent, but would be nice to have for PR purposes.
>
>>Please don't take any of these comments as critisms of wxAstroCapture.
>>I'm very impressed with what has been done in such a short time  --
>>and it works reliably.
>>
>
>Your comments are very thorough and constructive. This is much appreciated.
>I am very happy for your input and enthusiasm!
>
>Now off to look at sunspots...
>
Good luck

Ken hough

Hi all

Here is another view of the Sun today with active region 960
<http://arnholm.org/astro/sun/sun_20070610_1254_032.jpg>

Captured using wxAstroCapture running on Linux Kubuntu 7.04 :-)

Scope/camera: C8 and ToUcam 740k using Atik 0.5 reducer and Meade 2x barlow
for each of the image parts. Captured using 10fps and processed with
Registax 4.
I also used full aperture Baader Astrosolar Film and an IRB filter.

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Hi Carsten,

On Sunday 10 June 2007 11:25, Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
<snip>
>
> We added the RGB24 feature to enable ruse of Registax under Wine, so it is
> nice that it works :-) Of course, this is just one step along the road. It
> will be needed to store images in other formats as well, to enable other
> processing applications, typically native Linux ones. If some of you who
> read this have specific knowledge, please share. Fits is for example very
> relevant, but Fits has many flavours so if you have concrete information
> about which Fits flavours are used by which applications, please share.

You might want to take a look here about Fits images.  This might help
simplify the use of Fits images.

http://hea-www.harvard.edu/saord/funtools/

I see no use or reason in this day and age to use the command line when a GUI
is far superior,  well it is to me.  Hence I don't/won't use this type of
tool that uses the command line ;-)

Myself I have a DSI camera which is 32 bit Fits files.  I use either DS9 from
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/saord/ds9/
or CinePaint from
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=75029
to work on my Fits files.  Glasgow is the new CinePaint but this is still work
in progress and is not ready for use as yet.

Hope some of this is of help.

--
Kindest regards,

Clive.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.rogers/

Fighting for darker skies.
From 52:26:31N 01:27:48W

Hi Ken,

Many thanks for the detailed report! Please see comments below

Ken Hough wrote:
> 1. The instalation script 'wxAC_install.sh' should be run from an open
> terminal window, so that the results can be properly viewed without
> the window closing. In all of the base systems used, the package
> 'curl' is
> not installed by default and is required by the script. This cannnot
> be seen if the script is simply run from a browser.

I agree it is advisable to run 'wxAC_install.sh' from a terminal window.
Regarding 'curl', the script is supposed to check the existance of 'curl' on
the system and download/install it as required. Does it not happen on your
system?

> 2. After installing 'curl' and rerunning the script, other packages
> are installed. Many of these are Ubuntu/gnome related and are not
> present on the Kubuntu CD, thus requiring a lot of Internet downloads.

The other packes are not so many really, only Gdebi and wxWidgets and what
they depend on.

> 3. On installing wxastrocapture_0.3-1_i386.deb via Gdebi......, two
> more quite large (and important) packages must be
> downloaded/installed before wxAstroCapture can be installed.

This is the nature of debian install, i.e. it is possible to express
dependencies between packages, and this is what we exploit here. The
dependencies refer to system packages and wxWidgets packages in the
additional http://apt.tt-solutions.com/ubuntu/ repository to be downloaded
automatically instead of manually. The script adds this repository and thus
enables automatic download of the required packages. This simplifies
installation.

> This installation process does work under both KDE and Gnome, but does
> REQUIRE broadband access to the Internet. Dialup is not a practical
> option. Linux hacks tend to be quite inventive and persistent and look
> for ways around problems. This might not be so for 'newbies', so I
> suggest a few more notes be included with any release version of
> wxAstroCapture.

Yes, you are correct that a decent internet connection is assumed during
install. I will add a note about that in the installation description, but
this should not be too surprising :-) The description already explains that
packages must be gathered/installed, but an explicit note about need for
internet connction during install should make it even clearer.

The assumed procedure is: Download/install/test with an internet connection
available. Use does not require internet.

> Secondly, about running wxAstroCapture:
> I haven't yet had the opportunity to do any astro captures, but I
> have a simple setup which allows me to use my webcam in conjunction
> with an old 35mm bellows and 3 1/4" enlarger lens (equiv to ca 600mm
> lens on a 35mm format), so I have been playing with terrestrial
> subjects.
>
> I like the simplicity of the GUI. It works! Please don't be tempted to
> overcomplicate this. Keep any future additions/functions out of the
> way.

Thanks. I like simple GUIs myself, and we will attempt to keep it simple. Of
course, when we get to adding features like long exposures, we need more
controls. The working philosophy is and will continue to be "as simple as
possible, but no simpler" :-) .

> I've confirmed that an AVI file (recorded as RGB24) can be processed
> via RegiStax v4 running under wine/Linux. I must now get onto Cor
> Berrevoets to correct my original notes about using Registax under
> Linux.

We added the RGB24 feature to enable ruse of Registax under Wine, so it is
nice that it works :-) Of course, this is just one step along the road. It
will be needed to store images in other formats as well, to enable other
processing applications, typically native Linux ones. If some of you who
read this have specific knowledge, please share. Fits is for example very
relevant, but Fits has many flavours so if you have concrete information
about which Fits flavours are used by which applications, please share.

> As might have been expected, wxAstroCapture runs and looks OK under
> KDE. Under gnome, it runs OK, but with the default setup, text is not
> properly formatted within buttons, etc.

Can you show a screenshot and provide some details on which system etc.
where this happens?

> I ran wxAstroCapture under the icewm display manager and the GUI
> looked OK. icewm is a lightweight display maager which is much less
> demanding on resources than memory/processing hogs like KDE and gnome.

Ok, you are experimental, nice :-) We are going for "mainstream" KDE/Gnome
at first, using Linux at all is radical enough for many with Windows
background (remember, part of the goal is to enable Windows users to
consider Linux). So the main focus is to provide decent functionality in a
simple way on the most popular distributions and in their default
configurations. We have to prioritize adding required features against
porting to new environments. I think the current set of OS/environments is a
decent one, but we are of course interested in reports on what happens when
you try other things.... and maybe extend the list of standard environments
assuming it can be done without too much effort.

> I used to use icewm on an old low spec Toshiba laptop to allow me to
> use Open Office at a sensibly fast speed. On this machine, the much
> larger/slower KDE caused so much swapping to the hard drive that OO
> was not a viable option.

Ok, good to hear! Maybe you could make a short writeup on using icewm with
wxAstroCapture and put in the Files section?

> I've already suggested that some means of showing recording
> time/numner of frames be included.

This has been implemented and will come in the next version... :-)

> WRT the webcam setup options, I didn't see any way of selecting the
> image size/format. it seems to be set at 640 x 480 pixels. Lower pixel
> formats would allow recording at higher frame rates, which might be
> appropriate for some subjects.

You are right. We already have an item on our list regarding this. But I
think long exposures has higher priority now.

> Otherwise, I do like the present webcam setup options. This is much,
> much better than the setup options which appear when using the recent
> 'pwc' driver. <http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/>.


Thanks, I guess you mean the video properties. This was indeed a piece of
work that took quite some time and was one of the the major parts of the
initial version.

We *are* using the pwc driver on Linux, however. It is worth noting that on
Linux, the pwc driver does not provide any Source/Format dialogs like the
Philips webcam drivers do on Windows. So the dialog used in wxAstroCapture
is entirely our own design (hence it was quite some work!), and we use it on
both Windows and Linux. On Windows you can access the builtin driver dialogs
using Camera | Driver dialogs | Source/Format. But I agree they are mostly
redundant as they are both big and modal-only :-)

(On windows it is possible to first open our properties dialog, then the
modal Camera | Driver dialogs | Source dialog. If you change things in the
builtin driver dialog you can see how our dialog reflects the changes
automatically)

> I sometimes use my telescope/webcam from the back of my car along with
> other astromomers (and non-astronomers). It's good then to be able to
> display images on my laptop for all to see. I have a couple of
> Microsoft apps which can provide full screen displays of webcam
> images. It would  be very nice if this could be done via wxAstroCapture.

I have added this additional request to our list.

> Please don't take any of these comments as critisms of wxAstroCapture.
> I'm very impressed with what has been done in such a short time  --
> and it works reliably.

Your comments are very thorough and constructive. This is much appreciated.
I am very happy for your input and enthusiasm!

Now off to look at sunspots...

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
>Ken Hough wrote:
>
>>Carsten et al,
>>
>>Sorry for not providing more info' about installing/running of
>>wxAstroCapture. I've been having a problem with both Ubuntu and
>>Kubuntu on my T21 laptop PC, so that it wouldn't always start up
>>properly.
>>
>>After some research and a message to my local Linux User Group, I
>>discovered that according to an Ubuntu forum, this is a recognised
>>'hardware' problem with the some of the IBM Thinkpad machines.
>>Fortunately a solution had been posted, so AFAIK, I've sorted it out.
>>
>>I've not had this problem previously when I've installed SuSE Linux on
>>this machine, so I find it difficult to accept this as a 'hardware'
>>problem. Actually, it's due to the failure of Ubuntu to properly
>>recognise and configure the video card.
>>
>>Anyway, I'm ready to go again and will report ASAP. ie after I've had
>>something to eat and have have caught up with some other  jobs. It
>>might not be until tomorrow. I do have some points to make about the
>>installation process.
>>
>>
>
>Hi Ken,
>
>No need to worry, it seems most things are working. We will also add Windows
>2000 to the list of supported systems now after positive feedback on
>testing.
>
>Sorry to hear about compatibility issues with your laptop... I have been
>lucky with my HP/Compaq nc6120 laptop. Absolutely no problems with hardware
>compatibility. I hope you have sorted it out then.
>
>We will be listening to whatever suggestions you have....! Cannot guarantee
>to satisfy all, but will hear you :-)
>
>Clear skies
>Carsten A. Arnholm
>http://arnholm.org/
>N59.776 E10.457
>
>
Carsten,

At last I've got a bit of time to record some of my observations wrt
wxAstroCapture.

I've now installed and successfully run wxAstroCapture on three
new/clean base systems. ie Ubuntu, Ubuntu + KDE, and Kubuntu. I've also
run it under the 'icewm' display manager -- more about that later.

Firstly, about installation:
1. The instalation script 'wxAC_install.sh' should be run from an open
terminal window, so that the results can be properly viewed without the
window closing. In all of the base systems used, the package 'curl' is
not installed by default and is required by the script. This cannnot be
seen if the script is simply run from a browser.

2. After installing 'curl' and rerunning the script, other packages are
installed. Many of these are Ubuntu/gnome related and are not present on
the Kubuntu CD, thus requiring a lot of Internet downloads.

3. On installing wxastrocapture_0.3-1_i386.deb via Gdebi......, two more
quite large (and important) packages must be downloaded/installed before
wxAstroCapture can be installed.

This installation process does work under both KDE and Gnome, but does
REQUIRE broadband access to the Internet. Dialup is not a practical
option. Linux hacks tend to be quite inventive and persistent and look
for ways around problems. This might not be so for 'newbies', so I
suggest a few more notes be included with any release version of
wxAstroCapture.

Secondly, about running wxAstroCapture:
I haven't yet had the opportunity to do any astro captures, but I have a
simple setup which allows me to use my webcam in conjunction with an old
35mm bellows and 3 1/4" enlarger lens (equiv to ca 600mm lens on a 35mm
format), so I have been playing with terrestrial subjects.

I like the simplicity of the GUI. It works! Please don't be tempted to
overcomplicate this. Keep any future additions/functions out of the way.

I've confirmed that an AVI file (recorded as RGB24) can be processed via
RegiStax v4 running under wine/Linux. I must now get onto Cor Berrevoets
to correct my original notes about using Registax under Linux.

As might have been expected, wxAstroCapture runs and looks OK under KDE.
Under gnome, it runs OK, but with the default setup, text is not
properly formatted within buttons, etc.

I ran wxAstroCapture under the icewm display manager and the GUI looked OK.
icewm is a lightweight display maager which is much less demanding on
resources than memory/processing hogs like KDE and gnome.

I used to use icewm on an old low spec Toshiba laptop to allow me to use
Open Office at a sensibly fast speed. On this machine, the much
larger/slower KDE caused so much swapping to the hard drive that OO was
not a viable option.


Finaly, suggestions for devopment/inclusion:

I've already suggested that some means of showing recording time/numner
of frames be included.

WRT the webcam setup options, I didn't see any way of selecting the
image size/format. it seems to be set at 640 x 480 pixels. Lower pixel
formats would allow recording at higher frame rates, which might be
appropriate for some subjects.

Otherwise, I do like the present webcam setup options. This is much,
much better than the setup options which appear when using the recent
'pwc' driver. <http://www.saillard.org/linux/pwc/>.

I sometimes use my telescope/webcam from the back of my car along with
other astromomers (and non-astronomers). It's good then to be able to
display images on my laptop for all to see. I have a couple of Microsoft
apps which can provide full screen displays of webcam images. It would
be very nice if this could be done via wxAstroCapture.

Please don't take any of these comments as critisms of wxAstroCapture.
I'm very impressed with what has been done in such a short time  --  and
it works reliably.

Keep up the good work

Ken Hough

Ken Hough wrote:
> Carsten et al,
>
> Sorry for not providing more info' about installing/running of
> wxAstroCapture. I've been having a problem with both Ubuntu and
> Kubuntu on my T21 laptop PC, so that it wouldn't always start up
> properly.
>
> After some research and a message to my local Linux User Group, I
> discovered that according to an Ubuntu forum, this is a recognised
> 'hardware' problem with the some of the IBM Thinkpad machines.
> Fortunately a solution had been posted, so AFAIK, I've sorted it out.
>
> I've not had this problem previously when I've installed SuSE Linux on
> this machine, so I find it difficult to accept this as a 'hardware'
> problem. Actually, it's due to the failure of Ubuntu to properly
> recognise and configure the video card.
>
> Anyway, I'm ready to go again and will report ASAP. ie after I've had
> something to eat and have have caught up with some other  jobs. It
> might not be until tomorrow. I do have some points to make about the
> installation process.
>

Hi Ken,

No need to worry, it seems most things are working. We will also add Windows
2000 to the list of supported systems now after positive feedback on
testing.

Sorry to hear about compatibility issues with your laptop... I have been
lucky with my HP/Compaq nc6120 laptop. Absolutely no problems with hardware
compatibility. I hope you have sorted it out then.

We will be listening to whatever suggestions you have....! Cannot guarantee
to satisfy all, but will hear you :-)

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Carsten et al,

Sorry for not providing more info' about installing/running of
wxAstroCapture. I've been having a problem with both Ubuntu and Kubuntu
on my T21 laptop PC, so that it wouldn't always start up properly.

After some research and a message to my local Linux User Group, I
discovered that according to an Ubuntu forum, this is a recognised
'hardware' problem with the some of the IBM Thinkpad machines.
Fortunately a solution had been posted, so AFAIK, I've sorted it out.

I've not had this problem previously when I've installed SuSE Linux on
this machine, so I find it difficult to accept this as a 'hardware'
problem. Actually, it's due to the failure of Ubuntu to properly
recognise and configure the video card.

Anyway, I'm ready to go again and will report ASAP. ie after I've had
something to eat and have have caught up with some other  jobs. It might
not be until tomorrow. I do have some points to make about the
installation process.

Regards

Ken Hough

Ken Hough wrote:
> From a practical/user point of view, I do suggest one. It would be
> helpful if you could include some means of indicating the amount of
> time that 'Capture' has been running and/or the number of frames that
> have been captured.

Hi Ken,

I have looked at your request. This feature will be included in the next
update...

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Martin Burri wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I think we restricted the setup to XP and above not knowing what
> happens below, so a new less restrictive setup for Win is needed to
> overcome that install stop.
>
> Carsten,  the iss script line should then read:
>
> MinVersion=0,5.0.2195
>
> for at least W2000 (w/o service packs)
>
> MinVersion=0,5.0.2195sp3
>
> for at least W2000SP3
>
> don't know what's the difference though
>
> But still it won't install on non NT Windows versions (98, Me)

Hi Martin,

We will make this change once the test by Simon on W2K is successful then.
Simon, if you are able to run successfully, please report also which W2K
service pack you are using.

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Hi,

I think we restricted the setup to XP and above not knowing what happens
below, so a new less restrictive setup for Win is needed to overcome that
install stop.

Carsten,  the iss script line should then read:

MinVersion=0,5.0.2195

for at least W2000 (w/o service packs)

MinVersion=0,5.0.2195sp3

for at least W2000SP3

don't know what's the difference though

But still it won't install on non NT Windows versions (98, Me)


Regards Martin


> -----Original Message-----
> From: wxAstroCapture@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:wxAstroCapture@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Carsten
> A. Arnholm
> Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 11:58 PM
> To: wxAstroCapture@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [wxAstroCapture] Windows Versions.
>
> SimonCSmith wrote:
> > Carsten,
> >
> >   Is there a reason that the software cannot be run under Windows
> > 2000? I don't have XP and really rather wanted to try the software
> > out.
>
> Hi Simon,
>
> I am not 100% sure what the answer is here. I don't have W2K
> anymore so I have not tried it. But if we check the VS2005
> redistributable page at
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=200B2
FD9-AE1A-4A14-984D-389C36F85647&displaylang=en
>
> (or http://tinyurl.com/ywl6wx if you like)
>
> It says ...
>
> System Requirements
> * Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows Server
> 2003; Windows XP
> * Required Software:  Windows Installer 3.0 Windows Installer
> 3.1 or later is recommended.
>
> So maybe there is a chance it could work under W2K. There
> could be other issues, but maybe you can give it a try and
> report here? Just follow the same procedure as for XP. You
> obviously also need a driver for the webcam, but I presume
> you have one already? If I remember correctly, W2K required
> more manual driver installs.
>
> Clearly, Win9x/Me is not supported at all.
>
> Clear skies
> Carsten A. Arnholm
> http://arnholm.org/
> N59.776 E10.457
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Hi Ken,

Great news.    Its nice to know that we linux users are not being forgotten
and shunned.

On Thursday 07 June 2007 23:06, Ken Hough wrote:
> I've just confirmed that I can process (RGB24) AVIs produced via
> wxAstroCapture (v0.3-1) via RegiStax (v4) running under wine/Linux.
>
> At last, I can dump Microsoft Windows. GREAT!!!!
>
> Ken Hough

--
Kindest regards,

Clive.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.rogers/

Fighting for darker skies.
From 52:26:31N 01:27:48W

Simon,

You caught me just in time :-)

--- In wxAstroCapture@yahoogroups.com, "SimonCSmith" <si@...> wrote:
>
>   The installer itself throws the following error:
>
>     "This program requires Windows NT version 5.01.2600 or later"
>
>   A quick Google reveals that this seems to be Windows XP. Maybe
> you could make a version available that does not require an
> installer (ie, just the zipped up executable) so that we can see
> if it's just the installer that would rather I had XP installed.
> If you would like me test such a solution, feel free contact
> me off-list and I'd be glad to help out.

Yes, I will contact you off list with such a test!

>    Out of interest, are you compiling using Visual C++ 2005
>  Express or .NET edition?

We are using the Visual C++ 2005 Express compiler on Windows, with
Service Pack 1 (SP1). The compiler is free, but you cannot develop
GUI with it, except you can if you use wxWidgets :-)

I will drop you a mail off list.

Regards
Carsten

Carsten,

   The installer itself throws the following error:

     "This program requires Windows NT version 5.01.2600 or later"

   A quick Google reveals that this seems to be Windows XP. Maybe you
could make a version available that does not require an installer (ie,
just the zipped up executable) so that we can see if it's just the
installer that would rather I had XP installed. If you would like me
test such a solution, feel free contact me off-list and I'd be glad to
help out.

    Out of interest, are you compiling using Visual C++ 2005 Express or
.NET edition?


Cheers,
    Simon.

--- In wxAstroCapture@yahoogroups.com, "Carsten A. Arnholm"
<arnholm@...> wrote:
> I am not 100% sure what the answer is here. I don't have W2K anymore
so I
> have not tried it. But if we check the VS2005 redistributable page at

<snip>

I've just confirmed that I can process (RGB24) AVIs produced via
wxAstroCapture (v0.3-1) via RegiStax (v4) running under wine/Linux.

At last, I can dump Microsoft Windows. GREAT!!!!

Ken Hough

SimonCSmith wrote:
> Carsten,
>
>   Is there a reason that the software cannot be run under Windows
> 2000? I don't have XP and really rather wanted to try the software
> out.

Hi Simon,

I am not 100% sure what the answer is here. I don't have W2K anymore so I
have not tried it. But if we check the VS2005 redistributable page at

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=200B2FD9-AE1A-4A14-984D\
-389C36F85647&displaylang=en

(or http://tinyurl.com/ywl6wx if you like)

It says ...

System Requirements
* Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP
* Required Software:  Windows Installer 3.0 Windows Installer 3.1 or later
is recommended.

So maybe there is a chance it could work under W2K. There could be other
issues, but maybe you can give it a try and report here? Just follow the
same procedure as for XP. You obviously also need a driver for the webcam,
but I presume you have one already? If I remember correctly, W2K required
more manual driver installs.

Clearly, Win9x/Me is not supported at all.

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Carsten,

    Is there a reason that the software cannot be run under Windows
2000? I don't have XP and really rather wanted to try the software out.

Cheers,
   Simon.

Ken Hough wrote:
> Carsten,
>
> I appreciate that wxAstroCapture is in an early state of
> development.It is probably too early to suggest lots of additions.
>
> From a practical/user point of view, I do suggest one. It would be
> helpful if you could include some means of indicating the amount of
> time that 'Capture' has been running and/or the number of frames that
> have been captured.

Hi Ken,

Yes, you are right, I have had this thought myself. I have now added this to
our list of things to do. Thanks for reporting!

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Carsten,

I appreciate that wxAstroCapture is in an early state of development.It
is probably too early to suggest lots of additions.

From a practical/user point of view, I do suggest one. It would be
helpful if you could include some means of indicating the amount of time
that 'Capture' has been running and/or the number of frames that have
been captured.

Regards

Ken Hough

Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
>
> Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > If those of you who have successfully installed on SuSE linux could
> > post a description of how it was done, preferably to
> > http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/wxAstroCapture/files/ it would be
> > most appreciated....!
> >
> > Then I could put an .rpm package on the download page so that SuSE
> > support would be more straightforward.
>
> Hi,
>
> After Clive Rogers' message I have updated the download page at
> http://arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/
>
> It now includes an .rpm package plus instructions for how to install
on SuSE
> 10.2
> Again, thanks to Clive for providing this information.
>
> Clear skies
> Carsten A. Arnholm
> http://arnholm.org/
> N59.776 E10.457

Well done Clive  --  and Carsten!

Thanks

I've just followed this and now have wxAstroCapture running on my main
desktop PC (Athlon 2200XP with 512 MB RAM) under SuSE v10.2 with KDE.

Other successful installations so far are:

IBM Thinkpad T21 running under an original Ubuntu v7.04 plus KDE,etc

500MHz AMD K6II with 384MB RAM (my old testing box) running under
Ubuntu. On this machine I established that wxAstroCapture will also run
under Gnome.


Ken Hough

Clive Rogers wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> After trying to install wxAstroCapture on SuSE 10 and getting a lot of
> inconsistencies and dependencies I gave it up as a bad job and
> updated to SuSE 10.2
>
> To get wxAstroCapture up and running on SuSE 10.2 there is a couple
> of things you need to do.
> 1)    Download this  libwxgtk2.8-2.8.0-1mdv2007.0.i586.rpm from here
>
>
http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/4/idpl/3884136/com/libwxgtk2.8-2.8.0-1mdv20\
07.0.i586.rpm.html
>
> Installation complained it need some other libraries.  I ignored
> these errors and told it to install.
>
> 2) Install alien.rpm
> 3) Install deb.rpm (Tools for Debian packages)
> 4) Download wxAstroCapture from
> http://arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/
>
> Next I built the rpm package.
> Cd to where you stored the wxAstroCapture.deb package.
> Su to root and gave password.  Then typed
> alien -r --scripts wxastrocapture_0.3-1_i386.deb
>
> Moments later I had  wxastrocapture-0.3-2.i386.rpm which installed
> very easily with Yast.
>
> If wanted I can put the wxastrocapture-0.2-3.i286.rpm and
> libwxgtk2.8-2.8.0-1mdv2007.0.i586.rpm as a zip file up in the files
> section for easy access.
>
> Thanks Carsten and Martin for including the RGB codec for Registax
> under Wine. Its works very nicely.

Thanks Clive!

This is clearly the easiest way to get wxAstroCapture running on SuSE,
thanks for sorting it out!

I think it is best that we update the Files section with the description you
have given here, and then the download page at
http://arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/ should be updated with the
.rpm. I will make it like you described. This way it is easiest to keep the
different variants up to date on the same version number. We don't intend to
stop with the current functionality :-)

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

--- In wxAstroCapture@yahoogroups.com, "Terry" <marter1229@...> wrote:
>
> I have it installed on my XP computer, and it works.
> It turns the camera on and I see video. Anything else, I haven't a
clue.
> I am a rookie at this so I will be learning from the ground up. By
the
> way, I am using a QuickCam Pro 3000, which i got for $8 shipped. I
> didn't want to spend too much, because I will try to modify it.
>
> Its all fun!
> Terry
> Idaho

Hello Terry and welcome!

Use Options | Settings... to set the capture folder (it is displayed
in the status bar also). Then press the capture button to start
capturing an AVI video to that folder. Use "Video Properties" to
adjust the camera settings, such as gamma, exposure etc.

If you need general advice on using webcams on telescopes, I recommend
the QCUIAG group.

For processing AVIs on Windows, K3CCDTools and Registax are very
popular tools.

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Carsten A. Arnholm wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> If those of you who have successfully installed on SuSE linux could
> post a description of how it was done, preferably to
> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/wxAstroCapture/files/ it would be
> most appreciated....!
>
> Then I could put an .rpm package on the download page so that SuSE
> support would be more straightforward.

Hi,

After Clive Rogers' message I have updated the download page at
http://arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/

It now includes an .rpm package plus instructions for how to install on SuSE
10.2
Again, thanks to Clive for providing this information.

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

I have it installed on my XP computer, and it works.
It turns the camera on and I see video. Anything else, I haven't a clue.
I am a rookie at this so I will be learning from the ground up. By the
way, I am using a QuickCam Pro 3000, which i got for $8 shipped. I
didn't want to spend too much, because I will try to modify it.

Its all fun!
Terry
Idaho

Hello All,

After trying to install wxAstroCapture on SuSE 10 and getting a lot of
inconsistencies and dependencies I gave it up as a bad job and updated to
SuSE 10.2

To get wxAstroCapture up and running on SuSE 10.2 there is a couple of things
you need to do.
1)    Download this  libwxgtk2.8-2.8.0-1mdv2007.0.i586.rpm from here

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/4/idpl/3884136/com/libwxgtk2.8-2.8.0-1mdv20\
07.0.i586.rpm.html

Installation complained it need some other libraries.  I ignored these errors
and told it to install.

2) Install alien.rpm
3) Install deb.rpm (Tools for Debian packages)
4) Download wxAstroCapture from
http://arnholm.org/astro/software/wxAstroCapture/

Next I built the rpm package.
Cd to where you stored the wxAstroCapture.deb package.
Su to root and gave password.  Then typed
alien -r --scripts wxastrocapture_0.3-1_i386.deb

Moments later I had  wxastrocapture-0.3-2.i386.rpm which installed very easily
with Yast.

If wanted I can put the wxastrocapture-0.2-3.i286.rpm and
libwxgtk2.8-2.8.0-1mdv2007.0.i586.rpm as a zip file up in the files section
for easy access.

Thanks Carsten and Martin for including the RGB codec for Registax under Wine.
Its works very nicely.

--
Kindest regards,

Clive.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.rogers/

Fighting for darker skies.
From 52:26:31N 01:27:48W

Hi all,

If those of you who have successfully installed on SuSE linux could post a
description of how it was done, preferably to
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/wxAstroCapture/files/ it would be most
appreciated....!

Then I could put an .rpm package on the download page so that SuSE support
would be more straightforward.

Thanks for your help!

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457

Hello and welcome to the wxAstroCapture group!

This group is the right place to discuss experiences around the use of the
wxAstroCapture program - a free cross platform astronomy capture application
supporting both Windows and Linux.

For a start, see the Links page to get information on where to download and
how to install wxAstroCapture .

The software has been developed in cooperation between Martin Burri and
Carsten Arnholm. We hope you will enjoy it and we are looking forward to
your contributions here!

Clear skies
Carsten A. Arnholm
http://arnholm.org/
N59.776 E10.457