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I'm making the switch from APT to NINA. I've set up all my equipment and everything works. So this Friday night will be my first out using that aquisition software. I've watched several tutorial videos on YouTube about NINA. If you were to say which video or videos helped you the most to learn NINA and aquiring data , which would that be? Mike |
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Patriot Astro has a fantastic series on NINA. https://youtube.com/@PatriotAstro?si=kOxly7_Veo3VCZsz |
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Thanks Reg. I wil check those out. Mike |
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I couldn't be happier with nina. Patriot has great content. I also found this to be really helpful getting into the advanced sequencer https://youtu.be/MNssP_y4wlM?si=ZQsucLvlzhEVHruy The advanced sequencer has probably saved many marriages |
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| The only thing with both of these videos is they seem to be geared toward a more advanced user. I need to start from the basics, Simple Sequencer? I'll keep watching YouTube now that I know what to search for. |
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| I made the same conversion 2 years ago and NINA is so much easier to use! Agree Patriot Astro a great resource as is Cuiv the Lazy Geek. Good luck! |
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Cuiv the lazy geek + Patriot Astro + your trials , For simple user like me NINA do not need more efforts to work well. CS! |
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One question. Did you also checked SharpCap. It has several tools and you can do the same like with NINA. For me most important is usability and driver support dor the cameras. And because I do planetary imaging with SharpCap it's easier to handle only one software instead of different one. There are also other tools like sequence generator pro. But this tool is not free and use only third party tools. Best regards, Raul |
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I made the move several years ago. NINA is amazing! For me, I set up in a spare room and got a feel for everything while connected, but offline. Of course, you can't check things like autofocus, but you can run through mock sequences including meridian flips (just make sure that you turn off autofocus and centering in options since being offline, they won't work). Coming from APT like you, I knew the basics, so I just tried things out for myself including the legacy sequencer which is very easy to use. Once I imaged a few times in the yard, I started looking up videos by Cuiv and Patriot Astro for information how to use and fine tune specifics. Good luck on Friday! Jim |
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| You can simulate it with every software. I also uses APT, NINA, SharpCap, SGP and more. Didn't need any tutorial for sharpcap at all. For me SharpCap has the advantage that is also used in planetary imaging and has a better driver support. This is my experience. Usability is ok. |
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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've watched Cuiv and I like his simple approach. It's a good place to start. We'll see what happens tomorrow night  Mike |
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My first sequence with NINA is running as i type this. Everything works perfectly including the autofocus. I had a lot of trouble with the autofocus feature on APT but in NINA, no problem. I watched the Cuiv NINA videos two or three times each copying most of what he recommends. I'll find out tomorrow morning 😁 Mike |
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Mike H: Great to hear Mike! Funny that you mentioned having trouble with autofocus with APT. I also had very little success using autofocus with APT several years ago. That is what drove me to try N.I.N.A. After I ran several sequence simulations to get basically used to N.I.N.A., I set up only to try out autofocus. I just entered a large overshoot value, and it worked very well out of the box! Never looked back. Once you get comfortable with N.I.N.A., you should try out the Hocus Focus plugin. Its is wonderful! Jim |
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I have had 2 imaging session with N.I.N.A. after making the switch from ASIAIR. Hocus Focus was what drove me to N.I.N.A. - with my fairly new 135mm lens, I was too often experiencing auto focus runs that did not hit the "spot" with ASIAIR. Hocus Focus is seriously awesome and gets it SPOT ON every time - at least for me. Additionally you can work with Filter Offsets - which means, you minimize the focus time needed when switching between filters. If you have any issues in regards to tilt and backfocus, you will get lots of information and guidance from Hocus Focus as well. In my first night of imaging, I had some crazy settings on my EQR6 mount, which resulted in a failed meridian flip. Apart from that - no issues with N.I.N.A. so far. The Flat wizard is also very smooth. |
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Thanks for the advice guys. I'll get on the Hocus Focus in short order 😁 Mike |
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Just checked out my data from last night. Sequence ran until 4:30 this morning. Looks perfect! It even performed a total of four autofocus sessions. Wow I'm thrilled with this outcome. It's still working on darks so i can't wait to process it 😃 Although, I did nearly have a heart attack because it put the data in another folder than I specified. I'm sure it was something I did. Either way it's there! This also signals the end of the rainy season as it was crystal clear all night long and the same forecast for tonight 😂 those are tears of joy. Mike |
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I was a longtime user of APT and I once tried to switch to NINA a couple years back and I got frustrated - but that's when I still was really trying to figure the hobby out, and when you have something working, and limited time / clear skies, the tolerance for new things goes way down. Last year I switched to NINA and haven't looked back. I do think fondly of APT, but NINA is a much better holistic piece of software. I use Patriot Astro, and Cuiv the Lazy Geek primarily. Autofocus works great in NINA if you can figure it out and backlash stuff. The legacy sequencer is just about good enough for everyone except maybe someone with a remote observatory, and it's pretty intuitive. Good luck! |
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I actually use both NINA and SharpCap. For normal capture I use NINA. But I find SharpCap really shines for doing planetary and EAA. It's live stacking capabilities are pretty cool. I also prefer it's polar alignment routine as it's a little easier to use. Sometime I'll even use both packages. I'll start a normal NINA session to capture my subs, but then use Sharpcap to do a live stack of my subs as I collect them using it's folder monitor. It's pretty handy when imaging a super faint target. |
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| Great to hear as I am making the move this weekend from APT to NINA for my Mach2 mount (let the madness begin) . Thanks for the video links |
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| +1 for NINA. I made the switch from MaximDL 2 years ago and never looked back. NINA has really evolved and improved since then. The 3-point polar alignment, and aberration inspector tools are fantastic. I have a SW dev background and NINA seems very well written. I like that you can change sequence settings in the middle of a run without causing any issues. It's rock solid. I also like the SharpCap analysis tools. The author, Robin Glover, is a sharp guy and his white paper on optimum exposure settings is a must read. As enthusiasts we should feel very fortunate to have such great tools at our fingertips. |
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| Couldn't be happier with APT. Been using it for the past three years. Simply works, all night long. Its InvPower autofocus is superb. |
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I love NINA as well. It actually forced me to review my cable management because my automated runs might stretch the cabling. This happened in the early days. Now with all that solved, I can setup a sequence and go to bed without worries. I wish it could remove any clouds in the sky I like to track my HFR settings and I recently found out that there is an HFR parameter that you can configure into the file name of the sub. I found that to be extremely useful. There are several parameters that you can embed in the name of your subs. I have been meaning to look into the advanced sequencer but the legacy one is meeting all of my needs. I am sure there is value there, just don't know the use case. Oh, I forgot to mention the framing assistant. On some targets, I wish to orient the FOV differently. The framing tool does a great job there. I use the setting for current telescope position, then just adjust the rectangle, then slew and center. Awesome! Finally, the flats wizard works great for me. I slew to zenith, put my t-shirt on the scope, and let it do it's thing. Works really well. |
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Hi, I have been using NINA for a year since switching from Backyard EOS. It has been a real time saver and allowed me to sleep part of the night! A couple of issues that I still am working out. 3 Point Polar alignment depends upon the sensitivity of your mount to making adjustments and initial attempts were tedious. It requires patience and fine manual adjustment for my HEQ 5 mount. Be patient. Secondly, I have had problems downloading Hocus Focus, either within NINA or from GitHub. Still working on that but from this thread I gather it is worth it. This has led me to the Discord communication tool. If you don’t have access, it is recommended that you do so as there is a strong NINA community there. Regards, Dave |
