Entering telescope details in FITS header

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zerolatitude
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Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:24 am

Entering telescope details in FITS header

#1

Post by zerolatitude »

Siril and some others have an option to import the required data for photometric calibration directly from the FITS header. This is obviously convenient.

I am not able to find a way to enter the telescope data when capturing in Sharpcap. It does the platesolving fine, so the image scale must be captured somewhere.

If it helps, SC is connected to my mount which does have the FL and pixel size data stored in its software.

How do I get SC to store the scope FL in the FITS header?

Thanks
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admin
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Re: Entering telescope details in FITS header

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

thanks for the suggestion - this isn't implemented in SharpCap at the moment, although you should get the pixel size which comes from the camera. I will note down the idea to get the focal length from the ASCOM setup.

cheers,

Robin
zerolatitude
Posts: 156
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:24 am

Re: Entering telescope details in FITS header

#3

Post by zerolatitude »

Thanks.

Yes, the pixel size is stored in the header.

Suggestion - could also keep an option to enter it manually in SC, to take care of the case where SC is not connected to the mount.

So if there is no connection, SC will populate the header with the manual entry (maybe with a popup reminder of the current data)
If connected, the mount/ASCOM data will override the manual entry.
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admin
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Re: Entering telescope details in FITS header

#4

Post by admin »

Hi,

yes, agreed - I was thinking about something like the polar alignment settings where the location can either come from the ASCOM mount or be entered manually.

cheers,

Robin
MLM
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Re: Entering telescope details in FITS header

#5

Post by MLM »

Would it be possible in the SharpCap Settings menu to have a tab where the focal length for telescopes could be stored, and also written to the fits header? Perhaps under hardware with a user generated list of telescopes for those who image with more than one OTA/focalreducer combination etc.This would be useful for subsequent data processing.
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Re: Entering telescope details in FITS header

#6

Post by admin »

Hi,

currently the plate solving setting for focal length is used for this - so if you have set a manual focal length then that should end up in the FOCALLEN header, alternatively it can come from the ASCOM driver if you have that set up.

An equipment list is a nice thought - I need to collect all these ideas and bring them together in a consistent way, so thanks for suggesting.

cheers,

Robin
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