Dual Camera Synchronized Dithering

[Bill Richards]

I want to use two cameras to image the Rho Oph region in 2 weeks but cannot get the Synchronized Dithering feature to work. I’m running NINA version 1.10 HF2. Here is my setup:

• ASI2600MC main camera, ASI120MM guide camera, CEM40 mount
• Canon 6D Mark II (secondary camera)

This is how I’m launching and running NINA:

1. I launch one instance of NINA (I’ll call this “NINA1” hereafter) and connect the main ASI2600MC imaging camera, CEM40 mount (“telescope”), and PHD2.
2. I launch a 2nd instance of NINA (“NINA2”) and connect the Canon 6D Mark II and PHD2.
3. I define an imaging sequence in NINA1 to take 30 second exposures and dither every 2nd frame.
4. I define an imaging sequence in NINA2 to take 60 second exposures and dither every frame.
5. I commence imaging in NINA1.
6. I commence imaging in NINA2.

When NINA1 completes the 2nd exposure, it halts imaging and displays the message, “Waiting for dither to finish”. So far, so good. But when I look at PHD2, the RA/DEC tracking chart stops updating - completely. Then when NINA2 completes the 1st exposure and tries to dither, everything freezes for at least 10 seconds - both instances of NINA are “waiting” and PHD2 is doing nothing - not even updating the tracking chart. Then for some unknown reason, PHD2 suddenly wakes from its slumber and starts the dither process. Upon completion, NINA1 resumes imaging, but NINA 2 is stuck with a spinning circle between the Pause and Stop buttons. Eventually, NINA2 halts the imaging sequence without reporting any error. I tried this multiple times with the same result each time.

If I disable dithering in NINA2, I get an error from PHD2 stating “Cannot initiate dither while dither is in progress” which is strange since in that case, only NINA1 was trying to dither.

If I’m setting this up incorrectly, some guidance would be seriously appreciated. There is no information on how to do this in the NINA manual - it only refers to a YouTube video which contains no information on how to program dithering in the two instances of NINA (there’s a flow diagram, but nothing stating exactly how to program NINA to do this).

[Bill Richards]

This video answers my question - thank you Cuiv!

I sure hope this becomes a standard feature in NINA instead of experimental. It’s a great feature!

[Bill Richards]

Cuiv's video explains how to do this correctly.