Mar 28 2026 APP 2.0.0-beta40 will be released in 7 days.
It did take a long time to have the work finished on this and it will have a major performance boost of 30-50% over 2.0.0-beta39 from calibration to integration. We extensively optimized many critical parts of APP. All has been tested to guarantee correct optimizations. Drizzle and image resampling is much faster for instance, those modules have been completely rewritten. Much less memory usage. LNC 2.0 will be released which works much better and faster than LNC in it's current state. And more, all will be added to the release notes in the coming weeks...
Update on the 2.0.0 release & the full manual
We are getting close to the 2.0.0 stable release and the full manual. The manual will soon become available on the website and also in PDF format. Both versions will be identical and once released, will start to follow the APP release cycle and thus will stay up-to-date to the latest APP version.
Once 2.0.0 is released, the price for APP will increase. Owner's license holders will not need to pay an upgrade fee to use 2.0.0, neither do Renter's license holders.
I have a few questions about calibration frames and camera orientation. I am learning how to use a new-to-me HEQ5 Pro mount with SynScan. Tonight I did a meridian flip partway through my imaging session. I did not change camera orientation - as I suspect is common (I’m using an OSC).
Does this orientation change have any impact on my calibration frames?
My typical work flow is to finish my lights, put lens cap on telescope, shoot a number of darks while I start breaking down my setup. Obviously, this also changes camera orientation. Does this matter?
Once I’m all broken down, I’ll stop taking darks and usually bring my camera+telescope inside. Sometimes I will take flats and dark flats soon thereafter, but if the outside-inside temps are very different, I’ll wait a while (or next day).
Again, I’m assuming orientation doesn’t matter as long as optical train and focus stays the same.
Final calibration question: I understand that flats require the optical train / focus to remain the same, but I can re-use darks if I change telescopes as long as the OSC, ISO, temp and exposure are all the same, yes?
Furthermore, I can re-use flats and dark flats from a different day as long as the optical train / focus is the same, correct?
Just making sure I understand calibration frame basics.
Thank you!
-Trevor
Does this orientation change have any impact on my calibration frames?
The orientation of the camera doesn't change w.r.t. the telescope, so no, this will not affect the flats.
My typical work flow is to finish my lights, put lens cap on telescope, shoot a number of darks while I start breaking down my setup. Obviously, this also changes camera orientation. Does this matter?
There is no light involved with taking darks, so this doesn't change the orientation.
Again, I’m assuming orientation doesn’t matter as long as optical train and focus stays the same.
That assumption is correct.
I understand that flats require the optical train / focus to remain the same, but I can re-use darks if I change telescopes as long as the OSC, ISO, temp and exposure are all the same, yes?
Yes, the darks only depend on the camera and nothing else.
I can re-use flats and dark flats from a different day as long as the optical train / focus is the same, correct?
Darks yes. Flats depend on the orientation of the camera w.r.t. the telescope and also on dust motes. If no dust is visible and the orientation of the camera doesn't change w.r.t. the telescope then you can reuse the flats. In general, however, it is recommended to take new flats everytime the camera and telescope are disconnected.
About the image orientation in general: what camera are you using? It seems to be a non-cooled camera. If it is a DSLR then please make sure that auto-rotation of the images is switched off in the camera. Otherwise the camera itself will modify the meta-data of the image which APP should deal properly with but better safe than sorry.
About the image orientation in general: what camera are you using? It seems to be a non-cooled camera. If it is a DSLR then please make sure that auto-rotation of the images is switched off in the camera. Otherwise the camera itself will modify the meta-data of the image which APP should deal properly with but better safe than sorry.
Ah - definitely worth checking, thank you. I’m using a Canon EOS RP mirrorless.
Your response also has me re-thinking my use of the word “orientation”. I was thinking about how the camera+telescope is oriented with respect to the ground (e.g. what direction is it pointing, landscape vs portrait, etc.) I now understand that orientation means the orientation of the camera with respect to the telescope. That helps. Thank you.
