Powerful, Affordable, Simple to Use Astrophotography Software
Decmber 8, 2012
setup.exe installer
zip package
BackyardRED is automatically installed with every copy of BackyardEOS Version 2.
There is no seperate download for the ASCOM Plugin; this feature is automatically enabled via your license key.
BackyardRED is free and will remain free for the next 4.5 billion years.
setup.exe installer
December 8, 2012
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug fix |
The ability to keep individual jpg images in addtion of the AVI when recording planetary sessions. This
fix ensures you keep the source images in case the AVI gets corrupted.
Default is enable. | 3.5 hrs |
| Testing | Regression testing | 1 hrs |
October 7, 2012
| Type | Description | Effort |
| New feature | Canon 1Dx support. | 6 hrs |
| Bug fix | Camera busy/hanging during image download. This bug is associated to all camera models but seems to manifest itself more often on the 1000D, 1100D, and 650D/T4i. | 4.5 hrs |
| Testing | Regression testing | 5 hrs |
August 5, 2012
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug Fix | The new Canon drivers to support the 5D Mk III and 650D
/ T4i were not backward compatible with the older camera models such as the 20D, 20Da, 30D, and 350D / XT.
As a result these models did not connect to BackyardEOS 2.0.5 at all. |
25 hrs |
| New feature | Canon driver chooser.
When you connect BackyardEOS 2.0.6 for the fist time it will ask you to choose
which Canon drivers BackyardEOS should use for you camera model. This is
necessary to be backward compatible with previous veriosn of BYE.
You can instruct BYE to remember your selection. |
4.5 hrs |
| Bug fix | Dial mode auto-select feature was not working on the 5D Mk II in version 2.0.5 due the Canon driver changes. I suspect that this bug was also occuring on the 7D as well. | 3 hrs |
| New feature | 5D Mk III was not able to take BULB images to mirror lock property mismatch in BackyardEOS 2.0.5. | 4.5 hrs |
| Testing | Regression testing | 5 hrs |
July 25, 2012
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug Fix | Image capture session was freezing in rare circumstances using an Canon 1000D/XS camera model and when RAW+JPG image quality was selected. | 17.5 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Images failing to load in rare circustances causing the image session to end unexpectedly. | 8.5 hrs |
| Bug fix | In-camera image quality was not always respected when snapping images in frame and focus. | 1 hrs |
| New feature | Ability to loop Planetary recording session. | 4.5 hrs |
| New feature | 5D Mark III and T4i/650D support. | 12 hrs |
| New feature | Ability to select a location other than 'My Pictures' for the BackyardTEMP folder. | 2 hrs |
| New feature | Catalan translation. Thank you to Ferran Bosch for the initial Catalan translation |
1.5 hrs |
| Testing | Regression testing | 23 hrs |
March 15, 2012
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug Fix | Error recording
planetary AVI in some cases. BackyardEOS now uses a commercial AVI encoder to create AVI movies using your camera live view function. |
150+ hrs |
| Change | VirtualDub support
extention. If you prefer BackyardEOS to automatically use VirtualDub to
encode your AVI you can.
VirtualDub is licensed under GPL. As a result we are unable to package and distribute it with BackyardEOS. But if you download it yourself and copy virtualdub.exe and vdub.exe into the BackyardEOS temporary download folder "My Pictures\BackyardTEMP\download\" BackyardEOS will use it to encode your AVI. |
5 hrs |
| Change | You can now set the image quality to 'in-camera'. When set to in-camera, BackyardEOS will make no attempts to automatically change the image quality to RAW before an imaging session. The current in-camera setting will be used. | 1.5 hrs |
| Testing | Full regression testing | 50+ hrs |
March 12, 2012
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug Fix | Planetary crash creating
the AVI file is fixed. The AVI file size limit of 2 GIG is no longer an issue. A planetary recording will result in a single AVI file regardless of its size. Do not be alarmed if it takes a few minutes for the AVI to show up in your download folder. Here’s the reason why… Once a planetary recording is complete BackyardEOS will convert the AVI to ensure it can be read by Registax (or other processing tool) without requiring any additional conversion. You will note a notification icon appearing in Windows notification area in the lower right corner of your screen; if you click on the notification icon you will witness the conversion progress. This process will queue the conversions should your start another planetary recording before the first is completely converted to ensure your computer does not suffer from performance degradation. The conversion is optional and a setting “AVI conversion” is available in the Setting window for those who do not need or want BackyardEOS to convert the AVI for you. If you choose not to have BackyardEOS convert the file for you on the fly you can always convert it at a later time using VirtualDub. |
37 hrs |
January 8, 2012
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug Fix | Potential freeze on long running image plan (a few hours) on some computer/camara combination. | 3 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Potential serial cable error when using an RS232 adapter. | 4 hrs |
| Documentation | A brand spank'in new and
complete user manual. A big thank you to John Eckert for his contribution in creating this complete manual. |
too much to count |
November 24, 2011
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug Fix | Main UI not showing when last remembered screen position falls outsite the viewable window. | 5 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Error starting an imaging capture plan when the 'My Pictures' folder is located on a drive other than c:. | 1 hrs |
| Change | Planetary frames display optimization. | 1 hrs |
| Change | BackyardRED 1.1 will remember its opcity setting between restart. | 30 min |
November 20, 2011
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Stability | Complete overhaul of the entire BackyardEOS backend | 140+ hrs |
| Performance | Planetary Imaging should now be able to to approximatly 20 fps instead of about 10 fps. | 19 hrs |
| New Feature | Planetary Imaging is now capable of producing a single AVI file instead of 2GB segments; regarless of size. | 4 hrs |
| New Feature | BackyardEOS will remember its screen location between BYE restart. | 1 hrs |
| New Feature | ISO and current exposure total duration are displayed in the big progress center. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | Ability to suspend and resume an imaging plan. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | Remaining seconds countdown when in-camera noise reduction is enabled. | 30 mins |
| New Feature | Preview 1st image in image capture now takes account of the loop enable button. This is to facilitate eclipse framing without the overhead of post processing the images. | 1 hrs |
| New Feature | The zoom box in drift alignment can now lock/unlocked just as in Frame & Focus and Planetary. | 1 hrs |
| New Feature | The crosshair X and Y axis’s in drift allignment can be offset form the center. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | Images taken by manually with the camera will be displayed in BYE. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | More control over live view sensibility settings. You can now set the ISO and TV values to dim the live view when trying to focus on bright objects. | 6 hrs |
| New Feature | TEMPerHUM version 2 is now supported. | 3 hrs |
| New Feature | Italian and Chinese (Simplified) support. Thank you to Stefano Meneguolo for the initial Italian translation. Thank you to Thomas Xiao for the initial Chinese translation. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | Canon 1D Mk IV support added. | 2 hrs |
| Bug Fix | EDS_ERR_DEVICE_BUSY error was thrown in some rare cases. | 3 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Bug with decimal points on negative numbers. | 30 mins |
| Bug Fix | TEMPerHUM reading is suspended during image download to prefvent conflit on the USB cable. | 1 hrs |
| Change | Increased the imaging plan delay maximum from 999 to 99,999 seconds. | 30 mins |
| Change | Minimum value for 'settle dither at' has increased from 0.25 to 1.00 for those who want a shorter dither cylce. | 30 mins |
| Change | Lens Drive bigger control buttons | hrs |
| Bug Fix | Serial cable not properly set to use DTS and cause some cables to not operate properly. | 2 hrs |
| Change | Ambient temerperature from the weather center can now be added in the image file name. | 30 mins |
| Change | Exiftool 8.64 upgrade. | 1 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Generic serial cable error on some cable/camera combination trying to flush the COM port before closing the shutter. | 3.5 hrs |
| Performance | Windows fade in/out is removed for better UI performance. | 1.5 hrs |
| New feature | Stability section in 'Advance Settings' to allow users to enable/disable some functioanlity should they be experiencing issues. | 3 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Maximum eclipse framing opcity can now be set at 100%; previous maximum was 80%. | 15 mins |
| Testing | Intensive regression testing. | 125+ hrs |
October 15, 2011
| Type | Description | Effort |
| Bug Fix | Camera auto-connect at start-up is now optional. This was interfering with EOS Utility on some camera/computer configuration. Default is OFF. You can set it ot ON if your wish to preserve existing behavior. |
30 mins |
| Bug Fix | Less chatty with camera on in-camera property changes. | 3 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Minor FPS tweak in planetary mode to allow better memory management. Otherwise may case out-of-memory on some computer. | 1 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Application freeze on some camera/computer combination when virtual mirror lock was used. | 9 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Minor change in the frequency the White Balance property was read when in Planetary Mode. | 1.5 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Problem connecting the 1D Mk III camera model | 30 mins |
| Bug Fix | Fatal error when EOS Utility was running at the same time BackyardEOS was running on some camera/computer configuration. BackyardEOS now veryfies if EOS Utility is running and will not connect the camera to BackyardEOS if it is. BackyardEOS will also prevent starting an image capture session if EOS Utility is running. |
6 hrs |
| Change | Weather center refactoring to prepare integration of new TEMPerHUM device version 2.x. | 6 hrs |
| Change | Pause between snap images in Frame & Focus is now remembered between BYE session | 15 mins |
| Change | Save snapped images in Frame & Focus is now remembered between BYE session | 15 mins |
| Change | Show point values is checked by default on the histogram display. | 15 mins |
| Change | Automatic setting to maximum ISO going into Frame & Focus is now optional. Default is YES to maintain current behavior. If set to NO, the current in-camera ISO setting will be used. To change the value access the Live View button configuration panel by clicking the highlighted "Live View" text on the Live View button (lower right corner) inside the live view mode and change its setting there. |
30 mins |
August 19, 2011
| Type | Description | Effort |
| New Feature | Legacy cameras support. 10D not supported 20D Backyard tried and tested. 30D Backyard tried and tested. 300D Not supported yet; testing is on-going. 350D Backyard tried and tested 400D Backyard tried and tested |
85 hrs |
| New Feature | Shoestring DSUSB and DSUSB2 serial cables support. | 15 hrs |
| New Feature | Hap Griffin serial cables support. | 12 hrs |
| New Feature | Generic serial cables support. | 3 hrs |
| New Feature | New licence key entry screen allowing for easy cut & paste of licence key.
The screen will automatically show up when no licence (or expired trial licence) is detected. The licence key entry screen can be accessed via the Help button as well. |
12 hrs |
| New feature | Quick preview the 1st image in your plan. Preview is fast, it saves a small jpg and does not perform post-processing such as adding exif data. | 4 hrs |
| New feature | Security ACL change to EVERYONE for all downloaded images; this was implemented to ensure transfering images to other computer would not be blocked by Windows user security. | 30 mins |
| New feature | Lastest Exiftool 8.59 integration. | 30 mins |
| New feature | Ability to force Netbook resolution 1024x600 in the event the automatic detection did not work. | 1 hrs |
| New feature | Display the imgage in a presentation fashion using the full screen. | 3 hrs |
| New feature | Fit Zoom in Frame & Focus; Planetary, and Drift Alignment added | 2 hrs |
| New feature | FWHM star pattern is plotted live in Frame & Focus. | 3 hrs |
| New feature | FWHM or STDEV (Standard Deviation) feedback for live focusing. FWHM is optimized for focusing on a star. STDEV is optimized for focusing on bright objects or during daytime. |
2 hrs |
| New feature | Special thanks to Robert den Broeder for Dutch translation update. | 1 hrs |
| New feature | Ukrainian support. BackyardEOS
is now available in English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Turking, and
Ukrainian. Special thanks to Oleg Maliy the initial Ukrainian translation. Special thanks to Robert den Broeder for updating the Dutch translation. Anyone willing to translate in any other languages just let me know. |
|
| New feature | Display the imgage in a presentation fashion using the full screen. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | Progress Center BIG display configuration; default is ON. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | Date and time can now be inserted into the image file name independant of the timestamp. | 30 mins |
| New Feature | The ability to display a grid in image mode to help frame your target. | 2 hrs |
| New Feature | Camera name can now be inserted into the image file name. | 15 mins |
| New Feature | Dithering between X images configuration. | 2 hrs |
| Change | Current f/stop value is maintained with taking BULB images with a lens; maximum aperture is no longer forced. | 30 mins |
| Bug Fix | Navigating away from BackyardEOS while the Setting dialog was visible. | 1 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Histogram was not correctly displayed for over exposed images. | 2 hrs |
| Performance | Snaping an image in frame & focus is now faster. | 2 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Serial cable random error when trying to end a bulb sequence. | 23 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Device Busy error on some camera models when saving images on computer and camera card. | 3 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Mouse coordinates where not properly displayed in live view frame & focus. | 30 mins |
| Performance | Significant changes to background multi-threading processing of downloaded images. | 18 hrs |
| Change | Minor histogram tweak. | 30 mins |
| Change | Minor UI tweaks. | 1 hrs |
| Change | Stacking live view frames using StarHD is more sensitive; it will bring out more faint details. | 30 mins |
| Change | Minor performance increase activating the camera shutter. | 1 hrs |
| Change | Minor tweaks driving camera lens. | 1 hrs |
| New Feature | Ability to add up to 25 plan items in one single plan with scrollable items. | 7 hrs |
| New Feature | Battery AC Power reconginition. | 1 hrs |
| New Feature | Mirror lock for cameras that support in-camera mirror lock. A configured serial cable is required to benefit from the in-camera miror lock. In the event that that the in-camera mirror lock is enabled and a serial cable is not configured, BackyardEOS *can* fall back to a virtual mirror lock workflow and will flip the mirror for you. Please enable the experimental virtual mirror loack feature in the setting dialog to benefit from it. The in-camera mirror lock with serial cable is preferred over the virtual mirror lock. If you have a serial cable you should therefore use it if possible. |
23 hrs |
| Performance | Faster image download for images longer than 30 seconds. BackyardEOS is taking advantage of the computer idle time during image acquisition of the next image. This minimizes greatly the time between images, resulting in more time to capture photons. |
2 hrs |
| New Feature | Ability to take full manual images (AV + TV) in MANUAL dial mode. | 16 hrs |
| New Feature | Ability to save images to COMPUTER and COMPUTER+CARD. Default is COMPUTER. | 3 hrs |
| New Feature | Ability to save images in RAW and RAW+JPG format. Default is RAW format. | 5 hrs |
| Bug Fix | Zero based index error was fixed for cameras with a 'B' dial mode; 5d Mk II, 7D, and 60D. | 1 hrs |
| Bug Fix | A few other minor fixes and tweaks | 25 hrs |
| Testing | Regression and negative testing | 75+ hrs |
BackyardEOS ("Software") and all of its documentation are Copyright 2010-2012 BinaryRivers Corporation.
This is commercial software; not freeware.
Please read the following "Fair" End User License Agreement carefully.
1. We grant you one single user license to install and use the software on one computer at a time. If you do not agree to the following terms of this license, please uninstall and remove all copies.
2. You may install and use the software on another computer, but the software should not be in use on more than one computer at a time unless you purchase additional licenses. You may make back-up copies of the software for archival purposes. You may not transfer your license to use the software to another party.
3. The software is protected by the copyright laws of Canada and other countries, and we retain all intellectual property rights in the software. You may not separately publish, sell, market, distribute, lend, lease, rent, or sublicense the software. However, this license is not to be construed as prohibiting or limiting any fair use sanctioned by copyright law.
BackyardRED ("Software") and all of its documentation are Copyright 2010-2012 BinaryRivers Corporation.
This is a free copy.
Please read the following "Fair" End User License Agreement carefully.
1. The software is protected by the copyright laws of Canada and other countries, and we retain all intellectual property rights in the software. You may not separately publish, sell, market, distribute, lend, lease, rent, or sublicense the software. However, this license is not to be construed as prohibiting or limiting any fair use sanctioned by copyright law.
BackyardEOS is an accident... well... sort of!
I (Guylain) created BackyardEOS out of my own trials and errors (mostly errors) trying to find the perfect software combination to drive my Canon 40D DSLR. It was inteded for my own personal use only, but after seeing the potential it had I decided to make a product out of it... one that is affordable to all!
I tried several tools available at the time, both free and commercial, and all fell short of doing what I wanted them to do. The biggest issue for me, aside from missing functionality, was that most tools were complicated and quite honestly was complicated the already tough learning curve of astrophotography.
Guylain
We're just a few geeks locked up in our man caves; luckily for us we have a computer and it’s connected to the internet... it magically works somehow.
Feel free to drop us a note, it's probably going to be the only outside world contact we will be getting today anyway and it’s going to make us ec·stat·ic
We would appreciate you sending us a beer, but we havn't figured how to do this over the internet yet so a simple email will do.
If you find youself in Ottawa CANADA one day give us a shout, we'd love a free beer.
BackyardEOS will work on Windows 7[1], Vista, and XP; 32 bits or 64 bits alike.
Minimum screen resolution is 1024 x 768 or higher for regular use OR 1024 x 600 for netbooks. BackyardEOS will automatically detect if you're running on a netbook and will scale down to run efficiently on 1024 x 600 resolution monitors.
Microsoft .Net 3.5 must be installed on your computer. If you have a previously installed version of BackyardEOS then your are fine; the .Net 3.5 framework is already installed.
You can download the framework from Microsoft here if it's not currently on your computer.
[1] Supported Legacy cameras will not work on Windows 7. Canon only provide drivers for XP and Vista on these older models.
From the 20D back in the days to the latest Canon DSLR, BackyardEOS strives to support virtually every Canon DSLR models available on the market today.
The 1D, 1Ds, 10D, and 300D are not supported at this time. These older cameras uses the DIGIC I processor technology and are not supported by the Canon SDK.
BackyardEOS has been tested with Shoestring Astronomy DSUSB cables, Hap Griffin's serial cables, and Pierro-Astro serial cables.
Generic and home-brewed cables should also work if wired properly. A serial cable is required to access the functionality identified with (serial) in the above camera support matrix.