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Quite possibly the worst first photo of the Moon ever


Tiago

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Early capture to test the setup this evening, before the clouds rolled in. Captured with a MS Lifecam HD3000 at 640x480@30fps, through a Celestron FirstScope 76 w/ a Celestron Omni 2x Barlow, using Sharpcap and Stacking with Registax.

It sucks, but hopefully the evening will turn for the best.

1stmoon_zpsb8f162bf.jpg

Bear with me, I'm learning as I go http://stargazerslounge.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif

- Tiago

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My first (and so far only) 'successful' effort was pretty poor too, and I couldn't even wrap my head round Registax so just posted one frame. I think the big challenge with cheap scopes is getting the focus right.

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My best effort so far was with 1863 frames of each hemisphere (north and south) and then mosaiced. It seems like overkill, but if you then select the top 20%ish of those frames, you'll get the best of the seeing. Add in some fine focus and you'll be away!

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Yes, it's debatable what a 'legal' download of that software is. I'm not sure what CS2 will be like. I only got into PS at CS4, having used Paintshop Pro (for Photography) before that. You can get PS on the cheap if you're a student - any kind of student, that is. As long as you're enrolled on something officially eduactional you can get a discount.

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Well I can trump your picture :) mines worse ..

https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink

I need to file down the mount to get to the point I can focus...

https://picasaweb.google.com/115676262838835486657/DIYDigiScopeWebCamForTelescope?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Andy

Can I advise putting some thick opaque tape around the edge of your cam? I fear stray light getting in through the translucent casing on the sides...?

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Coming along nicely now. Like you say, just a bit of an improvement with focus and you'll be getting some nice images! I would be tempted to have a shot without the barlow too, see how you find it. The image obviously won't be so large, but I reckon you'll get much sharper detail which may well end up in a higher quality image even if you zoom in (digitally) and crop?

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I actually need the Barlow, as the camera is unable to focus with the fast f/ratio on the scope. I noticed that when I made an aperture stop out of a roll of toilet paper (held it in front of the scope) and the view improved dramatically.

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I'm gonna blame it on the telescope :) I've achieved pretty good focus at closer distances (i.e. looking at something in this planet) but the optics are pretty limited. I cannot use the craptastic H6mm eyepiece with the Barlow, which gives a similar FOV to the webcam - Jupiter was little more than a blob this evening, although a coloured blob hinting at banding on occasion. It never quite reached focus.

If I use the scope within its limits, it's pretty damn good - I did see (visually) all 4 Galilean moons this evening, and focus was sharp without the Barlow. However, I need the Barlow to reach focus with the webcam so...

Maybe with some new telescope...

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Hello,

I would say definitely not shabby for a first go!!

I love doing lunar mosaics and Microsoft Ice works a treat! I did find however that after registax you sometimes need to crop the veeery edges of each image as registax puts a white border around the edge which shows up on the mosaic.

Also, a cheapskate tip for focusing (makes a big difference with me) is getting near focus with the normal focus wheel/knob, then clipping an ordinary clothes peg onto the wheel. You can then stare at the image on the laptop screen and do much finer adjustments by moving the top of the clothes peg.

Dan

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Also, a cheapskate tip for focusing (makes a big difference with me) is getting near focus with the normal focus wheel/knob, then clipping an ordinary clothes peg onto the wheel. You can then stare at the image on the laptop screen and do much finer adjustments by moving the top of the clothes peg.

I'm all for cheapskate solutions, I'll try that next time!

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