AS!2 ... Full Disc box size adjustable , thank you Emil.

[Steve Ward]

I've just received an e-mail from Mr Kraaikamp letting me know how to adjust the "Image Size" maximum up from the 2400 x 2400 that comes as standard ... 

Hi Steve,

You're welcome!

Yes there is, first, download the latest beta version here: www.astrokraai.nl/software/latest.html

Then after you ran the program once, and closed it, look at the resulting autostakkert.ini file and there should be two items named with max width and max height (search for width, it should find it). Here you can chance the maximum resolution displayed in AS!2. 

AS!2 is not optimized for large files, and it might run out of memory, so keep that in mind when processing (it could be best to use not the finest quality estimation or very many and very small APs).

Clear skies,

Emil

I've just downloaded the new version and made the adjustments and it works just fine , this will allow you to crop your DSLR images in PIPP to 2592 x 2592 and the use AS!2 to stack.

Some of you won't need to adjust the box , but anyone like me who Barlows their rig to get the biggest disc they can on chip will no longer have the frustration of seeing a maximum that clips all four sides of the disc.

Will also work for full disc Lunar shots as well.

[JB80]

This is good news, but what is it you are supposed to change?

Where does the ini file live?

[Steve Ward]

Hi Jarrod ,

When you've run the program once and then closed it a "Configuration setting" file appears in the Unzipped AS!2 folder you create when you unzip the downloaded Zipfile.

Open that Config. file and scroll down a way and the parameters to change are there , just delete the 2400 and replace with 2592.( or whatever the pixel height of your chip may be , 2592 is the height of my 1000Ds)

Then close the file and you should get a pop-up asking if you want to save the settings , click Yes and it's all sorted ... 

Just been having a play and it does give better results to my eye , the main improvement is that it doesn't concentrate all it's efforts on the main align box as Reg does leaving some areas appearing fuzzy and left out ... 

In the first test I just did I used a 75 align box size giving me 2246 align points ... !!! ... Uncle Reg would have turned purple and probably suffered a stroke at this point , AS!2 just got on with it ...  ... the Aligning and Stacking took just seconds ( I was stacking yesterday's 18 frames ) but the Map Reconstruction took about 4 minutes , still way faster than my usual multi-stack method in Reg 5.1 and a much better finish across the whole disc.

The comparison below is between the "Gimped" Reg5.1 version I used yesterday and a gently Waveletted but "UnGimped" stack using AS!2.

I'll put it on Astrobin in a while and post a link to the full res version for closer scrutiny , but I'm pretty well sold on it myself.

Just off ot try it on some Lunar discs now ... 

[Steve Ward]

Full Res ... http://www.astrobin.com/full/102650/0/?real=&mod=

[JB80]

Many thanks for that clarification Steve, I was looking in the wrong spot.

Just gave it a whirl myself with similar settings but let AS!2 do the sharpening and I do think it gives a cleaner disk, I think. It's hard to tell because todays subs aren't the sharpest. From where I'm sitting they are not any worse any way. I might have to play with the unsharpened one in wavelets and see if that differs.

Oh and it's quick.

[Steve Ward]

Didn't realise AS!2 would Sharpen too , I always assumed the "Sharpened" button was for stacking pre-tweaked stuff , having a play now .... 

[Steve Ward]

The biggest advantage to me is that Reg refuses to play with my data if I've first used Gimp to GaussBlur the raw data then PIPP to centre and crop , AS!2 just takes them .

[Steve Ward]

Shan't be using AS!2 for sharpening , very nasty result ... 

[JB80]

The sharpening is probably best used as a preview tool, you can't take the sharpened image to wavelets like you can the unsharpened one but you can improve it further is PS with unsharpmask or such feature.

I find it depends on the target as to which version is the best to use.

AS!2 is the best for planets I feel and I'm pleased to see it works fine for me with white light because I struggle with AS!2 for Ha most of the time. It definitely gets used with Reg nearly all of the time.

[Luke]

Good news, Steve. Funny enough, I've just started using the alpha as well. It seems to stack my solar and lunar images much more quickly than the current official stable version

[RikM]

Good news I've not used the latest release but I much prefer AS!2 for stacking.

[Montana]

The sharpen I only use as a guide to flick through all the images after batch processing, I look for the sharpest one and only use that stack to process in CS5 and delete the rest. The sharpening will be way too much for prime focus, it works best at high magnification. 

ASK2 is leagues ahead of Registax and Avistack, however it falls flat on it's face processing limb detail. I wish Emil would fix this bug

Alexandra

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have used AS!2 with H-alpha without issues.

[JB80]

It gives me grief in Ha, I can never get the detail to stack on the inside of the edge of the disc on my one shot PST shots. It's like a fuzzy ring on my disks. It works much better on my PST mod shots but crops more than I would normally.

Also white light close ups are hit and miss.

I am finding the full disk white lights stack really well and crisp but the resulting image is of a different style than I like, it's more flat and even looks a touch splotchy in the grey parts of the disk.

[Montana]

WL close ups should be the best as this is what it was designed for. Do you click surface? and I mean for all solar shots, never use planets for any of them not even full discs.

It is well known that ASK2 cannot do the spicule layer or proms unless you set it to manual AP and choose just one or two boxes on the limb.

Alexandra

[JB80]

To be honest my best close up did come out of AS!2 but I find it can be hit and miss and sometimes it stacks all over the place. Now that I think about it could be the reordering of frames in PIPP that doesn't help as sometimes I think it tries to stack dust bunnies.

For the full disc I have tried both surface and planets, followed Mark Townleys tuts and a couple of others and still no joy, can't explain that one yet but I have been having an issue with the DMK recording double black frames so maybe that has something to do with it.

Yeah I do like regi for the proms and spicules now that I have started to pick them up. In AS!2 my best results tend to come from just a handful of boxes as opposed to placing AP's in the grid.

It's all trial and error for me, I'll figure something out in the end, change my set up and start all over again. I enjoy a challenge.

[Montana]

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/182707-dmk41-questions/

Have you tried boosting the power of your USB to try and get rid of the black frames?

Alexandra

[JB80]

That's curious, how do you boost a usb port?

It happens on both usb 2.0 and 3.0 ports. So maybe it's just a case of running it via a power cable and not on battery. I will try that out.

It's not so much dropping frames as adding them, it records 1000 and when I check the avi there is 2000 with half of them black.

[JB80]

Well that didn't fix it and Steffan at the IS forums says there is nothing that can be done about it.

However, the problem is fixed when I use Firecapture so that's a relief, I can knock IC capture on the head now I think.

Sorry I know it's off topic.