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Saturn with ASI174MM...


Kokatha man

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Apologies to SGL'ers for essentially "cut & pasting" the CN text I've just posted here...I do think SGL'ers deserve their own thread comments ;) but I'm tired & pushed for time here, so only a few alterations to that thread on Cn if you've just been there..! :)

Hi all - spent a couple of nights down in the Mallee trying to find a bit of clear air.....the forecasts looked good but being brutally honest the seeing was nowhere near as good as BoM or SkippySky suggested - not that we place terribly much credence in any forecasts anytime tbh..! :(

And just to be clear about things like "great air" etc that were bandied about on CN ;) let me be frank herein - naturally all these appraisals are "relative" to each & every one of us...but there was no way whatsoever that the last 2 mornings qualified for anything more than "barely passable" seeing - I think we've been around long enough to know our own situations to a reasonable degree! ;)

Ok - with that "off my chest" :lol: (and I think it IS relevant when appraising the "possibilities" with this new camera) we were pleasantly surprised with the outcome on Saturn: Jove is a bit of a dog down here at only 38-39° & requires quite extra-ordinary seeing to deliver decent outcomes - love to shoot up North for a week or 2 but we're broke & I can't keep on using Pat's lappy constantly, so pennies are sort here..!

Thus getting a decent Saturn with plenty of surface detail in very pedestrian seeing is quite an accomplishment & suggests this camera is a "go-er"...we've managed said with the 120MM-S before but without nearly as much histogram control that the software gain gives us with the 174MM. :)

I have a lot more experimenting/investigation & queries re this camera, plus the new FireCapture beta program used, but I think the preceding paragraph is a good valid observation for starters...

Of note is the fact that Pat's Dell is only a standard duo-core (with hyper-threading, thus acts like a 4-core to a certain degree) with a standard HD - we switched off the Wi-Fi & disabled Norton AV, cleared all surplus data off the drive & had no trouble keeping up the FPS...even at 200fps using 512X440 ROI on Jove.

As said the Jupiter caps weren't worthwhile but the fps with Pat's lappy showed that this machine could take it...I want a super-fast replacement to my old dead lappy - which was a "fast-un" - but this works in the meantime! :)

If we opened WinJupos etc during captures the FPS saved did lag behind the capture rate but caught up again pretty quickly before the avi finished its' set time-span.....so it looks like you don't necessarily need the fastest machines out there. ;)

We had only a couple of spots on the camera window which were most likely the result of me having the covers off for a lot of time trying to get an optimum imaging train set-up at short notice: seems like ZWO have done some work there over time :waytogo: ...I certainly don't think the (almost) 10 metres f/l was ideal in the conditions but that must count as another plus for the specific image...

I'm making up a new imaging train & still want variability in the arrangement but think I might have an answer...

Anyway, here's a Saturn with promise, plenty of bright spots visible on the disk & whilst I'd "love" some Jovian opportunities further North atm that's not going to happen...and in many ways surface detail on Saturn is much more demanding than great Jovian resolution so we're pretty satisfied with our first efforts - but a whole lot more trialling & also investigations/queries to be done! :)

A big "thank you" to Sam at ZWO - without his generosity this would not be possible..! :waytogo:

post-3551-0-00494300-1424395448.png

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Very nice!

I've been playing with my shiny new ZWO ASI174 on solar and it's early days but it's impressing me very much so far. I will be using it for lunar too and I have been thinking I might try planets a bit more than I have in the past it the planetary imagers reckon it's a good 'un.

Thanks for your write-up and image and for posting here too.

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Beautiful image. Will not do the new camera`s reputation any harm!

                               Best regards,

                                                      Ralph

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Thanks Starnut, Peter, Pete, Stuart, Simmo, Simon, Karlo, Ruud, Dave, Nick, Ralph & Peter - most appreciated fellas! :)

I have an apology (or retraction) to make - I think it is self-evident that the seeing was pretty good & I was deceived thinking it was bellow average...

I am in conversation with Sam re using certain settings with this camera SPECIFICALLY FOR SATURN where I enabled options he thinks are bad choices...I must hit the sack after imaging from home this morning - certainly significantly poorer conditions this morning for sure! :)

But I will let folks know any further information/developments re this camera's optimal settings as they come...

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Awesome image :Envy:  :smiley:

if you think that is Saturn with promise, I can't wait to see one that you consider good seeing,

wonderful inspiration for me (and probably others) seeing just what amateur astronomers (no offence intended) can achieve.

Regards

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Thanks once again fellas - yes, a C14 James.

As I commented previously I am in full-on discussion with Sam on an ongoing basis to understand some of the more technical aspects of this camera & data output, especially from a more "deep & meaningful" grasp than I have atm...

I'm not one to glibly throw around technical terms without any real appreciation of the real or finer aspects of said & this camera & software options for capturing is a real challenge in that respect...at least for me! ;)

But I will relate all I can discover here & elsewhere when & if I do so...I have some Jupiter images (not that flash & 38° elevation in so-so seeing) to process also & these might help my own grasp of the situation better...

On another note I have to admit that the seeing was considerably better than my appraisal before - i think that is pretty self-evident from the details evinced...but my assessment was clouded by the software options I enabled & how they influenced the appearance of the onscreen feed...I am in the process of trying to find out whether they were in fact poor choices or not that relevant either way - more to come here..! :)

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