Jump to content

Narrowband

Sp@ce_d

Members
  • Posts

    2,354
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by Sp@ce_d

  1. So the topic is scopes.. From what you've listed I'd just say Esprit 80 & be done with it wandering OT slightly.. you're talking about 2" filters.. now bear in mind that none of the scopes talked about so far will cover a sensor larger than one's that can't be used with 36mm filters. The size of which requires 2" filters (full frame?) So, normally spend money in this order... Mount, Scope with well corrected optics FL/FOV for intended targets etc., imaging device + filters... etc.
  2. +1 for the Esprit 80's, I have two. Why do I have 2?.. Well, I already had one from the first batch and thought I'd try out the GT81 when they came out to compare. I'd already had WO scopes before but It was awful, star shapes were naff (lens clips didn't help) and the focuser fell to bits before I'd even got a camera on it. I persevered put it back together but it wasn't for me, I'd already been spoiled by the Esprit. It went back & was replaced with another Esprit 80. As with the first one, great out of the box! The only thing that has slightly bothered me sometimes is the foot, as its bolted to the tube. I fix it to a larger, longer vixen or losmandy plate for easier adjustment of balance etc. and.. don't waste it as a guide scope!.. the finder scope that comes with these makes an excellent guide scope, use that if you don't want to use an OAG.
  3. They do tend to sound a bit like a bag of spanner’s on start & stop but yours definitely doesn’t sound right. I can hear a regular clicking too. If it’s not under warranty and you feel competent I’d be pulling it apart & checking gears & tolerances etc. Maybe think about a belt mod while you’re in there.
  4. It used to be pretty accurate but it does seem to have gone down hill for a while now. Often I see the opposite to its forecast. I suspect the quality of its sources and the general perceived worsening of any clear skies in uk now don’t help making a decent forecast. I do what others have said with checking sat24. Luckily I have the Obsy automated & the Cloudwatcher ultimately makes the decision but even that needs tweaking as the season changes.
  5. Wow all that data in the space of 5 months... lucky you 😀 yeah I like the California too. I’ve never got the complete thing as I have to do mosaic and of course I never completed it with mono & uk weather since I started the last attempt 6 years ago!... 5 months ay.. lucky you 🤣
  6. Nice one. I’d forgotten about grabber, used it years ago but don’t remember autofocus on it either! I know what you mean with Maxim, I’ve used Focusmax for years instead. Works a treat with maxim & ACP.
  7. This is the only one I know of that covers LED's.. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/idas-filters/idas-d2-light-pollution-suppression-filter.html
  8. Here you go.. I'm still saving for one ... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/flat-field-generators/optec-alnitak-flip-flat-gen2-flat-fielder-and-dust-cover.html
  9. 314L+ is a super little camera & for many of us our first mono CCD.. doesn't really need darks & quick to preprocess. Ended up with 3 of them. One lived on my RC10 for over 5 years! Even though I've not used them for a while now I still can't bring myself to let them go I was experimenting with first light on my ASI 2600MC under the full Moon with an IDAS-NBX & decided 180 subs was best compromise although I'll probably go 300 when there's no Moon about. However, when it comes to processing.. wow.. I reckon I'll need to add a week onto the time for calibration, noise reduction etc. Gone are the days of a quick process with a few hours of each channel with the 314L+ & QSI683 files. It's almost a case of kick it of & come back tomorrow.. & that's on a 10 core i9 with 128GB & the fans running full pelt!
  10. Extracting Red and Green channels will give you the Ha & OIII as near as. Then you could try combining them to create a synthetic 3rd channel.. you'll have to experiment, 30 - 70% blend I've seen mentioned. One of the PS actions had a synthetic channel action, can't remember if it was Annies. Then try process those as SHO. I think it very much depends on the target how effective these filters will be. The target will need to be quite strong in OIII to show through as Ha is dominant in most. I just about always have to capture much more OIII & SII with the mono cameras to balance for a decent SHO. You'll probably have a better result with HOO. I'm wondering about trying some planetary nebulas, a lot are strong in OIII. I got my OSC really to supplement my Mono for RGB ie. galaxy season, so getting the filter was more out of interest than dedicated NB imaging.
  11. Not sure about PS. I was playing around in PI with my first light subs from the ASI2600MC & IDAS-NBZ under full moon at the weekend.. I googled "map OSC to narrowband" there's some interesting different approaches & some threads on cloudy nights worth having a look through if you haven't seen them. You could apply the same approach as one would normally process SHO mono in PS by splitting out the channels as described in some of those threads. Of course if you haven't already seen it, this is the one I followed when I used to use PS many many Moons ago http://bf-astro.com/hubblep.htm
  12. Condensation.. my QSI is bad for it if I cool straight away after powering up when there's moisture about. Power it on and leave it warm for a bit, it's just the shock of rapid cooling.
  13. Probably a light Pollution filter unless you're lucky enough not to need one. Not used my self modded DSLR for years but I have one of the clip in IDAS in it. I also use them in my CCD trains.. P2's but now switched to the D2's on a couple. The next one I might consider would be the IDAS-NBZ or (Optolong version) which I've just managed first light on the ASI2600MC with & its quite impressive. However, I've not seen any results from it on a non modified DSLR so sensitivity will no doubt be an issue. Of course it also depends what targets you have in mind.. as we're heading into Galaxy season its more broadband targets so LP filter might be top of the list.. if like me your skies are getting worse each season.
  14. So its the FSQ106 then.. anything less and .. well .. life's too short 😆
  15. This isn't something like a window opening up behind another window is it?.. I've had this some time ago with an Ascom device opening up a config window on first connection only to be "covered" by another window very quickly after. If I recall it couldn't be moved out of way and after several attempts of rapidly clicking away where it opens I managed to catch it's "ok" button!
  16. TaK Baby Q at 450mm 😁.. won't illuminate a FF tho. or the FSQ106 at 530mm 🤣 I looked at Sharpstar before I found my Esprit 150. The reason I ended up with two Esprit 80's is because I tried alternatives and like you, sent them back. I guess there's a reason why certain scopes come up time and time again in recommendations. Whats the 500mm you already have? If you're happy with that why not get another?
  17. +1 for Esprit 80. I've had two for a few years now I was so impressed. Currently put the recently acquired ASI2600MC on one, very early days but so far clouds & moon look good across the field of view 🤣
  18. With the brief gaps in clouds I've had since I got mine, I've just used the ASI Studio software. I normally use MaximDL but the ASI DSO one works fine & very quick to use, you don't have to mess with other settings just run a continuous preview of 2 or 3 secs on a decent star with the bahtinov mask. Once I get some longer gaps I'll be setting Focus Max with auto focus up but it didn't take long at all with the mask. Ah.. in speed reading I missed the APT bit sry. Anyway I switched to Maxim once focused so I guess you could do that to get you to first focus so you are near or on target to start with.
  19. Look interesting Looks interesting, are these big enough to still provide adequate shielding for glasses wearers? "Reduces glare from the sun in daytime" NOTE: Obviously nobody should be looking at or near the Sun without proper Solar filters in place!.. jus' saying 🤔
  20. It's Atik now.. they fixed a couple of mine last year.. https://qsimaging.com/contact-us/
  21. Lovely shot.. I've been an AN subscriber for years.. I always point out to "The Wife" .. "hey look this is another great shot from one of my "Mates" on SGL" 🤣 .. she always replies "yes dear" and goes back to "Farcebook".. anyway because of your "shots" I got the ASI2600 and all the endless clouds that came with it.. but I'm sure it'll be a great camera... one day night 🤔
  22. I omitted to mention in my previous post that I'm using usb2.. (ok different camera manufacturer) even though I "can" connect usb3, it works fine (so far) on an active USB2 extension & hub. I always make sure things work on a more tolerant USB2 bus first before "pushing the envelope" with usb3... 5 metres might be a big ask on usb3.. is it active?.. might be might not be contributing.. but small steps & important not to "rush past" some of the basics.. (you can tell I've been caught by that many times)
  23. Well don't feel bad it's PI after all, they like to keep us on our toes. I only use it to calibrate but couldn't see where to turn off reg & integration the first time.. haha.. "oh yeah we used to give the user a check box.. I know, lets just change the whole UI approach and see if they work it out".. It's a test.. see if we're worthy.. like deciphering the chute markings on Perseverance ... ah.. think I'm just getting too old.
  24. I've not had an issue as its recognised mine automatically.. however.. Looks like this has come up on the PI forum.. and I quote.. "just add the word "master" to your master dark filename and the new WBPP will understand that it is a master dark" "It is even better than that too. You can also rename a folder/directory with the work "Masters" and any files in it will load as masters. This way you do not need to adjust filenames. "
  25. I get the same gain & offset window when i connect the ASI2600mc I bought recently and it doesn't close after loading although I can adjust both of those parameters. However if I understand this it looks like yours is hanging? although you say it runs exposures?.. If its taking ages to load I'd suspect the drivers having issues. Have you pulled anything else off the bus just to make sure there's no conflicts with other devices?
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.