TiffsAndAstro

Maybe try ZWO ASI1600MC if doing so won't break anything 

13 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

Don't worry, I certainly have not taken any offence - it was not meant to sound like that. Just be positive about your own imaging and keep asking the questions. You are definitely on the right track. 

You didn't sound like it at all, sorry.

I just get concerned occasionally my posts might be misconstrued:)

Just now, Clarkey said:

I wouldn't be so critical of your own imaging. It takes time (and unfortunately money) to get the results. I have been doing it now for 4-5 years and I consider myself 'competent'. Your images are pretty good - especially when you get the integration time up. Processing is the skill which takes practice.

And yes, it is the colour SVBony camera. Dual band filters from Altair seem pretty good. The SII/O3 is worth having where there is a SII signal. Also gives you more O3 as both G and B channels for both filters are O3. However, with the single dual band filter, if you separate the Ha and O3 you can give the O3 more of a stretch and it will enhance the blue / greens.

I know you're not a beginner. I can tell from just looking at your images, let alone your advice on here

Hope I didn't offend, I really wasn't trying to compare my image to yours. Just that yours are something for me to at least aim towards. 

I've been playing with splitting ha/Oiii with mixed results. Some good some not. Plenty of pixel math expressions out there for me to play with.

On 18/09/2024 at 16:02, Clarkey said:

First light for a whole load of new kit. First a 10" Quattro carbon fibre - second hand bargain I could not resist. Now modified with the usual newtonian 'extras' and a second-hand GPU coma corrector. I also purchased a new SVBony IMX533 camera for £460 including a planetary camera and UV/IR filter - again, I could not resist a bargain. Finally, full price for a pair of Ha-O3 and SII-O3 6nm filters from Altair plus a new filter wheel.

Anyway, 15 hours of data over 2.5 nights, processed in PI. Colour is not quite as I would like, but I am still getting to grips with twin dual band filter processing. I might need to review my methodology. At least my stars are round🙂

Critical comment welcome as always.

Not sure there's much to criticise here. Makes a mockery of my version but in a good way

did you buy the colour or the mono svbony camera?

I'm tempted by Altaur  c2 or D2 to compliment my ha/Oiii and try to escape my orange/brown palette.

I swear I could thread that eye so clear.

also carbon ftw

2 minutes ago, Mr Green said:

I'd be interested in seeing an 80's vibe.

don't say stuff like that because its likely to make me  try a luminous green and orange socks palette.

1 minute ago, Alan White said:

Looks like it’s made from Obtamium a well known and pragmatic material choice 😉

seemed to work pretty well though tbh. even faster set up times now, i just slide it into tripod, plug it in mains and thread my curly cable in and attach the two dew heater usbs.

also quieter - less metal tips banging on metal tripod legs at 530am

29 minutes ago, Mr Green said:

Definitely got that 70's colour pallete you mentioned down to a tee 😉

just a quick preview. i'd say my m42 (above) is much more mid to late 70s though....

it only a quick preview, ill get it looking nicer i think. 

preview stretch of my m42 87x60sec. can just about see trapezium? of course i want to stretch it more there's outer detail there, but if i do that i lose core. will try and play with masks in gimp or something. also still have about 40x30sec exposures i haven't looked at yet. was a bit cloudy after 3am last night when i shot these. and moon

1 hour ago, Elp said:

Low QE doesn't help, but I got decent signal with my modded 600d when I had it, even with vintage lenses at F5.6.

Yeah er I think my vintage glass is very vintage. Though my Pentax f1.7 50mm might be decent. But it was very cheap way to start.

I got a 200mm f3.5 in a case and mint for £15. It rubbish, but passable at f5.6 looks nice though.

Omg lol and with an iPhone?

3 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

I have my scope cover over the battery, PSU and extension lead just for a bit of protection. Hopefully it’s not flammable (but it’s from AliExpress so you just know it is! 😆)

All set up and dialled in, now shooting 120s lights on the double cluster. Stars are a bit bloated as I don’t have a UV/IR cut filter in there yet, that’s on its way from FLO. Just a testing evening really. Average star size is 2.48 (3.36”)

The adjustable Starfield flatter made it an absolute doddle to dial in the backfocus. Literally a 30 second job. 

Must say this ASIair is one nifty piece of kit! This is so much easier than the last time I tried DSO imaging during covid, with an 8” f6 newt on an old black EQ6 an a Atik 383L mono, and everything connected via an umbilical cord of cables to a laptop on a little table beside the scope. 

Don't diss my new best friend Ali

Also that is a nice set up

44 minutes ago, Gerr said:

This is the second of deep sky objects I was able to capture beginning of September and one I always found difficult to do nicely!

I utilised my 8" SW200P reflector on a HEQ5 mount coupled with a Zwo 294MC pro astro cooled camera at -10deg.

There was some high haze in the sky and the odd strong breeze which were enough to ruin half of my 4 minute subs!

But I still managed 2.3hrs of good data which I put into Siril with calibration frames.

The resultant stacked image I then processed in Photoshop CS with some tweaks done by Graxpert and StarnetGUI.

This is my best attempt so far and one I intend to keep!! Really pleased with it.

I hope you can agree? CC's welcome as usual.

 

The Iris Nebula (NGC 7023):

 

 

 

Very very nice.

Third night running lol. Wisps of high cloud but so what?

Doing more on Cygnus wall until about 2:45 then m42

Tempted to try M42 just for science reasons, light cloud supposed to clear later. Doin 60 second subs for 90 mins, then  maybe 30 mins of 30sec might be ok for trapezium. Whether I can combine them in gimp is another matter

3 nights imaging on the run is a new Olympic record

Here is my previous best, from back in January  I was most impressed.

screen shot of one 30sec sub narrowband. when i woke up and saw this i said "wow" outloud lol..... (again). cloudy out though now

If and when I upgrade my GTi, I doubt I'd sell it. Probably stick my 600d on it and do stuff at same time 

Also, I just plonk it on the ground on my markers and 3ppa in 5 mins. No setting circles stuff that makes my head hurt I won't put my Rasa 14 on it when it arrives, however

Not via post, had to search high and low in B&M for this premium electronics protection box.

Cost almost £1.50.

I can't work out if it's made from carbotanium, transparent aluminum (sic) or possibly even Neutronium.

Note the expertly applied NASA approved space gaffa tape

I like how co retrospectively corrects its predictions in the past

thankfully, no one notices.

Still my favourite weather app though.

16 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

Shall I delete the post??? 

Like vroobel said, still useful info. I've done same mistake myself and was gutted when I found out my mount wasn't actually competing with observatories

29 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@alacant yes Liverpool is a famous historical port city, right next the the sea! makes total sense what you say because most of the weather comes in from the east.

Except prevailing weather is from the west

51 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@Padraic M Brilliant advice regarding light leaks. My SW 200P also leaked light terribly, so I did exactly same things. I use a woolly hat for the rear main mirror, and use foil for drawtube. I also use black insulating tape to cover the viewfinder of my DSLR camera. before doing all this I had dreadful gradients in my subs from light leaks.

Not sure woolly hat is better than a black swimming cap

I reached out to Adidas and Timberland for this unbiased review......

44 minutes ago, Padraic M said:

There might be money to be made in astrophotography-quality woolly hats!

Normal woolly hat £5,

astrophotography certified woolly hat £50.

I think we're onto a winner

lol i forgot i accidentally imaged tulip nebula too, so buy one get two free   yes, tulips are generally red

Just now, Skipper Billy said:

You are measuring RMS error in pixels - try changing it to the more usual Arc Seconds and see what happens!!

FFS how did I not notice this

ty

What mount you using btw?

4 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@TiffsAndAstro LOL please let me know if you see any improvements! Most guys on here are thinking I'm mistaken and/or misreading my guiding! LOL

My guiding could be better, no harm me trying

1 hour ago, wesdon1 said:

Hi all. Look, I am guessing most folk already know this, but just incase any newbies see this...

My guiding with PHD2 has always been around 1-2 arc seconds per pixel. Anyway, the other night, I let PHD2 do it's calibrating/setting up on my intended target for the night, rather doing what I always did which was finishing the star alignment then setting up PHD2 on the area of the night sky my 3rd and final alignment star happened to be. Well after setting up/running PHD2 on the area of sky I was imaging, my guiding improved massively. I've now gone from 1-2 arc seconds, to 0.12-0.22 arc seconds, the average being around 0.15! I was amazed at the improvement, and cursed myself for not discovering this trick sooner!

So anyone who doesn't know, now you do! Just remember to polar align as perfectly as possible, and balance your rig in RA and DEC, otherwise your guiding will be poor. 

Clear Skies!

Wes.

Gonna give this a go tonight but not convinced