fwm891

47 minutes ago, alan potts said:

...

Not tried PEC yet, have you?

Alan

 

I have the standard version not the EC. As I use a guider either smaller scope or OAG I didn't see the point of the EC model.

3 hours ago, alan potts said:

I think it is a case of me worrying, I have it working and was surprised how simple it was once I overcome my mistake for the day, you probably know this is normal for me.

I bought the Lynx 2.5mm cable to connect it to the 12v DC mains out put I have, think this was an alternative to the main unit provided. So there am I for 40 minutes at least trying all sorts and getting nowhere, it telling me all the time NO Ioptron hardware found.

Then the penny dropped, the mount was without power!!,

Francis, can you tell me what this connection via 2.5mm specially bought cable is for, does it power the twin 12vDC outlets on the main panel? if so I would require a 5.5mm to 5.5mm male both ends, is there such a thing or is this aimed at Focusers and filter wheels?

Still got a bit of learning what can be done, but it seems to be working and we have a clear sky

Alan

Alan,

Your 12 Volt  cable plugs into the side of the mount by the on/off switch. When you turn it on the red light shows. I don't know what cable(s) you have. 

If you look at the CEM60 pdf manual page 9 there is a 12 volt power input (2.5 x 5.5) just below the polar axis scope eyepiece. Also on page 19 - Step 7 connecting cables, there's a photo of a switched (on/off) 12 volt input (the one I use).

Manual: http://www.ioptron.us/Manual/7200_CEM60_Manual.pdf

Francis

PHD2 screens...

Alan,

Have you loaded the ascom driver and iOptron's Commander software (https://www.ioptron.com/product-p/7200.htm )as the CEM60 doesn't run under EQMod - that's for Synter? mounts.

If you've loaded the Commander and ascom drivers for the CEM60 then PHD2 will 'see' the mount.

Open PHD2

Click the USB symbol (bottom left) this opens a connect equipment screen

Camera: Set your guide camera here

Mount: Set your mount here - the down arrow in the box will show all your options - look for iOptron ASCOM Driver for Mount

Then either click Connect all or the camera and mount connect separately

Then click - Close

That should allow you to begin seeing images on screen.

**When you click on the USB symbol  right at the top of PHD's screen is a box named Equipment Profile. Here you can enter the details of your guidescope and camera. Click on the manage profiles and you will find a wizard routine there to help you through the settings.

Great imaging Brian. There's just a hint of green coming through in the central background area would be my only comment. Great start - keep em coming.

Venus passes through M45: 2nd, 3rd and 4th April 2020.

Will be low in the west late evening.

2 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

@fwm891Nice image  , is that a meteor bottom left ? 

I don't think so too even both sides of the 'flash'. My guess is a rotating satellite brightening and fading.

On my second run of the APP trial, I like being able to load all the files in their respective slots and go through the stages to integration. After integration with APP I find further processing awkward with results looking quite 'muddy' with lack lustre colour. What I do find now is that I'm using APP to the integration stage saving that image and then continuing to work forward with PI.

I've had problems with PI and amp glow from my ASI294MC Pro, with PI there always seems a slight residual amp glow as the image is stretched. APP however using the same file sets removes the amp glow completely. with nothing showing in subsequent processing. Need to read and watch the videos that are beginning to appear on APP.  I'm trialling this with an CMOS/OSC camera so probably need a different routine to CCD/Mono users?

Attached is an APP/PI processing combination. 30 lights, darks, dark-flats, flats and bias frames used.

Francis

22 minutes ago, astro mick said:

Captured the Galaxies nicely Francis,but somehow the background does.nt look quite right!!

Mick.

I tried adding a mask and desaturating the background due to uneven casts. Should have tried some noise reduction whilst I had the mask in place.

@Dinglem Thanks. I've not been happy with the IC1396 image so I've tried a new combination (for me) using APP to process the image subs to integration then process in PI for colour and levels...

I've been using the camera now for a few weeks initially under the brighter summer skies and now under darkening autumnal skies. Time to put a few thoughts together.

Firstly:

My skies are classified as Bortle 4 though I have made no attempt to clarify that - just taken the value from FLO's Clear Outside

I tend at present to image using an Altair Wave Series 115 EDT-APO refractor with a 1x Planostar Field flattener and a Baader UV/IR cut filter 1.25" on an iOptron CEM60 Standard mount. I use a TS 80mm guidescope piggybacked on the 115 with an ASI120mm camera as the guide camera. I have a home built RoR observatory and the mount is fitted to an iOptron Tri-pier. I tend also to run the camera at -20°C and capture via SG Pro (3.0.1.####) with Gain set to 122 and offset at 30.

Processing is usually via PixInsight (Ripley 1.8.##) with the occasional tweak in Photoshop CS3 Extended. APP may be added at some stage.

Thoughts:

This has been a diversion for me away from a mono CCD based imaging rig (SX 825 mono +  RGB & Ha filters) and DSLR camera bodies (Nikon 800E OSC and D5100 mono converted) in to the CMOS OSC sphere. It appears (to me) much faster (density build up) than I expected.  Initially I kept subs shorter with more of them to build an image. Under the brighter summer skies that worked well. However as the skies have darkened with autumn approaching I found colour saturation in individual subs much increased by lengthening my sub exposures. Earlier I used 2 and 3 minute subs under the brighter skies. Now I'm settling into using 5 and 10 minute subs, using the same gain and offset settings.

I find the camera handles colour well, it seems quite well balanced with the usual green excess removal during processing using PI's SCNR (I set the slider to 20% and make multiple adjustments rather than leaving it at 100% and one hit...). Initially frightened by the look of the dark frames with their spiked fans spreading across the frame. This is the one area that I've found awkward in that the dark frames have to be carefully matched to the light frames and when processed they should not be optimised as this seems to cause the spikes. I've found processing in PI more difficult in respect of amp glow removal. Astro Pixel Processor (APP) seems to deal with the amp glow much better but I've never been able to get what I feel is good colour from APP. I've only used it for a single trial period but at present don't feel inclined to spend money on it. Flat, flat/darks and bias frames are easy to procure and apply.

Noise is low, whether single subs or after stacking. I do dither frames so that will suppress background noise but I've found little need to hit images with PI's TGVDenoise or other noise reduction routines.

I'm more than happy with the camera. Perhaps I'm lazy and found the routine of RGB filtering a chore against the relative ease an OSC offers. There are differences though: Colour with the  294MC Pro OSC is softer, pastel like almost, against a mono/RGB set-up, but it responds well to level and saturation adjustments during processing.

Looking forward now to the longer darker nights of winter and the arrival of a RASA 8 to put the 294MC Pro on to...

A few recent images from the camera scope combination.

Francis 30/09/2019.

Added more subs to an existing image:

Details to follow (need to tot up all the subs...)

Dusty area in IC1396 29-09-2019

Details:

Subs: 6x 600s, 8x 300s

Camera: ASI294MC Pro (cooled to -20°C)

Scope: AA 115EDT-APO + 1x planostar FF

Mount: iOptron CEM 60 Standard

Captured via SG Pro

Process: PI (wrong flat master used) - resized in PS

Teckie bits:

75 mins on each (15x 5 min subs). Pleased with the Bubble & Co (NGC7635) but not sure about the Pelican (IC5070). Not sure also that NGC7358 is the bright object in the top right of the bubble frame - someone will shoot me on that one I'm sure!

Details:

Mount CEM60

Scope AA 115 EDT-APO + Planostar 1x FF, guiding 80mm TS guidescope + ASI120mm.

Imaging camera: ASI294MC Pro - cooled to -20°C.

Flats, darks ans bias applied via PI's Batch Pre-process. Further tweaked with saturation and curve transformations +++ (flats are a little strong and have lightened the corners)

75 mins on each in 5 min subs. Pleased with the Bubble & Co (NGC7635) but not sure about the Pelican (IC5070). Not sure also that NGC7358 is the bright object in the top right of the bubble frame - someone will shoot me on that one I'm sure!

Details:

Mount CEM60

Scope AA 115 EDT-APO + Planostar 1x FF, guiding 80mm TS guidescope + ASI120mm.

Imaging camera: ASI294MC Pro - cooled to -20°C.

Flats, darks ans bias applied via PI's Batch Pre-process. Further tweaked with saturation and curve transformations +++ (flats are a little strong and have lightened the corners)

5 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

 

You could always try and unscrew the retaining ring that holds the glass in place and flip it round? The 1.25" Baaders all look to have a ring with notches. Would just need to use some careful persuasion.

 

@Skipper Billy just a thought, maybe your 2" OIII can be flipped around?

 

Then keep swapping it back to use on something else - easier to use a male/male adapter.

Ideally it needs a short male to male adapter so the filter can be inserted the correct way round as the female side of the filter should face the sky...

1 hour ago, TerryMcK said:

I've just received the WO Flat73A Adjustable Flattener for my WO ZenithStar 73 APO. I am dismayed to find that there is no internal M48 thread for filters within the body of the flattener  .

I think the non adjustable version has an internal M48 thread but I needed this particular adjustable version. I'm using the IDAS LPS-D2 which successfully filters out the LED/sodium lights but now have to hang a camera off the filter itself!

The adjustable flattener needs to be 11.3 mm and I am assuming this is when a filter is not attached. Do I need to take into account the extra distance that the filter glass effectively moves the camera sensor away from the flattener. It is 1mm thick glass and therefore the flattener shoul;d be set at 10.3mm to maintain that correct distance to the sensor (I think it is 55mm for a Canon DSLR)

There is. You remove the rear collar you attach your camera T mount to. Photo shows a 2" (48mm) Baader 7nm Ha filter in place

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

That's all good then, just make sure it does not come with a 'Free' mount, scope, filter set or whatever! 

Wouldn't dream of it  😉

2 hours ago, Alan White said:

Sorry Francis, I am confused.......
what is such a thing as a 'tight leash' when it comes to your 'flexible friend'? 🤣

Well it means I'm to be kept under control at all times, don't look through anything, don't pick anything up with a price tag, don't talk to sales men(and ladies). I'm allowed coffee and a cake though...

Going probably both days (with a flexible friend on a tight leash!)

Great start with your 294MC Pro. I too have one and only recently so I'm learning too. One thing I will say when your processing with PI and 'Image Calibration' - uncheck the master dark: calibration and optimization boxes as they will cause headaches with amp glow showing through. Been there, got the Tee shirt!

The 294 does respond well to short sub lengths (lots of them) and as you say the cooling and dark libraries help immensely when processing.

I've previously imaged with a mono camera and filters - not tried the 294 with narrowband pass filters yet.

Just ordered one from FLO so interested in your thoughts on the RASA 8 and it's images. I'll be fitting a Celestron motor focus to mine (I bought that for an Edge HD 8).

Well my final attempt on this with this data. I 've ended up in PS and using select/colour range, adjusting the slider so as not to select any background, invert the selection then desaturate the background and apply levels to the background.

Sorry Peter but I find your background too sterile and a hard line between subject and background jars to me.

Personally I like to see some 'noise'. I need more data to do much more with this. There's still a gradient to deal with but not today.

Francis

3 hours ago, PeterCPC said:

Nice. The second one is a bit noisey I think. Have you tried AstroFlat Pro?

Peter

Hi Peter - short answer No not tried it.

I've just tried yet another process in PI to try and cut down the noise without over applying noise correction...