kirkster501

Thanks Olly, yep, I did a DBE on the LRGB and got rid of it (I think). Here is another version. I brightened the background sky a bit and knocked back the colour saturation a bit too. I need to work on the stars which have blown out - the Ring is also now blown out a bit - and many stars are suspiciously the same colour. This is like a game of whack-a-mole; you address one issue then another pops up elsewhere! I am convinced this data set is a good one and I am focusing on my processing skills in PI and Photoshop.

..... so why isn't binning 2x2 the same thing as using a FR? Because it definitely is not....????? I find all this a bit mind boggling...🙈

Sorry to hear of your health issues. Glad you are on the mend.

How do you equalise a subtle gradient (especially in one colour) from left to right Olly? What tool or method would you use pls?

I also installed Starnet. It is superb.

I need to learn how to get more colour in the stars. Maybe just a matter of more exposure time. There’s only 90 mins here.

Half hour each in RGB binned 1x1 and 2 minute exposures. TEC140 and Atik 460 with Astrodon RGB. No separate luminance. I added the spikes with a Noel's action to fat stars only. It looked boring without them.

Here's another version. A new technique I learned.

I’m using KAF8300 with mine, guided with autofocus. It all works brilliantly.

Ha - especIally 3nm - and even then as far away from the moon in the sky as possible. I got some RGB on the heart nebula on Sunday and had to trash it the gradients were so bad. Or image the moon 😀👍 you can spend a lifetime doing that alone if you image in detail different features.

I bought mine from @geordie85 Here she is on my widefield rig. It is a special lens indeed. My example is not so good at F2 or F2.8 though. I shoot it at F4. I may try again at F2.8 next week. In fact, I prefer this type of AP above telescope AP now. I love wide field nebulae.

Well done, we all have to start somewhere. You've got some nice stars on that image. Onwards and upwards!

Is this Starnet any good - I notice you still have a couple of them left in there? I use Straton which is also superb and only costs about £10. It struggles with very dense star fields though.

Hmm, I am not so sure about this picture in hindsight. I've got the ring OK but the background looks a but plasticky in retrospect. I will have a play around a bit more.

Very nice. I have been extremely pleased with my Atik camera. I am looking into a 383L too.

Hmmm, making me think that I'll keep CMOS for the moon and planets and stay with CCD - what I know - for deep sky. Now, anyone flogging a QSI 683? 😂

Ten hours of data LRGBHa - from summer 2018 but only just got round to processing it. Very hard to bring the faint outer shell out without blowing out the stars. Lots of very small galaxies in the background.

Food for thought guys. Many thanks. And thanks for the FSQ narrative Olly; yes, very true. 2" filters are out of the question. This is my imaging setup at the minute: 1. TEC140 > Atik460/EFW2 Astrodon 1.25" LRGBHaOIII. On MESU (with Meade 14" but lets forget that for this discussion). Observatory permanently based. Works brilliantly and I am not touching it. 2. Widefield > Moravian G2-8300, Samyang 135mm, Astrodon LRGBHa 31mm. All on a modded NEQ6. I love this portable setup and really like widefield nebula work. I can have rig running inside ten minutes from startup. The cameras now belong with the two above rigs and when it is clear I am always imaging with them. 3. My FSQ85 does not have a camera. I already have the 1.25 filters that are a mix of Baader and Astronomik. . I am in no rush to do this and so I may wait for a QSI 583/683 to come up or maybe experiment with a CMOS camera. i even liked the Atik460 on the FSQ85. I am clueless really on the CMOS variants so was looking for some thoughts in that department.

Hi, I want another camera/FW/OAG for my FSQ85 (that may at some point be upgraded to a 106). I'm thinking of a CMOS mono camera with a decent sized chip. Must be 1.25" filters. Could hang out for a used QSI 683 but I feel CMOS is now the way to go. What say the SGL Oracle please? Steve

I've toned it down a bit. Maybe too much....

Yeah, he took mine too mate

Wow that's lovely! Well done.

Thanks, I think I have got it, or somewhere near it... Lost the IFN a bit though

Here is another go. I think this is lipstick on a pig....... I need to go back to the beginning. I'm almost there with it but not quite, I can't control the brightness of the galaxies and keep the IFN, and in order to keep the IFN I get weird stars. I can't seem to converge on a solution for this image. I tried M-HDR Wim but it was leaving weird artefacts. I only use that on the luminance normally. I think my master Lum is too bright and it is blowing everything away after LRGB combination. I Will have another go in the next few days.

Yep, agreed mate. In my case would be a visual scope too - not just for AP. Over £23k for a scope landed at Kirk Towers....... Wowee..........