Bobby1970

Captured last late last night / early this morning. Packed up around 1.30 am. If I can regularly get 2min guided exposures I will be more than happy I think.

So, I set up the AZGTi, with the 72mm scope, ZWO178MC, and the new added guidescope with 120mm mini. Captured around 35x 120s subs at 270 gain as this is supposed to be the lowest noise setting for the 178mc from what I have been reading, however guiding seems to have thrown a wobbler after 21 frames. The graph on PHD did look quite alarming to my eyes, swinging from +3 to -3. But im not sure exactly how to interpret it yet tbh. I am also not sure it isn't a problem with the usb port on my laptop which the 120mm was plugged into. So, I ended up with 21x 120s subs. I did some darks and flats (still not sure if im doing my flats correctly) Anyway, all things considered I am pretty happy with this tbh. Processed in Startools and a final tweak in Paint.net. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism very welcome. I do feel this is much better than my previous efforts. Thanks for looking

You can get USB C OTG cables. Also if using ZWO Camera download AsiCap. As long as there's an iOS version.

I really enjoyed that, good work. Just shows that you don't need to spend thousands to view and capture some awesome sights.

Managed to view it in my 127mm Mak last night. Very bright indeed but so low down and with a turbulent atmosphere, was very difficult to focus on. Wanted to try and grab some video to process but some cloud decided to make and appearance then when it cleared Mercury had dropped below some houses. 😞

Sold a few bits and bobs lately and recycled them into some different stuff. These arrived today. Hoping that when my AsiAir arrives I can be up and running sooner. Also plan to have a play with the camera for solar and lunar. Have to say. Good service from 365Astronomy, who matched the package price that RVO are offering, even though RVO didn't have the camera in stock.

I am going to be doing this at some point for sure, watched a video on youtube of a guy doing the zwo 120 I think it was. Fairly cheap to do also. One question, should the fan be sucking the heat away from the heatsink, or should it be sucking air onto it? If you see what I mean??

i'm not messing with it any more now. lol last one, honest All things considered, and after looking at lots of m106 images on flickr, I think this one is ok tbh.

I sold my 10" dob a few weeks back. Had it all set up in the garden for the buyer to take a look at. Social distancing in full effect. Paid for by bank transfer. Seemed to work well.

So, I had another play around with this today, cant hurt by practicing and playing with the data I already have (well that's my excuse lol ) Been struggling getting the colour to look right. Again Ivo the Startool creator has given some input but I thought I would see if I could get better results myself also. I thought this was maybe a little better, but maybe too blue now ??? Tried not to bin as much also Thanks for everyones input, much appreciated

Thanks, I think it looks better. I think maybe I have been expecting to keep the same size and scale as the original fits images and reduce the noise to an acceptable level. Binning has helped a bit I think. Just trying to find a happy medium as I would like my finished image to be a little larger. I'm definitely not white balancing anything in DSS. Double checked this. I do seen to always end up with a sort of light brown colour tho. Initially the image is very green so I use the sliders in Startools to reduce it. And also cap it. But I still can't get a colour I'm properly happy with. I am also considering making a cooler for my cam. Watched a few videos on YouTube. I realise it won't be as good as a genuine cooled cam. But its got to have some improvement right?

Thanks Mark. Am I correct in my understanding that I do not need to be guiding or need a guide scope to dither? Looks like APT has something built in. Might set up a capture plan and give it a go next time.

Grabbed an hour of light frames last night, used sharpcap but saved the images individually rather than live stacking them. I also captured 30 darks and 25 flats (I think I did these correctly, but still unsure). I used DSS to stack the frames and Startools to try and process the image (trying to use some of the advice given by Ivo and others) I think, maybe this is a little better than my other efforts, I haven't tried dithering yet, that's something for another day I think. Thanks for looking 🙂

Rework number 3. lol Left the colour set to "constancy" mode. I am leaving it alone now. EDIT - this looked ok until I closed the curtains lol. oh well

That's awesome.

I usually leave the Life module to what it defaults to tbh. The only thing I touched in there was output glow and strength as I found that a combination of this helps with the background for me. Definitely didn't touch isolate lol. EDIT I do have a play around with the repair and shrink modes for the stars, but I don't think this has added the halos as such

Had one more play with this. I think this is probably the best balance, based on comments received and my own preference. I "think" I maybe understand some bit of startools a tiny bit better than I did a few days back. maybe...…..lol Silk purse and sows ear comes to mind though.

Yes, I used the ROI feature. To try and get a balance between how dark the image was v details and noise. Maybe I send too dark because I was concerned about how much noise would show with it being lighter. 😞 Going to have another session. Possibly on M51 again and try for more data. And not use the live stacking in Sharpcap. Use DSS instead. See what I can come up with that way. I have always struggled with processing. Despite being into the hobby for years. But I really do need to try and get better at it. Or at least understand a bit better.

The thing is. With the second image. When I re did the stretch using Autodev in Startools the whole image was darker so less noise was visible. It didn't seem like I "over stretched" it at all tbh. Lol. The good thing about this hobby is that is that everyone has their own taste I guess. Maybe somewhere between the two would be a good balance. Lol

Always good to hear peoples opinions. I sort of preferred the second one. The sharpness is better I think. Although the core is more washed out.

I think this looks better, thanks to a few tips from the Startool forum. Need to try for better/more data next time.

You are correct. I just put it as far forward on the foot as I can go. But it's still tail heavy. But I understand that this is not always a bad thing. I have seen solutions where a longer dovetail is attached to the existing foot also. I paid around £200 used for it. It's more than good enough for my limited abilities. Lol.

Looks very similar to one of these. (which I have) https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/telescopes/altair-lightwave-72ed-r-refractor/ 🙂

I really like your images. Good to see a different wider perspective. Just shows how vast it is out/up there.

I have always had issues getting decent results from Startools. Part of it is die to my data admittedly. I joined the Startools forum and the creator Ivo, has been most helpful in responding to my queries. Also following this post with interest.