PH-R

I had a look in PS and with my limited knowledge I would say no. The red channel is  0-5% on the histogram, blue about 30% and green 40%. My flats show all channels at about 50%. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies. I have just been out and taken some flats and everything is looking good (1.51 exp. peak in centre of histogram). I discovered my error. When I was putting the tablet on top of the telescope even though it looked flush, light was still getting in. I rectified this with blackout over the top of everything.  I set my tablet to the lowest dimness and needed one sheet of white paper between tablet and dew shield.

Thank you. I have taken the flats with the AV setting. Are the flats above suitable? 

Hey all, I have been searching for information about flat frames and can't really find what I am looking for. Various sources advised measuring the ADU of the frame or pixel brightness but I can't seem to find this information in PS. I have attached two frames that I took as jpgs as practice. One is how it appears when taken and the other one has had the level changed in PS. This is a new technique I am trying using a tablet and a web page called whitedisplay.com. I tried different display brightness settings but the histogram stayed roughly the same  just the exposure length changed. Are these correct or do I need to add white paper to the screen to dim further? Thxs

Edit: I managed to find some info in PS, I needed to click expanded view in the histogram and select Luminosity. Mean 188, Std Dev 1.83, Median 189, Pixels 393216.

1 hour ago, A_N_other_beginner said:

Even though it'd mean a stack including a cheap and basic barlow?
I can see the value of an ADC, but in a combination including a good and a basic (and presumably optically inferior?) barlow I'm wondering how much the benefit of the ADC would be offset by that cheaper piece of glass in the middle. Am I barking up the wrong tree regarding the barlow?
If I already had the barlow I'm considering (Televue 2x) I'd not be thinking about the weak link quite so much, but I genuinely don't know what sort of difference there is between a £20 barlow and a £100 one.

Yes I would go for that now and save up for the powermate or barlow. 

23 hours ago, Erling G-P said:

For your budget, I would look at an ADC (Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector):

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-125-atmospheric-dispersion-corrector-adc.html

I got one recently, and while it doesn't perform miracles, it has improved my views.  Do note that it's designed to be used with a barlow - I couldn't reach focus without one.

 

Regards,

Erling G-P

I would go with this option.

Welcome.

Hey all, I just started imaging the planets again after a long break. I have just purchased some new equipment a ZWO ASI224MC and skywatcher ADC (replacement for SPC900). I have read a lot about image quality depending on the height of the planets. The image shows top row images I took in Dec 2012 SPC900 ( looks like the world did not end 🙂 ) and bottom row July 2019 224MC. Would the difference I am seeing in quality be down to just position or am I not setting the new camera correctly? Thanks for any more image examples or help.

Welcome, I am over the water from you in South Wales.

Hey all, I cannot believe my luck. I was out on the 31st July practicing imaging Jupiter and Saturn with the my new ADC and ZWO Asi224MC. All of a sudden the ISS started to appear from the South West heading East. I quickly released the clutches on the mount and followed the ISS the best I could with the finder scope. Everything was set in sharp cap for the Jupiter capture, ROI was set to 320 x 240, 2x barlow plus ADC.  I could not believe it out of 6500 frames I manged to find 13 frames, which I stacked. Second bit of luck, PIPP said it could not find an object, so I turned the option off and it ran without errors. The hero was AutoStakkert which sorted the frames to the front of the ser file. 

Composite of 3 images from my night:

Excellent!

RIP. I was just saying to my wife this morning that on the skyatnight I watched last night that he seemed very frail and then 3-4 hrs later I hear the news.

My vesta webcam died last week so I needed a replacement guide cam. I came across this thread and decided to order the SPC880NC from Morgans. I paid £31 for the cam and IR adaptor delivered. I already owned a mogg adaptor for the vesta cam, which I wanted to reuse. However, I read that it would not fit the SPC880NC. So I decided to re-house the new cam as shown below. I hope somebody else finds it useful:

First take the cam apart following these instructions: Philips SPC900NC uncovered

Equipment used/needed: Static wrist band, Mogg adaptor (UWAT-F), Watchmakers screwdrivers (flat & phillips heads), Stanley knife, Black duct tape, small piece of wire & small plastic container (Tesco £0.99 for 4). I used the former simply because I had the items at home already.

Next I checked the adaptor fitted the cam:

Cut a hole in the lid to fit the protruding part between the thread and 1.25 adaptor:

Screw cam innards to adaptor:

Cut hole in end of bottom half of the container to thread USB cable through and also make two holes in the side for your wire, which will act as a brace:

Loop cam lead around inside bottom half of case and secure using your wire to act as a brace in case you trip over lead. This step is not necessary but better to be safe than sorry:

Wrap the housing in black tape and your done. Not the most aesthetic finish but functional:

One working guide cam:

Thank you again! It looks like I don't to flash the cam as I'm running it on a xp lappy. Is there any benefit to upgrading the firmware?

Regards,

Paul

Hello Kevin,

Thank you very much you are a life saver :-). Cam arrived today and the sky is looking clear!!

Best wishes,

Paul

NB sent

HI can somebody send me the 880 .inf file as the zip on Morgans website is corrupt.

Thank you,

PH-R

Wow I am not surprised there is this kind of thread setup up for acknowledging Steve's customer service!

I ordered a t-ring and adaptor for my D10. The following day Steve had phoned my house and then after my wife gave him my work number phoned me and advised me on a better piece of kit. He even saved me a further pound.

Thank you so much Steve for the great service.

Who ever orders from FLO will get great top notch service regardless of how much they spend.

Just how it should be.

Kind regards,

Paul