CraigT82

Wouldn’t you need to test one of the early cameras with HGC at 150 against one of the newer cameras with the HGC at 252? Or is it the case that the cameras themselves haven’t changed it was just the specs on paper that were wrong initially? ZWOs answer about the change is vague doesn’t really clarify anything, which makes me think they really messed up!

Very nice work, the Jupiter is good but the Mars is a belter, well done 👍🏼

You don’t need that much distance just for collimation, I’ve done it with about 30m I think, if you were planning on star testing with it it would need to be further to be viewed as a genuine point source. One problem I experienced (I used the Hubble optics star) was that I collimated nicely on the star with the scope pointing nearly horizontal, but when pointing the scope upwards to the sky the collimation shifts slightly.

This is the kind of thing you want for that purpose: https://www.screwfix.com/p/rawlplug-r-kem-ii-styrene-free-polyester-resin-300ml/32863?kpid=32863&ds_kid=92700048793290424&ds_rl=1249413&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1bqZBhDXARIsANTjCPKfz2W-3koY6YC1IY0bZhlaj8puhwvqOLLauMQz3fGvja7XrYNR6D0aAvt6EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#product_additional_details_container edit: just browsed through this thread and the Google book linked and I also spotted the gate brace the wrong way round, wonder if it’s sagged and been fixed in the last ten years?!

I also turn fan down to minimum just before observing/imaging, so that it’s just enough to break up the primary boundary layer. I also have it pulling air down the tube rather than pushing air up, I find the airflow within the tube is a bit more orderly that way.

Yes that is odd, I get 250fps maximum speed at smallest ROI with my ASI485mc

Having a well baffled fan like the one above is a great way to increase the efficiency of the fan which lets you run it at lower speeds to minimises vibration. Saying that though I don’t think I’ve ever seen the vibration effects of a fan running visually, but when hi-res imaging it is very visible, so I make sure to mechanically decouple the fan from the scope on my OTA.

Well that’s CN for you! I personally like it, I can zoom in if I want to get close but I do enjoy the open space feeling the full frame gives. Lovely stuff. Would be very boring if everyone did the same thing.

Space bar to deselect in AS3

The auto detection only works for the overall size of the planets disk and the rough alignment of the equator with the cloud belts… you have to check yourself if the north and preceding are set correctly. As Neil says the bright limb is very common and can be mitigated by adjusting the LD value when you do the derotation. Can also be sorted in post process too to a certain extent. Nice image btw lots of detail 👍🏼

It won’t be dusty or dirty glass so don’t worry about cleaning them. Most likely poor seeing and thermals in the scope. Possible collimation too but you say it was ok? Big cat like that needs good thermal management. Try a longer eyepiece, even a 20mm will give you 195x in a C14 which is probably too much for poor seeing.

West of meridian is minus, east positive.

I've had a go at your 300 and 3000 frame stacks, just to see the difference that ten times the frames gives you. Same processing in Astrosurface (I applied the processes to the 3000 frame image first then applied that same process to the 300 frame). No other post processing or touching up applied, not even any noise reduction. 300 frame on left, 3000 on right

Nice, lots of readily identifiable surface features visible there

Super interested but not sure I can make it due to childcare. Don’t suppose the sessions will be recorded and made available at some point?

Fab images Neil some really fine details there, some artifacts in the small crater shadows on the second but that’s easily sorted. Love the central peak of Moretus poking up into the sunshine.

As it's cloudy I've had another go, this time I made use of the Wiener deconvolution function in Astrosurface. Tried to define the detail whilst maintaining smoothness. First attempt left, latest right. Thanks again for sharing your data @symmetal. If I ever get around to capturing anything this apparition I’ll be sure to share it too!

In Astrosurface you can use the white balance tool to auto balance the colours, should render a more natural coloured image.

That’s really nice, lots of detail and very gently processed, I like it👍🏼

I think you’d probably have to lift the dob off the trolley and put it on the EQ platform. Are you making your own platform or buying? If making you could probably design it in a way to accommodate the trolley. But then again you’d still have to lift the lot up onto the platform so might as well lift the scope in its own rather than scope + trolley. Or are you thinking of having the scope on the platform and then having both on top of the trolley? Supposed that would be ok if the feet of the platform have somewhere to sit on on the trolley and the trolley was level (though I think some platforms have levelling built in though). Might make the EP quite high though.

Those are much better to my eyes, the first one for me I think, very nicely done, could probably stand a saturation boost to make it come alive

Indeed! Always good to share the little tricks of the trade

Yeah I used an inverted elliptical selection and applied a slight Gaussian blur to the edge of the disk (in gimp). Sorts out the ghosted limb and just gives a bit more of a natural looking disk.

Nice one, love playing with other peoples data... good practice! Here's my attempt, using Astrosurface and Gimp. Cheers