Blazar

Taken me long enough to get the data processed and happy with it. Think this is the best I can do really. Usual equipment. Would need to dig through the logs to get the free numbers etc. Though there were 2000 frame captures. RGB +L.

Welcome aboard! As knobby Says....it used to be fairly busy, but life took over I think 😉

Another HA target. trying out what had been learnt and seeing if guiding could be conducted under wifi control.....to which the answer was 'NO'. Same equipment as Pelican shot. this is over 40 subs though of 180 seconds.

Nah...this is our own private group now...I will keep posting stuff when I have it. I also have the North American to do...will post them both in here and the imaging section. Cant wait for you to get your new mount and then perhaps we can try out a combined imaging target...

Yeah....the Pelican is very subjective...I will keep trying that PAPS side of things and see how that goes. I guess for larger apertures it might not be good enough, though time will tell. Was glad to have you onboard and chatting whilst being outside...it's so much more sociable 😉

So first good try out of using some of the APT tools (Such as PAPS, and the Bhatinov mask tool), and then try to do some imaging for the first time in ages. The mount and laptop did not want to play ball at first (Windows 11 and driver updates that had been done without my permission). After all that we could mess around with PAPS and see how good it could polar align. As this was the first time we were a little slow, but im sure with practice and adjusting the config it will get faster. So in the end it was IC 5070 - The Pelican Nebula which was best placed to mess around on. Focus had shifted on the first few subs, so that needed tweaking. All in all it was circa 36 x180 second subs, using a WO Star71 (with aperture mask), guided by PHD2. its just a rough process job, and looked not so bright on my other laptop, but hey..... Great fun to be out, and just in time for the end of the good weather o_0...darn.

Yeah...I put them over there as well...but my Priority was of course this page 😉

Hey all, Managed to get out and catch some rays! decided to make some time being as it was sunny. There was a slight haze, but I think these came out ok whilst I was trying to remember how all the kit works 🙂 . These were with the TAL100RS, on the CGEMDX. Quark Cromosphere, ZWO174mm camera. Stacked in AS3, processed in ImPPG and finished in PS5. I tried various processing options and had to try and recall what some of it was...Might try and do this again at some point!

Hey all, Managed to get out and catch some rays! decided to make some time being as it was sunny. There was a slight haze, but I think these came out ok whilst I was trying to remember how all the kit works 🙂. These were with the TAL100RS, on the CGEMDX. Quark Cromosphere, ZWO174mm camera. Stacked in AS3, processed in ImPPG and finished in PS5. Might try and do this again at some point!

Very nice indeed ! I might have to give that a go at some point (probably too late now I would imagine).

Well its a start 😉 . I never said I was any good at math of course 🙂 kind of makes sense though looking through it all.

I like the Red to be honest 🙂 but this is part of the fun....

So the seeing was not to bad at all (though Jupiter is still way too low) really. Managed to actually use a barlow though (2.5x powermate). Usual kit in the signature. Did also connect the mount via wifi and get all the starsense working over it all..so thats a positive as well.

Never bothered with an ADC (but I did buy one), and I have a 174mm...I guess shooting with a colour whilst they are low is ideal and the ADC is beneficial... Jupiter is around -20 degrees below the celestial equator even at the meridian. Probably why I have not been out for two years or so!

I have asked FLO about tuning it...

Not sure what they are....though it is a gen 1 WO star71....I think it will need tuning unless anyone else has any thoughts?

full size.

Ok @knobby....here it is. a cropped view...tried to keep it natural, but not done this in a few years!

😨 I will have to have a look at it over the weekend. Think it comes apart once the knobs are off I would think. You ever taken one apart? what dew controller are you using?

HAHA...ah yes I now remember the joys of astro imaging. I am waaaay to tired! I finally took my shoes off at 2:25. I decided to take a few more subs (due to the odd car going past, and also a few more satellites). I also had the DSLR battery drain, so had to stop everything to change that. Once the first part of the imaging plan was complete, I thought about your comment on the guiding assistant....so I ran that whilst I waited to take the last 5 subs (once all the street lights went out)...it was just after that the battery died :-)....typical....and guiding then started to have a problem with a low snr alarm....so had to re-start that. Oh and found my Hitec astro 4 port dew controller now has a dodgy / loose cable somewhere (anyone know how to take these things apart?) As knobby pointed out, there were a few issues, and I am grateful for his assistance, though as stated, I guess these are the times you learn the most! I am going to re-check every setting today just to make sure they are right. I now have quite a few subs, darks and bias...that I need to do something with! I will post it back (might not be today though, as I am still working here ;-)) So grateful for your guidance on this stuff. I was also messaging another friend who was out. he had a power cable issue, guiding issues, then a massive power cut knocked out most of his area, then all his gear came to life, and he now had black skies to work with, so I guess the sky gods do give a little back every now and then 😉 I will try not to muller the data I got, it looks promising for my first stab at M13...

What guiding setup have you gone for John?

Thanks Guys. I will do. The next test is to get plate solving working, then I might actually take a snap of an object! I think if I can crack this, then I will be ready for the Winter months with ay luck. I can't wait to actually catch some data at some point...though then its going into the murky world of processing! I do need to do some reading up. @knobby, perhaps you already have some data I can use to practice on? I know we used to share a few bits and bobs over cloud drives etc? maybe we need a folder on here to share data?

Well it is a little quite on the ECD pages, but thought I would say what a successful night it was last night. Managed to get all the new software, and guidescope camera and mount talking...and guiding at the first attempt....though did not take any images (that is reserved for now). Was glad to have Knobby on the end of the phone when there were a few 'funnies' that showed up. Still great to start getting my hobby back on track.

First new kit in a while. Re-worked the guide scope on my WO Star71 for a new WO 50mm version, and on the 120mm handle bar. Was a little tight to get it to fit, but seems to be very stable. We will see how it goes when it goes onto the CGEM.

Shame to see our once busy forum not as active. I guess life has got in the way for many of us. Hopefully this year I can get all the scopes out a bit more...Anybody get any astro stuff for Xmas? I was after a few bits, but Santa was not on the same wavelength! Hope all the dodgers are well...