tooth_dr

Thanks for the heads up, I have been followig them and looking at their various publications. I'm joining Nemetode http://www.nemetode.org/ and have been in touch with the founder and a couple of members. Interesting it turns out the founder William went to school with my brother, so it's a small world indeed.

I will try this later Ciaran. Thanks ?? I just assumed APP would do what was needed automatically, and use them appropriately

Thanks vlaiv What you are saying is very helpful and this will hopefully get me to the bottom of the problem. 1. All subs were taken at -15oC. The camera sometimes fluctuates to -16oC but 1/2 a degree should make much difference. 2. Lights - night time, luminance filter Darks - on scope in shed at night time with end cap on Bias - on scope in shed at night time with end cap on Flats - taken using a computer monitor set to white page, four sheets of white paper over end dew shield, held by a cardboard holder, scope about 40cm from screen, at right angles. Also used same luminance filter. Flat Darks - on scope in shed at night with end cap on Camera not moved between lights and flats.

I have not tried this, I will try that later and also post images. Thank-you.

Thanks William. I can upload data if you want no problem. I still have the Atik.

I processed a few subs of Leo on Wednesday night, using the frames listed below. The camera is a QHY9 mono with the KAF-8300 mono sensor. I used Astrophotography Tool (APT) for data collection and Astro Pixel Processor (APP) for processing. I used the 'CCD aid tool' in APT to calculate a mean ADU of about 26k for my flats. This resulted in an exposure of 8 seconds. In my stacked image from APP, the outside of the image is bright and some dust bunnies are visible. Any suggestions of what to try next? LIGHTS: 24 x 300s DARKS: 30 x 300s FLATS: 30 x 8s DARK FLATS: 30 x 8s BIAS: 30 x 0.01s

Loving the detail here, very smart.

That is beautiful.

Here is the brightest one so far. I've just started analysing them with UFO software so have worked out the direction it came from, and the approx magnitude which was -2.4. It is not that easy to do the analysis but will get the hang of it eventually!! meteor20190204194554.mp4

Thanks Jamie. Since that video was taken I realised the focus was off by a bit. So I did the needful - got the wife up on the shed rood and she adjusted it whilst I viewed the screen. Now it's much better and I get less false recordings. The scintilations from out of focus orion stars were causing the video to trigger a detection, and I filled 250GB hard drive in two days! No fireballs yet but about 30+ meteors in 4 nights. The Watec 902H is very sensitive, and along with the 8mm F0.8 lens (pure fluke I found this on ebay USA), it should pick up meteors down to magnitude +4 or +5 Here is a capture from Saturday. https://streamable.com/eiwn0

Ok Mike, thanks.

Mine is in a heated standard cctv enclosure too. It’s at 45 degrees and so far so good. I’ve one at 5mm and it’s ok. But I think much lower and the housing interferes with the FOV.

Very good Helen. I bought UFOCapture V2 which seems to be the preferred choice for capturing meteors. It’s not cheap at ¥20k but can be used on multiple PCs at the one site and I have 2 cameras.

u6wp8.mp4

Here is my first meteor capture from last night with my meteor camera setup. I captured six meteors in total! https://streamable.com/u6wp8

Thanks Mike I just asked as I have a couple of mono and a colour camera (USB) with the 640x480 sensors, and a 2.1mm lens. I do have a ZWO120MM but it's being used as a guider. I tried it very briefly last night but I got an error message trying to connect a DMK camera, so I'll sit down with the instructions and work it out. Will it work with an analogue camera via a USB 'grabber' (eg pinnacle dazzle)? I'm in the process of thinking about an enclosure, and making my own, so that's the long term plan. Adam.

I'm going to give this a whirl tonight. What type of camera works best?

@discardedastroThat is nice, and I'm sure it could be modified to fit a small PC fan to improve cooling and airflow.

And any blue light too

What a great story with a happy ending. Hope you get out there and take some shots with the Canon.

We call them cue tips too, or cotton buds.

I think this is the best thread on SGL!

The second image is a dark frame with the lens cap on the scope, so it can’t be anything to do with what is being imaged in the light frame eg bright star at the edge of the FOV. I’ll start the betting and say it’s light coming in from behind the primary, maybe your computer screen or a light.

Absolutely a good point. At £600 the budget is a little too limited. However, I would respectfully disagree about the decent camera comment and the need to spend over £1500 - a used KAF-8300 is a good buy, and for about half of that amount will get you into CCD RGB imaging. I still would recommend a used DSLR though, and maybe an H-alpha filter to use on moonlit nights.

A used Kodak KAF-8300 based camera eg QHY9 would be just about doable for slightly over the budget of £600, and a used Canon modded DSLR would be around £100-140. I dont see the benefit of buying a new DSLR for astroimaging given the used prices these days of already modded ones (and I bought my first Canon DSLR brand new and modified it straight away). The ease of use of a DSLR and large field size allow for cropping of defects and are more forgiving when framing. I would recommend cutting your teeth on a DSLR, and then consider progressing to an astro CCD or CMOS.