DaveS

My pier sits on a platform just over 2.2 metres square and nominally 0.5 metre thick, plus another 0.3-0.5 metre for foundation. the contractors reckoned just over 8 tonnes of "stuff".

Thanks, yes the amp-glow calibrates out, but I wish it wasn't there to begin with. Reading the rest of your post suggests the "hundreds of short subs" regime, with 16 subs for every single sub (Usually 600 sec) that I currently take. I currently dither between subs, and use Sigma Add stacking, though with only in the low tens of subs made at the Max DR setting. Will give this more thought, though the QHY 268 (Hopefully colour in Oct) is looking very attractive.

A bit more work today, but really too hot for doing much. Mainly fiddly stuff with weatherproofing. Not worth photos. Will get more done when it cools off a bit.

Well, perhaps not rubbish, but not up to the latest CMOS cameras. 12 bit ADC and amp-glow are the biggest negatives. Plus I just had to replace a dead fan. Could do with more Full Well Depth too.

Thanks Olly I'll investigate further, but I've just rebooted the computer. Came in from working on the obsy to find we had a power cut. It's back on now but I've been running around making sure everything's back to normal.

Thanks guys I'll have a look at a linear stack of my data, probably a Luminance stack, and I'll do one using Sigma average rather than add. ATM I'm only using a fairly rubbish ASI 1600 with 12 bit ADC and miserable FWD. Thinking of one of the upcoming QHY 268 as that will avoid the expense of 50 mm unmounted filters, though a full-frame OSC has a certain siren attraction.

Done too. I had the same problems that Dave had so put a neutral 3 in those questions I felt unable to give a sensible answer to.

TBH, I don't know the answer to that. I am / will be imaging at 910mm FL and around the 0.85"pp level. It will be a while before I can afford to buy one of the new CMOS cameras so plenty of time to work out how I will run it.

OK. My sky is SQI 21.66, so not dark dark, but usefully dark even so. Will have to think about how short is short. Currently I use 10 min subs.

I know it has been SOP with wide DR targets like M42 and M31 to take multiple sub lengths and use layer masking to hold back the bright cores while bringing out the faint outer details. However, looking at some of the newer QHY CMOS cameras with 14+ stops DR and huge Full Well Depths I wonder if it's still necessary to capture multiple sub lengths to avoid blowing out highlight detail? I know DDP can do wonders with pulling out faint detail without blowing out bright areas, perhaps combine this with a masked stretch for the very faint stuff?

I would be wary of using Bias and Dark. With modern CMOS cameras I think Dark frames only as they already contain the Bias signal. Otherwise you may find that you are over correcting the dark signal.

Thanks Carole. This has been very slow work, partly because I've been making it up as I go along, plus long delays for deliveries, and my own cack-handedness making everything take much longer than it should. Been a big learning curve. Hopefully when I come to make an automated obsy for the current rig on its platform I will have some idea of what I'm doing!

Still got the roof motor to fit, slightly complicated by there being some droop in the long roof bearer despite the angle ali. Will have to mount it a bit higher that I first thought.

Initially I had some slack in the membrane which let water in, fortunately not on anything that could be damaged. I fiddled with the tapes and managed to get the slack stuck down. TBH, shiplap was what I wanted to use originally, and would have been a lot faster to clad, as I would have needed fewer strakes and they would have gone on without the fight I had with the T&G.

A lot of fiddley cut and fit around various cutouts And The heffalump in the room A very awkward triangular hole to fill. May put perforated mesh in and call it ventilation. Also have the hold down toggles fitted There are four of them, and all the screws are 100 mm going right into the roof bearers.

I now have the skeleton of the roof made And covered with breathable membrane. Managed to get the north wall cladding on. Had to use shiplap as Wickes was out of stock of T&G

Until I needed Maxim DL for my ASA mounts I used AstroArt 5 for my capture as well as stacking and post. I still use AA7 which has some brilliant gradient removal tools, only moving to Affinity Photo for final polishing. As for cameras, although the QHY OSC sounds interesting I would always go with mono as it is more versatile with NB. Don't discount AstroArt. Although there are new "Flavour of the Month" packages it punches well above its price point, and is still being developed and supported.. SP4 is pout now for AA7.

I use Telegizmos 365 covers with an electric pet-bed underneath to keep damp away. Although not cheap, compared to the value of the kit it's protecting, it's well worth it.

Possibly, though I've always regarded the pink / blue HOO bicolour as a bit of a cop-out if there's not enough [SII]. but there is enough here for a HST palette.

Ooh, I do like this. Some lovely colours and the central pillars are hanging there like an abstract jewel.

Thanks Mark. I held off replying in case anyone else had a comment to make but guess it's not that interesting.

Was disappointed. Just a rehash of old programs, Sky at Night and Horizon with no new news. Sorry, Pete L wasn't featured. Felt it was a waste of an hour.

ON NOW

On in 10 mins.

Very thin data, only 4 hours HII and [OIII] plus 8 Hours [SII] in 10 min subs, but the weather has been against me. 130 f/7 TS apo as in my sig with 3nm Astrodon filters from a 21.66 location. Stacking and initial post in AstroArt 7, Crop alignment edges, Gradient Removal > Adaptive Subtract, Colour Balance level and contrast, then DDP. PNG into Affinity Photo for Selective Colours and Clarity. Scaled to half size and exported as JPEG. I really want as much data again, and need better Darks to more closely match the temp of the Lights, but I'm parking this for the time being until I get the chance of a longer run.