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Everything posted by Skipper Billy
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You dont say where you are but up here the air is unbelievably dry at the moment - you might get away without dew control. Here last night it was -7 and the dew point was -12.
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NGC 2174 - The Monkeys Head Nebula. 5 hours Ha in 1200 sec subs binned 1x1 from a couple of weeks ago and 3 hours OIII in 600 second subs binned 1x1 from last night. The OIII was weak and sketchy and it clouded over before I had as much data as I really wanted. If its clear again tonight I will grab a few more hours of OIII and reprocess it as I had to push the OIII really hard (too hard). Or I might image it in SII and make a 'Hubble' pallet image.
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In the words of the great philosopher (Billy Connolly!) 'There is no such thing as bad weather - just wrong clothes' !!! π I work outside quite a bit (down to -19ΒΊ) and handle large lumps of alloy - yacht masts and rigging etc which pulls the heat out of your hands in an instant. Merino wool gloves and socks and thick soled boots are a big help as is a good hat - I wear a rabbit skin hat which may be not very politically correct but is very warm. A big help is a bowl of hot steaming porridge before you go out. No alcohol - makes you colder quicker.
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Wonky SGP behavior and venting some steam
Skipper Billy replied to kookoo_gr's topic in Imaging - Discussion
I too had setup issues with the Meridian flip. It seems I was asking NINA and SiTech to do the same thing and as a result neither did it. Once that was resolved it has performed flawlessly. (I am using 1.10 Beta 3). IE NOT the nightly updates! -
Wonky SGP behavior and venting some steam
Skipper Billy replied to kookoo_gr's topic in Imaging - Discussion
I understand that all of this is in the next major full release (1.11?) - its already there in the nightly updates if you like living at the bleeding edge π± -
Pixinsight is extremely powerful but fairly complicated ie its a steep learning curve. I haven't used GIMP but understand that it is very like Photoshop - many people produce extraordinary images with it. Keep at it and shout out if you need help processing it - it sounds like you might have decent data to work with now ???
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Wonky SGP behavior and venting some steam
Skipper Billy replied to kookoo_gr's topic in Imaging - Discussion
Certainly considering it now. I tried NINA alongside SGP as a trial really. This was influenced by the occasional flakiness of SGP and the change in the SGP business model. I was very impressed and within 3 weeks I had deleted SGP. NINA is robust, flexible, reliable, easy to set up and use and free - very well written and comprehensive help files etc. In the interests of balance I would list any negatives too but I cant think of any π -
Wonky SGP behavior and venting some steam
Skipper Billy replied to kookoo_gr's topic in Imaging - Discussion
How about trying NINA??? https://nighttime-imaging.eu/ -
Yep I know, which camera......
Skipper Billy replied to scotty38's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
Would also like to know the reasoning. This 50% figure really made me question my plan to get a cooled OSC. I cant remember the details but @ollypenrice wrote a very convincing article some time ago that explained the 'how and why' - I will see if I can find it. I remember being very convinced by the powerful arguments made for mono over OSC. -
Yep I know, which camera......
Skipper Billy replied to scotty38's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
Its not just 'technically' faster - it is demonstrably faster by at least 50% - but I can understand that the extra complexity (and cost) of a filter wheel, filters etc may be off-putting - but on the upside the processing on mono images is easier. -
Yep I know, which camera......
Skipper Billy replied to scotty38's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
A guide scope is more than adequate for up to about 1200mm focal length - above that OAG comes into its own as it helps eliminate differential flexure. The OAG can be very fiddly to set up - whereas the separate scope is a piece of cake. You will have enough to fiddle with at the start! π -
Yep I know, which camera......
Skipper Billy replied to scotty38's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
If you dont go for a cooled camera you aren't gaining much over a DSLR which I guess you may already have if you are into photography?? I cant comment on the latest colour CMOS cameras as I haven't got one ! I see great images from them though. The rest of your planned kit sounds like a match made in heaven - personally I would avoid the added complexity (as per Olly) of an OAG and go with a converted finder scope. Welcome to the Asylum π -
Good luck - are you fairly clear on what to do next time ??? I had a play with your autosaved image and whilst the bayer matrix is completely messed up I deliberately used the wrong matrix to reveal some colour so at least you can see what you got - you could have a play at processing it when its cloudy!! Autosave_RGB_VNG.tif
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2.1mm breakout box??? is there one
Skipper Billy replied to iwols's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
PS - if you decide you want a box I will happily make you one for just the cost of the parts and postage. I rewire the 12v systems on boats for a living so I have a rough idea what I am doing! π -
2.1mm breakout box??? is there one
Skipper Billy replied to iwols's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Just a heads up - put insulation tape over any sockets that are not being used - its really easy to accidentally short unused sockets which will really spoil your evening!!! π -
OK - so the image you uploaded I am guessing is not directly from the camera??? It is indeed a greyscale image which makes me think that its a file file that DSS has spat out due to incorrectly debayering the image. Can you upload a sub direct from camera ie NOTHING done to it then we can work out where its going wrong?
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Outstanding - you should feel very proud of that!
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Help me spend my money!
Skipper Billy replied to The Lazy Astronomer's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
I would !! π -
Help me spend my money!
Skipper Billy replied to The Lazy Astronomer's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Collimation tools, probably another focuser and a hair transplant for when you have ripped your own out and a private prescription for maximum dose of Valium π