Skipper Billy

No problem with any other filters apart from Oiii and Blue - I am fairly convinced that the issue is with the filters and Baader are looking into it for me. Meantime I am just making sure that all other possibilities are explored whilst the rig is in bits and spread across the dining room table! 🙂

True but I think i read somewhere (Vlaiv?) that Blue light and Oiii are more easily scattered than all the other wavelengths??? Cant do any harm so black insulation tape and sharp scissors required 🙂

I have carefully inspected the entire optical train with a really bright torch looking for anything that is reflective. The only thing I can see that is reflective are the screws that hold the camera together - see attached. (The inside of the scope is beautifully baffled and darker than a coal hole!) Is it possible that light is passing through the filter hitting the screw heads and bouncing off the back of the filter into the camera causing the halos??? I am toying with the idea of making a mask to cover the screw heads from stiff black card and sandwiching it between the filter wheel and the camera.

Cracking image. Lucky you with the clear nights and you are just up the road from me! Well done.

What a lovely and refreshing attitude ! 🙂

Thanks Bryan that restores my confidence a little! I am well - now - I had a new Aorta and femoral arteries a few weeks ago but I am well on the mend now.

I have spent years trying to develop a lighter touch to my processing and I think you nailed it in your original. I wouldnt stretch it much at all. The web is full of grossly overprocessed almost comical images with blown highlights !! Jewellers dont put their goods on a market stall ! 🙂

Yep - I am not a happy bunny at the moment! Anyway - I won't hijack your thread - cracking image by the way - just shows that there is no substitute for plenty of exposure time !

Nope - no reducer or flattener. This is a very heavy crop - maybe less than 10% of the whole image using the Blue filter - the Oiii is just the same.

I wish I hadn't read that! I am having issues with my Baader Blue & Oiii filters and was considering a set of Antlia 2" filters as a fix!

Do you not watch the news? I think it's underway!! 🙂

More testing of various images in the claculator and spending more time on it than I could at work shows the problem lies between 2.5mm and 4mm in front of the sensor. Given that the distance from the sensor to the mounting threads is ~19mm then the issue must lie within the camera.

Just had a quick play with the calculator and it is telling me that the issue exists 2.5mm in front of the sensor! So NOT a filter issue?? The plot thickens!

Thanks very much. Thats more good things being said about Antlia ! When I get to the bottom of this issue I will post the findings in case anyone else has a similar issue. All the best. David (aka Skipper Billy)

Thanks Alan That is an extraordinarily kind offer - thank you. I am going to live with it until the rig gets dismantled in about 4 weeks time and just check the basics again as its taken apart. and see if I can locate any obvious problems first and if the calculator shows that the filter is the issue then I will probably contact Baader first to see if they have anything to say - its a long shot but worth an email. Sweden was great - as usual - its a long way to go to see the grandkids - especially via Frankfurt!! All the best David (aka Skipper Billy)

I am on my way to the airport now - visiting our grandkids in Sweden - and will have limted comms for the next few days. So I apologise in advance if people are taking valuable time to respond and I am not replying/acknowledging in a timely fashion.

Thanks Dave The Atik16200 is bolted directly to the EFW3 so mounting the Lodestar would be a major faff. But maybe a full strip down and investigation may be required over the summer so that coule be an option. Or I could borrow the ZWO 178 out of my all sky camera. That calculator looks interesting I will certainly have a play with that. I was unaware that such a thing existed! Thanks again for your helpful suggestions. David

I dont have another camera sadly but it doesnt do it with any of the other filters (except Oiii which is equally as bad). I have got used to the tiny cross/star effect which is down to the camera and I actually quite like it now! There is nothing else in the optical path. Its nearly time to break the rig down now for the summer and will probably contact Baader to see what they say. I really dont want to splash out on a new set of filters to find out that the problem still exists and is therefore the result of some other cause! Thanks again for your help. Pretty Pictures = just playing at it!!! 🙂

Thanks Alan Thats very interesting and thank you for going to so much effort. Its looking like I have a 'Friday afternoon' filter or two ! David (aka Skipper Billy)

Pretty pictures! Sans halos !

Thanks for your input Olly. It is definitely the blue filter and it can only go in the EFW3 one way as its a mounted filter. The Oiii gives very similar results. I dont think Baader will be interested - the narrowband and broadband sets are about 7 years old. This is the second blue and Oiii I have had - the first set were just as bad and FLO swapped them but these aren't much better. I assumed it was because they were relatively budget end filters. Maybe it was a dodgy batch !

I currently use Baader 2" filters for LRGB and Ha Sii and Oiii. The Blue filter gives horrible halos on bright stars and so does the Oiii I realise that they are entry level filters and I have decided to bite the bullet and upgrade. First question is - is there any advantage in upgrading them all or just the two that dont play nicely?? Second question - what brand to upgrade to in a 2" mounted filter??? (I really dont want to have to change my filter wheel). I feel that the filters are letting the rest of my rig down and I dont mind investing in quality gear but wanted to consult the group before giving my flexible friend a work-out! Attached image is heavily cropped and uses the Blue filter.

Cheers!!

Yes really! One of them was 3.3 mag and cracked a wall !

Last night was a bit of a write-off. Guiding was all over the place and turned out to be a combination of polar alignment having shifted (5 earthquakes in a week) and very whispy high cloud. Then the cloud really rolled in so I only managed to get about 45 mins on the blue channel and no red or green. I was imaging a new target (for me) the Dreyer's Nebula - IC2169 - which it seems is rarely imaged. I decided to process the feeble data I did get and this is the result - just 9 x 300 second subs in the Blue channel. It looks like its worth pursuing when conditions allow. This is just stacked and stretched - no processing. (I need a new Blue filter - it always gives horrible halos on the big stars on the Blue channel - (hello is that Mr Astrodon - I have a kidney for sale!!) masterLight_BIN-1_4499x3599_EXPOSURE-300.00s_FILTER-Blue_mono.tif