daveangie0110

40 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi. Looks good to me. For just 180s frames, it's amazing. Nice to see so many stars;)

Keep going and I think you'll end up with a winner.

Thanks adam, if you look at one of the light frames you can see lots of red and blue pixels but I dont know why they are in my image 

4 minutes ago, Adam J said:

Pixel rejection only works if you dither the subs, so did you dither the subs? Also thats not very much data so I think you need to collect at least 4 times the amount of subs before you can be justified in complaining about noise irrespective of the format.  

Adam 

Thanks Adam, it was only a test of my camera and I only managed 25 subs, would more subs stop the red and blue pixels ?

Here is the link to my dropbox.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aj8u1tleokryulp/AAARZXn5lWqK0sS69bfCefnUa?dl=0

The top file is where all my lights and calibration frames are in.

5 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Just a couple of points.

I'm having hard time identifying hot pixels in this image - star field is so dense that I'm never sure if it is hot pixel or the star.

Hot pixels will show in your darks - stretch your master dark and note position of hot pixels in it - they should roughly correspond to pixels in final image (there is some alignment in final image).

You can't really do cosmetic correction at this sampling resolution because stars are tiny so that is out of the question.

Did you dither your subs? If you plan to use sigma reject stacking you need your subs dithered properly - that means quite a shift because of sampling rate. If you move your sub by just a few arc seconds - that is no dither at all when your imaging resolution is about 4"/px.

If you zoom in to the image you can see lots of red and blue pixels, I had a friend of mine who run it through Pixinsight and he could see the pixels in the image. I streched the dark frames and they looked ok. I did not dither either.

I have all the FIT files in my dropbox which I can send you if you like.

5 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

does it only happen after stacking? 

 

I stacked just the light frames and they are still in that image.

2 hours ago, spillage said:

Do your darks have the same issues?

No darks are fine.

1 minute ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

how did you do your flats?

try stacking just the lights.  

 

I done my flat frames aiming for a value of 28000 ADU i used a tablet, i have tried stacking just the lights but still no good.

13 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

post an image, also try stacking in DSS to see if it might be a setting issue in APP

Hi,

I have now added the image.

Hi all

Can anyone help.

I just purchased a ASI294MC Pro camera,  I tried it out for the first time on my Redcat and a UV/IR filter, from my very light polluted garden (Bortle 8-9) I shot 25 x 180 second exposures at 120 gain and -20, I also shot 20 dark frames at the same settings as my lights i also done 20 x flats and dark flats at 2.5 second exposures gain 120 and at -20.

I ran them through APP creating master dark, master flat and  master dark flat files also a bad pixel map, once APP done it thing the final image had lots of red and blue pixels in it, I tried stacking them gain but this time I tried sigma clipping but I ended up with the same result I even tried Windsor and MAD sigma clipping but I still had red and blue pixels in my image, even when I stacked just the light frames I still had red and blue pixels.

My friend has stacked them in Pixinsight and he gets the same issue.Can anyone help or have I got a faulty camera ?

Thanks.

Hi All,

I want to make the jump from a Canon 600D to a dedicated cooled OSC Camera, but i dont know what ZWO Camera to get, i have the following Telescope and Lenses.

TS Optics Triplet 480mm Focal Length

William Optics Redcat 250mm Focal Length

Samyang 135mm F2 Lens

What is the best ZWO Camera to get ?

Thanks

Hi All,

I am trying to make a list of targets i can image through the year with my Samyang 135 lens and a unmoded Canon 600D can anyone give me some targets i can go after please.

Many thanks

On 20/06/2018 at 23:39, Adam J said:

Great but I will have one last go at trying to persuade you to get a mono lol. I would love to know the reasoning for wanting a color sensor?

Being able to use Luminance in LRGB is a massive huge advantage.

Hi Adam,

The reason I want a colour camera is purely the time it takes to shoot a image also the extra  money needed to buy the filters.

21 hours ago, Adam J said:

Why colour if you dont mind me asking? Mono cameras are vastly higher performance for a similar cost, I use a cheap 60 pound LRGB set with mine so filters dont have to cost the earth.

In any case if I was to get a color camera it would be between the QHY168c and the ASI294mc pro especially if you are going to get a scope with a slightly longer focal length later on. While the ASI1600 is great in mono, I have not been blown away by the shots people are taking with the color version. If you are sticking with the lenses and the ZS61 for a while then I think that the ASI183mc pro is probably the way to go due to the smaller pixels being better suited to the short focal length. I would not be tempted to get Altairs first cooled camera hot of the shelf, ZWO had issues with their first cooled attempts with the 1600 and so I would let it mature first.

 

Hi Adam, 

I have made my mind up and going for the ZWO183C, like you Saud the smaller pixels will be better suited for my ZS61.

23 hours ago, Adam J said:

The question is what do you want to use it for?

Deep Sky wide field at a guess looking at your scopes. 

Assuming that it is this camera: https://www.altairastro.com/Altair-Hypercam-IMX183C-Colour-Astronomy-CMOS-Camera.html

Then yes the IMX183c sensor itself is very well suited to the ZS61 and the Samyang 135mm lens due to its small pixels. I would be getting an IMX183 based camera if I had those scopes / lenses. 

HOWEVER, and its a big however, I would not myself purchase the Altair-Hypercam IMX183C myself because for me, for DSO imaging, it fails on two counts. 

1) Its not cooled. 

Yes it is passively cooled but it has no set point cooling. That means that you will struggle with noise in the spring / summer and more importantly you will struggle to calibrate the amp glow out of your images using darks (a problem with this sensor specifically). 

2) Its a OSC not a mono camera. If you live close to Portsmouth than you will experience light pollution and you are better off with a mono camera and although you can do Narrow band imaging using OSC (I have) it will work better with a mono. 

The two points above represent the pillars of dedicated camera imaging and if you don't have one you had better have the other. Personally I would rank it something like this:

1) Setpoint cooled mono camera

2) Setpoint cooled OSC camera

3) Passive cooled mono 

4) Passive cooled OSC (The one you suggest) / DLSR.

In essence what I am saying is that I would not consider that camera to be an upgrade from your DSLR assuming that your DSLR is modified then it may actually be better by virtue of having a larger sensor. If you got it I feel you would regret it. Its getting good reviews mainly because its great for Solar and imaging the moon, with the ability to do some DSO. What reviews have you seen?

Save your money up and get a set point cooled version of the IMX183c like this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi-183mc-pro-usb-3-cooled-colour-camera.html 

or even better a mono version like this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi-183mm-pro-usb-3-cooled-mono-camera.html

or the QHY version from modern astronomy: https://www.modernastronomy.com/shop/cameras/cooled-ccd/qhy-cooled-ccd-cameras/qhy183c/

If you really dont want to spend more than about 600 then I would even recommend the smaller mono ASI178mm-c over the Hypercam OSC or something second hand. 

Hope that helps,

Adam 

 

Thankyou very much for the detailed reply, I understand Altair are releasing a cooled version of the 183C hypercam, I was looking at the ZWO ASI1600 is this any good, I would prefer a colour cam.

Thanks.

Hi All,

What are peoples thoughts of the Altair Hypercam Colour V2, i am looking to replace my Canon 600D with one, i have read some good reviews of the Hypercam, can anyone with one give me some Pros and Cons on this Camera.

Thanks.

Hi All

Here is my first proper go at a DSO.

4 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

No prior to polar alignment I aim my camera via the ball head on the tripod into the area I want to image, I've only used it for the MW and not with a long lens or scope for DSO etc. so can't comment how easy it is to align very finely.

I don't touch the clutch at all once polar aligned and just swivel the ball head with the camera attached if I need to align or position my camera better.

I remotely fire the shutter using Backyardnikon so that I don't inadvertently knock the alignment.

Hope that helps?

Thanks for this, I will be using the L bracket0

4 minutes ago, Jkulin said:

When I mean set everything up I mean everything including the L Bracket, camera, polemaster, laptop, everything and then start the QHY Polemaster software and connect, make sure you are perfectly level and point as near as dammit to North, once connected set Polaris in the centre of your screen and follow the prompts, its dead easy as long as you don't knock the tripod and anything else, make sure switch it on after alignment to the star on the dial.

Oh and make sure you have fresh batteries and they don't run out half way through like mine did and I had to leave everything in the field and walk back to the Gite.

Thanks, once it's polar aligned I will have to undo the clutch and move the camera so I can image a certain part of the sky then re- tighten the clutch but won't this know the alignment out ?

Hi, I use my old Nexstar 6SE Tripod as it is very stable, I use the L bracket for my star adventurer as it has the conecter on it for the polemaster, but what I don't know is if I should polar align it first without anything on it or should I put the camera on the L bracket roughly get it into position on what I want to image the polar align it using the polemaster.

Hi All,

Please help, i have just purchased a Polemaster to be used on my Star Adventurer can anyone with this setup please give me a idiots guide on how to set the polemaster up and get it tracking.

The way i set up my Star Adventurer now, is i do a rough polar alignment then i attach the L bracket then the camera, then i move the camera to roughly where i want to image in the sky, i then do a proper polar aligment, then i fine tune position of my camera, but as you are well aware everytime you want to image something different you have to loosen the clutch and move the camera to a new position and this normally knocks it out of alignment.

Can some one tell me when setting up the Star Adventurer with the Polemaster should i go straight in and do the polar alignment first then attach my camera then position my camera on what i want to image ? 

Thanks