tomato

It looks like that old chestnut of being logged into Windows as a user instead of administrator, so the data files are going to the wrong user folder.

This link works, thanks.

I want to try and image the ISS tonight but although I have successfully installed Previsat to run with the SW satellite tracker, I get this error when I try to run it. I think this means the data folder it is looking for does not exist but how do I fix this, it is suggesting I re-install but that doesn't work... Any suggestions much appreciated.

Anybody else having problems accessing this site? I have been getting ‘technical problems with the site’ for some time now.

Yes, easier if the degree rings can be set to the co-ordinates of your sync star, but your method should work OK and the degree (no pun intended) of precision you are working to should be fine. Have a good (imaging) holiday.

Great Panorama, looks like you are in Chile, not Anglesey! I love the Andromeda galaxy, just poking above the clouds on the horizon.👍

Great image, as you say more subs will improve the noise. You can always revisit the target next season and add data to get more integration time that way. Staying on the same target for 6 weeks or more can be a bit soul destroying, but that is often what is required in the cloudy UK.

Well, based on the number of replies to this thread and the other one stalling in January, if it’s not already a dead parrot, then it’s definitely pining for the fjords.🥴 Seems to me that after the suggestions put forward some compromises will have to be made on facilities and/or location.

Yes, I’ll run it again with BXT turned down but… The clouds are clearing in Shropshire!😊

Yes, Ian King used to stock them but FLO didn’t pick them up when he moved over to them.

A couple of days ago I had a clear night and with just 2 hours of astro darkness remaining I thought I could finish one more galaxy image but... My Atik EFW2 wheel refused to connect to NINA, or anything else. I tried the usual, swapping leads, restarting etc but no joy. In the end I gave up and lost the clear night, grrrr. The next day the wheel connected fine when plugged directly into the laptop on the bench but again refused to connect when put back out onto the scope. On closer inspection I noticed that a couple of years back I had glued some black flocking material to the base of the wheel housing as I was worried stray light was getting inside through the USB and power connection ports. At the time I just cut a slit in the felt so I could plug in the connections but I noticed the felt was compressed around the USB port where the plastic plug moulding was pressing against it. I cut this away around the port and voila! A good connection every time. I think the felt had swollen a little bit over time, sufficient to stop the plug going all the way in to make a reliable connection, even though if felt like it was clicking into place. Now I just need to wait for another clear night which no doubt will see the end of astro darkness when it finally happens.

That's nice, I was trying to accentuate the dust around the core, you have done a great job on that.👍

I agree Wim, I don't mind logging the hours to capture the data, but if I can achieve an optimum result with 30 minutes of processing as opposed to 3+ hours, I would consider that to be progress.

That 16" Newt is presenting quite an area to the wind but I would echo the question how strong are the winds in your location? I have a Mesu Mk1 with 2 Esprit 150 refractors on there which never suffers from wind tremor, but the mount is bolted via a substantial pier to a 1 cubic metre concrete block in the ground, and more to the point it is inside a dome. I have crudely tried to replicate your touch test on my rig, I don't think there are any settling oscillations. Untitled video - Made with Clipchamp.mp4 I also have a 16" SW flextube dobsonian which I would say is on a stable base, but the eyepiece view trembles on that when the wind blows.

I'll keep plugging away at this until either: a) the clouds lift and I can get my own data. b) At least one person declares that my latest effort is better than the original, with the help of RC I am supposed to be getting better.🙂 This version used LRGBHa combination in APP and I boosted the blue channel. Then processed in PI and AP but steering clear of SXT and any colour calibration tools.

Apologies if this has been commented on before but does anyone else get the impression that with this dark nebula it is as if you are looking at a number of layers of the nebula slightly out of register with each other? Even the blue reflection nebula to the right of Bruce’s eye has a double vision appearance. I get this impression on all dark shark images, but it is quite striking on Alan’s image, with the darker background.

Apologies, I have a big gap in my Astro digital imaging knowledge, having only got back into the hobby in 2014. I am surprised that there has been virtually no mention of them on this forum since that time, but SBIG cameras don’t seem that popular in the UK. That’s a pity, because they were the real pioneers of digital imaging. I purchased one of the first ST-4 guiders in the UK back in 1990, I know this because I got a call from SBIG shortly after delivery asking me if I wanted to be the UK agent for them!

A really distinct shark against the background, glad you are capturing images after all of your trials and tribulations.👍

Thanks for this, might have another go at imaging it, given so many opportunities in one night, clouds permitting.

With regard to colour, the rationale behind the PI SPCC tool seemed to make sense to me so I try and use it every time. However, there are numerous occasions when it doesn’t look right so I go to CSC in APP, and when that doesn’t deliver, I adjust the channels manually to try and get close to reference images I’m using. Why doesn’t SPCC with its 215 million star database work every time? I don’t know.

Thanks for the feedback Olly and Steve, as it happens after seeing the images together I tweaked the original and gave it a dose of NXT, somewhat on the lines of Olly's suggestion:

I use a ASI178 mono camera (uncooled version £315) with a 1050mm FL Esprit 150 for LRGB imaging of small galaxy and PN targets, binned 2x2 so imaging at 0.94 arcsec per pixel. The sensor does suffer from significant ampglow but this calibrates out with a corresponding dark frame. To achieve a more consistent sensor temperature for this operation, it has been retrofitted with a Peltier cooler, total cost around £40, I’ve never used the camera without this mod, so I can’t comment on how much difference it makes to the data capture. TBH, if you want a setup that works right out of the box, and you don’t mind using ‘yesterday’s technology’ I would seriously look at @ollypenrice’s suggestion.

With my latest capture stalled at 30% completion due to clouds, I was looking over some archive files and found my entry for the IKI Observatory M33 processing competition in March 2021. Back then I had no RC XT tools and I was just dipping my toe into PI, so I thought it would be fun to put that data through my current PI/RC dominated processing workflow. The result took about 20 minutes vs about 2 hrs on the original when I was wrestling with noise, colour balance and bloated stars. The latest version more closely resembles reference images I have of M33, but is a bit sparse on detail compared to the original. Although I prefer it I still can't see it winning any prizes but interestingly it does more closely resemble other recent renditions I have of this galaxy with my own data. Maybe the advent of AI in processing will result in less diversity of processing results, assuming it is adopted by everyone? PI/XT tools 2021 Effort

IFN from a Bortle 8 location, that’s entertainment.👍

Is this a photo of an image displayed on a monitor? If so it would be better to upload the image directly, as a .jpg file.