tomato

If you had a rig set up somewhere with 200+ clear nights per year then I would go for the mono option, but you only have to look at the images being posted here and elsewhere taken with the 2600c to see that the compromises historically associated with OSC cameras is not the issue it once was. Even NB, previously always the domain of the mono and filters option, is being seriously challenged by the latest dual and tri-band filters and OSC sensors.

Good to hear you got it running again. @Tomatobro did my initial set up and it has performed faultlessly ever since, but I do seem to recall him manually moving it to the the centre of the travel when performing the initial calibration.

+1 for using a flat light panel rather than a tablet screen. My flat calibration procedure was much more consistent when I moved from an IPad screen to a light panel.

Awesome veil, great framing and processing. But is it the entire complex? Some of the very faint outer Ha strands look like they continue right to the edge of the frame and beyond. I’m currently trying to image this with a bigger FOV, but I very much doubt I will get as deep as your image.

Indeed, there are currently some chunks of steel sharing the dovetail with the SY135, but unfortunately you can't get an image with those.

They don’t look faint on your image!👍 Duel rigs are a lot of work and expense but it does give me a warm feeling that every hour that elapses while imaging is twice that in subs on the hard drive.

Interestingly, I have seen a similar transition gradient imaging from a Bortle 5 location in broadband with my QHY268c (same sensor) but with a IR/UV cut filter only. I put this down to my local light pollution (a bright LED streetlight on one side of my garden), I have never investigated further as gradient removal tools take care of it.

Hi Dave, only just seen this thread, I'm fed up trying to process my M31 data so I gave yours ago through my usual workflow, thanks for posting it. Analysed, registered and normalised in APP. Channels loaded into Startools v1.8 and progressed through the default workflow. Then adjustments made in AP. I cant get rid of the aretefacts in the top left, but to my inexpert eye, there is good colour and detail in NGC7331 and the Stephan's Quintet. I have similar flares from bright stars just out of the FOV, but never multiple ones as visible here.

Did the cushion retro fire just before touchdown? I tried coming to a dead stop from 15 mph in my car (checked there was nobody behind first), it is a bit of a jolt to the system, must be even more so if you are 90. But hey, JTK has fought aliens with his bare hands...

“Big fish, swallow you whole…” Great image👍

A couple of times on a large refractor I have “missed” the dovetail slot when rocking the heavy scope into position horizontally, because I haven’t opened the clamp sufficiently. I always look at the end of dovetail to check it has located properly before taking my hand away.

I agree SpaceX’s technological achievements are far in excess of the others, but from what I can see of Mr Musk, he isn’t short on ego so I am not surprised that the media has picked up on the story that to date he hasn’t gone for an orbital flight to go one better than Messrs Branson and Bezos.

Great M31, FOV adds to the image, galaxy is not too small but just enough space around it to put it into proportion. The colours look very similar to those put out by APP, what processing software did you use?

This is a combination of the LRGB channels from my 12 panel mosaic from last year taken with KAF8300 mono cameras and filters (about 4 hrs per panel total integration, took about 3 months to capture) and a 6 panel mosaic taken recently in one night with a KAF8300 taking Lum and a IMX 571 OSC (about 1.5 hrs per panel). The Pixel Peepers will have a great time with this one, there are hosts of distorted stars, duplicated stars and weird halos in many of the regions, but I’m frankly astounded how the software (APP and StarTools)is able to cobble the data together at all, given it’s diverse pedigree. But looking at the bigger picture, so to speak, I think it has more colour and Lum channel detail than the component parts, so for me it has been a worthwhile exercise.

A second hand Sony lens can be had for a bit less than the more popular Canon variety so after acquiring one of these, @Tomatobro machined up adapter plates to bolt it to my Moravian G2-8300 with integrated filter wheel. Initially, the spacing was calculated and some alloy spacers made to bolt up the lens to the camera body, but inevitably there was some tilt/spacing issues, so the spacers were replaced with nylock nuts on the other side of the lens flange, so adjustments could be made in-situ. I just need to make a soft light and dust exclusion collar to go around the outside.

Here is my version for a 16” flex tube dobsonian. The scope stays on the trolley permanently so it can be wheeled out of the garage and round to the back garden.

The banding became apparent in the Wipe module of Startools when trying to smooth out colour gradients in that quadrant associated (I think) with my mosaic panels not covering all of the reference image. As @Laurin Dave suggested, I think I will try to combine this data with the 12 panel mosaic M31 from last year, as I have now taken the refractors off the mount and put the RASA8 and SY 135 on there, to try my hand at some widefield NB imaging, gulp!

Thanks Dave, the saying about a bad workman and his tools comes to mind…

Good point Dave, here it is. The star shapes are inferior but that's not down to the sensor.

Well, here is the RGB only result. No contest IMHO, even with my inexpert processing skills. This is only 40 mins integration on each panel, remember. Guess I need to put together a decent sales pitch for my G2-8300. Hope nobody reads this thread...😆

I’m somehow pleased that they cannot currently print the Ford V8 to go under the hood…

I followed the recommendations of the script developer, namely produce Lum and RGB mosaics separately then combine these. Much as I have a soft spot for CCDs, the OSC data looks to me to be superior, I will produce an image today just from the RGB data to see how it compares. I have the dedicated SW Esprit 150 FR, I think it is a spacing issue. Ideally I would have a 268 mono camera on the other scope, but I went for the budget option of the FR and my existing G2-8300 sensor, alas my Astrophotography spend is not limitless. I could sell the G2-8300, but looking at the market it looks like folks are wising up about CCD cameras and are keeping their funds for the latest CMOS cameras.

I have checked an RGB channel combination image, there are no significant colour artefacts around the stars, so it may be due to the distortion manipulation required to combine the lum channel which has a different imaging scale. Wim, I confess I'm not familiar with your star mask fix, but there are other tools I can use.

I suspect the background artefacts which have distinct transition lines are due to the fact my mosaic panels did not cover the whole of the reference image, but I could be wrong. I will investigate the colour artefacts around the stars, but I have since noted that the star shapes in the corners of the Lum subs taken with the F/R are not as good as the OSC data... As for pixel peeping, I don't mind at all, the exercise can reveal shortcomings in the processing that can be addressed. And with 145 million of them, there is no shortage of opportunities.

Yes, keep those eyepieces in if you are after a relaxing, therapeutic experience. Imaging is laced with stress from start to finish, but in a good way. When you get some good subs on the drive in spite of everything, that’s entertainment.