Stub Mandrel

May as well, more than 8 bits won't bring you any benefits. What do you have at the moment? You should be able to get something from your data if that's a single frame. Download PIPP and install it, if you haven't already and then ltry an follow my instructions

What is your workflow? I suggest: Put into PIPP using the settings for 'planetary' just accept the defaults for now, but make sure: 'debayer raw image frames' and 'debayer monochrome frames' are checked on the 'input options' tab and 'stretch histogram white point' and 'equalise R,G and B channels individually' are checked on the 'processing options' tab. Put the resulting AVI into Autostakkert!3. Run analyse, then tell it to put alignment points on, then stack a percentage of frames. AS!3 shoudl do an RGB align to minimise the dispersion. Processing shoudl be a combination of sharpening and contrast enhancement, maybe with some colour balancing. (PIPP and Autostakkert are both free).

Perhaps all is not as bad as you think. I did an RGB align in registax on the colour balanced version. It still isn't brilliant but some colour detail on the disc is appearing. So sharpen in Astra Image and there's even a hint of stuff in the rings. Is the original one frame from a video or a stacked image?

I don't think that's the fault of the C8. For a start, it isn't debayered - it's actually a colour image: The blue at the top and red at the bottom shows the need for an atmospheric dispersion corrector at the moment - you will lose all fine detail otherwise. The colour balance is way off as well, unsurprising as it hadn't been debayered: I think the focus is poor - try focusing on a relatively nearby star, Altair at a push. I think this is a single frame? The hot pixel suggests it is, if so it's possibly a bit over-exposed as well. Finally, I would aim for 5,000 frames with as short an exposure as you can get away with - use maximum gain and rely on stacking 500-2000 frames to get rid of the noise. Don't give up of the C8, but if you want to swap it for my 150PL... this is what I've got this year, the C8 ought to be able to beat this.

What sort of results are you getting? Unless you have both a good night and an ADC you won't get particularly good results with any scope at the moment from the UK. The C8 is, ironically, more susceptible to bad seeing than smaller scopes.

LOL! I did something similar with my 'Aldi Special;' severa;l years ago! Less contrast - major problem with it at high magnification.

Yes... but I'm still kicking myself for going into a shop that was getting out of astro and buying a cheap C90 Mak instead of grabbing the new C9.25 on an tracking Alt-Az mount for about £700 😭

Do a 'register checked pictures' but without 'stack X% of pictures' ticked. Right click on the frame with the highest score and choose 'set as reference frame'.

and remortgaging...

Damn!

Thanks! See the pics @MarsG76 has got with a 6" scope in Australia - that's what I'm hoping for in the future! You probably saved half the cost of the scope - and missed the hangover! 🙂

Why image the moon in Ha? Because my scope was set up and focused but it wasn't dark enough to start guiding reliably. However, it seems that this approach allowed me to cut through the seeing and atmospheric dispersion so I got a really sharp image. Canon 450D, astro modded and cooled. I Used PIPP to isolate the red channel as a mono image from about 100 subs and stacked the best.

Canon 450D, astro-modified and cooled. 130P-DS with coma corrector. Baader 7nm Ha filter. HEQ5, guided. 21 5-minute subs. Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop and Astra Image.

Canon 450D, astro-modified and cooled. 130P-DS with coma corrector. HEQ5, guided. 18 5-minute subs. Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop and Astra Image. Uncropped.

Well done!

Altitude, I've seen a difference as big as that between last year and this year!

I missed a clear night yesterday 😞 Spent the evening at a band meeting, then got back to a houseful..

Thanks Folks, That's useful feedback. The accidental materialisation of another bass may set this project back a couple of months...

I've got it working OK in Sharpcap. PHD2 makes it hard to 'fine tune'# et camera, it seems the 'advanced' options will let you set the gain.

OK, while it's a nice thought to blow a grand on a camera, I have better use for such amounts of money 😞 So, are there any views on the ASI174MM out there from people who have used it? Does it respond well to darks? Is it feasible/worthwhile to cool it by insulating it and attaching a peltier to the housing (I know this won't be as effective as built in cooling). Is it a step up compared to a cooled or mono DSLR? Has anyone got a few example images?

To be fair, that was a clip of one of the worst bits, the best footage that night was of Saturn when the cassini division would occasionally be visible. But compare the best Jupiter from that night with the sort of images I got last year, all with the same 6" scope:

Worrying thought... If these product soften the epoxy, is it possible that it could peel off and take the gold contact wires with it?

You must call it Dirk... 🙂

Do you still get all your images with a 1000D and an ASI 178?

Do you use photoshop? Give gradient exterminator a try: