wimvb

You certainly have. I think that this definitely proves that ZWO are entering the DSO/CCD arena with their latest model. Now all that remains is for us to wait for a full frame model that doesn't break the bank. Thanks for sharing your experiences, Gina.

That's still quite impressive, considering that big bright blob that's high in the sky most nights. As Chris noted earlier, it may be worth it to wait for the moon to play nice. BTW, if you want to play around with some noise reduction, here's a PI recipe that works really well on small scale noise: Create a clone of your (linear) image and apply the STF stretch permanently using histogram transform. Make a preview in your linear image, that only contains background. Read the std deviation in the statistics tool (under Process | Image | Statistics) Open TGVDenoise Check CIE L*a*b mode uncheck the apply checkbox for Chrominance Go to the Lightness tab Set Strength to 1 Set Edge Protection to 1/10 of the std deviation you read off the statistics Leave Smoothness as is Set Iterations to 300 to start with Check Local Support. Expand the panel and choose the stretched clone of your image as support image Before applying to your image: Create a preview around the soap bubble and apply STF to make it visible Apply the TGVDenoise tool to this preview Make small adjustments to the edge protection parameter, until you get the noise reduction you want without losing detail. When satisfied, crank up iterations to 500 or more. Apply to the whole image, and get a cup of tea while the tool does it's magic. Here's a reference to where I got it from http://wimvberlo.blogspot.se/2016/07/noise-reduction-for-dslr-astroimages.html Cheers,

Great results. A clear soap bubble in those short subs. (Referring to your earlier image.) As for stretching, you could try PI masked stretch followed by histogram transform and round off with exponential transformation + curvetransform. These tools should help you with faint nebulosity.

Soap bubble please. This seems a real challenge that would put the camera to the test.

In PI batch preprocessing you can check the radiobox to scale the master dark. It works when darks are taken at another exposure time, but it might also work for a different temperature. Worth a try at least.

Fingers crossed ...

Great image with lots of detail. I looked at the full size to see if there was a hint of the soap bubble, but couldn't see it. I did notice the star shapes. Is that a collimating or flat field issue? Btw, in my previous post I just wrote "bubble" first, then realized there is more than one, edited to read "soap bubble". Hence the reason for edit "which bubble?"

Great image. I'm looking forward to the final image. Do you think you can pull the soap bubble out of your data?

Do you have INDI server and client on the same computer? Connecting server and client was pretty easy, once I got a working hardware connection, if I recall correctly. But you'll probably spend some time setting up the client. One warning which I've read somewhere, is that you have to be careful with time settings in server and client. Can't remember where I read that, though. Good luck

Tinker-time! Good luck with INDI. Please post your opinion of kstars. I may install it as well to control my mount. So far I'm still using the hand controller with my new mount. I've only tested INDI control a few times, and never in the field garden.

So, I guess your clouded in as well?

That's actually quite - well - flat. Pixinsight autostretch will stretch anything to fit black to white.

The PI INDI server is still pretty basic. It assumes that the mount is aligned (polar and goto). But you will have access to a large target database. There are also a few issues with the INDI client settings. E.g. I had to set your my elevation (not equal to 0), before setting longitude and latitude, for some odd reason. I don't know how that works out for all the Dutch who live at an incompatible elevation. (One advantage of having moved to Sweden)

Good old sneakerware at work

Vignetting seemed almost nonexistent anyway. DBE will clean that up nicely, so as far as vignetting is concerned, you're good. But how about dust bunnies, eventually? Your master flat is very clean at the moment, but that may change.

No dust bunnies? Btw, I doubt if you need darks for flat calibration.

Thanks. I'm very interested in these cameras to replace my aging Pentax. I'm very much aware of the much smaller chip size of the 185 and 178, but lack the funds for the 1600.

Gina, in your original post you mentioned that you have 3 ASI cameras, how do these compare quality wise, other than the obvious chip size? I'd be especially interested in the 185 vs 174.

Definitely counts. It's dual and it's a set up. FL wasn't specified in the thread title. But it is one of the less usual set ups. Thanks for sharing.

Finally! First time with the AZ EQ6, that is. It's just about getting dark enough "up here" to think about dragging my scope out. This night was first light for my AZ EQ6, bought in june (!). Tried setting up a few nights ago, but during PA, polaris suddenly disappeared. Behind clouds. But tonight clouds thinned out enough for some observing, and a quick imaging session. PA through synscan routine. GoTo worked like a charm, targets on both sides of the meridian came in view of a 17 mm eyepiece without exception. I hopped from M13 to M27, M57, M31, M29, M39 and M81, with a couple of NGCs thrown in for good measure. I really love this mount. Compared to my old mount (EQ3 Pro), polar alignment is a breeze. There's still some backlash in the dec axis, but that should be easy to fix. RA axis is free of backlash after some adjustment of the worm gear. Here's an image of the rig after the action BTW, here's a shot of my old setup (same scope)

All components in a circuit are numbered; resistors are R1, R2, R3, etc; in the same way capacitors with the letter C, connectors with J (jumper), integrated circuits with U, and transistors with Q The other number on the device indicates the component value or type. On a resistor 103 could mean that it is 10 000 Ohms (3 for number of zeroes). But you may have to check a component datasheet to get the right information. You can't replace it with just any capacitor, it needs to be the right value. Have a look at this: http://www.robotoid.com/appnotes/electronics-capacitor-markings.html According to this 104C means that it is a 10 0 000 picofarad capacitor (10 with 4 zeroes), or 100 nF = 0.1 uF Unfortunately, you can't assume that C3 has the same value as C4 without knowing its function. Your best bet is to compare with a working hand controller, as per your original post

C means it is a capacitor. There will be a printed number on the device. Use this if you want to replace it. This part is cheap, but you will need to solder this tiny part. Can be done with a fine tipped soldering iron and a steady hand. Good luck

That's about as grab 'n go as it gets. I like this simple setup.

I like your eyepiece cap. Btw, us that dew on the grass? That doesn't bode well.

My SW 150P on EQ3 just after the action in March.