Nigel G

Very good point I do tend to try and find the limits of my equipment. Also getting fewer subs to stack with longer exposures which wouldn't help.

Thanks Michael. I do dither between each sub at least 10 pixels and very random, a lot vertically, which helps and almost did rid the problem certainly reduced the banding until this one and a few before, as I'm now exposing for 15 -30 minutes with N/B filters its becoming very obvious but got extreme after running all the cables through the window. When I last imaged Andromeda I had to do a meridian flip which helped loads as well as dithering. I'm not sure if you can dither to much ? Cheers Nige.

I get banding but not so obvious with my unmodified 1300D.

The banding has been a problem since I could take longer than 2 minute sub's. before I modified it and without filters makes no difference. The longer the exposure the more banding it seems. I'm kinda thinking the electrical interference could be the main issue as it all adds up. Only one way to find out. Cheers. Nige.

Thanks Ian. The last session outside temp was well below 0. The banding has been better in summer conditions 20 degree heat. But a very valid point, I have never known how to check the sensor temp, I use Canon EOS utility to capture and never found a temp reading on that or the camera, excuse my ignorance but I'm not sure what EXIF data is Cheers Nige.

Thanks for your reply and very interesting. I run my cables loose to the equipment from my conservatory, they all run out the door together, camera USB, guide cam USB and mains to 12v converter which sits next to the 2 USB cables. Now the interesting thing is and I hadn't thought about it, the banding probably got worse after I started using mains power instead of my 12 power pack a few months ago. This last image was a new way, we have a new 18 y old cat so can't keep the doors open yet so I ran the cables out of a window together. You might have hit the nail on the head Thanks can't wait for the next clear spell, I will try by separating the power cable completely. I will let you know the results Nige.

I have noticed my banding problem getting worse. Its causing problems, there's good software to tackle it but now its getting worse its still visible after all the tricks I have learnt. I have been using N/B filters and longer exposures for a couple of months. My last session is the worst and only 600s exposures when I have been using upto 30 minute exposures with less banding. Question.. Should the banding get worse over time and use, I'm guessing its to do with the sensor. My Camera is a self modified 1200D, If I get the colour bayer array removed would this help ? Or am I in desperate need of a new camera. A sample below, 21 x 600s ISO800 12nm Ha clip filter, dithered. Gradient wiped and stretched to show the banding, and a worked on image. Detail is getting lost in trying to reduce the bands. Any advise is greatly appreciated. I have tried StarTools banding, PS add on's, PI trial and canon digital photo pro. Each has its improvements but non can completely resolve the problem yet. Cheers Nige.

Here's a good night with PHD2, 30 minute exposures going on. The PC date is way off as this is my imaging PC and is not connected to the internet and no internal battery I don't really know much about the settings, the first lot I entered has work well so I don't change anything but some of them are at the bottom of the screen Nige.

Photoshop CS2 is a free download and excepts all plug ins , handy to have ☺

I have had a go at the Heart nebula in bi colour. Taking 6x15 minutes Ha and 6x20 minutes OIII. Not enough but not a lot of clear sky at the moment. First I tried opening Ha as red and OIII as blue but didn't get what I was expecting, some good detail but not the colour I was hoping for. So I tried the Ha & OIII blend to create a fake SII and opened....Ha as lum, SII as red, Ha as green & OIII as blue. Its more like what I was looking for but the heavy processing has taken its toll on the detail. More data needed as usual. There's a lot of colour in the image and colour variations are just a matter of changing the % ratio. I need to work on this but its a start and there's no red which makes a nice change Modified Canon 1200D, Astronomik 12nm Ha & 12nm OIII. 80ED EQ3 pro DSS, PHD2 & StarTools. Cheers Nige.

A very good single exposure, nice and clean. 20 or 30 of these stacked would make a great image. There's plenty of help in Stargazers lounge to guide you, just ask and help will come. Nige.

Louise, I don't use eqmod, I use in camera guiding, the old way The guide cam is connected st4 to the handset and data cable to the PC then good old PHD2 does the hard work. I have not used mine unguided but other users here say 2 minutes seems a good keep rate. With the mount on the tripod and the tripod closed I would say its portable. I would say it needs re greasing twice a year to keep it smooth though in my opinion. Nige.

Thats a cracking double cluster, well done.

Hi Louise. I can easy carry the mount and tripod with 1 hand, also I have a small 17 ah battery pack which so far has lasted 6 or 7 hours ( not had it run out yet ) Interface is via the handset, I use ST4 to link to my guide cam to the PC. Hope this is helpful. Nige.

@rotatux Here's a 60-40 mix Quite a nice blend of colours. maybe needs a bit more red in the yellow. I still haven't done a red green trial yet. Nige.

Something a bit different. Here's a selection of Orions all from the same data. 2h 20m of 600s OIII filter, 1h 40m of 600s Ha filter. ISO 800. Modified 1200D, 80ED, EQ3. All processing in StarTools. 1 - Opened in LRGB - Ha Red 50%. OIII blue 50% 2 - Opened in LRGB. Ha Red 33%. OIII Blue 66%. 3 - Both fits stacked in DSS for a combined fits. 4 - Both opened as RGB then layered in ST. Cheers Nige.

Excellent good luck Neil. I have an OIII filter waiting for me to pick up tomorrow morning at the post office, it arrived today but no one was here Nige.

Opened Ha as red and the normal RGB as blue.

IC 63 bi colour NOT RED Opened in StarTools LRGB.... Ha as red & RGB as blue, a nice change from red. Cheers Nige.