wornish

Had a very quick go last night during a break in the clouds. I think it is the best I have managed so far.

Quite a difference.

Sharpcap Polar Align is as good as anything else out there. Used it for over two years. Well worth the £10.

There as been a similar thread on here a few months ago. The problem in the end was the filter wheel wasn't changing the filter. When you just look at the three images you posted they do all look very similar. Normally there would be a noticeable difference. I would suggest perhaps doing a trial on a dummy target to see what you get.

Certainly off to a good start!

Astro Pixel Processor is another excellent package. Well worth a look.

Are you posting on the right forum?

Not sure what you mean. You don't need the INDI ribbon if you are using KSTARS/EKOS. All the INDO connections can be set up using EKOS.

Very nice indeed.

Superb detail. Can you share your post processing steps please?

I am still learning too, the precise focus is the hardest part any tips on how to get it better. Especially when the seeing isn't perfect.

Looking at the technical specs it will work for the moon I guess but it won't be much good for planetary imaging because of the low frame rate. It's not clear what control you have over Gain and Frame rate. The reviews on Amazon don't look very good either. It comes with its own driver but not sure it will work with Firecapture or Sharpcap. Bottom line - you get what you pay for IMHO

Had another go last night in a short break in the clouds.

I found this video helpful in explaining how to adjust the colour of your image when using Registax 6

Nice image. I have the same scope. Where was this shot taken, what country?

Far from good seeing but at last its kind of recognisable - to me anyway🙂 This is a stack of the best 25% frames from 20000 taken using my ASI 290MC tonight. The moon was very nearby but I don't get many nights without clouds so thought I would still give it a go. I left the scope outside for 6 hours before taking this to make sure the temperature had stabilised and that definitely helps. Also reduced the gain on the ASI 290MC This is with the 2x Barlow so about 4700mm Gain 159 exp 3.4ms This is no Barlow so 2350mm Gain127 exp 1.3ms

You can get the arcsinh stretch for PS from here. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/595610-photoshop-color-preserving-arcsinh-stretch/

When you say different FOV do you mean they have the same image scale but one is positioned slightly different to the other. I assume you have tried using the EDIT - Auto Align Layers function and that is failing to find a match. To do the alignment manually:- If the image scale is identical then its a simple case of load the two images into two separate layers in a PS document. Then select the top layer and reduce the opacity slider until you can see the second layer starting to show through. Then with the top layer still selected from the top menu press Select - ALL Increase the zoom so the stars are bigger. Select the Move tool and simply use the UP/Down - Left/Right keyboard keys to move the top layer until the stars are aligned When happy with the alignment return the Opacity of the top layer to 100%. To then combine the two layers you need to decide what blend mode to use for the top layer. Using the EDIT - Auto Merge option for the two layers might work but that usually selects on focus/contrast and might not give you what you want Alternatively You can select the blend mode drop down in the layer tool and see what works best. It will show as Normal by default. When you are happy with the blending you can then Flatten the image and save the result. Hope this makes sense and helps a bit. As you say APP does this as by default.

I have been using KStars/Ekos for two years now initially on a RPi3B and for the last year on the RPi4 and it does all I want, no glitches. It works seamlessly with PHD2 and offers two options for plate solving.

I have Astronomy Tools and Annies Astro Actions all running fine with the latest version of PS. CC 21.2.3 running on my iMac macOS Mojave 10.14.16.

The range of the inbuilt WiFi is affected by the types of case you put it in. Metal ones especially affect the signal. Useful comparison here. https://www.martinrowan.co.uk/2019/08/wifi-signal-strength-with-raspberry-pi-4-cases/ I use the FLIRC case and it works OK. I don't use any large heatsink or cooling fan and the RPi4 works fine, the inbuilt temperature monitoring simply slows the clock down if it gets too hot. Mine will run all night no problems.

I initially used a Raspberry Pi 3B for two years and upgraded to the RPi4 a over a year and use KStars/Ekos orunning on my mount with very few issues. On the 3B the USB2 only connections were a bottleneck but that has been fixed in the RPi4. Also it best to run them using an SSD not from a memory card as that slows the whole system down and impacts saving images from USB3 cameras. The inbuilt wireless connection on the RPi4 is probably the weakest link. Ubuntu OS is probably more stable than Windows unless you are using the very latest cutting edge version. With Ubuntu it's best to stay on the last but one official release to be bug free.

Plus 1 for KStars/Ekos. Runs on all platforms, great support and it is constantly receiving new features and support for the latest cameras , mounts etc. Cost = 0.00 in all currencies. From my perspective SGP seems to be living in the past where there was no competition and they seem to have become a bit complacent.

Another go tonight. Gain 317, 6.2ms exposure. 20,000 frames stack of 25%

The camera does not have a built in UV/IR filter but even with one fitted you still can have issues. Because of Jupiters low position at the moment the atmospheric distortion is also a factor.