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Doug64

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Everything posted by Doug64

  1. Thanks for the reply. The Lindy 15m USB 3.0 cable is the one I was looking at,as I currently use the Lindy 5m active USB cable and have had no problems, I was just a little worried about the additional 10m cable length and data transfer. Doug
  2. Hi, I wonder if anyone can offer me some advice. I used to set my telescope and imagingbrig up from time to time and was running the imaging rig etc with a Startech 7 port 12v dc powered hub and a 5m Lindy active cable which ran to my computer. I had no problems running this set up however the good old council have recently replaced the sodium lights with LED lights and now my back garden looks like Blackpool illuminations. As a result of this I am having to move my scope and imaging rig further down the garden and will need to run a 15m cable back to the house and my computer. I will be using my Asi 1600 mono cooled camera and from time to time a DSLR. Can I just buy a 15 m USB 3 active cable and run this from the USB hub on the scope back to my computer or can I buy a USB 3.0 to ethernet converter and run Cat5 or Cat6 cable back to my computer (would this work). Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks Doug
  3. Thanks for all the replies, problem now solved. Doug
  4. Thanks for the reply Doug
  5. Hi, I hope someone can help me, I'm writing this whilst banging head on the table as I've waisted 8 hours taking Darks.. I've recently bought a Zwo 1600MM Cool And I have been learning APT as I've never used it before. I have been making a Darks Library, over the past 24 hours I've created one set of Darks at Gain 139, this morning I set up APT to do a sequence of Darks at Gain 200. In order to set the Gain to 200 I opened up Settings under Camera in APT and adjusted the slider to Gain to 200 and pressed OK. Everything appeared to be working correctly. Having set up the imaging plan I went out and have just returned to find that every Dark taken today has a Gain of 139 and not 200. I've run a check and each time I set the Gain to 200 and run a sequence for Darks the images taken have a gain of 139 and in the camera settings the gain has gone from 200 to 139. I've checked that the Manage Gain box in Settings is ticked. I know I'm doing something wrong in APT but I can't figure out what it is. Can anyone help so I don't waste anymore time. Thanks Doug
  6. Hi, Just setting up my Zwo 1600MM Cool. I've done a darks library and was wondering if you use Bad Pixel Maps with Cmos cameras, I used to use one with my DSLR. I have read about someone making a Bad Pixel Map with Darks and Dark Flats but other people don't mention it. I'm wondering what the consensus of opinion is Thanks Doug
  7. Thanks for the information. I always thought plugging any USB 2 device into a USB 3 hub makes everything on the hub run at USB 2 speed that's why I asked the question and I'm glad I was wrong. You live and learn. Thanks again. Doug
  8. Hi, I currently have a Startech USB 3 powered hub and a gaming computer that runs USB as well as Cat 5/6. Having just purchased a Zwo 1600MM Cool which has USB 3 and a USB 2 hub I was wondering what is the best way to set everything up. My guide camera is USB 3 so that can be plugged into the Startech USB 3 powered hub. My Zwo 1600 is USB 3 so that can go into the hub. Now I have two other devices which are USB 2, a Starlight xpress filter wheel and the mount. If I connect the filterwheel into the USB 2 hub on the back of the ZWO 1600 with 0.5m cable will this then reduce the camera down to operating at USB 2?. Likewise if I put the mount USB 2 into the Startech hub does this then reduce everything plugged into the hub to USB 2 instead of USB 3. Am I best using two separate hubs one for USB 3 and another for USB 2 or would it be best to use a mini PC or something like ASIair at the mount then wi-fi or Cat 5/6 back to computer. Everything will be on my mount which is outside as I don't have an observatory. Thanks for any advice on this is I'm not very good with IT. Doug
  9. Hi Alan, Thank you very much for your advice and for uploading the charts. Doug
  10. Great image. I'm just setting my equipment up having bought a Zwo 1600MM for narrowband work and I hope at some point to be able to get an image like yours. Doug
  11. Thanks for the reply. Once I have everything set up, just getting APT to link to all my equipment, I'll take an image and see if I can get the background median value using APT, if not I may have to do as you suggest. 90% of my imaging will be done from my back garden, this is why I've just bought the mono camera as I'll need to use Narrowband most of the time due to light pollution (Bortle 7). I do take my telescope etc with me twice a year to Kelling, and to other places such as the flooded SGL star party and Galloway. I'm really looking forward to using this camera once I've learnt how to use it. Doug
  12. Hi, Thanks very much for your explanation and chart, it's really helped me understand, I think . If I've understood everything for Gain 139 with 56 offset my background target ADU is 1386. In order to find exposure times I set up my telescope etc and at astro dark I'll need to take some test exposures at varying exposure times until I get one where the background level is 1386 and I do this for each filter and record times etc. Just a few questions if you don't mind:- I'm going to be using Astrophotography Tools, if you know this software does this allow me to check background level. (I'm just starting to learn this and haven't taken an image using it). If I image from my garden once I have these timings will they basically remain the same for each session and then I only need to check them again if I move to dark sight etc or in winter with astro dark. Why do you choose offset 56 is it to stop the clipping. Thanks again Douh
  13. Thanks for the replies, Now I'm really confused the more I read the more confused I get. I think using unity gain will be a very good starting point for me for all filters as I then only have to work out exposure time. I'm not use to all this ADU, well depth etc so I think I have a lot to learn, at least I can get imaging once I have clear skies using Unity gain. Can anyone point me to the equation for working out exposure time and also where do you get the ADU level, is it from the histogram after taking the image. Thanks Doug
  14. Hi Vlaiv, Thanks for the comprehensive reply, some of it was a bit over my head but I'm starting to get the idea about gain and offset. I understand little of the math, I knew this was going go be a massive learning curve and I'm not wrong. Thanks again Doug
  15. Thanks for all the replies. I'll start off using unity gain and may try gain 200 with my narrowband filters, this way I can learn more about the software and filters etc. Doug
  16. Hi, Thanks for the reply. I have seen the charts you refer to and was initially going to work from them but the more reading I did the more I found people using different gain / offset settings. This us why I got confused. I live in a Bortle 7 area. 18.79 Magnitude. Regards Doug
  17. Hi, I've just bought the above camera to try some mono CMOS imaging having previously used a modified DSLR. I've started reading about imaging / processing with this camera and it's going to be a big learning curve. I'm already confused with regards to the gain settings. I've read all sorts of settings people appear to use:- Unity Gain - 139 offset 21, Gain 76 offset 21, Gain 76 offset 15, Gain 200 offset 30, Gain 200 offset 15, Gain 300 and also gain 0. I will be using this camera with my ED80 with flatter/reducer and motorised filter wheel. I live in a city with very bad light polution so was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about the gain and offset settings or is it just trial and error. I have LRGB and Ha OIII SII filters. Thanks Doug
  18. Hi Mark, Thanks for the reply. The image I was initially using was the one you posted in your first post of the North American Nebula. I copied that image onto my computer then processed it following your instructions and the image I have shown you is what I got. I've now copied over your Photoshop PSD file and have viewed this in my version of Photoshop and it looks good, see below image so I don't know what is happening. Thanks for your help anyway and I'll try your process which I've saved as a complete action on another image when the clouds clear. Regards Doug
  19. Hi Mark, Thanks for the reply, I was using the image provided with the initial post and upon checking it is 16bit. I've increased the view to 100% but still no change, the posterisation is still there as shown in the below image. Regards Doug
  20. Hi Mark, I'm just learning processing. I've followed your instructions using the image you provided and below is what I'm getting, a very pixilated image. It's obvious I'm doing something wrong but do you know what it is, I'm using Photoshop CC. Regards Doug
  21. Thanks, Will give it a go when we get some clear nights. Doug.
  22. Hi, Will this work when using a side by side set up as I use a dual mount. Regards Doug
  23. Hi,

    I'm interested in the Hitec Astro EQDir cable, is it still available, if so I'll take it,   let me know payment details

    Regards

    Doug

     

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