Shibby

That's a fantastic first image. I remember mine was just awful!

With flat calibration frames, you will find it much easier to process. You will be able to stretch out the fainter details.

Looking great! What are the capture/equipment details?

Just a suggestion: you've used noise reduction quite heavily, which is fine, however you've lost a lot of detail in the signal-rich parts of the image - it would be better to apply it much more selectively only to the dark/noisy areas.

There does seem to be something awry with your mono image/data. It's very blurry compared to your OSC and the stars are very square. Will be interesting to see the raw data.

Ultimately, I wouldn't blame you at all for focusing on OSC, it's all about how happy you are with the result in comparison to how may headaches the setup and processing gives you!

Please don't rely solely on my advice when it comes to electrical safety... however, I should think it would be OK for temporary use. Just make sure all the cable is unwound so it doesn't heat up and trip.

A long time ago, my extension cable used to go outside in a plastic bag

Update

I eliminated all other causes by making up a new, temporary main power cable. The power supply still entered "warning" mode on the next 2 nights. Once in warning mode, I tried restarting it with each piece of kit disconnected in turn. Eventually, with everything disconnect the supply still remained in warning mode!

So (and somewhat lazily) I decided to just pick up a new power supply. Our second baby is nearly 2 weeks overdue so I don't anticipate much free time in the near future!

I now have a Tenma 72-13350 and it worked perfectly all night last night. I like that it has an on/off button for the output.

If anyone wants the old supply and is willing to (preferably) collect from Peterborough or pay for the postage, they're welcome to it.

I've been working on this one a while. Partly due to issues with my power supply, it has taken a long time to gather enough data for a satisfactory image.

It's also larger than I realised and only just fits within a 2-panel mosaic with my setup. It's such a great target, though, that I've never imaged before for some reason. I think I'd need another 4 years or so to continue the mosaic and cover the whole supernova remnant!  😆

It's a Bi-colour image captured with the following:

• MN190
• Atik 460ex

Panel 1:

• 22x600s Ha (7nm)
• 20x600s Oiii (3nm)

Panel 2:

• 20x600s Ha (7nm)
• 20x600s Oiii (3nm)

(Total ~13.5h)

For processing I have, as ever, used DSS + Photoshop. I tried processing starless layers using Starnet, but gave up and switched back to star masks. One day maybe I'll finally invest in PixInsight!

Thanks for looking

On 20/09/2022 at 01:28, Michele Scotti said:

Project update: big miscalculation!

You're just going to have to build a larger garage  (And maybe a larger ladder, if you do plan on doing any visual with this thing!)

Every time I open up my power/hub box all the cables get shoved back in an ever increasingly disorganised jumble!

I know this is a super-late reply! Just curious, really, if you resolved your problem @Rodd? I have the same mount and have not encountered this issue. I do have a small amount of drift, probably due to flexure, but nothing problematic. It almost sounds as if it was tracking at lunar rate rather than sidereal.

You mentioned polaris with regards to your polar alignment, so I assume you're using the polar scope? I suggest doing a drift alignment if you want the best result for imaging. Like you, I have mine permanently mounted but always do a few fresh drift aligns each season.

Communication/power issues: If you use ASCOM, you can check the number of signal transmission errors in AP's ASCOM driver. Although, if you're not guiding then there's probably not that many signals being sent to the mount. I once had an issue with my power cable and found that the ASCOM driver actually crashes and locks up completely when the mount loses power.

If you're planning on essentially using something like this as a cover for your pier, you might instead consider a roll-away solution. That's something that I've seen work for others, it will negate the need to have a hinged lid. Plus, you could go for something a bit taller like this (just an example!) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Duramax-YardMate-Plastic-Garden-Floor/dp/B07MFVXNCF/ref=sr_1_22?keywords=plastic+garden+storage&qid=1662999577&s=outdoors&sr=1-22

The important thing is just making sure it's latched down properly when not moving!

I wanted the basic ability to copy only new files from NINA's output directory to my NAS as soon as the exposures came in, so that when the obsy shuts down I have the files ready to process on my NAS.

All the file sync applications are too bloated and/or they only have "sync" capability, meaning that if I move a file from the destination folder it keeps getting recreated. You could save directly to the NAS but this is slower and relies on your network connection.

You could achieve this fairly easily with other methods e.g. powershell scripts but I found it easier to just write my own simple app to do it.

On the off-chance anyone else would like it, here it is. It's built for Windows (64bit) as a console app, so you can add it to Startup. The exe is fairly large as it's a self-contained .net6 app. You can configure your mappings in appSettings.json:

The delay is useful in case your capture software updates the image after saving (e.g. the headers after a plate solve).   

Shibby.Astro.NewFileCopier.zip

I do have a Baader 2" Ha 7nm for sale if you're interested. I have not noticed any halos with my setup.

15 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

How long is this cable run, and what type of cable are you using ??

I had to look through my order history... Looks like I opted for a massively overrated cable! The run is only about 4m.

https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/P00831.html

1 hour ago, Len1257 said:

the most obvious cause of an overload is the external gubbins. You need to check rigorously the external cables / distribution units etc.  In particular if you are using ordinary PVC cables they can crack if moving under freezing conditions.

This is what I'm worried about! The main cable runs through guttering underground so I'll have to pull it up to check. If I can't find anything, perhaps I'll try @Carbon Brush's suggestion of new capacitors.

Thanks for the tips @Dr_Ju_ju @kbrown

I've just found some time to open it up and have a look. Very little dust in there and no sign of bulging from the capacitors. I do notice some sort of leakage around the coils which is odd but I suspect this might just be glue or could it actually be a sign of overheating? See attached.

Hi,

Last night I set up an imaging run and found that, around 30 minutes after I went to bed, my power supply had shut down. I have a 30A regulated bench supply, originally from Maplin, but I believe it is this (an EP-925): https://www.manson.com.hk/product/ep-925/

The warning light had tripped and the supply turned off. This has happened twice now, but the first time was quite a long time ago, so it may be very infrequent. I had to turn it on and off several times before the power was restored.

At my mount, I have my own DC distribution board with each device fused separately, so an overload seems unlikely.

Could the supply be faulty? My cabling to the mount? I'm not sure how to diagnose the problem - any ideas?

Thanks!

Hmm, I have a bench supply powering all my kit. I usually have it set to 12v, should I also consider increasing that? I do occasionally have issues with the mount's guide pulses...

(Sorry, I have advice on your actual issue!)

17 hours ago, vlaiv said:

I'd say that 4K monitor only makes sense as a larger screen at closer viewing distances.

At normal working distances, 92ppi is right about there at the edge of human capability to resolve detail, so any addition of pixels is just waste of resources (as far as I see it).

This is true, a 24" 4k probably wouldn't be a great idea (although my work laptop strangely has a 16" 4k monitor!?)

For home, I like to game and edit photos/astrophotos, so I've been considering the G70A, which is a 28" 4k monitor, which is good for playing games at 1080p. For image editing, it gives around 150ppi.

I would say if you're after something more future-proof, go with a 4k monitor. I find that my monitor stays with me much longer than any of my other PC hardware and I therefore go for one that will last.

Just tried this and it's worked quite nicely for me, I think! I've only given it a very quick test with an existing, fully processed, fairly poor image. My results are below.

Thanks very much for the action!

 

Very nice! How much data have you got? I would like to see it with a little less noise reduction applied if possible, particularly to the areas with more signal.

14 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

MN190 has 1000mm FL? ..1m tube 

A 8 inch SCT you can reduce its native focal length with a 6.3 reducer, some people run there's at f5 , but it depends on sensor size if you can get away with it

 

I can't argue that an SCT isn't versatile. But if you're just planning on deep sky imaging at shorter focal lengths, the Newtonian is going to be a less complicated affair. Not impossible with the SCT by any means, of course, but more of a challenge. This is backed up by many threads from other forum users.

I'd also like to add that short-tube refractors are also great for imaging, even simpler, and not too long for your observatory @Penguin

An SCT, I suggest, has an unnecessarily long focal length for deep sky imaging. I personally moved up from a 150P to a MN190 and have not regretted that decision; second hand they can be purchased (as I did) for around your budget, perhaps a little more now.

An excellent PacMan! I really like the colour balanced and the fact you haven't over-processed anything.

I have what seems like hundreds of James' friends in my obsy. I gave up relocating them a long time ago! (Unless the decide to get in to the dew shield, of course!)

The Horsehead, Lagoon and Rosette are all Ha dominated.

I think you might struggle with the Wizard on an unmodified DSLR, as it's probably the faintest of those mentioned. The elephant's trunk may be worth a go - I think it's reasonably bright around the "top" edge.