Anthonyexmouth

10 minutes ago, daveangie0110 said:

Hi all

Can anyone help.

I just purchased a ASI294MC Pro camera,  I tried it out for the first time on my Redcat and a UV/IR filter, from my very light polluted garden (Bortle 8-9) I shot 25 x 180 second exposures at 120 gain and -20, I also shot 20 dark frames at the same settings as my lights i also done 20 x flats and dark flats at 2.5 second exposures gain 120 and at -20.

I ran them through APP creating master dark, master flat and  master dark flat files also a bad pixel map, once APP done it thing the final image had lots of red and blue pixels in it, I tried stacking them gain but this time I tried sigma clipping but I ended up with the same result I even tried Windsor and MAD sigma clipping but I still had red and blue pixels in my image, even when I stacked just the light frames I still had red and blue pixels.

Can anyone help or have I got a faulty camera ?

Thanks.

post an image, also try stacking in DSS to see if it might be a setting issue in APP

13 hours ago, Atreta said:

Thanks for the reply,  I'll try to see if there is any available here in Brazil. 

FLO deliver internationally and its so light it's probably gonna be quite cheap. It's probably the most reliable cable to get. 

This is what you need. It's simple and it works. Will save a million headaches getting this. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/lynx-astro-cables/lynx-astro-ftdi-eqdir-usb-adapter-for-sky-watcher-az-gti-mounts.html

+1 for plate solving. It's a game changer. 

doesn't the 16.5mm extension screw directly onto the the FF/R and into the EFW?

50 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

There's one on the Altair Astro website.

Dave

The one on the Altair site was totally backwards for me. said i needed to reduce space but i ended up having to add and that was with their reducer/flattener

5 minutes ago, Craig123 said:

 yes Halfords are a no no  after trying to charge me 60 for a rubber wiper  on the car

85Ah should be around the same price as that wiper. £60ish 

25 minutes ago, carastro said:

It's better to judge flats once they are stacked and calibrated in an image.  If the image doesn't have dust bunnies or vignetting the flats worked.  Also examine the master flat by stretching it to see what it reveals.

Carole 

 

Wish I hadn't stretched it, what it reveals is dirty optics and an off centre camera. Guess I need to have a strip down and clean next period of bad weather to clean it and maybe look at a better focuser (or, sshh, new scope)

EL_Master_Flat.tiff

13 minutes ago, Craig123 said:

Hi 

Can anyone recommend a good battery for taking my set up out of the back garden. It needs to power cooled ccd, dew heaters Heq5. 

Thanks 

Any half decent leisure battery would be fine. best to look online. places like halfords charge silly money. 

13 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

Well, 2nd try and the EL panel arrived today. Trying to test it so i can post here and hopefully help other decide but when using the flats aid in APT im wondering how many sheets of paper i will have to use to get a longish exposure as needed by the 294mc. currently 6 layers and still exposure time is .00055 i'm hoping for something closer to 3-4 seconds. Do i just keep stacking?

Doh, turns out it doesn't matter how many sheets you use, if you're connected to the wrong camera thats pointing at the sky a whole ream ain't enough.

4 sheets got me to 1.25secs 

heres a link to the flats, theres 20 flats. Hopefully someone with more knowledge of these things can take a look and say whether these are any good with this panel

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gSV4qYY_GX6Die9LhyQo_XMJ47Oj4adC?usp=sharing

Here is the panel 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EL-Panel-13cm-x-13cm-14-99-Illuminated-Backlit-Gauge-Display-Glow-Foil/163638313721?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=463077923797&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Well, 2nd try and the EL panel arrived today. Trying to test it so i can post here and hopefully help other decide but when using the flats aid in APT im wondering how many sheets of paper i will have to use to get a longish exposure as needed by the 294mc. currently 6 layers and still exposure time is .00055 i'm hoping for something closer to 3-4 seconds. Do i just keep stacking?

For visual I'd go for the biggest dob I could get for £500

well i sent the el cheapo led panel back, was worth a punt for under £12 but edge lit panel wasn't looking great. I'll order an EL panel and update you all. 

Always worth making sure APT is running as Administrator. It does seem to prefer that when dealing with ascom drivers. 

What camera?

Might be worth downloading a trial of sharpcap or APT to see if that connects

Have you installed the correct driver?

49 minutes ago, Nikolas74 said:

Hello , 

I am going to use for the first time my color camera and i was wondering if i should check the debayer algorithm in apt tool to RGBG (my camera) or not ? what is the difference ?

Thank you.

its just for the preview screen, i have mine ticked but you still have to debayer when processing

Well the led panel i ordered from amazon is out for delivery, if it stops raining i'll whip the cover off my scope and try it out. I'll post a couple of the flats here for someone whos more skilled to look at them. for under £12 it would be nice if it does work. 

2 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

I use an El panel 12v , though looking a daves link  I would go for that as it runs on 5v easy to power from a battery bank 

I've just ordered one of those LED panels from amazon, nice thing is i can easily return. only £12 for A4 size too. 

4 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

It is interesting - not sure what the light intensity output is, but it does get rather expensive when the size goes up.

I guess for an 11" then it is getting up to £100. nice if it is a perfectly even illumination though. 

Just now, vlaiv said:

Don't know - I'm getting error on that ebay page ...

heres the full link

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130mm-x-130mm-EL-Panel-Electroluminescent-Sheet-Glow-Foil-Paper/233203448748?var=532702488170&hash=item364c023bac:g:tboAAOSwt5hYdNSl

2 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

I use an electro luminescent panel e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/BeMatik-Electroluminescent-panel-100x100-white/dp/B0115SWPPI/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Electroluminescent+panel or https://elpanelandtape.co.uk/el-panel/.

Mine runs from 12v and doesn't require any dimmers etc., just taped down onto some 2mm hardboard...

 

 

you beat my post by seconds. so you don't have any issues with the EL panel. been considering one for a while now. 

5 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I think that simplest DIY flat box consists of following:

1. Acrylic light diffuser panel

Do google search, these should be fairly cheap and you can get them cut to size.

2. LED strip

3. Some sort of box to put it in.

4. optionally you can get PWM dimmer for led strip

 

Wouldn't this be better, or are there issues with EL panels for flats? 

https://ebay.us/Xkg6j2 

My HEQ5 light never flashes, always a solid red. What I do know is it really is much happier above 13v. batteries and PSU's i've tried in the past that measure 12v can throw up errors on the handset or can give awful guiding. 

Astro Photography Tool is probably the best and cheapest option for controlling and downloading from the camera. Trial is free. try it to see if it connects. 

31 minutes ago, alan potts said:

I could very easily put a ED70mm scope on a twin mounting frame I have by ADM and have them side by side to see. But to be fair this is the ED Sky Watcher guide scope so should be decent and results with the AZEQ6 were as good as should be expected from this mount. It is something that is worth exploring though as is all my other scope queuing up to take a ride. What I couldn't understand was the massive difference from one night to the next, as it is clear, albeit with a Moon, lets see what tonight manages.

Alan

my side by side is an ADM one too. what I like is it brings the setup closer to the centre of rotation.