Adreneline

Hi, I presume it means: i.e. Tools -> Equipment Profile Manager -> Focus tab and create a Profile and Save. HTH

Hi Lee. I've had problems in the past with using the HitecDC unit with communication errors and the software hanging. In the end I decided to replace the 'standard' usb cable with a higher quality one containing ferrite cores at both ends. Since making this change I've not had any communication errors at all between the PC (Intel NUC) and the Hitec control unit. HTH. Adrian

Hi! I've PM'ed ypu. Adrian

Hi. Hope you don't mind but I've been playing around a bit more with your original lights and managed to tease out quite a lot of colour - it's definitely there! - but my end results look none too natural The more I tease out the colour the more the galaxy tends to look like it is superimposed on the background. My last effort looks like a cut & paste job whilst wearing a blindfold - definitely not for sharing! I stacked all four groups in DSS separately and then combined them in Registar. I've attached the tif and jpg of the combined non-cropped images if it is of any interest or help. (For the latter I used the PI ScreenTransferFunction and HistogramTransformation to stretch the image just for illustration purposes) It has certainly helped me practice my skills in PI so thank you for sharing your original subs. Picking up on @cuivenion I use a UV/IR filter when using the 414ex osc and find it helps a lot. Good luck! Adrian Combine-All.tif

You (we!) just need some clear nights, although the good thing with M31 is it is bright and short subs can quickly accumulate. This is my trial effort - first-light with the 428ex - LR(+Ha)GB - first attempt at processing LRGB+Ha in PI. Plenty of scope for improvement I would suggest! Good luck. Adrian

I just used the first seven fit files - the alignment between groups is quite marked 001-007, 008-023, 027-034. I've stacked in DSS used PixInsight to process the autosav.tif as best I can recognising there are no calibration frames. There is some colour lurking in there. Using all the other light groups plus relevant calibration frames and maybe combining in PixInsight or Registar might produce a better result. I hope this helps. Adrian

Hi! I am by no means an expert but I've downloaded the files and will give it a go. I use a 428ex mono having recently upgraded(?) from a 414ex osc. I also recently used M31 as a first trial with my 428ex and 'playing around' with the LRGB and Ha filters. The framing was terrible as the ED80 and 428ex combination is no good for this target but it was 'bright' and in a reasonable position in the sky from my location. There was lots of colour but not sure they were the right colours! Adrian

Thank you Tim for the kind comment. I did all the usual stuff I do in PI to extract the signal and then at the very end I decided to run the new PhotometricColourCalibration process which changed things quite a bit - hopefully for the better. Prior to running PCC I did check the background sky levels (as advised by @ollypenrice) and also ran SCNR. Hopefully I've not over done any aspect of the process. I now tend to go as far as I think is good and then back everything off a couple of notches. Thank you again for looking. Adrian

Thank you DaveS and Dave. It was definitely a case of PI to the rescue. I'm sure there should be a little more nebulosity around the galaxy but it got removed in an attempt to remove the high veil cloud/moon light pollution despite being really careful with DBE and conservative with noise reduction; even so I've probaly over done it. It's a tricky one! Thank you again for your comments. Adrian

Even when common sense says you shouldn't sometimes you can't stop yourself from having a go, despite the high veil clouds, the 40% moon and the local light pollution. So, after 20x3mins L and 20x90s of R, G and B PixInsight managed to deliver something that resembles M33. Maybe next month there will be another clear night and I'll get another crack at it. Thank you for looking.

Thank you for your response to my question - as a relative newbie I'm afraid I did not appreciate the significance of the 10 Micron mount. I have to say PHD guiding can be a mixed blessing. Life was simpler when I first started with a Canon 70D imaging nice bright things like M31 and M42 with relatively short exposure times. I too have experienced frustration with PHD now I've moved into the realms of long exposure imaging. I've decided astrophotography is really an object lesson in managing multiple frustrations - it seems everything in your favour is constantly against you. Thank you again for sharing an inspiring image. Adrian

Very nice image Alan. I've not tried this target yet. Can I ask why you decided to go 'unguided'? My NEQ6 would certainly not manage that with 1800s exposures - not sure it would cope with 600s either.

Hi Rodd To be honest I wouldn't normally throw out subs with plane trails but the trails were compounded by an increasing amount of cloud and moon glow and I decided it just wasn't worth it. I would normally wait for another night to grab more RGB and L but I'm afraid my impatience got the better of me and I was anxious to get my first L/Ha/RGB image from my 428ex that I've had for two months and not had chance to do anything with. I know it's not very good and technically has lots wrong with it but I thought it was worth sharing because at least I got something that vaguely resembles what IC5146 should look like - albeit with a bit of tweaking in PI I was inspired to have a go at this target because of your recent thread and it's favourable position from my location. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to grab some L and more RGB and then use the Ha in moderation and L as it should be used. I should have learnt by now than when impatience starts to set in it's time to open another bottle of Rioja! Thank you for looking and for your helpful comments. Adrian

Hi Olly, To be honest I only used Ha instead of L because I only managed one (!) L last night before the clouds stopped play. So I decided to play around with Ha in PI and used HDRMT and LHE to get a high level of contrast. Once I've got some real L I'll reprocess and then decide whether it might benefit from some Ha mixing with the R. I did boost the blue quite a bit in ColourSaturation. It seemed to me that the Ha image helped to pull out the detail quite a bit but I found anymore than 60% mix and it didn't look so good. This is the Ha image: I'll have a go with SCNR and see what I can achieve. Many thanks. Adrian

Despite the 90%+ moon I was desperate to try my new 428ex and Baader filters so I managed to get 190mins of Ha two nights ago and then just 35mins each of R, G and B last night; clouds rolling in put paid to getting any L and I had to scrap half the RGBs due to aircraft - the joys of EMA being so close! All processed in PI; added 60% Ha to the RGB to simulate L. All a bit unconventional but at least an image of sorts after so many weeks of cloudy nights. I guess this is an L(Ha)RGB or an Ha(L)RGB: Hopefully I'll get some 'real' L to add to the RGB and use the Ha to enhance the R if we get another clear night in the near future. Any advice/observations would be gratefully received. Adrian