Adreneline

Maybe time to treat yourself. Adrian

Absolutely no problem - thanks for sending them through. To my eye the greyscale image has slightly more contrast and hence more 'depth' - but it is marginal - interesting though. Maybe it is all down to the bad old Moon laughing at you and mocking your attempts to image 😆 Adrian

I think that is a great result - certainly bodes well for next year - providing the skies clear! 🤞 Let's hope 2024 is kind to all of us.

Interesting presentation of the Ha data Wim. It is always good to experiment with different ways of interpreting / processing data - helps to fill the cloudy nights! I've been looking at your recent tone mapped images and I can't help but feel that the tone mapping has had the effect of 'flattening' the image. I would have thought that four hours of Ha data would have given more depth, especially with your PI processing skills. Maybe it is just me and my old eyes - or the MacBook Retina screen - or something. Great image - great framing - it's just not quite working for me - sorry. Any chance you can post a side-by-side with the straight Ha - no tone mapping - just grey-scale? Adrian P.S. Just had three hours of clear skies here - just enough to grab 10 x 300s of S, H and O with my new StellaMira 90ED - it's only taken four weeks to get a "first narrowband light". Patience is a virtue - so I'm told.

Nicely processed Martin - almost 3D - great depth to the image.

Thank you Martin. It does make me reflect on what might be hiding in other old data sets - if only my data filing system was better

Hi Everyone. The data for image was taken last year with a StellaLyra 6" RC with ASI1600MM for luminance and Canon 6D for colour. The differing pixel sizes were a challenge in creating my first image with this data, that and the fact that I used the RC at 1370 mm with no reducer/flattener. ( https://www.astrobin.com/8zfrpk/F/ ). I used all manner of PI processes at the time to try to control star sizes and control noise from two very different imaging sensors (3.7um vs. 6.4um) / cooled vs. uncooled. So this is the new version courtesy of BlurX and NoiseX; 1600 and 6D data processed separately and then combined using the LRGB process in PI. I used StarAlign to register the two images and DynamicCrop to remove edge artefacts. I have used BlurX, NoiseX, and HistogramTransformation on both data sets, and then CurvesTransformation for a small boost in colour saturation on the 6D data. The two images were combined using LRGBCombination and the final image treated to a dose of SCNR - nothing else. I don't subscribe to all this moral / ethical / correctness pontification associated with using the 'X' tools - they are just tools in the processing box and like all tools need to be used appropriately/respectfully. Comments / critique on the image gratefully received. Thank you for looking. Adrian

Very nice Richard - and good to see you back. I really like the colours - I am a big fan of brown, dark and dusty, with pockets of jewels in the darkness. Adrian

Thanks Göran I've owned my SY135 for five-and-half years and during that time I feel I have tried every configuration known to man! 😆 I think I have finally hit upon the sweet spot using the lens with a step-down-ring to set it at f3.0 along with 3nm Antlia NB filters and my ASI1600MM. Okay, I've stopped down the lens and lost some photons/fortnight but that loss is far outweighed by the flatter image and better star quality across the whole image. I have finally found a mounting configuration that has eliminated all the misalignment and I've nailed the backspacing. I am now going to weld it all together so I am never, ever tempted to take it apart again. 🤣 The SY135 is a winner for me - it just needs t.l.c. to get it to deliver - and patience - and persistence - and bloody mindedness 🤣

One hour of S, H and O over two nights with the SY135 at f3.0 Pre-processed using APP beta26 - I really like the graphs providing normalised image quality data - a lot easier than SFS in PI. Processed in PI with XSuite - nebula stretched with EZ-SS; stars stretched using MaskedStretch.

I have successfully used this in the past: https://www.r-studio.com They claim it can recover data from NVMe type storage devices although I have no experience of that - as yet! https://www.r-studio.com/How-to-recover-NVMe-device.html

Thank you! I do like seeing nebula in context and there is so often a surprising amount going on around that needs to be included in the image; as I said above it is difficult knowing where to stop. Thanks again. Adrian

I do not guide my EC mount - over the past four years it has performed faultlessly but it suddenly started tracking badly in RA and I was just trying to find out what was going on. I don't wish to derail your thread with my mount problems - suffice to say something is wrong in the electronics. Good luck with your continued experiments.

Amazing Dave. Great stars! I love these bits: Stunning detail - so much better than the usual big blue blob - like what I have achieved Adrian

It worked well enough to show there was a problem but I still have no idea whether the problem is in the encoder, the RA board, the Main board or the handset and short of sending a blank cheque to iOptron I am no further forward. In terms of measuring mount tracking performance in either axis I am sure it could work very well providing you can (a) set up a rigid mounting system for both mount and gauge, and (b) measure accurately the radial displacement from the RA axis centre. For long term tracking errors with an EC type mount I used a much cruder approach - I set the mount off tracking (let's say) IC1396 and after 'n' hours I re-centred on the chosen target and looked to see how many degrees the mount moved - which varied from almost nothing to 30-40 degrees!! Adrian

Thank you. It was difficult making it rigid but I was able to show that the RA axis would either stop completely or it would stutter during movement. Here are a couple of videos of it in use - both short and for a lot of the time nothing appears to be happening! VIDEO-2023-09-23-21-01-45.mp4 VIDEO-2023-09-23-21-04-38.mp4 I measured (best I could) the radial displacement and so was able to calculate the actual movement and compare with expected for a given duration. Adrian

Interesting read Vlad. I am having problems with erratic RA tracking of my CEM25-EC mount and rigged up one of these to try to access tracking accuracy: It worked reasonable well for short duration runs. Sadly the mount is still defective Adrian

Thank you! - glad you like it Adrian

Thank you Steve- glad you like it. Adrian

Thanks Lee. The extent of the SNR is in the Ha as you might expect, but the structure is surprisingly, to me, in the SII - there is virtually nothing in the OIII. So much good stuff in Cassiopeia and Cepheus. Adrian

Thank you! As for being "upside-down" - 🥴 - not sure how that works with something that is circumpolar : Looks downside-up to me at 10.35 tonight 😆 Adrian

Hi Everyone. This is an image almost three months in the making thanks to the painful weather we've all been subjected to over recent weeks, months, years! The image comprises three panes totalling 19 hours of data taken with a RedCat 51 and ASI1600MM with 6nm Astronomik filters combined with two panes totalling 4 hours of data taken with a Samyang 135 and ASI1600MM with 3nm Antlia filters. Pre-processed in APP and post-processed in PI. Nebula from both RedCat and Samyang data; stars only from the SY135: Starless to reveal more clearly the extent of nebulosity: Annotated: I was pleased to get the little Sh2-200 PN sneaking on at the side - the 135mm doesn't really do it justice. As always with this region there is always something else just off the frame, but you have to stop somewhere! Thanks for looking. Adrian

This is a little outside your budget but would pair nicely with your 2000D - he’s open to offers. Otherwise a second-hand prime fixed focal length lens like the popular Samyang 135mm - or even a nifty-fifty prime lens for wide-field.

Hi Everyone. I am having problems with my CEM25-EC, in particular it is not tracking in RA correctly. With the fantastic help of Alex and the team at FLO and feedback from iOptron I have made some headway in trying to figure out what is wrong, summarised in this nine frame (300s subs) video: CEM25-drift.mov If the -EC mount was tracking correctly there would be no drift. PA was achieved using a PoleMaster and confirmed with an ASIair. For the last four years the mount has worked perfectly unguided with my Samyang 135mm + ASI183MM - this problem has all started in the last six weeks. What I really need to try is swapping out the handset, the reason being that the RA Guiding setting on my handset seems to randomly change itself from "Filter" to "Allow" with no intervention from me. The view is this is either a problem with the handset of a problem with the Main or RA board - or both! I am reluctant to buy a new handset only to find it does not solve the problem so I was wondering if anyone happens to have an 8408 hand controller they are not using or would not miss for a few days (weeks depending on the weather). I have already replaced the handset battery although the view is that this should not have had any effect on the RA tracking. I have already thoroughly cleaned and re-greased the mount. Slewing to a target always works perfectly. I have recalibrated the encoder several times - it always completes as expected. I am sure the encoder is working - the problem seems to be the that something in 'the system' keeps changing the handset to "Allow" - i.e. allow the RA axis to be guided and effectively disable the encoder. I have tried to guide using the ASIair PHD and NINA PHD2 but that results in erratic performance of the mount with an RMS in excess of 50" and a graph that looks like the Alps! All communication with the ASIair (or a PC running NINA) goes to the mount via the handset and its connecting cable. On occasion the RA axis will stop completely or intermittently which just to add to the complexity of the problem. I am clutching at straws! If anyone can help with the loan of a hand set I will of course cover the cost of shipping in both directions. Thanks for reading this. Adrian P.S. If the handset is not the problem I appear to be faced with sending it back to China for an out of warranty repair - not an attractive proposition.

Hi @DSOBug. This all looks great to me - largely cos' I own a RedCat 51, ASIair, BlackCat focuser with EAF and a 120MM-mini - the RedCat is great little scope. I have only one comment to make based purely on my own experience - I found the mini-guide scope a bit of a pain and very difficult to focus, but maybe that was due to my old hands. I would be inclined to pair it with something like one of these https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-accessories/zwo-125-helical-focuser.html and maybe consider one of the WO guide scope instead. AP is a great hobby with so many rabbit holes you can go down - choose wisely! 🥴 Good luck. Adrian