WestCoastCannuck

9 minutes ago, DaveSw said:

Very nicely done. A good way to spend part of a sunny Saturday on the Island.

Thanks Dave!  It WAS a nice morning.   Lovely and cool...  no mosquitoes.   Shame the clouds stuck around till well after sunrise but at least they left!  :)))

Full disc, 140APM + 1.2X barlow, 183MM and IR742

Vixen VMC200L at prime + 290MM + IR685  150 of 10,000 stacked.

Same as above, this one a two piece Mosaic of the south.

Clear skies!!    Man, I can't wait to actually image at NIGHT again.  No luck for quite a while.

Mike

3 hours ago, PembrokeSteve said:

Hi Mike,
 

Thanks for you comments,

The using of the 0.5 focal reducer was basically a bit of an experiment on the Moon while I was waiting for it to get really dark to have a test on some DSO.  However when I saw how "tack sharp"  the moon looked on my laptop screen,  I went and fired away a lot of moon AVI's.  My resulting Moon images at the highest camera resolution of 3096 x 2080 came out really good and I completed a mosaic.  However my images captured at resolution 1920 x 1200 came out a bit under-sampled with blocky artefacts etc.   So I then decided to try and salvage some of my images by applying Autostakkert Drizzle.   It seemed to have worked, but don't think I will be doing it much again, as like you said, it is a bit counter productive.  I noticed when going through the Drizzle procedure,  the process seems to take an eternity and with all the air blowing out of my computer and noise it makes, I was worried  if I do much more , I will be looking for a new PC !

Regards,

Steve

Ahh... yes.  I know all about experimenting with seemingly off choices.  hehe.  I do it all the time.  Makes perfect sense now!   And yes...  I totally agree about the crunching time for drizzle!   Its fine for 2mp files...  not bad.  But, bigger, yeah it takes too long.  

Clear skies!

Mike

Heya Steve.  REALLY like your colour here!   Must get a colour cam one of these days...  or a planetary filter set.

I am a little confused as to your choice in extra glass to reduce, then adding a 1.5X drizzle.   Seems counter productive?  Your sensor has 2.4um pixels which match nicely for critical sampling  (just a little undersampled) to your F9 scope at prime.   Imho you would have got a better result shooting at prime, then processing as best you can and reducing a little.   Seeing was obviously not optimal and your result is nice the way you did it, but, I do think a more conventional approach would have netted you an even better image. 

Very best regards

Mike

On 20/06/2021 at 01:05, Trevor N said:

I find the whole thing a bit of a dark art most times Mike. I always think it’s a bit like fishing. I’ve taken what I considered to be good quality files and been disappointed with the processing. I’ve also taken what I thought were poor files and produced something reasonable. I even vary between Registax 6 and 5 !
Its good that people like you share ideas on these sort of forums and hopefully we can all learn. I look forward to hearing how future attempts with the Vixen turn out. Good luck. Trevor 

You are so right about all you said Trevor.  😆  It is a dark art.  "Rules"..  really only are guidelines and data is nearly always different and can be processed effectively or not in many different ways.  😄

On 19/06/2021 at 14:15, Trevor N said:

Looks very good so far Mike. Lots of detail there. It’s always a worry at first light. I’ve had a couple of lemons  over the years which is a big disappointment. Equally well I’ve jumped to conclusions too quickly and the problem has been a run of bad seeing. You will soon decide which scope to keep after a few sessions. Double speed focusers do seem very expensive for what they are in a similar way to most of the accessories unfortunately

 

Thanks much Trevor!  Yeah..  need more time with the Vixen but pretty optimistic!  I like it.  :)

6 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

Looks nice and sharp considering the conditions. Well done.

Thanks Roy!

6 hours ago, neil phillips said:

Its great to have scope choices. Unless a scope underperforms. For its apeture. Worth keeping.  In my book.

At least use them all often. and digest the results. Before selling. In time with your experiance you should know what scopes are doing it for you. Hard to tell from afar the verdict on the Vixen. Even you dont sound certain yet (and its in your hands)  The early results suggest at least no glaring flaws. You mention not easy to focus. I have often had underperformers that were difficult to focus. Though of course other things can influence this, cooldown conditions ect quite a lot actually. Thats where the taking time to digest comes in.  Personally from what i am seeing here it looks great to me. lots of fine detail. Nothing feels off.

Thanks Neil!   It looks like the scope is a keeper but need more than one daytime session and one evening!   ....  about the focusing, its the focuser that is the problem!  lol.   Single speed R and P.   If I keep it,  I will end up ponying up the ridiculous cost of upgrading it to a dual speed....  $250usd.  Not a chance finding one used.    I am finding the images very good so far!

I missed this one.   A nice well processed image.    

After processing....  I was not satisfied with the Vixen files.  I frankly struggle with Hi-rez processing and again I thought they could be better.  I redid most of them with different software and sharpening on less frames.  On a few of the pics, I included both versions.  For Hi Rez...  I believe this is the way forward for me.   Astra Image for my 183MM files, and IMPPG for my 290MM files.

All photos here were shot with an IR742 filter.  One of these days I will get my filter drawer system worked out and I will be able to quickly change and check different filters and effects.  (need a custom spacer)

All images  shot around sunset or a little after

First, a little two piece mosaic with Vixen and 290MM.  Best 450of10000 each panel.  Astra Image

And just a piece redone with IMPPG - best 150 of 10000

Several Vixen and 290MM shots.  A couple with comparisons of processing.

450 of 10000 - Astra Image

Same image...   150 of 10000,  IMPPG

450 of 10000 Astra Image

150 of 10000 IMPPG

And finally, my full disc shot with my APM 140,  Siebert Optics Barlow @ 1.2X and ASI 183MM camera.

Clear skies!!

Mike

Have had two runs with the Vixen now, but yet to really power it up.   Promising though I think.   This from the 15th, in daylight after work.    Was all packed and finished well before dark.  (Early AM start to day).    Seeing was forecast to be good and it was.  My results this night at least as good as after sunset was on the 16th.  (for another post)

This was from my driveway.   First up, prime shots with Vixen VMC200L ,  290MM camera. and IR742 filter.  Details pretty good I think?   IQ suffers a little from the low contrast daytime raw data, but I am pretty happy with these otherwise after processing!   All images best 450 of 10000.

Jury still out on Vixen....  its a bear to focus,  but I think it might be a keeper.   We shall see.  Eventually, I will give up either the Vixen or the MAK probably - only two spots on mount!  haha  Vixen cools down WAY faster than MAK, and adjusts quicker with temp changes.  That might be a deciding factor.  No rush.  I will do a few shootouts. 

I am kind of messing about with different looks....  sorry if the post seems a bit scattered.  LOL

And finally, my best single frame shot with the APM 140  at prime with an IR742 filter and 183MM camera.  Best 450 of 3000 frames.

Clear skies!!  Hope some enjoy!

Mike

Looks great!  I like the more black version myself....  and was processing pretty much the same phase at the same time I think.  LOL  Shot daylight on 15th....  and twilight on the 16th.   15th was better I think.

EDIT....  :   70mm???? !!    Crazy great results Neil!  Awesome really.   :)))))))))))

Cheers!

Mike

Great effort given the seeing Trevor!  Yep...  we take what we can get and make something of it.  Nicely done. 

Nice work!  I think I rather like the daylight version this time, but both are nice!!

Mike

4 hours ago, callisto said:

Ooh, that's nice 

 

Mark

Thanks Mark!  :))))

3 hours ago, neil phillips said:

Lovely work Mike. processing looks very nice, highly detailed and natural as per your usual very high standards. Looks like you dropped your brightness levels a touch ( just a impression i could be wrong) Getting ready in a few weeks to try a 178 mono with the EVO 120, and 245mm Newtonian. Though stuck with low elevation here untill later in the summer (30 degrees max and dropping) Question the limb blur i can see here, ( very slight in one area ) was this because seeing dropped off ?  sometimes if you sharpen the same across all panes some areas respond less well (often the limb actually ) In such cases sometimes those areas can be sharpened a little extra just to give it a lift, Not a ton of course but enough to blend the effect of the sharp detailed areas to any areas that are for what ever reason less sharp. But this only applies to the full mosaic of course, and i am being picky because i believe that helps anyone who is at the top of there game. Which you are. I always know when i click. your images i am in for a treat. You influence my eye so much. But i have told you this before. I take it your doing all your processing in 4 k now ?  I am well behind with just standard HD. Oh yeah congrats on the scope

 

Hiya Neil!   You must be looking forward to having your pair of slayers in action - especially the big Newt!   I look forward to posts!

Thanks much on critique and comments!!!   As always it is VERY much appreciated.  I also noted the soft limb.....   and was just too tired to back up and attempt to fix it.   Too long ago now to know why it happened....  seeing or focus shift possible - I am HOPING the cause is too many reference points for an area that did not have much contrast - confusing AS!3 - in which a fix is possible.   I DID drop the brightness a tad....  there was some stacking artifacts just off the terminator that were annoying me and it was the only way I could remove them cleanly.   Tried to brighten back up with a brush as much as possible.... but still darker than I like.  Going to have a go at restacking shortly..............

Thanks on scope.   We shall see how I like it compared to 180MAK.   I will end up selling either the MAK or the Vixen - can't justify keeping both with the number of days in a year I can use them.

:)))))))

In the complete absence of new data....  I have gone back to stuff I thought I may improve.  Pretty happy with this.     New from the raw data.

APM140 + Siebert Optics Barlow at 2X + ZWO183MM + Baader Green 520nm.  4 panel Mosaic.  Reduced in post to F9.8 view.

First some crops....

And the full mosaic.

Hope you will indulge me....  was a great night. 

I just took delivery of another scope (VMC200L)...  so have likely guaranteed continued clouds out my way.    

Clear skies to you all!

Mike

Good stuff!  Indeed the potential is there!  I hope you can get your mount running right and some decent seeing - I bet results will be satisfying.  :)))

The Svbony and all the other GSO clones have their place and work well enough if your FOV is small.   No, not recommended with a bigger sensor like a 4/3.   Where they can be used well is when you are only using the small middle area - and for that they work fine.  (like my ASI290MM, or other small sized planetary type cams).   I use my Antares .5X  (also a cheap one) with my 180MAK  and 290MM to reduce the focal ratio, but I don't bother usually with my 1 inch ASI183MM - near the edges of frame suffer.

Clear skies

Mike

Sweet Mount!! I expect that if anything can withstand some wind, it can. haha. A nice result Wouter.       

Thanks all!   It was a good day.  Sadly, the seeing forecast for last night (1/5) was spot on in spite of looking lovely and clear to the eyes.  Images were just a blurry mess.  I still took a couple clips...  might have got "lucky" enough for a reduced size shareable image.   Have to see.

Cheers and Clear Skies!

Mike

A night time window has been elusive....  but right after getting home from work on Wednesday, the sky was clear and the moon high - for the heck of it, I checked the seeing forecast.... and low and behold, it was forecast to be 5/5 and set to get much worse as night fell.   So...  what the hell - take what you can get.    I set up in the shade of my carport and gave her a go.  Indeed the seeing was quite decent.  I am very happy with the full disc...  the MAK shots suffered a bit, but not bad.  Have the next 4 days off...  forecast pretty dismal for seeing.  I will no doubt give it a go anyway if I can see Luna.  lol  Full disc was shot at 6PM, the rest with the MAK through the next hour then I closed up shop as Luna was going to go out of my setup view.

First up, the full disc.  APM140 at prime with ASI183MM and IR742.  Best 300of3000 frames.

Next are my efforts at closer work.  180MAK with Antares .5X reducer , 290MM camera and IR807 filter.  Each the best 500of10000 frames.  Was fighting wind a bit.   Likely still need a collimation tweek on MAK.  (very likely)

Clear skies!

Mike

Excellent results for such oversampling!  Indeed the 80Ed is a good one...  lots of details here.

Great results with poor seeing!

Mike

3 minutes ago, Trevor N said:

That’s better than I have ever achieved during the day. As Neil said, you should be pleased with that one Mike

  Thanks Trevor!!   I am pretty happy now with the last version.   Learned some new tricks.  :)))

I DID get your last email btw......   reply soon!  Imaging tonight again hopefully at sunset - heading out with the little bean for a hike right now. 

Cheers

Mike

35 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

The shots i tend to take are early morning, or early evening before the sun goes down. For midday that is a cracking result Mike. Looks very good to me. I think you should feel pleased with that. Processing looks great to me on my plasma tv.

Though i guess your seeing more critically in 4 k now. Lovely result from what i can tell.

Wanted to talk to you actually Mike. I need a fairly cheap large mono chip, in a few weeks was thinking of getting the 178m (player one camera) wanted the 290m but i have that size with the colour 462. So the 178 seems to fit the wallet and spec. Read some about pattern noise. Have you experianced any. Should i trade the size of the chip for the 290 ? Really need a bigger chip. Hope you dont mind me getting your perspective on your post.

Thanks much on your thoughts on my result Neil!  Truly I am thrilled with the details I got here.   Certainly my best for mid day - I have had plenty of night times with worse results! It is the sky i had trouble with.  Had to try brushing the sky darker to hide the artifacts...  and it is very difficult to do that along the terminator and have look natural.

On your question...    (no problem  by the way!!)    I only have experience with the 290m and the 183m sorry!  Have not had issues with 290...   I think I may have had pattern noise with the 183 once or twice...  but nothing I think is a problem.   Was something extreme about my settings though I can't remember what now.  (My memory beyond bad)   178 pretty solid from what I have heard!

Cheers

Mike