WestCoastCannuck

Hey Matt! You are very welcome. :)) THE only filter you need is the IR/UV cut. Basics are key for sure! I wish I could help you with getting your tracking better..... but alas I only have simpler Alt/Az mounts. Balancing your RGB in capture depends on the software. Which capture software do you use? Mike

Heya Swoop. Nice clean details caught here. I use ICE myself, and would be lost without it. I expect a copy of it can be found somewhere! Best of luck. Though unasked for, I will assume you won't mind some suggestions. My apologies if that is not the case. On colour, with the 290MC you will benefit from an IR/UV cut filter. I just use a cheap Svbony myself - was all of $20 I think - their filters seem pretty good to me (I also have Baader and Astronomik) . Next thing is to balance the RGB channels during capture. In Firecapture you have to enable the sliders, not sure with Sharpcap - but its there as well. During stacking in AS!3 make sure "RGB Align" is checked. If you do these things, you will have a much easier image to work with to obtain nice colour. And.... that is pretty much the end of my limited colour knowledge. I still have MUCH to learn myself on that. Perhaps you are aware, but in case not, you could add a 1.5X barlow to your setup (if the seeing supports) to aim for critical sampling of your scope/camera and a closer look at things. I look forward to more! Clear skies! Mike

Very nice image with tightly packed and clean detail. A wonderful area! I quite like it just as you have done it. Mike

I am probably the LAST person to offer advice on colour work.... but in this case I can I think. Your colour looks much like my early efforts. (I am still struggling, but getting there) What I did manage to vastly improve it was to balance the colour channels during capture in Firecapture. You have to find it in the settings to enable the sliders. I assume that sharpcap is much the same (also assuming you use one or the other). F20 is good for your camera and scope combo. :)))))) Good efforts! Mike

For whatever reason, I have had few opportunities to go for this view. As you say, right on the edge like this the light is very fleeting! Must have all ducks in a row to capture well. You got some great detail here. Clear skies! Mike

As I mentioned already elsewhere...... a truly stunning work and a view of this often imaged target I have not seen in such a way. Fabulous. Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing here in my favourite forum!! Mike

Thanks Trevor! I had not thought about colour myself till recently after seeing some very striking images from others - just another avenue of exploration in our wonderful world of imaging! Still have much to improve - need more practice! (that is.... more clear nights *sigh* Wonderful to connect again with you! Clear skies Mike

Hey Trevor! I had that EXACT same scope! My first!! Its a lovely scope, and I found the single speed focuser to be super smooth and easy to get focus. I thought of picking up another one for my grab and go setup, but went with the smaller 102ED. The 100/9 gives slightly better views I think - but a bit longer than I wanted. Nice shots, especially the last. Hope you are well my friend! Clear skies! Mike Here is my old 100ED (first scope)... with my old C8 (first reflector).

Hey Andy. It's a JMI Medium Heavy Duty Wheely with 5 inch wheels. Perfect for CPC1100. When set up Correctly and the provided silly excuse for feet are replaced, it's solid as a rock.

Thanks much Craig!! Yes, I have gone through many scopes in my lunar obsession and the APM 140 is still the best of them really with its sharp and well corrected FPL 53 doublet optics - not the equal of better triplets of course for colour aberrations, but plenty good enough for me! In the seeing I usually have, it often matches what I can get with 8 inches and almost ALWAYS can turn out something nice, even in not great seeing. haha This night was another where it shined, and larger aperture did not seem to give more. And yes, I can happily report that I did ZERO CA removal on this image. Limb was as you see it here - pretty clean. It gets rather obvious at some crater rims when blown up 200 or 300% - annoying to me, but really hardly anything and not in-your-face at the already huge 100% size. I guess the lack of CA must also be a credit to whatever coatings are on the 1.5X barlow I used - a Seibert Optics 1.5X "Telecentric" barlow. I really like the colour too, yet I am sure it can be improved a lot without it being too much. I suck at dealing with colour in spite of being a serious hobby photographer for many decades. I know approximately what I have to learn and I am looking into it. I did at least ONE thing right here though - I got all my colour levels (RGB) aligned IN capture while shooting. I did almost nothing to arrive at this colour - just a little playing with saturation. Colour temp is as captured. :))) I expect that in the future, on good nights when I have the time (and opportunity) my work will be a colour mosaic with the 140, hopefully some more colour closeups with the C11, and then some targeted maximum hi rez mono attempts with my 290MM. Here was my setup from that night - pretty fast to get going and likely my usual from now on. (Have the CPC on a roll out now to save my back) Clear skies!! Mike

Thanks much Kon! I am pretty pleased with it! Oh yes.... there is more colour to bring out, and I likely will at some point, but on this first result I stopped for now. I rather like the understated colour here. Clear skies!! Mike

Finally got another (cold) night in. My first decent night since October and back to crap since then. Temp was dropping quickly and my C11 data was garbage, but my faithful 140mm came through. This is the first colour image I have made that I am happy with. Could be better.... but I am getting there. Hope you all enjoy. Capture details at lower right of pic. Hope you enjoy! C and C most appreciated, positive OR negative. Clear skies! Mike 😎

Thanks Craig. You are so right! At least for closeups!

Thanks Neil! No gamma! Lol. I still may have a go at the data again though... 🙃

Thanks Spock! Thanks Chris! Mission accomplished!!

Thanks much! I will give registration a try.

Hey all. Finally got finished (for now) my processing on my second night with the C11. Given tracking issues I had with the C11 (working on sorting that) I am frankly THRILLED with the images. I wish I did more with the 11 on this night - due to frustration I mistakenly gave up too early thinking I was not getting anything useable. I am nowhere near resolving to capability... but resolving more than I ever did with my 8, so I am off to a good start. :)))) First off my 140 mosaics. I still and likely always will love doing these. I struggle HUGELY so far getting decent colour out of my colour cam. Maybe I will get there one day. Probably the answer is to just forget about it, and layer a DSLR colour image in the mix over my mono. Anyways, here it is. APM140 F7 + 2X barlow and qhy 5-iii 485c. (8.3mp - 2.9um pixels) It is 7 panels. Shows slightly more resolution than the smaller scaled 183MM mosaic that follows. Looks more mono than anything. The alternative was purple. Next, my usual 2 piece mosaic with 140, 183MM, 1.5X barlow (could have ramped this up I see now) and 520nm narrowband filter. Slight brown tone added. And now, we move to my CPC1100 shots. All with 290mm and 685nm bandpass filter at prime. All images the best 600 of 10K frames. First off... my favourite of the night. 2 piece mosaic. Easily my best capture of the Lamont Mare Ridges. The Arago domes show up fabulously here too in this libration and scale. Hyginus and Ariadaeus rilles also show well. Next, a 3 piece mosaic of part of the VERY busy lower terminator. Way too many features here for me to list.... just enjoy the cruise! Finally, a single panel capture I am mainly sharing because it has my best Hadley down in the lower left corner. Still, also has a nice view of the upper area of Mare Serenitatis and the lower portion of the Caucasus Mountains. Valentine Dome is also visible. So, I have bested my best efforts of close work with any of my other gear - past and present (C8, 180MAK, VMC200L) - on my first two nights with this bigger 11 inch instrument. I am happy. Now just need to fine tune and go for gold! haha (SEEING and sky permitting of course LOL) To close off.... the new double mount setup for imaging. So far, I am finding the beastly CPC1100 manageable. I will no doubt be putting it on a wheeled cart at some point though as I ever rapidly approach 60 turns around the sun. Clear skies to all!! Mike

For my own taste, I indeed prefer the new version with the less aggressive sharpening. I also prefer the brighter view of the new version. Clear skies Mike

Heya Neil! I will certainly be using the C11 as much as I can and will share my adventures and thoughts about it, the good and bad. :))))) I will admit to being thrilled with it so far - but I did get ridiculously lucky on weather and seeing for my first light. haha

Great images all! Love the mosaic! Maybe just my monitor, but I do find the mosaic a bit dark to my taste, but beautiful! Tremendous details too. Of your mono efforts, I am particularly taken with the last. Wonderful contrast and punch. Clear skies! Mike

Very nice images and well processed! Yes... the Cassegrains do indeed seem to punch above their weight! My Vixen VMC 200L has a similar open tube design and I really like it. Clear skies! Mike

Thanks much MLQ! Thanks much! I most certainly will check collimation first. haha. I expect it will be worth tweaking but I could be happily surprised. For a scope that has not been collimated in 5 years it is certainly close for sure! Maybe I will be lucky and not have to touch it. Cheers Thanks much Gordon. I was pretty thrilled with what I captured in my first efforts! Clear skies to all Mike

Top shelf work as always. I far prefer the larger 75% view!! Really needs to be looked at in the larger size to appreciate I think.

Thanks much TT! Thank you AstroL! Just need more sky time with it! :)))) Thanks a bunch my friend. Yes, I am pretty happy with early results. Need good seeing for this monster! lol Have to update firmware... was giving me some trouble this morning. All the best Mike

Aside from some smoke and light clouds the conditions have been decent the last two nights - maybe even a third night tonight. This was first night of imaging with my new-to-me CPC1100. Promising results given I have not even checked collimation and it was last collimated in 2018 I am told. Was not even planning on imaging with it yet, but I could not stop myself. I have Bob's knobs for it on the way - will not attempt collimation before I have them. First up my two piece mosaic with APM140 and 183MM. Darks on terminator were REALLY dark. Hope I have not spoiled the image too much by my brightening and adjustments. I added a little colour tone. Next up are my first images with the CPC1100. These were at prime with a 685nm baader and 290MM camera. First is a 2 piece mosaic of Mare Nectaris and area, the rest are singles. They could go together... and I did, but the results as singles are much better. All of them are stacks of the best 500 or 600 of 10,000 frames. Hope you enjoy..... I sure enjoyed making them! Good to be back. Been an abysmal many months for imaging. Hoping this weekend is a sign of things to come! Clear skies Mike