jjosefsen

Also check that you have actually selected a star database for use in ASTAP.

1 hour ago, Eruliaf said:

@jjosefsen How did you stop the light getting in around the focusser and still be able to focus?

To the wider community - It has also been mentioned that light may be getting in at the bottom of my scope - Can anyone advise how this has been effectively prevented?

Thanks

I have changed the focuser (for other reasons), but I plan to check for leaks tonight on the new focuser and elsewhere. 

I have seen others make flexible shade tubes around focusers, example:

On 17/02/2022 at 15:26, Eruliaf said:

Re-shot my darks with the camera out of the scope - much better result, however it did make me realise that if the darks when in the scope are impacted by stray light, the lights will be as well. I have evidenced this by inputting the new darks into my images and whilst better, I still have a gradient across them.

So, my next move will be to take dark shots with the camera in the scope whilst inside with the lights on to try and identify where the light is getting in.

Will report back once I get an opportunity to do this.

I found that light was getting in around my focuser tube on my old focuser, so worth checking out.

I've even seen people claim that IR leaks with some screwed adapters, even though I have no idea how that can happen.

Congrats, that is one hell of an image too!

The galaxy itself is amazing, so much detail!

11 minutes ago, johninderby said:

And when I say HA scopes can be expensive.🙀

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/index.php/language/en/manufacturers_id/57/astro/LUNT+Solar+Systems.html

Ouch..!

Any experience with something like this?

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3415_Baader-stacked-1-25--K-line-filter-for-Solar-photography.html

It says it work well with Newtonians, so should also work with an RC I imagine.

1 minute ago, johninderby said:

You can buy a pre-made solar filter or make your own using the Baader solar film.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/baader-astrosolar-safety-film-nd-50.html

Or the 3.8 film for photo use only

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrosolar-photo-film-od-38.html

 

Hersxhel wedges can only be used with refractors.

This would give me white light images right?

Would I be able to combine this with Ha filter or CaK filter also?

Hi,

I am considering maybe getting into some solar imaging this summer, as deep sky is pretty much out of the question due to bright summer nights in my northern location.

I have a GSO RC6, is it possible to use this to image the sun with some kind of filtering?

I have both full spectrum modified DSLR and dedicated cooled mono astro cameras.

I found this one very interesting and CaK images look very nice, but it says it is only useable with Refractors?

http://www.antliafilter.com/pd.jsp?id=106

In general it seems like all images I find are taken with refractors..

Can you recommend me a way forward utilizing some of the gear I have already?

Thanks.

Edit: Seems some people are using newtons for this, but surely I can't just turn my standard Ha filter towards the sun and expect to se solar proms right?

Aah so many faint fuzzies!

Also.. If you have doubts about your own processing skills vs camera, it could be good to give the data to someone else and let them see what they can get out of it.

I did that when I started AP because I was so frustrated with my progress, and I was sure it was my equipment and not my skills.. That was a very humbling experience! :D

It is really hard to judge quality from that image.. 

But my first thought is that it looks OK actually, and Mode 1 Gain 56 sounds about right judging from the graphs shown earlier.

I have an EQ6 as well and use NINA and ASTAP without problems. But I can tell you that  the slews on my EQ6 are not very accurate.

Basically it takes are couple og slew and syncs to get right on the money, but it always gets there.

Make sure to clear all existing points in any model created in EQMOD, and to not save new points (there is a setting for this in EQMOD), and use Dialog based interface..

Awww man it was so cool, and I am not even a Dr Who fan..

There are a lot of things that can go wrong, one of the most common reasons for something breaking is actually ASCOM drivers right now, as far as I can tell from the discussions on the Discord.

The NINA team has a pretty hard stance on ASCOM compliance, meaning they expect ASCOM drivers to adhere to the specification and guiding principles stated by ASCOM.

ALOT of drivers are not living up to this, but as the userbase of NINA has grown the ability of the NINA devs to push manufacturers to conform to the ASCOM standards has grown, and in turn it is making the whole eco system better for everyone, not just NINA.

I know they are working on strategies to make NINA more robust towards devices throwing unhandled exceptions, without having to make safeguards to every ASCOM driver out there..

Again.. when you elect to work on the latest beta release, you inherently accept that something might not be totally stable yet.

Personally I think it is worth it as the capabilities are super impressive!! But I am a full blown fanboy so..!

I think you need a flattener for APS-C sized sensors, but not tried a sensor that size myself, so that is just 2nd hand info.

3 hours ago, Newforestgimp said:

Just tried NINA and temp is stable after three exposures, no power cuts etc, no Nina camera errors, the NINA errors may have been fixed by driver update performed Friday I guess ? So it would appear to be the way APT is triggering the image download or something ? Probably one of a million settings not correct on APT.

problem is now is NIBA has been less than a fun experience for me so far, just when I think it’s working it errors on camera or mount or “insert any random device”

I've been using NINA for a couple of years now, and it mostly works for me I must say, even though I work and test the latest beta/nightly builds which, CAN have errors, but that is the nature of working with beta releases.

If you are not already on the Discord server, I can recommend it, as help is often extremely fast.

For NINA I can recommend the Patriot Astro youtube channel, he has a whole series on NINA, it is very good!

Some of it is from the old 1.11 version, but I would suggest to go with the new 2.0 beta xx build, most of it is still relevant.

If you like APT more, then maybe try raising the issue on their forums, maybe it can be fixed..?

Whatever software you chose, there is a million things that can go wrong, so much software, bad drivers, ASCOM quirks, bad cables, you name it.

Could you try some other capture software? See if the same problem happens.

Not much to critique at first glance, really lovely work.

5 minutes ago, scitmon said:

As has been said, if the FITS files have the metadata needed then it should be fine.  I wasn't aware that NINA saved Canon images as FITS.  Looks like your process is working pretty well now.

I believe Nina only saves dslr images as fits/xisf/tiff if you are using the dslr accom driver. I that case the image data is passed as a byte array if am not mistaken. When using the native canon/nikon driver it is saved without modification straight from the camera.

11 hours ago, Broadymike said:

I live on the very tip of the Kent coast (thanet). The LP maps reckon I'm in a bortle 5 area so not great but not appalling either. I always thought as half of the night sky that I can see is over over the English channel so no real LP from the east for 30miles that this may improve my LP levels. Its just come up though in the local news that a couple of miles down the road there's a place called "Thanet earth" even though it sounds like it might be an environmentally friendly business its actually just a complex of massive greenhouses witch have lights on all night and no blinds or anything to stop light escaping. Thanet earth as I've just found out is the 2nd worst culprit of LP in the whole of the UK. The only good thing is that I'm on the other side of the island (Thanet used to be cut off from the mainland and is still known as the Isle of thanet) so I'm a little distance away but nowhere near enough distance lol. I have friends that live a lot closer and they've informed me that other than the moon and maybe saturn/jupiter they haven't seen any stars for a few years now even though their house is basically in the middle of a field that is on the cliffs. Luckily there is a big campaign/petition locally to try to get them to sort this out, but with our local authorities I don't hold that much hope lol. 

 

Well thats my rant over! Was just wondering if others have had similar issues with local big businesses wrecking their enjoyment of such a fascinating pastime? Also if anyone is from a high LP area do they have any tips/advice on any filters etc that may help my situation? Also I'll post a pic here to show the extent one selfish businesses effect on our local night sky. 

That picture is wild! Never seen anything like that before. 😵

I can recommend joining the discord server if you haven't already, lots of helpful people in there who can answer most of your questions.

4 minutes ago, StarryEyed said:

Not NINA which is good and I use but its dependant on PHD2 free, ASTAP free, ASCOM free, SKYMAPS free and just points and shoots. You can write scripts in ASTAP or ASTROART to do the same thing. 

I contribute elsewhere and buy outright I've owned ASTROART since version 3 for example. 

"just points and shoots"

But I get your point I think, there is also a lot of other free software that admittedly deserves some love and $$$ as well.

I took the small patreon plan for NINA, so they get a little bit each month.

The amount if work put into that application and the community around it is pretty crazy.

I have just been yhrough the same hell it sounds like you are in.

I couldn't find stock of the TS version anywhere, so I ended up with this one which is exactly the same.

https://www.teleskop-express.it/collimazione/228-collimatore-universale-reego-pro-astronomy-expert.html

They then recommended this add on they just released for doing the primary mirror alignment.

https://www.teleskop-express.it/collimazione/5444-modulo-di-collimazione-mor-astronomy-expert.html

I think this coupled with some excellent info from other members on this forum finally got me there. 

This series is amazing, I can hardly wait to start my build!