cesco

Hi all, while finding Atik-Dawn processing software easy to use and efficient, if I am not extremely accurate in centering R, G and B images exactly at the same spot during capture, after each color filter shift, then I will have troubles realigning R, G and B images in Dawn. Alignement tolerance seems to be very strict, and no suggestions appear in the help section how to adjust the offset of the three color frames, to correct errors in centering during capture. Those errors are not attributable to autoguide as only a couple of pixel drift can be found between the first and the last frame of each channel (45-60 min integration time). Rather, tiny movements of the setup when I manually change the filters can be the culprit. Most processing softwares allow channel/frame aligning correction, and I wonder how this is not easily achieved in Dawn, as other commands are straighforward....any suggestions from Dawn users? Thanks Francesco

Great! Really! It makes such DSOs appealing to me in addition to galaxies....I never imaged them, apart from Orion's and the Ring....

Thank you. To Anne S I expected shorter exposition times with narrowband filters….! And how many 15-min subs? Of course I was not considering that the total light entering such a narrow passband is quite dim….but this also means that narrowband filters would not shorten my photo sessions, which is strongly annoying especially in DST periods, unless I decide to stay up a whole night…. Guiding is no problem since I always do. As for the color ASI533/dual narrowband fiklter, the total time goes shorter by 2/3 with respect to three channels, of course, unless you capture several 5-min subs…. To Elp Yes, it seems that a strong increase in sensitivity from CCD to CMOS isn’t the issue. One should expect cleaner background sky in the captured images, not a shortening of exposure time, as my seller told me that one hour integration time at least is needed for each H-alpha OIII and SII channel (in agreement wirth your experience)…. Worse than all, my beloved subjects, galaxies, are forbidden targets of narrowband filters…..I could only hope to get good images of emission nebulae and similar emission DSOs, surely better quality than galaxies, though with the same timing problems in summer DST as for galaxies. However, as an added bonus, I can expect fun in including in my setup the novelty of narrowband filters.

Thank you. Do you mean that I should simply replace my RGB filters (Baader dielectric) with an H-alpha O-III and S-II triplet and.....bingo!? Which kjind of narrowband filters do you use? How long is your usual integration time in each channel and how many frames do you capture? I have no idea how the Atik 428EX CCD will respond to those filters, as I don't have an idea how the Dawn software, calibrated on RGB, will process the narrowband triplet frames...I will ask Atik customer service. The same applies to Registax requiring _R, _G, _B extensions to color files.... do you have an idea? However, I am attracted to the use of narrowbwnd filters more than to changing my videocam: thank you for your suggestion even if I would like to know something more about your experience.

Hi all, due to worsening of LP in my observing site and to darkness time shortening for incoming DST, I decided to stop using my Atik 428EX CCD monochromatic camera for DS astrophotography. Under my obs site conditions ever more integration time is required to improve S/N ratio to decrease luminescent background sky, and too much time is required for R G B capture. My idea is to give up with CCD and choose a CMOS camera, like the ZWO ASI. I wander if its sensitivity is high enough to allow capture of more frames in less time and to permit R G B capture in considerably less time than with CCD cameras. Alternatively, I would change to a polychrome camera. By now, I need 1 hr capture time for each color channel and to collect about 80 frames for each channel.....quite unfeasible in summer....I would appreciate any suggestion and advice to choose the right CMOS camera. Thanks everybody, Francesco

Hi all, under these weather conditions I had only a couple of decent nights for experimenting plate solving with ASPS & Astrometry Net. Nonetheless, I had the opportunity to positively test its usefulness, in association with the classical star hopping, so that I would like to name the method Plate Solving-assisted Star Hop. I had to spend the first night familiarizing with ASPS on the field. The second night, after selecting the first reference star with the fnder scope, I found myself lost somewhere in the sky, yet next to my target. So I took a 10-s, 2x2 binning, picture of the spot and quickly submitted it to ASPS. I soon obtained my position coords by Astrometry Net and visualized them onto Cartes du Ciel by use of the Circular Field/New Guide Field function, by plotting my FOV directly on the sky chart. Since my FOV was also visualized on the computer screen, I was able to move the scope by the hand control in the direction and length estimated from the sky chart until I saw my target neatly enter the FOV. Elapsed time was less than 10 min from the first spotting the reference star in the finder scope. Now, I just learned that plate solving is currently a tool in the Sharp-Cap software. I also learned of Electronically Assisted Astronomy and Live Stacking, and of fabulous achievings of CMOS It also happens that I just bought a Player One Mars M planetary camera (CMOS sensor) and upgraded my PC to an USB3.0 system to improve my planetary imaging. My questions: is someone using Player One Mars M (or C) also for Deep Sky imaging? Is it possible to manage this planetary camera with Sharp-Cap for DS imaging and plate solving? I would be grateful for discussing details of these topics with somebody already using these new imaging tools. Thank you Cesco SET UP - Imaging scope: Meade semiapo ED 7” f/9 refractor on Losmandy G11, manually operated, upgraded to ST4 guiding by means of a SBIG Relay Box connected to Losmandy model 492 control unit; - Imaging: Atik 428EX monochrome videocamera operated with the Atik software Artemis. FOV 19’hx14’v - Guiding scope: acromatic refractor Vixen 80mm f/12 - Guiding camera: Atik Titan - Guiding software: PHD2 - Processing/stacking: Dawn, Registax6, DSS, Autostakkert - Filters: RGB Baader dielectric into a Baader filter slit, no luminance, Neodymium filter in front of Atik camera

Thank everybody for suggestions...I will put my eyes onto Astap. My setup is as follows: - Imaging scope: Meade semiapo ED 7” f/9 refractor on Losmandy G11, manually operated, upgraded to ST4 guiding by means of a SBIG Relay Box connected to Losmandy model 492 control unit; - Imaging: Atik 428EX monochrome videocamera operated by Atik software Artemis. FOV 19’hx14’v; - Guiding scope: acromatic refractor Vixen Auriga 80mm f/12; - Guiding camera: Atik Titan; - Guiding software: PHD2; -Planetary camera: TIS DMK21AU618 (next to be replaced by a Player One Mars-MII USB3.0 mono camera) - Processing/stacking: Dawn, Registax6, DSS, Autostakkert (planetary); - Filters: RGB Baader dielectric on Baader filter slit, no luminance, Neodymium filter in front of Atik camera; I'm aware it is millenium old, but I am so acquainted with it that any change is quite bothersome to me. I just added a QHY Polemaster for polar aligning, which works very nicely and, above all, quickly. Plate solving appears to me as another time-sparing tool....my aim is to speed up manual operations: according to my idea, once everything is speedy enough no matter to upgrade to complicate automatic devices.... Hope the ASTAP software will fit..... Thank you Cesco

Hi all, I am attracted by plate solving as a mean to dismiss my almost useless finderscope, under my heavily light polluted sky. I have an idea that real time plate solving on my capture camera screen will work as a very precise finderscope, avoiding erratic search of nearly missed objects, as it happens to me when manually pointing to a DSO by use of graduated circles. A limitation could arise from heavy celestial coordinate files to be loaded onto my PC. In All Sky Plate Solver freeware, they total to 168 files of a few GB each, and it seems to me that this amount will not fit my PC memory, MSI USB3.0 460 GB. In any way, I fear my PC will be severely slowed down, at least. A possible solution might be a capient (1-2 TB) external memory disk for hosting the coordinate files, but I don't have any idea of the resulting speed of the system. In conclusion, given the idea of using plate solving at the main camera in place of the finder scope is correct, this method may remain a tantalizing fantasy due to system memory limitations.... What about you? Any idea/suggestion useful to put this fantasy in real use? Thank you, Francesco

Very clear advice, thank you!

I am trying to understand the better choice for a planetary videocam between the Player One Mars CII mono and my old Atik Titan I always used exclusively for autoguiding. Now I learn that Atik is proposing it as a planetary videocam, which I never considered. My aim is to get highest FPS, of course, and low SNR, and to this aim Player One, running on USB 3.0, seems to be strongly advantaged over Atik Titan. But...am I neglecting other aspects of the issue? Are there other characteristics of the Titan favouring it vs. the Player One? How would the Titan perform on an USB3.0, i5 PC? I have always been using a TIS DMK21 AU618 for planetary, and I would be glad just to replace it with my Titan, but I'm making up the idea that Player One would be the real upgrade for me. Thank you for opinions. Francesco My setup: Meade 7" f/9 ED refractor on Losmandy GII manual mount. Firecapture capture software. Autostakkert 3.1.4(x64) /Registax6 processing softwares.2022-11-09-1928_3-U-B-Jup_37_Jup373839RGB_lapl5_ap80_convRGB RGX.bmp

Hi all, I am going to replace my old PC with an USB 3.2 system: will my old devices, and sofwares, fit? Many questions arise: will I have to change something as regards to my Atik 428EX and Atik Titan videocams? Will I have difficulties with installing old drivers on the new PC? Will I not have to install any driver at all (so said to me the PC seller)? What about the Artemis capture software and the Dawn software I use for processing the images? I guess that the USB 3.2 PC would not take .fit frames to be processed with Dawn, will it? Otherwise, Dawn software will turn useless... I would not like that upgrading my PC would result in a total crash of everything I have been using to now.....! Can somebody reassure me? Thank you! Francesco

Hi all, I am using, though not so frequently, FireCapture to capture planetary/moon frames for subsequent processing with Registax6. My equipment is Meade 7"ED refractor 1600mm focal length on Losmandy Gemini II mount (manual), TIS DMK21AU618 mono videocam, and Baader RGB dielectric filters. Since about one year, I find streaks in the final processed images, similar to a moving picture, but not so well defined. I don't find anything similar in Jupiter and Saturn images. Nothing similar appears in galaxy images I shoot more frequently with different capture devices/software. I have tried to change several Registax parameters in the Align step, without success. I also tried not to align frames at all with Registax, by straightforward stacking frames taken with the Firecapture autoalign tool on, but didn't succeed in eliminating streaks. This told me that streaking is not Registax fault, but Firecapture's. So, at first, I resorted to set back to default all Firecapture settings to cancel out some wrong input I may have set erroneously and saved. The first option I got was "Updating Firecapture to last version": my version is 2.6.08 and the latest available update is 2.7.09! In addition, the system cracks as soon as I click "Download"! Does anyone have any idea whetherFirecapture ceased in the last many years? Or if the software was completely changed? Where else it can be found? I would also welcome suggestions of different and up to date software for planetary capture, suitable for TIS DMK21AUMoon_220316_201509_18_R.bmp618......maybe it's time to change... Thank you. Best, Francesco

Binning the guide camera is an attempt at increasing the guide star brightness in order to avoid “star lost” messages, while binning the imaging camera helps increase the brightness of the target DSO. My site has turned from rural dark to urban-rural transition, in the last years. I then use the “multi-short-shots” method in order to increase the S/N ratio, and binning the imaging camera helps getting a bit brighter 45-s long images. I take several (80-100) frames, which should yield a 9-10 S/N ratio, after combining. I agree on avoiding binning the guide camera….I realize that makes the camera wander a lot. I should try to stabilize the guide star another way… I attach my last picture: NGC2683, 85 45-s frames, about 65 min for each color channel. Thank you. Cesco

My mount is Losmandy Gemini II, dating back to late 1990's, manual... I stick to star hopping and graduated circles to locate DSOs... There is some backlash in RA and Dec motor worms I can fix by hand, periodically, not so bad. Total RMS value I gave above was from PHD2 guide logs, which was continuously updated during guiding also in response to (and affected by) seeing, I guess. More appropriate values should be those measured by the guide assistant tool, that is 0.82 " (0.24px) total; 0.67" (0.20px) RA and 0.47" (0.14px) Dec, much better than the former. I attached some pictures of the guide assistant output, and PHD2 logs. Thank you for useful discussion, Cesco PHD2_GuideLog_2022-02-10_190833.txt PHD2_DebugLog_2022-02-10_190833.txt

Are RMS values (RA, Dec and total), reported in PHD2 log viewer, an appropriate measure of guiding performance? Total RMS is 1.75" (0.52 px), and the image scale of the imaging scope is 1.17"/px 😬...... On the other hand, the error in polar alignment is around 1.5 arcmin, as measured by PHD2 Guide Assistant. Polar alignment was performed with PoleMaster.