Vroobel

Imaging stars separately with an LPS filter or no filter at all is highly recommended. It's not really difficult to align the two master files according to the stars, process them separately and combine them at the end. When I work with the OSC cam I use IDAS LPS-P2 filter and do at least 30x30s frames for the stars. 

I was very sceptical about the Seestar S50, but I can see that stubborn imagers can get a lot out of this smartcsope. That doesn't make me buy it though.  

I never pictured the M27, so I joined the challenge with pleasure.   Here is my vision of the object based on the delivered data. I decided to leave the background as it is, with applying a stretch, of course.  I see the Graxpert works quite well.  

PixInsight only, DynamicCrop, delicate BlurXterminator, StrarXterminator, GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch, SelectiveColourCorrection and again BlurXterminator applied to the stars as they were slightly bloated. SCNR applied to the stars (too green). 

Very good data. I'd like to work on the unmodified master file, please share it if possible. Also, could you remind us what was used? I assume the RC6, but what camera and reducer, if any?

10 hours ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

i still can't find anyone who makes an eq mount with motorised alt/az adjustments

I thought about it several times. It shouldn't be difficult to do, but I stop my considerations every time I realise that a leveling also should be motorised which is much more difficult. 

I also have a similar problem, even if the WiFi signal is OK. My advice is to set an ASIAir IP address as static (reserved) within your home router and force the connection by IP when it happens again. 

... = spottingscope! 🤩

Recently I bought a RACI finderscope with eyepiece holder. I already had a Baader 8-24mm Zoom Mk III, so I tried to combine them. This way I obtained the spottingscope at no extra cost. 🙂

Sit and rest, watch Netflix or whatever you like. You think too much. 

From my experience, it may be related a number of drives you have. If you save your data on the same drive which is your system drive then the fps number may be affected by system operations like downloading update or so. My fps number grew significantly when I added secondary SSD which is dedicated for data only. 

10 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

The example looks great, but I suspect building in stone is not for novices, and I wince at the possible cost of a professionally built structure and custom dome.  Only institutions and eccentric millionaires can afford that sort of thing.

Dream killer! 😏

1 hour ago, carastro said:

Here:

https://www.astrobin.com/users/carastro/

Or my personal website:

https://sites.google.com/view/astrophotography-carole-pope/home

Thank you.   

You should check your PSU. 🤔

So, where would you like to add the Peltier? 

At least one with DSOs:

https://erellaz.com/moana/open-datasets/

You may find artefacts in some sets, practice retouching then. 😉

What's wrong with the original Tec double-Peltier? 

1 hour ago, carastro said:

As I live in a LP location Bortle 8 I do mostly NB imaging and apply the same logic -  Ha (600secs) Oiii and Sii (300secs binned x 2) 

As Olly says the detail comes in the Lum or the Ha.   

Where can I find your pics? That's something new to me, I still learn. 

16 hours ago, AL1 said:

Weather watching, complimentary hobby to astronomy? 

I would rather say it's a substitute... 😕

2 hours ago, SlimPaling said:

I have an older version of GraXpert on my Win10 computer .... and I want to update to the latest AI version.

I have seen that most people say that I need to delete the older version first .... but how???

GraXpert does not show up in the Control Panel/Programs list .... but I have found all sorts of files obviously linked to GraXpert on my C Drive ..... but I don't know if I should just delete all of these one by one .... or if there is a much better way of removing GraXpert before installing the latest version.

Is anybody able to give me some advice about this?

Mike

As a former IT admin I used a HirensBootCD

https://www.hirensbootcd.org/hbcd-v152/

There is a lot of useful smaller or bigger programs, including the cleaning ones. At least one of them performs entire cleanup with removing unnecessary folders and registry entries which Microsoft doesn't. Shame. 

Edit. 

Also this, as the Hirens looks not continued. 

https://medicatusb.com/

7 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

er how would i tell? would having the ir/uv cut glass AND a ir/uv cut filter in the filter drawer be detremental? i mean it would at least be an extra peice of glass in the way of the sensor?

lol, looking again at my order details, it possibly has a 7nm dnb filter included. 7nm isn't the narrowest, but it would be a start. ill be leaving it in the box to start with anyhow i've avoided even looking at how to process bnd osc data. 

im half expecting to find schroedingers cat in the box too, now.

 

Don't be too picky. The L-eXtreme is 7nm, my Optolong SHO are 6.5-7nm. I think most imager's uses this kind of filters.

25 minutes ago, Elp said:

Don't bother with a LP filter, I've read so many forum posts and reviews, the general consensus if you're surrounded by LED lighting is to not use one (or use a UV/IR cut or luminence filter when doing OSC). If you have older lighting around you then they may be of benefit but note they also block some of the signal you're trying to capture.

I've had all the trio of Optolong Lpro, lenhance,.lextreme (there's a fourth now the Ultimate) and also the Idas D2 which is supposed to help with LEDs and also a CLS, generally dont bother with the LP ones. The lenhance and lextreme however are useful for emission targets and separating signal from sky, the D2 also worked surprisingly well but every star was a green tinted colour (completely cut out the reds and blues in stars), the Lpro gives a green colour cast and a CLS depending on the coating becomes blue.

I can confirm. I bought the IDAS LPS-D2 in the beginning, but after trying to picture galaxies I gave up and bought IDAS LPS-P2. The only LED street lamp is behind my house, not affecting my pics directly. When I started working with L-eXtreme I realised that it makes greenish stars as well. There are some techniques improving the colour based on a PixelMath, but it's much better to collect 'stars' separately, like 30x30s with the LPS filter or without it at all and align them with the nebulosity master file. 

1 minute ago, 900SL said:

This series might be useful, part 1 of several here:

https://cloudbreakoptics.com/blogs/news/astrophotography-pixel-by-pixel-part-1

 

Yes, it is, indeed. 

I think I never posted in this thread... 🤔 Below are my two first DSOs.

The Eastern Veil (NGC 6992) - 2022.10.17:

The Ring Nebula (M57) - 2022.08.13 (processed later):

Both were pictured using my DIY/ATM Equatorial Fork Mount, a Bresser Messier 10" F/5 Newtonian ( https://www.astrobin.com/4sm2ql/ ), modified Canon 6D and Optolong L-eXtreme filter. Stars are a little bit eggy, not replaced with captured separately with LPS filter, etc. After imaging and processing the Eastern Veil, I was so happy that I didn't sleep all the next day. 😁

Did anything change since then? 🤔

Good choice! 👍

Regarding the rotator, are you looking for any manual one, eg. M48/M48? 

Already purchased? 

Hi, 

I mentioned several times that I use Xbox 12V 16A PSUs for powering my setups. Today I finished adapting a similar 12A Xbox PSU for home reasons, because the 16A ones are fastened to mounts kept in a shed. 

Powering my four setups base on 2-pin GX16 aviation plugs and sockets while each one includes a lot of cables terminated with 5.5/2.1mm plugs for an ASIAir or AstroPC and devices. Many times I had to do something around the stuff at home so I realised that another small and efficient PSU is needed. 

As the Xbox PSUs are glued and unable to open I designed and printed an external box which now contains two 2-pin GX16 and two 5.5/2.1mm sockets. There is also a small switch for turning the PSU on. The PSU usually is in a stand-by mode (orange LED) , but after connecting two separated, unrelated to the 12V output wires it turns on (green LED). The box is fastened to a top of the PSU surface using a strong 3M/Scotch double-sided elastic tape. It's functional, compact, and safe as there is no need to operate inside the PSU. 

BTW, the PSUs contain small fans, so they aren't silent, but also aren't noisy. 

I can share STL files with info about parts needed if someone is interested. Using GX12 system is also possible but it requires another project. 

😁