david_taurus83

Apologies if links to CN are considered taboo!https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/635937-microlens-diffraction-effect-explained/

I've ordered the 3" TS 0.79 for my 100mm Altair Starwave. Glad to see some positive reviews. Fingers crossed for a flat field!

It could indeed be a lot worse.

It's the microlensing effect inherent with the Panasonic sensor on the ASI1600. It's worse on some optical configurations and not so bad on others.

Lots of rain! But lots of dark skies up West!

Pixinsight should have generated 2 new images if you have certain boxes ticked. One with the background its calculated and another with the same background subtracted from your master frame. Pixinsight by default doesn't overwrite masters. It always creates new images.

It's easy to part a fool with his cash in this hobby! 😂😂😂

^^^Not going to get much imaging time now as we roll into June so don't rush to buy one. If they release a new model then that may also open up the used market.

I've downloaded that FFMpeg but it's a .tar folder or something. I've unzipped it but cant find the .exe file? Where is it and where do you put it! I'd like to know too!

I'm sure Blink has the ability to export as a gif but I think it needs some sort of add on to work.

That's understandable but it is usually on exceptionally bright stars it occurs. There are many many people happy with the ASI1600. It's a lot of sensor for the money.

No issues here with condensation and have been cooling to -25. The ZWO design intends that the excess heat from the heat sink acts like dew prevention on the sensor window. Though you do need to run the cooler/fan hard enough to generate the heat in the first place.

Your talking about the microlensing effect on the Panasonic sensor. Any other camera that uses this sensor may exhibit the same artifact on bright stars. Though it may depend on your optical system of how well its controlled. See my image of the Horse and Flame. 16 x 15 minute subs in Ha. Optical configuration is WOGT71, Idas D2 LPS in front of Flat 6A II reducer, spacers, filterwheel and ASI1600. See how well Alnitak is controlled compared to other images. Though I would say this is a lucky configuration.. I've not heard of the second issue. Sure, it suffers amp glow on the top right and bottom right hand side but calibrated out just fine. Again, below is a stack of 15 minute subs and all the amp glow has been removed.

What's your usual seeing conditions? FWHM values? With the QHY at that focal length you run the risk of blocky stars. Personally I'd go for smaller pixels at 420mm. My WO 71 is 420mm. See below an example of a 30s sub with the ASI1600. The average FWHM value for the picture was around 3". With a longer exposure I'm sure tracking errors and seeing would probably increase this value but if the pixels were larger the smaller stars wouldn't look good at all. I suppose it depends on how much your going to pixel peep!

Yep, heading our way. Kinda annoying as were having nice mild weather but endless cloud. Even my last 2 sessions were marred with high cloud.

I got 2 of the big ones off eBay from the same supplier. No pick foam in mine though, just the block of foam. Had to tackle it with a carving knife and my bare fingers!

I done exactly the same a few nights ago. Tried to blind solve my way back to target from the night before. Even though I have all the indexes for all my focal lengths installed, by not having the correct profile selected in APT it failed to solve. Despite me highlighting this importance in my own tutorial! https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/334568-setting-up-platesolving-in-astrophotography-tool-apt/

How big are these satellites? If only detectable in twilight then shouldnt affect too much? I only remove the brightest sat trail subs and stacking takes care of the rest.

Whatever it is it's a sudden movement as the inner trail is narrower than the actual star. I still think it could be a breeze.

Was everything balanced in the mount? I don't know the answer. Like I said, at 1000mm focal length, you really want good guiding. I was shooting at 570mm last week with essentially the same mount, good guiding and I still got slightly eccentric stars. Tbh, if you got around 30% good images without guiding, that's pretty good. Keep them and try to get guiding sorted for the next night.

Was it windy by any chance? That's a big scope you've got in your signature. At that focal length you'll really want good polar alignment and good guiding.

Who have you been ordering from?

I've been using Sharpcaps smart histogram to measure my sky conditions. For recent narrowband it's been recommending 10 minute subs, around 100 gain and 5 offset. I've been setting it to 121 gain and 10 offset as 5 does seem low.

Well folks, I've had a play this evening. I've removed the Hotech and put the Flat6 reducer back in. Configuration now is 2" nosepiece, tilt adapter, reducer, spacers, fw and camera. This enables me to dial in correct spacing without messing it up with an adjustment to the tilt adapter. I think I've got spacing correct. I started off by pointing at the zenith and then looking east and then west. The star elongation was pretty much the same each time so this ruled out flexure or sag in the focuser. I also tightened up a few brass screws in the drawtube before starting. It took about 4 trips out to the scope to tackle the tilt adapter with the allen keys but I think it's a huge improvement. Not perfect in the corners or edges, particularly the right hand corners but the edges get cropped out anyway after stacking. Across the middle looks loads better to my eyes. I will get things marked up tomorrow and measure the tilt adapter with some calipers and make notes! I'm going to get one of those TS t2 5.5mm camera rotators so the assembly can stay in the same position and I can frame the camera independently. The previous stack and a single sub from this evening below.

Yes, when I rotated the camera the elongated stars went from the side to the top.