teoria_del_big_bang

20 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I find that there is often room for further sharpening after BlurX, notably on galaxy cores. However, these details need far less sharpening and this is good because other methods increase noise and produce other side effects. They are also very fiddly if done carefully since different details need different scales and parameters in traditional packages. (I don't actually do my extra sharpening in PI but that doesn't alter my answer in any way.)

Very good point.
Unfortunately, at moment I do very ittle in the way of galaxies due to not really having the correct setup for smallerr galaxies and also not having too much in the way of clear skies when less influence from the moonlight to use RGB but I can see that further tools will be necessary for this.

Steve

1 minute ago, WolfieGlos said:

Haha yeah probably is!

Luckily for me beyond those lights is nothing but fields, a few villages...and Wales, so generally it's quite good for LP. Sadly there's a third light to the side of my house, which pretty much kills the south-western portion of the sky for me. I bet Skipton must give you some nice dark skies, especially up on the moors.

Chris

When I started AP about 4 years ago it was pretty good, for a big town as I was right at the edge of the town, almost the last house, and very little PL from the back garden.
4 years on there is a new housing estate being built to one side, although obscured by a railway banking, but a vets practice whose car park is at bottom of my garden (albeit about 100 yards away) has thought they need floodlights enough to host a nighttime football match so, RGB stuff is difficult but NB still okay.
And you are correct there are lots of darks skies very close by and I do need a lighter, maybe widefield setup so I can get more mobile 🙂 

Steve

1 minute ago, WolfieGlos said:

Thanks 😃

That's two streetlights on the lane (one is hidden behind the tripod, you can see the flare!). Generally it's fine and admittedly at that point Cygnus was lower in the sky so I could photo the snow on the ground. I'd say that was taken at circa 9/10pm, as Cygnus was starting above my house, behind the photo.

Ah probably looks far brighter on the image than it really is 🙂 

I guess there are very few of us on SGL that does not have some nearby LP to contend with, certainly those of us in UK.

Steve

Vey nice images.

The one of your setup seems to show a very bright floodlight just over top of the fence, maybe from a meighbours garden, isn't that a big issue for you ?

Steve

A very warm welcome to SGL.
Do not worry about Grammar, mine isn't the best and I have no excuse, its my first language (well if I am honest my oly language) 🙂 

I have worked several times in India and had some great trips there, where abouts in India are you ?
Are the skies very dark ?

Steve

A couple of related questions for those who use only Pixinsight for processing their images (or mostly PI anyway).

Regarding sharpening, do you think BlurXTerminator is all that is needed ? 
OR, might you still need further sharpening maybe at later, non-linear, stages that will still require one of the older processes previously used for this ?

Regarding noise reduction, do you think NoiseXTerminator is enough for this process?
OR, again do you think some of the other processes traditionally used for noise reduction offers something you cannot achieve with NoiseXT ?

I am not so experienced in AP, I also do not like to do too much in the way of noise reduction, I also have a pretty well behaved camera and to me I would answer yes to both of these questions but just wonder if I am missing something due to lack of experience. 
So, for me, NoiseXT seems to suffice and at least for the RGB side BlurXT seems all I need, maybe for a Luminance further processing to enhance the contrast is needed before adding to the RGB, that requires other processes ? 

For me I just would like to simplify my processing without missing an obvious step and some PI processes can get very tedious and complicated so using just these processes would be a Godsend for me.

Steve

If this is the reason I am so sorry, I was devastated and in the end laid out a further £500 for the 6 USB Pegasus so make sure it never happened again, money I didnt really have to have to spare but a year on glad I did once it was all up and working again.
 

Steve

2 minutes ago, francis8 said:

now i feel like crying, looks like i wont be able to enjoy my present for a wile, thanks Steve for your help

I think I did cry, luckily I giot most items repaired for much less than as new cost but I was out of action for several weeks.

I hope this is not the case for you, certainly worth contacting FLO and possibly sending the cameras off to FLO to confirm, they can then handle the repair (maybe by returning to China).

The think I did wrong was to use a one to one cable to power the hub which connected 12V  from the Pegasus to the USB hub,  but it came with a 5V power supply.
IS this similar to your case, was the usb hub suppossed to be 5V AND was the power you used the 12V from pegasus?

Steve

I should add unless it was a variable voltage output (spme pegasus hubs have this available) and the voltage was reduced to 5V.

All a bit odd because many reckon it shouldnt have happened as I think I only had two things connected to the hub and the cameras were connected to the Pegasus which is powered by 12v anywaybut it actually took out 1 ZWO ccd, a DSD rotator, a Sesto Senso focusser and the pegasus hub itself (oh and the 5V usb hub I needed for one extra USB port than I had on the Pegasus.

4 minutes ago, francis8 said:

I did power the usb hub thru the pegasus,  you recon that could be the problem

if its a 5V hub then yes that is exactly what I did, and just didnt think because the connectors are idemtical 5.5 / 2.1 plugs.

Steve

Not much I can add only to say if both cameras have gone dead then it had to be some spurious voltge that has taken them both out at the same time. The odds of both dying at the same time for no real reason except end of life are huge and I just cant see that happening.
So with that in mind can you recall any incedent where you may have plugged in a wrong power supply, even briefley, or any odd incedent you can think off.
I ask because last year when I was 60 I did this by using a USB hub (and not my Pegasus hub) but accidently powered it with a 12V supply when it needed 5V and that took my ZWO gide camera out, luckily did not seem to affect my QHY imaging ccd.

If you get no joy soon contact FLO they can look at the cameras and at least confirm they work or not and may even repaie minor issues but can also send them off to China for repair (obviously take some time to get them back).

Steve

Cameras not connecting for various reasons are not uncommon problems most people suffer from time to time when trying new setups.
For me what I always try to do when this happens is go back to basics:-

• Try conecting ccd (one at a time) directly to a laptop or desktop PC with a shortish USB cable using the manufacturers software. This will at least make you feel happier if it works as it proves the camera(s) are working fine.
• If any issues first rtry some different USB cables, and keep them under 3M in length and not active cables.
• Using NINA on same laptop or desktop, same cable,  install NINA and again try a profile that just has one CCD enabled and get this to connect. If any issues then normally means you are running the wrong driver for the camera.
• If that works then should work on mini PC again using same cable and driver.
• Then if you have it working so far re-introduce the pegasus PPB, and if it worked with previous tests but not now then try different USB ports on the PPB, I seem to remember there is at least one USB port that cannot be used by some CCD's as there is no USB2 downward compatability (I could be wrong, just something at the back of my mind).

Steve

5 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Nice image but what do you mean about NINA and the limits? Are you saying it’s not flipping or something?

I too not fully understanding why you hit some limit in EQMOD, sounds like the meridian flip is not setup correctly in NINA, or the limits in the mount are set incorrectly, otherwise as it nears the limits it should finish the last image and then perform the f;ip to continue imaging for the rest of the session.

Meridian FLip in NINA

Steve

Got the T shirt on that one and little advice I can give but following the thread in case I see something new.
I did exactly the same, bought a second hand IOptron RC6, although I think all makes are actually the same scopes, different colour and brandname.
Also because it was 2nd hand and not knowing for sure what the previous owner had done I also took it to RVO for proper colimation , I also added the tilt plate and a better focusser (Baader Diamond Steeltrack) which i think is a must as the stock focusser is nogood at all for AP. Also further cost in adding a full length dovetail on top and all the counter weight kits to be able to balance it without it being almost out of the clamp on the mount.
And to be honest I think I was 99% the way there and did get some images one night but it was obvious from the images the colimation was not perfect,
So eager to get imaging I tried adjusting the secondary, which I thought was the correct thing to do, but did not get it any better.
After asking about it on this site (I will see if I can find the thread) the replies I got indicated I should have adjusted the primary as it would more thanlikely have been collimated properly by RVO but that was without the heavy CCD and filterwheel added which, because of the fundemental issue of the focusser being connected to the primary, will move the mirror enough to take it out of colimation and needs final colimation in situe with all the imaging train attached, and then maybe needs some counter adjustment on the tilt plate after this primary has been tweaked..

That was my understanding anyway, forgive me if I understood wrongly.

Unfortunately because I moved the secondary and was not sure at all I had adjusted it back to where RVO set it I was amost back to square one 😞  and wished I had realised all I needed was some slight adjustment to the primary and tilt plate and was probably there.

Whilst I am not one to give up that happened at beggining of this year and the weather and cloud cover was so bad in my part of the country I never really had the time to try again, poor excuse I know 🙂 

Now one thing in your OP that interests me is your suggesion the mirro spacing maybe wrong due to the reported focal lenght. I had not thought of that as I always wondered if the mirror spacing was correct (not that that seemed to be my issue when taking the images) , is the reported FL that precise when plate-solving you can trust it ? I always thought it was a bit of an approximation but if it is pretty accurate then that would be good to know.
EDIT: Having read all the replies properly seems this maybe a red-herring so forget this thought 🙂 

I hope you make good progress as I still have mine and would like to carry on if 2023 is any clearere in Yorkshire as , like yourself, have invested much more than the initial cost of the scope, in both time and money, and would like to reap some rewards.

Steve

Amazing !

Steve

THIS THREAD is asking basically the same question s may be worth looking at 🙂 

Steve

6 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

Well, if you think BlurX was good, he has gone and done it again with this new tool….😂

 

With the Yorkshire weather this year I think this might be my best way to go 🤣

Steve

Lunar imaging is not my area at all but had to say something about this image as it is absolutely stunning.

Steve

14 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

I really admire you guys who have lost so much money and are still in such good spirits, if it was me I would not rest  until I had some sort of payback, and am pretty sure one way or another I would have found  the guy by now…..

Very much how I guess I would be in the same situation.
I also admire the spirit in which this is being taken, and I do think that is the best way to handle this as it would be us two suffering the most because we would let it get to us rather than getting on with life.
I really do hope eventually all the customers involved get some form of  compensation, although that may not be easy, most of all I hope at least they can really put all the upset behind them and get on enjoying their great hobby 🙂 

Steve

Fingers crossed that was the issue and well done with the investigating.
Also, if this is the cause then worthwhile knowing for future reference.

Happy Christmas and happy Processing to yourself too 🙂 

Steve

What a great image Göran, as you say dark skies are the key for such images 🙂 

Steve

Have a Merry Christmas and I would say prosperous new year but sounds like any prosperity may go to FLO (and what a worthy cause 🤣 ).

Your list of targets is astounding, in such a short time, especially in the light of your other hobbies I have seen, but am I jealous, of course I am.

If anything this post has made me promise myself to try harder in 2023, weather wise 2022 was a washout for me, even my trip down to Kelling ended up clouded out (maybe it's me ? ) but I did enjoy the trip and met some great prople including yourself so I cannot say it wasn't worthwhile.

So have a good festive period Stu and I look forward to 2023.
Also a Merry Christmas and New Year to all on SGL and to the staff at FLO ✨

Steve

4 minutes ago, CraigD1986 said:

I’ve been using a star adventurer until now, which is powered by my ASIAir plus so I only have to have a brick style power adapter to the asiair. It fit well in this box but I think it might be a little small for the Nevada so I might need to look into an alternative. I’m hoping to be able to leave it out all night, although FLO don’t recommend doing this.

I have always left mine outside all night and in the box I mentioned has been fine. Just take usual precautions with any mains equipment used outside and have on a proper RCD circuit,  and use proper sockets designed for use outdoors.

Steve

On 18/12/2022 at 14:30, CraigD1986 said:

Thanks for the replies. I ordered the mound and power supply yesterday. Just looking a for a sealed box I that is big enough now

I have the Nevada power supply and not put a foot wrong in 4 years.
I put it one of THESE boxes (24L), strong as anything and plenty of room for air to circulate as they can get very hot.

I put a notch in one side to get the cables in and out but still be waterproof (although hopefully there is no rain whilst your gear is out) and eventually added a volt / ammeter and some plugs in the case itself.
If you go this route I can upload some images of it if that will help, very easy to do.

Steve

How frustrating !

With computer problems I am afraid I am not much help but by the sounds of it the program is not actually crashing as if it does come back to life then it cannot have crashed as I do not think PI has the intelligence to restart itself (from my very poor knowledge of these things) so sounds more like a temporary freeze and so I would think no point looking for a fault log as it would not create one if indeed it has such diagnostics, sounds like PI will not know there had been an issue.
Can it do this "Freeze" at anytime or is it just when running certain processes or scripts ?
 

I have had similar issues twice now on my desktop, but perhaps not as bad but sometimes PI would work just fine and then sometimes I noticed a certain process was taking ages and if I then licked on anything on the PI desktop it just said not responding, but if I waited (ages) then it did start responding again.
After a lot of looking for the reason I found that the processor was running hot (loaded THIS small program to see temperature of CPU)  I cant remember exactly how I cured that, I think I changed how the fans cooled (maybe full speed all the time) and found the CPU had been overclocked slightly and so slowed that back down.
The second time it happened was after I upped the RAM from 16 to 32GB but I just bought two new memory cards and eft the original two in and apparently this can be very hit and miss and really all 4 cards need to be matched and so bought all at once. I reverted back to the original two memory cards (in correct slots as they are also paired) and it worked again.
So maybe check al the 4 memory cards are matched.

Other suggestion is if you always loaded to the default directory on C to try loading on the second SSD drive.

Clutching at straws a bit I know but maybe worth checking.

Steve