teoria_del_big_bang

Very nice image. 🙂 

Steve

Hi,

My current setup is the ASI1600MM, Esprit 100ED, SX Filterwheel with 36mm unmounted filters.

Is it worth upgrading to the ASI2600MM when it is available (Maybe quite a wait as there seems to be plenty waiting for it) ?

I understand that the filters and scope are on the very edge of what is ideal for this camera but is it worth getting. I doubt I will be able to afford 2" filters anytime soon or indeed upgrading to the 120ED or 150ED, although the scope maybe a possibility in the near future.

Steve

Nice image and yes you are right it is beautiful. 
I am not always of that opinion mind when I am trying to image some feint DSO and its like daylight at midnight but when you see a nice image like that I have to admit it is a wonderful sight 🙂 

Steve

6 minutes ago, Gina said:

I wondered about temperature changes myself.  All I can do is "suck it and see" I think

Yep, print one and chuck it in the freezer for a while and try again see if i takes a difference. 

Steve

18 minutes ago, Richie092 said:

I run everything through a Pegasus upbv2 with a single USB2 connection to the RPi and it works fine. My subs are only 16mb but I’m sure larger would be fine. 

I keep thinking of getting a UPBv2 but price always puts me off.
Like most things i have bought over past couple of years that cost £100's I will probably eventually buy one and think why did I not get one to begin with.
It does look a nice piece of kit but although it may make life easier probably would not improve my images.
No doubt I will keep looking at them and one day (probably after one more wine than usual) will press the buy button 😉 

Are you powering your RPi via the Pegasus using one of the programmable outputs ?

Steve

16 minutes ago, Anthonyexmouth said:

I may be wrong but I think USB3 is only really beneficial when using high frame rate planetary cameras. If USB2 can't transfer an image from the buffer in between 2-6min subs there's a problem. 

Ah, yes of course, silly me 🙂 

15 minutes ago, Richie092 said:

I use StellarMate OS on an RPi 4gb and it’s faultless. Unless I try to use USB3 and then it occasionally freezes but if I only use USB2 it’s rock solid. 
 

The new multi star guiding is great and the polar align software is easy to use and very fast. Worth trying for the small outlay it will cost you in my opinion. 

Reading through the info on Stellermate it does say not to plug ZWO cameras with USB2 hubs into USB3 port even though the camera itself is USB3.0.
So the usb 3 capability of the camera is lost.
Now, it maybe that is no big deal if the transfer rate of the usb 2 is faster than the transfer rate of the camera, on this I have no idea - can anyone tell me what i am losing running a camera designed to run on USB3 on USB2.

Steve

So you probably need something like this:

Found this on this thread: FF/FR Backfocus help

Steve

Hi,

Firstly you will probably need more like 56 mm back focus as you have to account for the filters adding to the back focus. To be accurate you need to add 1/3 of the thickness of the filters, so if they are 3 mm thick then add 1mm to get 56 mm.

So most of the spacers should come with the camera and one with the FW. If you don't have them then you may have to source them somewhere. The FW will be 20 mm wide, the camera has 6.5 mm when coupled as in your image so you are needing 29.5mm of spacers. 

Are you missing all of these spacers or just some of them?

Steve

I 2nd that, a very nice image 🙂 

Steve

I wonder if temperature changes will affect the rotation, if the PLA gets very cold will that contract more than the body of the cameras. 
Coefficient of expansion PLA 68µm/m-°C,  aluminium about 23 µm/m-°C (I think that's right).
At a diameter of about 80 mm then 10 degrees fall in temperature may mean the hole closes up by about 40 to 50 micron (very rough in head calculation) so no sure how much this will affect your initial clearance you have. Apologies if my very rough calculations are wrong.

Regarding the movement front to back that is limited by the gears then as the lenses are directly on the cameras this movement I guess some movement here would have no affect on the actual image, it just needs some limitation of the movement to stop cameras falling out.

Steve

The neighbours house may be more problematic to solve 🙂 

14 minutes ago, Ags said:

Looking at getting aPi too but stuck on the silly issue of powering it. What battery pack do people usually use?

So far all my imaging with RPi has been back yard stuff so used the official 240V 5VDC supply. So for remote stuff you will need something like this. 
Step Down Module, 12V 24V to 5V 5A 25W Buck Converter

Steve

Some very good replies to what is also a really good question from the OP, and one I am sure many people who take up ameteur astro imaging ask themselves, I know I did when I started, not too long ago.
I think as a total beginner looking at all the marvelous hubble images thinking how beautiful they were then when getting into astronomy realised they didn't actually look like that, or had those colours in real life  (to humans anyway) made me feel a bit confused.

But as @ollypenrice explains when you consider that they are Narrowband images using very specific narrow bands of frequencies of the spectrum we as humans would not pick out naturally, then in essence the actual colours we map to these frequencies doesn't really matter , We have to assign some colours to them in order for eyes to see them as we do in these magnificent images.

Broadband using LRGB filters or OSC cameras then it makes sense to assign the correct colours to them, in my opinion.

But it is all very subjective and you have to do what you are happy with. Nobody will ridicule you whatever you do. There are a few competitions on SGL last year using some provided data to produce an image of various DSO's, so everybody uses the same data. But if you look at the images submitted then the colours vary so much and the amount of processing also varies greatly, some are quite subtle and some really stretch the data, most lie very much in the middle.

Personally I think some of the most natural looking images are just the Ha images in mono colour (but obvious not natural to our eyes as they are NB Ha only), but after saying that I probably enjoy looking at subtly processed bi-colour or hubble palette  NB images.

Anyway I am rambling now and probably talking rubbish but they were the sort of conclusions I came to when I started imaging and as a relative newbie tend to aim for images that are not over processed but contain enough detail to make them interesting and that is for both Narrowband and Broadband.
In essence I have done very little with LRGB yet as most of my data has been with NB filters due to either having almost full moon when my skies are clear or just general light pollution and stuck to bi-colour images if very little SII or Hubble palette if enough data in Ha, OIII and SII.

Steve

Certainly would recommend getting rid of any long USB cables, they are just a  headache you can do without.

I have been using a RPI 4 with astroberry but bought the 4Gb before the 8Gb appeared. I did ask the question on here if the 8Gb would be an improvement over the 4Gb and I think somebody replied it would be negligible. However, even if it is only small improvement if I had not already got the 4Gb version I would pay the extra and get the 8Gb for sure. Mind you looking at the Stellarmate+ which sells for around £250 that only uses a 2Gb RPi4.

I have used Astroberry since the beginning of the year (but this year my imaging has been limited due to poor weather and generally just other things going on in my life so my experience is limited) and all in all I really like it but certainly not 100% happy.
I love the setup using the INDI platform and love the way that KStars works.
What I am not so keen on is the KStarts planetarium. It works but is very clunky compared to something like Stellarium which is far smoother and detailed but even if you could use it with Astroberry is probably too processor hungry for an RPi.

Also I have had quite a few freezes of the RPI meaning a complete reboot. But fortunately I think all of these have always while I am setting up the session so I have been in attendance and not too big an issue doing the reboot. I have never had an issue once left imaging and has always completed the session, unless clouds roll in etc.

So if Astroberry worked without any freezing and you could link it to Stellarium I think I would be perfectly happy (in fact more than happy).

I want to stick with the idea of some form of remote computer on the mount and also thinking of other alternatives to Astroberry but not looked into them yet. So Stellermate is one I need to look at.

I have not looked at Stellarmate in depth yet but I take it you can either buy a unit already loaded up (for what is a fair bit of money considering it is only a RPi, and in the past I think only a RPi2, the newer Stellermate+ is at least an RPi 4 if only 2Gb) OR just by the OS and load it yourself onto your own RPi ?
If that is true then unless the pre-loaded version at £250 for the + version I would definitely go for the OS loaded onto my own RPi 4 8Gb.

Sorry I can't help any more but very interested in your thread as I am still trying to decide myself.

Steve

Some great advice above from some far more knowledgeable than myself.

But no filter is going to improve your images more than good tracking and longer exposures will.
The filter you are wanting does not come cheap and I think the money is far better put into improving your tracking which on top of proper alignment will allow 3 to 5 minute exposures (providing your mount is up to it - what mount are you using ?).
At Bortle 3 to 4 you should be able to get some great images of many DSO's and galaxies, especially Orion and Andromeda even without filters.

Personally I would concentrate on getting your rig well aligned, with good guiding and no flex which should allow 3 to 5 min subs, depending how stable your mount is as it is a reasonable size scope ideally needs a good stable mount.

Steve

Wow Gina, that's one heck of a project for the new year., not one for the faint-hearted 🙂 

Do you intend the final rig to be 3D printed in plastic or do you think it will need to be machined ?

I am guessing there are some hurdles to get over with this project such as keeping the cameras rigid enough yet able to rotate freely., but if anyone can do it my money is on you 🙂 

Can't wait to see your progress with this it really does interest me.

Steve

I am sure it will be due to a holiday as they are normally very good at replies and issuing trial licences

Steve

9 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

What's frustrating is it cleared up later in the night (once Santa had been) and I could have left the rig imaging and I may have got the Jellyfish as well!

Always a dilemma when you are not sure the night will be dry and clear all night, which is often the case.

Steve

What a great image. 🙂  very nice indeed.

I wish I had got off my backside and set up my gear on Christmas eve as it was the firsts real clear night for a long while up this end if the country.
I must make it a resolution to get on with building an obsy this year I may be more inclined to use the valuable clear nights then.

Steve

Hello and welcome to SGL. Believe me they are a friendly bunch here 🙂 

Steve

Nice.

A clear night with new gear, must be something to do with global warming, it's just not natural 🙂 

Steve

Nice image especially for such a rushed setup and test.

I notice you are using bias frames, Most people on SGL seemed to recommend no Bias frames for the 1600 Mono and just use darks.

Is it a case of you couldn't take any darks so used bias frames instead or is the advice different for the 2600 ?

Sorry if this seems a silly question but just curious.

Steve

Alex,

Yes we don't see this target often do we 🙂 but  joking aside I think we do all love it and personally I never get tired of seeing it.

It is not a common palette but it looks good. A great image with nice (different) colour, great detail and the core is not over blown.

Steve

This is the box have made up and used for past 2 years +.

Steve