Stuf1978

Fun and frustrating in equal measures 😂. Nearing full moon is a killer, plus I always struggle with targets with huge starfields ☹ Thank you. Much happier with the second processing 😀 Ordered a EQ DIR cable from FLO today so I can get everything hooked up and get the HEQ5 dithering which will hopefully help with noise 🤞

Brilliant, thank you. Just ordered a cable from FLO 👍

Thanks for the link. I'll also have a look in your thread 👍 What isn't a headache in the world of astrophotography 😂

Thanks all, I may need to start a new thread for this but how do I go about connecting the mount to a laptop and getting APT and PHD2 all talking to each other? 🤷‍♂️

Yep, seems to be two steps forward and one step back. Was taken using an Optolong L-eNhance dual band filter. Yeah, looking into running the mount with EQMOD and capturing data in APT so that I can dither automatically, don't fancy doing it manually. With all the cloud we have had in the North East over the past couple of months you have to take your opportunities when you can get them

Nice one, looks great 👍 It definitely is a learning curve, a steep one at that 😂

Thanks, yeah I think that's about as far it will go if I'm honest. Even ran it through starnet and still couldn't pull much more nebulosity out without bringing out the noise

Thanks, I've made this mistake before when I'm eager to process data that I've just acquired. Probably best to sit on the first process for a day or so and then go back to it with a more critical eye. I do realise that you can dither manually but it means staying outside in the cold lol. Think I need to hook the mount up to the laptop with EQMOD and use APT....... off to do some research 😂

I've just reprocessed this image and realised the first was way way too aggressive, here it is

Nice image, yeah there is a lot of red comes through and it's hard to reign it in while also trying to bring out more of the subtle detail. Yeah I bought the 450D as it was cheap and if I ballsed up the self mod I was only 80 quid out of pocket. Now I know it's really pretty straight forward I'd be confident in doing it again with a newer camera. ISO was 1600 which probably didn't help. No dithering as I'm still using an intervalometer to acquire my data. Guessing I should really be looking at alternatives for data acquisition that'll give me the option of dithering. Maybe APT? DSS stacking was just using the standard algorithm. Thanks for that though it's give me a few things to think about 👍 DM me your email and I'll send a copy through 😁

I have been imaging with a Star Adventurer for the last 12-18 months and have just moved to a proper mount. Last night was the first time I've used it properly so decided to gather a bit of data on the Western Veil. My set up last night was as follows: HEQ5 Pro Evostar ED72 with OVL flattener 9x50 skywatcher guide scope with zwo asi 120mm mini Canon 450D self modded fitted with a clip in Optolong L-eNhance. I managed 48x300 second subs with darks, bias and flats. I'm in a bortle 8 zone and there was a 97% moon last night. I stacked in DSS and processed in photoshop. I'm relatively happy with the final image with the exception of some horizontal banding that I've never really seen before. I did notice that that noise in my individual subs seemed to increase as the session went on so I'm assuming this is thermal noise? Baring in mind I only ever imaged up to 3 minute subs with the star adventurer so 5 minute subs are new to me. Am I expecting too much from this camera with regards to producing clean images at longer sub length? Or is my camera now my weakest link in my set up? I have a feeling it is but would like to get others opinions 😁 Thanks

Thanks all, that Synscaninit 2 app looks great and may clear things up. Just need another cloudless night to try it out 👍

Yeah polar aligned using sharpcap was the first thing I did 👍

Yeah, to be honest it's the first time I've used it and I'll probably just need to get used to the nuances of using it. Like I said once I'd manually centred the stars the go to was flawless 👍

Yeah it was way more than a few degrees. Longitude was negative. Time zone could be it as I'm sure as I was on +1. Thanks

Thanks, yeah I did notice the wacky date format so it wasn't that. I tried with both daylight savings options and I was confusing myself and it was still off. The home position was set with the mount switched off, RA axis pointing at the pole along with the scope with counterweight bar in the lowest position.

I've just moved from a Star Adventurer to a used HEQ5 Pro mount and last night was the first time I have had the opportunity to set it up. I followed the manual on the initial set up (location, time, date etc.) Which seemed pretty straight forward. However, when performing the 2 star alignment using Vega and Deneb the mount was way off and I had to slew the mount quite a bit to get the stars centralised. Once I'd confirmed I had the stars centralised I used the go to function to find M31 and the Western Veil both of which were bang in the centre of my frame and the mount tracked them with no issue. Is it normal for a mount to be this far off from the alignment stars? 🤷‍♂️

Just bought an Optolong L-eNhance EOS clip in filter and this was the result of its first use. 50 minutes total integration using a modded 450D, sigma 150mm F2.8 macro lens @f3.5 on a star adventurer. There was persistent thin cloud through the imaging session hence the halos round the stars, also think my PA was slightly out. Blown away by the filters performance though 😁

Good to hear it 👍

Seems odd, I did the self mod as you're describing and I haven't had any focusing issues. Must admit though I've given up using the 70-300L for astro as it shows significant coma especially at 300mm which is a poor show for such a pricey lens.

Nicely done. Guiding definitely takes the star adventurer up a level 😀

Very generous of you to share your data, it was a pleasure to work with. Here's my first stab at M42, I will give the others a go over the weekend 😃 Stu

No problem at all, good luck. Yeah I'm locked down in bortle 8 too and it's not ideal. Lack of proper darkness until August is a killer too 🙁

Thabk you, very much appreciated 😁

97% moon from earlier in the week. Shot with a 72ED, canon 80d mounted on a star adventurer. 150 frames pre processed in PIPP, stacked with Autostakkert and processed in photoshop 😀