TerryMcK

Interesting topic. I use the IDAS D2 which I believe is the predecessor to P3. I bought it primarily for use with my OSC camera as I am surrounded by LED lights in my area which is Bortle 7/8. I put up with the annoying green cast it gives but process the green out. I also have the Altair Astro TriBander which does much of the same blocking around LED wavelengths - that actually is a more of a narrower band filter letting Ha and OIII/Hb through. That produces a blueish cast. Prior to installing the IDAS D2 filter I seem to recall that I couldn't get much longer than 30 second subs without the sky being washed out but I was using an astro modded DSLR at that point. Now I do 6 minute subs with no issues but I might try it out again without any filters in light of your tests. Here's my M81/M82 mosaic which I have been doing over the last few days. IDAS D2 in front of the ZWO ASI 183MC with William Optics ZS103 - just over 19 hours of 6 minute subs Ha added from the mono camera ZWO ASI 183MM - 2 hours of Ha again 6 minute subs It would be so much better if we had a bubble of Bortle 1/2 over our observatories

Sounds a great idea for those of us with mossy lawns. I'm fortunate to image on more solid foundations but on odd occasions where I drag the tripod out onto the lawn I will certainly use that method.

Here are the two settings I use: This one works well on overall greenish cast images. It also works a treat if you invert a starmask created with Starnet to remove green around stars. When you invert the image back to normal you see that the red halos have gone. Whereas this one eliminates green pixels/cast in the nonlinear state while preserving the teal colour of OIII in planetary nebulae and supernovae remnants. Play around with the amount in either instance.

Hi Lee. Although it can be done at any stage I've had much better results leaving it very late in the processing just to remove any extraneous green pixels. When I've done it pre-stretch it has actually removed fainter data.

Just a minor one don’t apply SCNR to the linear image. Do it post histogram transformation ie when the image is permanently stretched or non linear.

I have a similar one and it is a waste of space. Not waterproof, had to sever the strap holding the door section together at the bottom so it could be slid over the scope without lifting it into the air, the poles are an art form to put together oh and it is liable to blow away in the slightest of breezes despite been guyed down. So I sacked it. I now use a Telegizmo telescope cover directly on the scope mount with an outdoor waterproof cover intended for covering stacks of chairs on top. Then the poop tent, just as another cover without its frame, is put on top of the whole lot simply to capture bird droppings. A bungy cord around the middle holds it in place.

Since upgrading I have had issues with meridian flip not working consistently - whereas in earlier versions it worked flawlessly. I have reported it in both the kstars/ekos forum and the indi forum.

My go of LBN487 processed in PixInsight

Thanks Steve. I think I have a couple of clear nights coming up so will test out focusing as part of one of the sessions.

That's great help guys and I'm sure it will certainly help all us EKOSers (is that a word)

That's interesting advise Steve. I haven't really got to grips with EKOS auto focusing finding it hunts around never really stopping and me randomly setting a few parameters to no avail. I will have a look at your suggestions thanks. I am using Lakeside focusers on my William Optics scopes and somebody suggested using a dial indicator to find out how much backlash I may have in the focuser (which I still have to do). I can then dial that into EKOS. Once I have autofocusing nailed I think I should be good to go.

Not sure about the transmission lines of that filter but normally you would assign the sulphur II line to red, hydrogen alpha to green and oxygen III to blue to get the "traditional" SHO Hubble pallet. Have a look at the graph of how that filter works probably on the Optolong website and it might help you determine which wavelengths it passes and then you can assign it accordingly.

Glad you are enjoying the packages. I don't use Siril but certainly use the rest.

ScopeNights I have found the best. The developer is working on an update as recently a weather provider he used stopped providing updates but that just affects non UK and USA users. It comes up with an error when starting but still uses other providers for UK/USA forecasts. I still find it reliable. Only works on Apple devices as far as I know. I don’t use Android so not sure if it in that store.

Most stacking software can minimize the effects of satellite trails if not eliminate them.

Has stacking removed them Francis?

Yes I concur with random. Out of the box PHD2 has it set like that. Most, if not all, of the default settings work well.

No difference here. In fact local light pollution has increased as neighbours have erected lights on the side of their houses some of which are on all night.

i’m having a problem with meridian flip with Ekos. I’ve raised an issue on the INDI forum https://indilib.org/forum/ekos/9344-meridian-flip-not-working-consistently.html#69711 It may be an issue with double summer time as configured with the latest version of Kstars. Essentially the symptoms are it hits the meridian and says “waiting for flip”. Nothings happens no matter how long you wait. The image capture is suspended at this point but the mount carries on without guiding. The first time I noticed it was 29/03/2021 just after BST had happened. I was imaging the sun and it hit the meridian but didn’t flip. I forced it and it carried on. The following night I was doing a mozaic in Cepheus and again when it hit the flip point it decided to wait and wait. Has anybody else noticed an issue?

You also will benefit from a better mount and guiding. Astro is not cheap

The skymax 102 is not really up to planetary. You really need a long focus scope to bring in more than just a round blob. The worlds your oyster with long focus scope meant for imaging. However like most goods nowadays they are in short, if not zero, supply.

You would be better using AstoPhotograpyTool and utilize plate solving. Then to guide add a small guidescope and guide camera. Again more expense but you can add the free software PHD2 to guide. APT has a fully fuctional free version but I don’t think it costs that much to activate. £6 per year rigs a bell. Just use Stellarium to choose your target. I think you can still use Stellarium via Ascom to show where your mount is others can chip in to concur.

Thanks Beppe. That explains it. My mount has the Rowan belt modification on both axis so don’t see any. Good luck.

What does BL mean in the title?

It looks great Stuart.