ThomasF1234

14 hours ago, scotty38 said:

Also have a look at Affinity Photo as it now has astro features included and it's about £25 at the minute I think.

Thanks I will check that out

1 hour ago, Astro Waves said:

Thanks

I'm also starting out on this awesome journey that blows my mind!

I'm always comparing what I've done to other people, which is good so you can see what can be done but also can sometimes feel a bit disheartening but personally I feel half the battle is  definitely the editing side of things, which I'm still getting used to. I'll try various tutorials from different people to see what works on what image, its just as time consuming as the actually photography itself. 

Are you using a tracking mount? If not then you'll just have to take a lot a lot of shorter exposures and stack them. 

I used a ZWO 120mm guide camera using PHD2, it was my first time tracking so I was quite pleased with that side of things. Sometimes it can be disheartening but when you finally get the results it’s so rewarding. For editing I would like to use photoshop but for the minute I use gimp. There is some good tutorials for there if you haven’t already checked it out!

1 hour ago, scotty38 said:

Apologies, I'd not spotted they were only 5 second exposure so yeah I'd say you need a fair bit more to start with. Mine were 5 minutes I think.

Yeah thanks!

1 hour ago, Astro Waves said:

Hiya, 

I'm also a redact user shooting on an unmodded Canon 5D MK III. I always do a bit of cropping as 250mm focal length is very wide field in astrophotography terms. Its always worth having a look at tutorials online and watch peoples processes with the same telescope and see what they do, I find that a good starting point of what to shoot. Chances are you're always going to be cropping into an image some what. You've also got a crop sensor on the 650D which I would say helps as well.

 

For reference this is a cropped in image I got the other day of the Orion Nebula, this was about 25 minutes of integration time. Subs were 90 secs.....I think.

Very nice! I’m starting to think my exposures weren’t long enough only 5 seconds which would explain why I cant see most of the nebula and only the centre which made me think it was more ‘zoomed out’

52 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Nope I don't think so, its size is as it was shot so that size sensor and scope should give you that size image if you see what I mean., I've not cropped it or anything like that.

The only thing I can think is to take longer exposure images to try and capture more of nebula or maybe it could be down to light pollution I’m not sure, I was happy with the image just I would like to see more of the nebula in it 

53 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

For what it’s worth here’s one I took on my GT81 at 380mm with flattener and aps sized sensor.  I accept its slightly longer than a Redcat but not that much longer really....

 

 

Very nice, when I compare to mine, my image seems really sort of zoomed out compared to yours. Is there some sort of trick to getting it more like yours?

2 hours ago, happy-kat said:

It might be a case of more data needed to be able to stretch out the extended detail

Though when comparing star positions your image looks wider still. I did select a canon 700d as there wasn't a 650d in the list but I think the sensor and pixel size are the same, I think I'll check again.

Edit. Same size pixels

 

I did think that as I only took 25 5 second exposure photos maybe longer exposure and more photos will do the trick 

Hi I have the redcat 51 and use a canon 650D. I took this picture of the Orion Nebula but when I compare it to everyone else’s photos (even people using a redcat too) it looks much more zoomed in on the nebula than mine. Is there something I’m not doing right or is it a matter of zooming in when editing? Thanks

Hi I finally got the telescope back out after nearly a year being out of action, I used the redcat 51 with a cannon EOS 650D. I also used a ZWO 120mm guide camera through PHD2. I stacked about 25, 10 second exposure images at 400 IOS and I processed this through GIMP. I would like to know what you all think and if you have any tips for me next time. Thanks!

1 hour ago, happy-kat said:

Great job, and there's different star colours visible.

Thank you

Just thought I'd let you all know I gave GIMP a go and go this:

Feel free to comment

16 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

In the handset's menus go to Utility Func. and then Show information. Scroll down until you find Power Voltage. This will show what voltage the handset is recording when powered from the mount and connected to the computer.

If the handset works when connected to the computer and can be used to slew the mount either by using the buttons or through Stellerium the problem could be that either the handset or the motor control board may have damaged or dirty pins on the RJ45 socket. If all else fails and the mount is still under warranty it can be returned for repair/replacement. 

Thank you that makes sense I will check the voltage. Thank you

5 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

There are some good YouTube videos on workflows for gimp. Even with a quick 5 minutes of processing your stacked image it's surprising how much detail gimp can bring out.

Thanks for the advice

3 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

There are several members who use GIMP here and the videos on budgetastro.net by Doug you can pretty much follow using GIMP and he covers DSS.

I’ll check them out thanks

3 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

Have a try with the GIMP software. It's free and gives you a good idea/practice at processing your images. 

Thank you I will have a look

53 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Can you use the handset's utilities menu to check the voltage ? Do you also have an ethernet cable that you can swap with the handset to mount cable ?

I’ve just tried using a different Ethernet  cable and I’ve tried using a different power supply and still no luck. It says on the mount junction box that it’s 12 volts.  Maybe since no power supply is working it could be the junction box but I’m not sure. Also I’ve just check that a computer USB carries 5v so that could explain Why the handset screen is so dim. So maybe it is the junction box?

20 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Is the handset operable (can you use it to slew the mount) when using it with Stellarium ?

Yeah when it’s plugged into the computer the handset works as normal  and when it’s plugged into stellarium it can slew to objects but the the LCD screen is really dim despite adjusting the settings. However the only time the handset works is when it’s plugged into the computer otherwise it’s completely dead

16 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Do you connect through an EQDIR cable or connecting via the handset when using Stellarium ?

I connect using a usb from the computer to the handset when using stellarium 

2 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

Don't expect a massive improvement of the image after stacking. Mine often look worse (image is a lot darker, detail lost). But this is why you then process the image using what ever software you use (gimp for instance). Which then brings out all the detail.

For processing (because I don’t have anything yet) I was thinking about getting photoshop and using this astronomy tools pack https://www.prodigitalsoftware.com/AstronomyToolsOrderingInstructions.html

51 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Any signs that the motors are initialised when the power is switched on ? Also, what version handset ? What are you using to power the mount ? 

Hi there’s no signs of the motors initialising but when it’s plugged into the computer and I use stellarium it still slews so I’m guessing the power unit is fine. I’m using a 12 volt power supply from Halfords to power it . I’m not exactly sure on the version of the handset but I got it a month or so ago so I’m guessing it’s the latest version.

27 minutes ago, bruno said:

Can,t see why not, if it plugs into your hand set then it would be the same as if you were plugged into the laptop & then you should be able to control your mount from the house.

Thank you

Hi I was thinking about getting this WiFi adapter but I was wondering if I would still be able to use stellarium and connect my guide camera. Does anyone know? Thank you

Hi everyone my synscan GOTO Handset has worked fine for some time on my eq3 Mount. However, tonight it would only power on when connected to the computer. Any ideas?

Thanks! This seemed to work. M44 GOOD STACK.TIF That is it with just lights and darks. STACKED GOOD W FLATS.TIFAnd that is it with Lights, darks and flats. With the flats it seems that there is a darker patch in the centre. Is this meant to happen?

38 minutes ago, geordie85 said:

Have you tried bringing the histogram down then processing from there? 

Thanks I’ll have a try and get back to you