CheapAsAstronomer

Thanks! 👍

3 hours ago, tonylumley said:

CheapAsAstronomer may i make a suggestion or two, if in any doubt ask on here first, there's always someone who will point you in the right direction, and regarding leads to the mount, I usedifferent colour tape for my eq5 as I managed to blow something in it, yea, newby mistake, and had to replace the hand set and motors, please don't ask how, as I am not sure how myself. brown stuff happens!!!

Ouch!

Yeah makes sense to ask...we can be awfully impatient sometimes 😞

3 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

Good, how did you get on with the Home Position? Did it go to the Scope Up - Weight Down position or somewhere else?

If it went somewhere else, turn the power off, reset it manually by loosening the clutches and then power it up again, go through the normal start up routine on the handset and try a star alignment to see if it slews. You don't have to do an accurate star alignment, this is just to prove it works.

Thanks. I did that and it worked, however...I couldn't slew to an object after aligning. It just wouldn't move, so I tried a factory reset. Re-input everything from scratch and for now it seems to be working normally.

Initial panic over! (I did put the cable somewhere I shouldn't tho....and heard bubbling)

7 minutes ago, barbulo said:

I was a bit frightened about it too. But I found a tutorial (can't remember where) and installed ASCOM and EQMOD. Click an object in CdC and your mount will point to it. It was so cool! (Then came platesolving: the real gamechanger)

I'd love to get set up. It's awfully complicated for my tiny brain tho! 😆

23 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

Can you manually slew, using the NESW buttons and setting the speed to 9 on the handset?

Yes I can do that 👍

37 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

If it's still lighting up, slewing & tracking then you may have got away with it.

Try sending it to the Home Position with the handset and see where it goes, if it's not right then go through the setting home position from scratch and see if that sorts it. It sounds like it's thrown its positioning out. 

The PC to handset cable is for updating the handset firmware but you can also use it with the ASCOM drivers to control the mount. To do this you plug it into the bottom of the handset, on the handset go to Utilities menu and scroll to "PC Direct" and enable. To control the mount without the handset you need an EQDIR cable, which plugs into the handset port on the control box to replace the handset.

I'm not sure I've quite got away with it. 

If I try to slew, it just won't work. I may be able to use it with kind of half functionality. It may track but it's no longer a GOTO mount!

7 minutes ago, barbulo said:

In that case you don't need the ST4 for autoguiding. The handset-to-pc cable does it.

That's what I was after, but the whole ascom thing is so bloody confusing.

32 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

What cable did you use to do this. You should never connect a computer to the ST4 port without using an autoguider interface to protect both devices.

It was a pc to handset cable. I did real bad.

I just need to know what to do!

I can get it to track now by starting alignment. It slews miles out but starts tracking, so I have to release the clutches and manually find the target.

Ok so trying to move from ST4 guiding to ASCOM, I've gone and plugged the laptop directly to the autoguiding input on the main unit. There were some bubbling noises from up near the gears...

Now the mount slews to the wrong place, then it won't slew at all, then the gears are making noises and it won't track.

Yup I've done bad...I know.

But what do I do? 😭

1 hour ago, iapa said:

Can you list ALL the connected equipment.

it will make it easier for diagnosis

Posting screenshots may also help

I can certainly list! Any help/advice gratefully received.

Laptop, Skywatcher EQ3pro Synscan mount, Evostar 72ed with QHY183c as main imager, Evoguide 50 with Zwo ASI 120mc as guider.

Currently using Sharpcap and PHD2 but now downloaded ASCOM, Stellarium and was hoping to use EQMOD too.

No idea how to connect them all and how to use ASCOM but everyone seems to go down this route. 

14 hours ago, michael8554 said:

In the PHD2 Equipment selection you choose ASI 120MC.

Is there somewhere else you think you have to select that ?

Michael

Well, there's ASI camera (1) ASCOM or ASI camera (2) ASCOM or ZWO ASI camera on the equipment drop-down.

Then there's Device Hub Telescope (ASCOM) or EQMOD ASCOM or NONE or On camera or Telescope Simulator for .NET (ASCOM) on the mount drop-down as well as the Aux mount drop-down.

I have literally no idea what any of these mean. That's just in PHD2 not to mention Sharpcap.

Then do I need drivers for Synscan?

No idea...

On 13/10/2020 at 19:56, autonm said:

Late to to the post .. but Ive created a video with APP for the stacking and then processing in Star Tools for M31 with the exact same camera that you have.

Please let me know if the video was helpful, I'm already working on further objects and workflows via You Tube. So please subscribe to be notified as they appear !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxkDDLspaiM

Great video. Learned many things there!

3 hours ago, michael8554 said:

I'm not sure those drivers will work without ASCOM.

Why confusing ?

You download and Install ASCOM and then you can forget about it ?

Michael

Yeah it all works fine on my work laptop and it's what I've always done, st4 guiding etc just all of a sudden no program I use will capture images using the asi 120.

Ascom...I've no idea what settings to use in PHD2. In fact all the software would need new settings wouldn't it?

3 hours ago, michael8554 said:

Try an ASCOM  connection with another prog such as Sharpcap, in Long Exposure mode, not avi mode, which will show whether your connections and ASCOM drivers are okay.

Michael

 

 

I uninstalled ASCOM as my tiny brain found it all too confusing! 

I have found that ASI image, sharpcap and PHD2 all say the camera is connected, but none can complete a single exposure. 

Tried installing older drivers and that didn't work either.

Hi.

I have two laptops, one for astro one for not.

I can connect my Zwo Asi 120mc to PHD2 on the non astro laptop but not on my dedicated astro laptop. Same settings but keep getting the message that it cant complete an exposure after 16 seconds.

I've reinstalled drivers, programs, tried ASCOM and changed cables but nothing seems to work.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

On 31/03/2021 at 23:29, jager945 said:

Indeed, if StarTools is not playing ball with your datasets, then feel free to share one with me (Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, OneDrive, etc.).

If StarTools needs lots of babysitting, then almost always, the problem is an acquisition issue (bad flats, not dithering, incorrect stacker settings, not linear/virgin anymore etc.). You can find a fairly comprehensive list here.

When evaluating post-processing software, the worst mistake you can make, is judging software on its ability to hide issues. Hiding issues is not what post-processing is about . If that's mostly what you are doing and focused on, then you will not progress.

The best software maximises and protects real celestial signal you have captured. Some common pitfalls;

• Trying to use a gradient removal tool to clean up flat frames issues
• Trying to use levels and curves to hide flat frame issues
• Trying to use noise reduction to remove correlated noise grain and pattern noise (instead of dithering).
• Trying to process channels separately non-linearly
• Applying color balance corrections, deconvolution, gradient removal and other operations after stretching.

...and that's sadly just the tip of the iceberg.

Getting to the point where you can 100% trust - in terms of signal - what you have captured should be your immediate goal. You should not be wondering whether something is faint nebulosity or some smudge or gradient remnant. You should not be wondering if something is a Bok globule or shock front,  or just a smudge or pattern noise.

From there, image processing becomes easy, replicable, "zen" and - for most - fun and rewarding. You can then start learning about what goes into a good image, what is sound signal processing and what isn't.  AP processing is so much more than just pressing the right buttons - that's just the software. Understanding what the software does - and why -  is where things really start. You will then find that a piece of software's eagerness to hide issues is inversely proportional to its sophistication when it comes to preserving signal and faint detail.

Don't think you need particularly deep data either. Not everyone can spend hours under pristine skies. At the end of your night, you just need well calibrated data where the only remaining issue is shot noise and nothing else.

@wimvb made an excellent suggestion; have a look at someone else's dataset and see if there is anything there that stands out to you. Perhaps try processing it and - if that is helpful - see how different software reacts differently. 

Clear skies!

Awesome post and much to learn from it. 

5 hours ago, The Lazy Astronomer said:

To help with your processing, Ivo (Startools developer) is usually happy to process your data as a teaching exercise if you contact him (certainly, I've seen many posts on the Startools forum where he has done so).

Ooh there's an idea!

13 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

I have found Startools tricky, especially with less than perfect data. I do still use it for some things but rarely start to finish. There is a very good, but long YouTube video by the developer which is well worth watching. I tend to use APP and Affinity now which I find a good combination. I think there are trial versions of both you could try on some of your existing data to see how you get on. Again there are plenty of tutorials from the developers for both. PS is probably best but I won't pay their sky high monthly charge.

The other thing to consider is that your expectations are probably going up too. I know mine have from when I started. I also tend to reprocessing the same data multiple times until I get a version I like. Quite often the processing takes longer than the capture.

Just keep at it and it will get better. At least that's what I tell myself!!

Yeah I guess my expectations are going up!

I might just check out some new software then....

Hey all.

Any recommendations for learning image processing? 

After a year, my equipment is better and my acquisition methods are better but my editing skills are getting worse and worse...My images looked better six months ago.

I'm capturing with Sharpcap and editing in Startools before a final tickle in GIMP but I'm always bitterly disappointed 😔

8 minutes ago, Jamgood said:

I've only had one go at Orion before and that was with a DSLR.

I took 12x300s - 12x30s - 12x10 and stacked them all together and got a pretty decent result.

Longer exposures got the nice clouds and the shorter ones got the core. 

Awesome image.

So stacking the different exposures together takes out the core issue?

47 minutes ago, Budgie1 said:

It may be worth going for a couple of different exposure times with 183c, something like 90s for the main cloud and darker dust and 30 or 45s to cut down on the brightness of the core and then stack them all together. You'll have to use two Master Dark calibration frames when you stack them (one for each exposure length) but it normally works fine in DSS.

There's a thought.

Would I need to do two separate images then blend them together in PS (not got) or GIMP to get the core right? Or would it all work out stacking the lot in DSS?

59 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

You are probably right but personally I would still try for M42 due to it being so bright. I live in B6 which is not ideal but unless imaging NB I would rather remove the light pollution and gradients than cut out most of the detail with aggressive filters. As you are using BYEOS you only need to try one 30 second image and see what you get. You can do this before full darkness to get an indication of how good / bad it would be without eating into your imaging time.

Either way - good luck with it. I look forward to seeing the result on the forum.

Hmmm... In that case would I be better off using the Optolong L-pro?

Not very good at editing out gradients

8 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

I much prefer the result without filters, as reflection components and dust are filtered out too much, although with a full moon it may be needed. On the same camera, with loads more exposure (7 h 11.5 min) I get this

or with unsharp masking

Nice!!!!

2 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

Just to add to above. Given how bright M42 is you can probably shoot without a filter and get away with the full moon. Just use short exposures.

Unfortunately I'm in a bottle 8 area so filters are necessary!

5 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

I have been using the Optolong L-eXtreme filter at F/4.8 and used 30s subs on my Canon EOS 550D on M42 without issue. I did find the neighbouring reflection nebulae and reflection components in M42 itself were severely attenuated, so stopped after a few minutes of imaging, and switched to another target. Here is the resulting stack of 6 subs:

The core isn't blown out, so 30s works, but you could use shorter subs if you like.

Ah, the L-eXtreme is much like my NBZ so that's useful!