AstroGS

34 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

Great pic! I'm using an Askar D2 with Optolong L-Ultimate, and find they're a good combo. You might want to try your D2 with your Antila. I'll keep an eye out for anything else you post about these filters 👍

Hi Lee - the above picture is indeed produced by combining 147 x 600 secs of Antlia filter + 30 x 600 sec of the Askar D2.

I started a thread on these filters - it is not exactly a scientific analysis but, a trigger to start discussing about it maybe. 

Having had several filters over the past couple of years, I have now started using Askar's new Colourmagic duo band filters.

A little of background and just my humble opinion follows:

I am a proud owner of an Optolong L-Pro and ZWO UV/IR filters and I used to have an L-Extreme for almost 2 years, an L-Ultimate for a couple off weeks and the Antlia ALT-P filter, which I absolutely love but, I will be parting with it.  I do love the Antlia but, because I wanted to try the new Askar filters and I could not afford both the Askar and Antlia. There is not issue whatsoever with it and it is actually very very good.

The L-Extreme is a great filter but, the issue with the bloated stars and halos, was something that I did not like and although this is a situation that can be managed in post processing, I did not like it. The L-ultimate on the other hand did not work for me. For some unidentified reason, the stars looked elongated or distorted and in some cases appeared as over-exposed (?). I tried for a few sessions but, on either my OTAs and with both the cameras (ASI2600MC and ASI533MC Pro) I had more or less the same issues. It was a definite no for me and thus I returned it.

Th Antlia as I said was an absolute gem - fantastic! The level of detail that it reveals is really good, it does a really good job with the Ha and relatively well with OIII as well. But, I was missing that bit of SII which the Antlia cannot provide.

This is the reason, I am trialing Askar's new 2" filters. I will not go to too much detail right now but, I will be sharing 2 images taken with the 2 filters for your info, feedback and possible discussion. Both images processed in PI: DBE, Blur/Star/NoiseXTerminator, Curves only to darken a bit the background and quick Morphological Transformation to reduce stars.

Askar D1 Ha & OIII:

Single 600 sec frame

Final image (please ignore the lines, these were from the antenna on the roof of the house, I did not even seen that before processing the image) 9 x 600secs. 

Askar D2 OIII & SII:

Single 600 sec frame

Final image: 30 x 600 sec

ASKAR.xisf

Nice colours - the details came through really well.

Lovely wide field image - good job.

6 hours ago, gorann said:

Yes, a great result indeed George! That Antlia ALP-T is very interesting. It comes in both a fast and slow optics version. It is a pity that it is quite expensive but I guess you pay for the narrow bandwidth compared to NBZ and L-Extreme. The NBZ has the small advantage of also picking up some blue reflection nebulosity. I doubt that the ALP-T would pick up anything but Ha and Oiii. I found this review of it:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358830625_Antlia_ALP-T_Filter_Comparison_Test

You are correct gorann - the Antlia is doing a great job for Ha and well for OIII. The stars are super tight and the overall detail really good. Compared with the L-Extreme, is doing a much better job on stars, OIII and the detail. I had the chance to have for a few weeks also an L-Ultimate and I will be super honest to say that I did not like it.

I just got my hands on the new Askar Colourmagic duoband 2” filters; the D1 and D2 that are supposed to work with OSC and they cover the Ha/OIII and SII/OIII bandwidths each. First impression is positive. Awaiting further tests.

This was always one of my favourite targets but, I was hesitate to start with it as I knew it would need a lot of hours and long exposures to start showing the structure of the nebulosity and especially the OIII. After a few evenings with the new Anltia ALP-T and the great results it was producing, I decided to start acquiring data in December 26 and for 6 nights between then and January 19.

177 subs of 600 secs each (and another 25 that I had to ditch for several reasons) + 50 calibration frames (darks, flats & bias), I am happily sharing the below image. If I would have started again, I would frame it differently but still, I am happy with the result (for now 😉 )

The Redcat51 was the perfect telescope for this occasion and with the ASI2600MC, was the perfect combination.

Filters: I used the Antlia ALP-T for the first 147 subs and then (for the remainder 30 subs) the brand new Askar Colourmagic Duoband D2 2" OIII/SII. I cannot express enough how amazing both filters are - absolute gems. I will be sharing in another thread my findings with both - especially compared to the L-Extreme that I had.

For processing & integration I used PI + Star/Blur/NoiseXterminator + Topaz Denoise

p.s. managed to capture also the 121 Hermione asteroid!

Beautiful wide field image - Awesome!

Well done also for your patience, dedication and the hours you have put in it.

On 16/01/2023 at 08:53, geeklee said:

George this looks good but I'm struggling to open it and see full size.

Not sure what's happened in processing but the images appear to be HUGE - probably 4x the resolution in width and height.

Hi - I just got the time to add a smaller size file. 

Interesting I’ll need to check it when I get home. Thanks for letting me know. 

13 minutes ago, skyrunner said:

I'm thinking of getting an AM5 but I'd like to use it with my Berlebach.  Just to be clear, you needed to reduce the diameter of the PE200 SW adapter (not modify the Berlebach) to make it fit onto the Berlebach HEQ mount.

Gordon 

Hi Gordon,

It is the opposite I am afraid - I did widen the BB Planet's adaptor circumference by almost 1mm. I did not want to alter the PE200 as I will be using it with other tripods when I am in the field.

Here is a pic from the last session - just as FYI

An AM5 mount on a BB Planet tripod and a PE200 extension pier.

Nothings super exciting but, it works well.

Had the chance last week to acquire approx. 8 hrs of data over 2 nights - conditions were far from perfect, as the wind reached 28mph (with 36mph gusts) and seeing was very poor last night too. However, the combination of the ZWO AM5 and a Barlebach Planet, surprised me (in a positive way).

Here are 47 x 600 sec subs + 50 x Flats/Subs/Darks

Redcat51

ZWO AM5

2600MC

Antlia L-APT 2" filter

Asiair+

And here is the image from the last 2 sessions (approx. 8 hrs) - not bad for a windy and poor seeing couple of evenings.

Although seeing was really poor tonight, the skies were clear so……

AM5 on Barlebach Planet, Redcat51 and 2600MC in action, powered by Pegasus Powerbox and managed by Asiair+.

On 19/12/2022 at 21:16, Nikolas74 said:

I was wondering if anybody knows if it's possible to attach the ZWO AM5 on my Skywatcher HEQ5 pier? 

Is there any adapter for it? 

Thanks

Nikolas. 

I mounted the AM5 on a Barlebach Planet/EQ5 adapter but, I had to trim a bit the Barbelach adapter to fit in the PE200 pier. I am talking about 1mm.

Nevertheless, the PE200 is mandatory to mount the AM5 on any other tripod.

6 hours ago, Elp said:

Brave, I don't bother if wind is higher than 10.

Me neither tbh but, skies are rarely clear nowadays and I did want to test how it would behave.

Today however is a completely different story. Even the PA process was a challenge with the AsiAir+ today. It took more than 15 secs to plate solve each image during the process!! I had to increase exp time to make it work.

Guiding is not good today due to poor seeing and the wind is picking up by the hour - the tracking figures vary from 0.6" to 1" during each sub. As I am using the Redcat51/ 2600MC combination, the subs look ok/good for now.

Another night - imaging IC417 - with wind reaching 20mph and wind gusts up to 36 mph.The tripod is what makes the difference tonight. Apart from a few moments that the wind was strong - and spiked the error to 1.2 - it is holding around 0.6-0.7.

Imaging with the Redcat51 and the "small" WO Uniguide 32/120mm, this means 1sec exposures and 30% aggressiveness on both DEC/RA.

DEC/RA/STEP points still at 2000 all 3.

Here is a very interesting read from ZWO's website on how to (systematically) improve guiding with the AM5. Ya Ge seems to have gone to a thorough analysis of how to improve guiding which I read myself carefully before trying to improve the guiding on my AM5. I did not follow all the suggested steps from Ya Ge but, overall since it is part of the AM5 mount and guiding, I thought it will be good read for others as well.

https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/news/systematically-improving-guiding-quality-and-zwo-am5-mount-review.html

6 hours ago, Stardust1 said:

Excellent write up! 

Do you level the tripod when polar aligning?

 

 

 

 

Although a lot of people say that tripod levelling is not necessary since you PA, my opinion is that levelling the tripod not only offers much better stability but, also supports better your imaging rig. Especially in fast changes in direction, e.g. meridian flip.

Finally, I believe that levelling the tripod should be the very least time consuming process amongst the others you need to do to start imaging so, why not anyway. 

1 hour ago, StevieDvd said:

How did you trim the SW adaptor for the PE200 to fit the HEQ5 adapter, did it need much taken off?

I was considering my options of having a pier adapter for a HEQ5 bored out a little if I could find a local lathe machinist. Or simply attaching the adapter to a power drill and running a file over it to reduce its diameter.

Steve

 

 

Hi Steve,

I will take a few pics next time I get the chance. It wasn’t too much… I would say 1-2mm max.

I would like to share my personal experience from the ZWO AM5 mount which I am using now for over 4 months. What I've learnt from my time with it, the good parts, the ugly ones and why I will be keeping the mount. This is the genuine feedback from an amateur user and someone that is in this hobby for less than 3 years. I am sharing this for anyone who might have the mount and is trying to improve its performance or someone that is considering to invest in this mount.

But, before I proceed with the details, I would like to share that I was a proud owner of SW AZ-EQ5, then a EQ6R-Pro, AZ-GTi and a Sky Adventurer. From my time with these mounts, I must say that the AZ-GTi was my favourite not only because it was super portable but, also because it did track well - actually very well! On the other hand, the EQ6R-Pro was very good, consistently tracking between 0.6-0.8, even close to 8kgr of payload. But, it is heavy and is not friendly for quick setups. You see, I do not have a permanent observatory and the setup was taking 20-30 mins each time, including balancing, PA and etc. If it was a Friday or weekend, then that was not an issue but, if it was during the working week then it was almost a no-go since I would be busy or tired from work.

I would use the EQ6R-Pro while imaging at home and the AZ-GTi when on a trip and thus, I had to maintain 2 mounts with the compromises that each mount had. So, I started investigating the possibility to have one mount which, could be used for "serious" imaging while at home but, it would be very portable and could join us while we were on a trip.

The tech that ticked all the boxes (light weight, payload capability and tracking accuracy) was Rainbow's Harmonic mount the RST-135. Unfortunately the price tag was very dear for me and thus, I couldn't afford it but, there were some other mounts at that time that started appearing in the market. The 3 mounts that were shortlisted: iOptron HEM27, Pegasus NYX101 and ZWO's AM5. The Pegasus was still not launched and I was not sure if it will be supported by AsiAir, iOptron's HEM27 was using a hybrid harmonic approach for the DEC/RA axis, while at that time ZWO AM5 was getting track with multiple YT videos and positive input from different users. So, I decided to bite the bullet and ordered the AM5, with the relevant extension pier and the TC40 tripod. But, in order to fund the new mount I had to sell the EQ6R-Pro, the AZ-GTi and the Sky Adventurer --> so, I was left with only 1 mount!

When the AM5 arrived I was very impressed with the build quality and how much less it weighted compared to the EQ6R. My first impressions were followed by a couple of positive-first-light evenings. Setting it up is very simple, as you can keep the whole rig on the mount/ tripod and just lift it to take it out. From the moment you decide to start imaging, until you will start imaging is now down to 5-10 mins. Huge difference of what I experienced till now.

But!

Unfortunately, after a couple of sessions the AM5 started behaving weird and it couldn't maintain a consistent level of tracking. There were nights that it would start from 0.8-0.9 and during the same 600-sec sub it would increase to 1.8-1.9 and then go back to 0.9-1.0. This would repeat 2-3 times during the same sub. I am talking about evenings with no clouds, no moon and no wind at all.....

With the support from FLO (thank you Alex), i performed quite a few tests and gathered data from logs over a period of a few evenings to finally, agree that it needs to be returned. At that point I genuinely started considering to swap it and go back to the trusted EQ6R-Pro. But, there were so many people raving about this mount that, I thought it might have been just a bad example of the mount. So, I decided to swap it with a new AM5.

I have now the new mount for over 3 months and it is working perfectly - I hope that I did not jinx it - and I used it for over 10 times. I have used this mount with both of my OTAs (Redcat51 and Stellamira ED90 Triplet).

To perform well and consistently, the mount requires the following:

A good and stable tripod

The TC40 is light-weighted and super portable. It holds the AM5 very well and securely (good job AM5) but, in my humble opinion it is not for long exposures. Every single breeze of air will be transferred to your sub - especially if the payload is really light. I have tried the tripod with the rubber feet and the spikes, on Celestron's anti-vibration pads and/ or with 10 kgs of weight in the bag with no noticeable differences in it performance. The tracking with the TC40 was always around 0.9-1.1 total RMS error.

So, I decided to buy a SW 1.75inch tripod along with ZWO's PE200 pier extension. It fitted perfectly and even in the very first evening the performance of the tracking improved, achieving a consistent 0.7-0.9 throughout the whole session. This was the case for almost every session after.

Then, just a few weeks ago, a Barleback Planet came in the 2nd hand market with an HEQ5 adapter at a reasonable price and thus, I bought it. Unfortunately the PE200, wouldn't fit perfectly in so, I had to trim and treat the adaptor so it will take the PE200 extension pier. It wasn't that difficult and eventually the pier fitted perfectly.

This changed completely my experience with the mount - the tracking improved significantly and now it is achieving 0.4-0.5, with peaks of around 0.6. Even after dithering, it takes only 3-5 secs to settle and get back to 0.4-0.45! I have never experienced something similar with any mount.

Attaching some pics from my last session.

Conclusion: The AM5 is heavily relying on a good and stable tripod, to deliver a good performance.

PA is super important 

Take your time while polar aligning your AM5. I am only using the AsiAir+ for PA. Εvery single time that I was not on less than 10" of error, I would experience at least 0.1-0.2 more total RMS error in my guiding. The AM5 has super simple and easy-to-use knobs. Take your time and try to get the PA less than 10". You will be rewarded at the end. 

Also, something else that I found out was that, performing the PA process twice improves the stability/ consistency of the tracking. I am not sure if it is the AsiAir's issue or the mount's but, performing the PA process twice has worked for me - every single night! What are your thoughts?

Conclusion: Take your time for the PA (if you are using AsiAir like me) and even do it twice.

Tracking settings -My routine is as follows

Immediately after the PA is completed (and while the mount is still rotated at 60 degrees), I choose a point close to the celestial equator and the same side that my target is.

The mount slews at that point and before I start the calibration process, I make sure that the guide scope is very well focused. 

Also, make sure that the FL for the guidescope is correct - I have done that mistake in the past a few times. My camera is an ASI290mm mini and I usually use a gain of 200-250.

Calibration settings (using the AsiAir):

• Exposure time: 2 secs
• Aggression: 50% for both DEC/ RA
• Calibration Step/ Max RA and DEC duration: All 3 at the default value of 2000
• Auto Restore Calibration: Off

After it finishes the calibration process and it settles, I slew from there to the target for the night.

During the evening, I might need to increase/ decrease the aggression based on the correction points. If there are too many on one side, then usually increasing the aggression  smooths the graph out - if the corrections are increasing/ decreasing continuously then the aggression needs to be lowered. 

More about on how to improve guiding with AsiAir: https://eastwindastro.blogspot.com/2021/02/how-to-adjust-asiair-guide-aggression.html?fbclid=IwAR3c4SkPY_K6mfO8RUY9QduzHyDiBBXBCussh05oQgjqQREPdCBgCeyPzU4

I do hope you find this interesting and I hope it helps.

By the way I am not a pro in writing similar posts!

Managed to get a few hours of clear skies on Saturday and wanted to test the new semi-permanent garden Barlebach Planet tripod and I was happy to see that it is super rock solid. It improved my guiding significantly, achieving a consistent 0.45-0.65 through the whole session.

Managed just over 3 hours of data ( 20 x 600 sec) of the Ghost Nebula

50 each Bias, Darks and Flats

Used the Stellamira with 0.8 reducer/ flattener, 2600MC Pro, L-Pro on an AM5 mount, controlled by AsiAir+.

Integrated and processed with PI. Used Blur/Star/NoiseXterminator as well. I will get some more data over 5th next few weeks and add it on - it is a very interesting target indeed.

I am also sharing a cropped picture of a structure that seems to be a reflection of the γCAS bright star - thoughts?

Iris Nebula | NGC7023

Taken over one night on the 2nd of January 2023.

69 x 300secs (5:45 hours) @ 100 Gain and -10C + 50 Darks, 50 Bias and 50 Flats.

• Stellamira ED90 Triplet
• ZWO AM5 on a Barbelach Planet tripod
• ASI2600MC Pro
• Optolong L-Pro 2"
• Asiair Plus
• SW Evoguide 50 + ASI290mm mini
• Integrated and processed with Pixinsight + Noise/Star/Blur Xterminator + a bit of Topaz

This is the cropped image with which I am happy, taken under consideration the available time and detail of the core.

This is a beautiful faint nebula surrounding the NGC40 planetary nebula, which @gorann has named "Burning Blue Dragon". Here is the image with a almost 21hrs worth of data, over 2 nights.

245 x 300sec lights

100 each for Darks, Bias and Flats

Stallamira ED90 Triplet + Flattener/Reducer 0.80x + 2600MC + Antlia "gold" dualband filter 2" + ZWO AM5

The 2nd day the guiding was the best i ever had with any mount - consistent at 0.4"-0..45" the whole night; there were even periods during the session that it achieved 0.28" (!!!) - excellent. (attaching a screenshot from that session).

I had an issue with NGC40 as it came out over-saturated and i had to apply a heavy HDR MT in PI - it is not perfect but, it ok to just make out the core.

Thank you @gorann 🙂

choose files...

Hi @gorann - i am working on this project right now and my NGC40 seems over-exposed and i cannot find a way to over come this (if there is any). Any thoughts since you also shot 300sec subs with the same camera.