powerlord

I shot M51 with both my 200pds and 300pds in March and April this year with my ASI533 when I had it, adding some Ha as well from the 200pds. With BlurX out and trialing, I thought it would be a good challenge for it. So I integrated my 200pds and 300pds data together, put it through BlurX, and then edited in Affinity Photo, adding the Ha, etc. It is definitely the best M51 I've come up with so far - hope you enjoy. stu red

Another Xmas poll

I just installed the update to v2 on mac.. Now you can count the seconds between turning a layer on or off and seeing the results.. How on earth did this get through testing?

Added. Its after other but didn't know if I changed positions the poll might get screwed.

Ooo yeh. I'll try add

Thought I'd post a poll for christmas

haha, maybe! It was done with the redcat (250mm) - which is turning out to be my most used scope tbh.

I've returned batteries from amazon - no bother - they pay shipping usually with Hermes or whatever, and even make sure that the address label you print has the correct 'contains batteries' label. No usb port can pull more than about 2.1a within the spec. Some cheapies will put that limit across 2 ports so you do need to check that - ones that support usb C PD will usually be good because they are used to providing more amps over usb c. capacity wise, just go by rough cost and size - that's yer best bet. And as I say, for the @5v capacity divide by 2 and a bit. I usually measure the power banks I get by fully charging and discharging through a power meter. I usually find that 24-30ah ones come in at around 12-14ah @5v. I'd certainly never buy an astro powerbank - they are ridiculously over priced for what they are imho. But I suppose some folk do so what do I know. 🙂

The nearest I got was looking at the total I'd spent with FLO. When I saw that I'm surprised my watch didn't start calling my emergency contacts for a suspected heart attack !

thanks Göran, I use StarXterminator and NoiseXterminator as a plugin in Affinity. Affinity supports PS plugins, and Russells stuff (other than BlurX) is available as PS plugins. So I got rid of the NB stars for processing. And later, I replaced them with RGB stars I shot on the 4th night.

I get a similar thing with my Redcat. Like yours - only really visible with bright stars. I just sort it in post processing. Let's face it - it's still doing a very fine job.

oh cool, thanks all. It's not one you see much, and it's probably about the limit of what I can image in my Bortle 5/6 garden. That and the witches head.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of me joining the forum and more or less starting this hobby. In that time, so far I have shot 335* targets (not unique, and sometime multiple in a night, but that's still a fair amount! I would, I am sure have long given up, had it not been for the great feedback, help and advice I've been given by lots of people on here, and being provided with the inspiration of great pictures for me to try my hand at - initially never dreaming I'd get anywhere near their quality. Not to forget providing that sounding board to scream out my frustration when something didn't go right, or EVERYTHING went wrong ! Year 1 was all about learning the real bbasic,gthen getting serious with some proper kit and continuing to learn always. Year 2 was going down that rabbit hole, building my first observatory and producing some of the first pictures I felt could stand up there with the best on here (imho at least!) For next year, I'm planning a new Observatory to house my mounts and some of my gear. And no doubt will be giving more of my hard earned cash to FLO. But at the same time, I hope to be sharing the build of the obsy v2, along with sharing my images as always. As well as enjoying everyone elses ! So thanks again to all the folk on here that make this forum a happy place so unlike some others that could be mentioned. A merry Christmas to you all, and for next year - Lang May yer Lum Reek! *for jiggles - here's the full list! 210117.wideflield.orion.centre.28mm.asi533 210124.moon 210218.m42 210219.m42 210226.m42 210305.california.pleides 210313.m42.pleides 210315.m42 210319.horse 210319.IC434horse 210319.moon 210323 210325 210325.rosette 210329.horse 210329.IC434horse.flame 210330.m42 210406 210406.heart 210413.soul 210414 210416 210423.m51 210424.M51 210429.heart 210508.M51.whirlpool galaxy.asi224.gain137 210509.M51 210510.M51 210510.M51.asi224.gain300 210515.NGC6996.north america.canon6d.3200 210610.elephant.north.american 210610.IC1396.elephant.canon6d.3200 210610.NGC6996.north america.canon6d.3200 210610.sun 210615.elephant.north.american 210616.north.american 210623.M27.dumbell.canon6d.3200 210624.M27 dumbell 210702.IC1396.elephant-dewsoshit.asi1600.gain139 210708.north.american.reedit 210711.test data IC59 from sgl 210713.elephant trunk closeup 210713.IC1396.elephant.asi1600.gain125 210713.milkyway 210717.elephant 210717.IC1396.elephant.asi1600.gain300 210717.M31.andromeda.asi1600.gain139 210718.IC1396.elephant-wrong position.asi1600.gain139 210719.elephant.integration 210719.IC1396.elephant.asi1600.gain139 210719.planets 210721.ic1396.elephant.asi1600.gain139 210721.jupiter.asi1600.gain139.stills 210722.ic1396.elephant.asi1600.gain139 210722.jupiter.asi1600.gain.139.video 210724.elephant.integration 210727.ic1396.elephant.asi1600.gain200 210801.ic1396.elepahant.asi1600.gain200 210802.elephant integration 210802.SGL DATA. M81.M82 210803.ic1396.stars.asi1600.gain139 210803.m27.dumbell.asi1600.gain139 210803.northamerica.wide.canon6d.135mm.3200 210806.milkyway.canon6d.3200 210808.M71.dumbell.C8+.67.asi1600.gain139 210812.M27.dumbell.asi1600.gain139 210812.milkway.gopro 210812.milkyway.14mm.canon64.3200 210812.milkyway.135mm.canon6d.3200 210816.m27.dumbell.asi1600.gain139 210816.NGC7635.bubble.asi1600.gain139 210816.veil nebula.canon6d.1600 210821.M27.integration 210823.gg 210823.heartsoul.canon6d.135mm.1600 210823.m51.whirlpool.asi1600.gain139 210905.veil.canon6d.1600.l-extreme 210906.NGC6995.eastern veil.asi533.gain100.l-extreme 210906.veil.asi533.gain100.l-extreme.200mm 210907.NGC7023.Iris Nebula.asi533.g100.p200 210909.M51.whirlpool.asi533.g100.p200.collimated 210909.NGC7023.iris nebula.asi533.g100.p200-colllimated 210915.IC1396.elephant.canon6d.300mm.l-extreme 210916.M27.asi1600.g139.c925+reducer 210922.5inanight.out 210922.ic1396.trunk.asi1600.g139.c925+6.3f 210922.m81.bodes.asi1600.g139.c925+6.3f 210922.ngc896.heart.asi1600.g139.c925+6.3f 210922.ngc7023.iris.asi1600.g139.c925+6.3f 210922.ngc7635.bubble.asi1600.g139.c925+6.3f 210923.moon.asi1600.c925+6.3f 210923.moon.asi1600.c925+6.3f.VIDEO 210923.NGC6888.asi1600.g139.c925+6.3f 210923.ngc7635.bubble.asi1600.g139.c925+6.3f 210927.flats 210927.m42.asi1600.c925.g200 210927.ngc6888.asi1600.g200 210927.ngc6960.western.veil.asi1600.g200 210927.ngc7635.bubble.asi1600.g200 210929.flats 210929.m33.asi533.g100.c925+6.3f 210929.m101.asi533.g100.c925+6.3f 210929.ngc1435.asi533.g100.c925+6.3f 211012.flats 211012.m33.asi533.g100.c925+6.3f 211012.ngc7023.asi533.g100.c925+6.3f 211031.ic1396.asi1600.135mm.nb 211031.m42.asi1600.135mm.nb 211101.ic1396.asi1600.135mm.nb 211101.ic1805.heartsoul.asi1600.135mm.nb 211101.m42.asi1600.135mm.nb 211101.ngc6974.veil..asi1600.135mm.nb 211104.ic1396.stars.asi1600.135mm.rgbl 211104.ic1805.heart.soul.asi1600.135mm.nb 211104.m42.asi1600.135mm.nb 211118.rosette.asi1600.p200 211118.sadr.asi1600.p200 211121.ic1805.heartheart.asi1600.925x6.3 211121.ngc281.pacman.asi1600.925x6.3 211121.rosette.asi1600.925x6.3 211123.ic1805.heartheart.asi1600.925x6.3 211128.milkyway.sony.rx100 211206.ic410 tadpole.asi533.p200 211206.rosette.asi533.p200 211206.xmas tree.asi533.p200 211210.cocoon.asi533.9.25x6.7 211210.xmas tree mosaic.asi533.9.25x6.7 211216.cygnus wall.n150.asi1600 211216.moon.n150.asi1600 220102.flats.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220102.ic434.horsehead.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220102.ic1396.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220102.M42.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220102.M66etc.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220104.ic434.horsehead.80ED.asi533 220104.ic1396.80ED.asi533 220104.ic1396.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220104.M42.80ED.asi533 220104.M42.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220104.ngc4387.MarkariansChain.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220104.rosette.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220105.ic1848.soul.P150.ComaC.asi1600 220107.m33.p150.comac.asi1600 220107.wallthing.80ed.azgti.asi533 220112.M42.80ED.x0.8.asi533.newEQ6 220113.IC405.flamingStar.80ED.FF.asi533 220113.IC1805.heart.80ED.FF.asi533 220113.ic1805.heart.p150.asi1600 220113.M51.p150.asi1600 220113.NGC2238.rosette.80ED.FF.asi533 220113.ngc2264.xmas.p150.asi1600 220117.NGC7822.p150.asi1600 220117.wideflield.elephant+america.centre.28mm.asi533 220117.wideflield.heart.centre.28mm.asi533 220117.wideflield.orion.centre.28mm.asi533 220119.rosette.80EDFF.asi1600 220128.IC1805.150p.showing issues.after.smash 220128.m31.andromeda.80EDFF.asi1600 220128.M78.80EDFF.asi1600 220128.NGC7822.80EDFF.asi1600 220129.C9.80EDFF.asi1600 220129.M78.80edFF.asi1600 220129.m78.150p.asi533 220129.ngc281.pacman.150p.asi533 220129.ngc1499.california.80edFF.asi1600 220129.whale.150p.asi533 220204.ic1396 and orion.canon6d.135mm 220204.ic1396.canon6d.135mm 220210.IC1396.80EDFFIthink.asi1600 220222.HeartSoul.135.asi1600.M2 220222.M33.80ED.asi533.M1 220222.M81.M82.Bodes.80ED.asi533.M1 220222.Rosette.Fur.135.asi1600.M2 220222.timelapse.observatory 220224.Bodes.80ED.asi533.m1 220224.HeartSoul.135.asi1600.m2 220224.IC2118.WitchedHead.80ED.asi533.m1 220224.makarianChain.135.asi1600.m2 220226.ic434.horsehead.p200.asi1600.m1 220226.m42orion.135.asi533.m2 220226.m51.whirlpool.p200.asi1600.m1 220226.ngc7822.135.asi533.m2 220227.ic2118.witchesHead.135.asi533.m2 220227.m78.p200.asi1600.m1 220227.ngc7023.iris.135.asi533.m2 220227.ngc7023.iris.p200.asi1600.m1 220307.300PDS.firstLight.asi533.CC 220317.300p.asi1600.asi224.barlow.moon 220317.M106.300p.asi1600 220317.thorshelmet.300p.asi1600.NGC2359 220318.goproVideo 220318.M106.300p.asi1600 220318.NGC896.heartNob.80ed.asi533 220318.NGC2359.thor.300p.asi1600 220318.SH2-129.batsquid.80ed.asi533 220319.NGC2244.rosette.80ed.asi1600 220319.NGC7822.80ed.asi1600 220321.NGC2244.rosette.80ed.asi1600 220321.NGC2244.Rostte.3sessions 220321.NGC4488.galaxies.80ed.asi1600 220321.SH2-129.squidbat.80ed.asi1600 220322.flamingstar.80EDFF.asi1600 220323.IC410.tadpoles.200pds.asi533 220323.soulCloseup.200p.asi533 220324.IC342.200p.asi533 220324.M42.200p.asi533 220324.NGC3628.burger.200p.asi533 220325.M63.sunflower.300pds.asi533 220325.NGC2903Galaxy.300pds.asi533 220325.NGC4565.needle.300pds.asi533 220326.whale.300pds.asi533 220401.m106.80ED.asi533 220401.NGC7625.bubble.300PDS.asi1600 220401.virgoMosaic.80ED.asi533 220402.m106.80ED.asi433 220402.makarianEyes.80ED.asi433 220402.NGC7625.Bubble.200pds.asi1600 220415.heartsoul.canon300mm.asi1600.fitlerwheel.shitfocus 220416.silverNeedle.200pds.asi533 220420.silverNeedle.200pds.asi533 220424.HeartSoul.72EDFF.6D 220424.M51.whirlpool.200PDS.asi533 220425.LeoM66.200PDS.asi1600 220425.M51.whirlpool.200PDS.asi1600.Ha 220425.M101.925FF63.asi533 220508.heartsoul.135mm.asi1600 220508.ic1396.sh2-129.135mm.asi1600 220508.redcat.test 220508.soul.300mm.asi533 220511.allsky 220511.M16.eagleNebula.925FF.asi533 220511.NGC7822.925FF.asi533 220513.M16.eagleNebula.925FF.asi1600 220513.NGC4631.whale.925FF.asi1600 220525.ic1396.sh2-129.135mm.asi1600 220525.ngc7822.135mm.asi1600 220708.ic1396.squidtoo.135mm.asi1600 220715.ngc7000.135mm.asi1600 220718.M16.eagleNebula.925.asi1600 220718.Saturn 220729.M27.300P.asi2600MC 220731.ic1396.redcat.asi2600 220731.squid.300mm.asi533 220802.ngc7000-wall.750mm.asi533 220802.ngc7000.300mm.asi2600 220805.heart.soul.redcat.asi2600.camping 220806.veil.redcat.asi2600.camping 220807.asi2600.darks.bias 220807.IrisNebula.200p.asi2600.gain100 220807.M33.200p.asi2600.gain100 220808.IrisNebula.200p.asi2600.gain100 220808.M33.200p.asi2600.gain100 220809.Bode.200p.asi2600.gain100 220810.Bode.200p.asi2600.gain100.NB 220810.M16.200p.eagle.asi2600.nb 220810.M33.200p.asi2600.gain100.NB 220810.Pacman.200p.asi2600.gain100.NB 220811.ldn1235.shark.400mm.asi2600.gain0 220812.ldn1235.sharkframe2.400mm.asi2600.gain0 220813.sh2-129.squid.400mm.asi2600 220819.ic1396.400mm.asi2600.shitEQ6 220819.neptune.4500mm.asi224 220823.ic1396.sh2-129.135mm.asi2600 220827.elephant.squid.135mm.asi2500.gain100 220827.milkway.gopro 220827.milkyway.rx100 220827.planets 220827.van 220830.crescent.200pds.asi533.gain100.eq5 220830.sadirArea.135mm.asi2600.gain0.am5 220910.mosaic.question2elephant.135mm.asi2600.gain0.am5 220914.mosaic.question2elephant.135mm.asi2600.gain0.am5 220915.lobster.redcat.asi2600.gain100 220915.wizard.200PDS.asi533 220920.ngc7023.135mm.6d.rgb 220922.NGC7538.northern lagoon.200pds.asi533.lextreme 220927.ngc7023.iris.135mm.6d.l-extreme 220927.ngc7023.iris.redcat.asi26500.rgb 220928.shark.redcat.asi2600.rgb 220929.ic1396.redcat.asi1600.Ha 220929.lion.p200.asi2600.l-extreme 221002.ic1396.redcat.asi1600.Oiii 221002.sh2-155.cave.p200.asi2600.l-ultimate 221004.M31 221004.SH2-132.stars.p200.asi2600 221004.sh2-155.stars.p200.asi2600 221005.ic1396.redcat.asi1600.sii 221005.sadr.300mm.asi2600.l-ultimate 221006.ic63.cas.ghost.asi533.l-extreme 221006.ic1396.redcat.asi2600.l-utimate 221008.ngc7000.northamerica.redcat.asi2600.l-ultimate 221008.veil.80ed0.8.asi533.l-extreme 221009.ic1396.mono.nb.comp 221010.bubble.ed80.8.6d.lextreme 221010.squid.redcat.asi2600.l-ultimate 221017.m31.redcat.asi2600B 221017.Pleides.redcat.asi2600B 221018.colourstars.redcat.asi2600b 221018.m31.redcat.asi2600B 221104.M1.300pds.asi2600 221104.M27.300pds.asi2600 221104.ngc896.fishhead.300pds.asi2600 221110.heart.80ed.FF.16.5+21.asi2600 221125.am5test.80ed.asi2600 221125.bubbles.redcat.asi2600 221125.foxFur.ic447.redcat.asi2600 221130.california.redcat.asi2600 221130.flamingStar.redcat.asi2600 221207.NGC7822.questionMark.redcat.asi2600B 221208.09.elephantMosaic.135.asi2600A 221209.heartSoul.135.asi2600A 221210.elephant.redcat.asi2600B.newEQ6r 221210.elephantMosaic.135.asi2600A 221210.heartsoul.135.asi2600A 221210.heartsoul.redcat.asi2600b.newEQ6r 221214.IC401.tadpoles.flame.80ED.asi2600A 221214.SH2-140.spagetti.redcat.asi2600B 221215.galaxies.redcat.asi2600b 221215.IC443.Horsy.80ed.asi2600a 221215.SH2-132.LionsHead.80ED.asi2600A 221215.SH2-132.LionsHead.redcat.asi2600b 221215.SH2-140.spagetti.redcat.asi2600b 221215.test1800secExposure.80ed.asi2600a 221216.cosmicLizard.80ed.asi2600a-rgb 221216.ngc2264.80ed.asi2600a 221216.NGC7635.lobsterClaws.redcat.asi2600a 221216.SH2-140.spagetti.redcat.asi2600b 221216.witchesHead.80ed.asi2600a 221217.cosmicLizard.redcat.asi2600b-rgb 221217.IC417.80ED+newFF.asi2600a 221217.IC1805.Heart.80ED+newFF.asi2600a 221217.NGC7635.lobsterClaws.redcat.asi2600b-rgb 221217.SH2-132.LionsHead.80ED+newFF.asi2600a 221217.SH2-132.LionsHead.redcat.asi2600b.rgb 221217.SH2-140.spagetti.redcat.asi2600b-rgb

Startools always worked well for me for galaxies. I just didn't like what it did with stars. Well, or anything else tbh.

that is good. I did nowt with my tadpoles. The only nebula so far trialing it that it's done anything on is the flame and horse head nebula. weird.

I'm trialing BlurX in a trial of PI to see what all the fuss is about!

I'll be honest chaps, I thought I'd pulled a blinder on this one, but going by the lack of likes I guess not so opening it to the floor with a view to learning from my mistakes - what have i done wrong? What could I have done better?

Acht I'm not sure this is the topic for that Stuart. It's not about cost. But you are right, I am anti pi. I make no secret of that. Each to their own of course. Having just spent several hours putting all my galaxy stacks through blurx trial I admit its amazing for galaxy stuff. But nothing about what it does is because of PI. I use noiseX and starX fine in affinity. Why on earth would I change my whole processing work flow to be PI based to be able to use blurx for galaxies? I'm oooo 3 years in now (wow!), and believe me I've evaluated pi, done tutorials, etc. And I'm happy I can get as good or better results with APP, siril and affinity, plus Russell's plugins. If Russell doesn't see sense, and the possibility of extra revenue from a standard plugin, so be it. I'll do without.

I've been trying it on more images and yes, galaxies it seems to understand and do a good job. Better than other methods I'd been using ? Difficult to say without taking each through a new processing cycle. I mean, yeh it clearly 'understands M51' and you get lots of lovely detail. But I seem to have managed to extract most of that detail in other ways when I look at the final image I arrived at. So - it works. So showing before and afters from raw to after blurX is interesting, but not a fair comparison really - It needs more 'doing whatever you did before blurx to get to a final image vs now with blurX in you processing workflow' really. Just a pity it's PI only. Nebulas - not a sausage though 😞 So seems pretty clear cut to me it's ony useful for galaxies - star shapes aside. I won't be buying it until its available as an affinity plugin. come on Russell - there's more to Life than Pi (sic)

You don't have a choice with the asi2600 - it has a built in UV/IR window.

I'll do a video showing the issue with an image I have.

The elongated stars were my 80ED with no corrector. I got away with that when I had the 533, but with the 2600 I can't. And I've never got on with the 0.8 FF reducer that came with it - just didn't seem to work. I bought a basic OVL FF from FLO last week, and it works wonders - nice and sharp now so no need for BlurX in newer captures. 🙂

yeh PI doesn't care - you can use it on a jpg of a cat if you like. just save it out of APP unstretched.

exactly, or as I say Affinity photo natively supports FITs. PS you might struggle with, as it doesn't do 32 bit well. Anyway, I'm seeing lots of images of galaxies improved, but nothing much for nebula which ties in with my tests - just doesn't seem to do much at all for nebulosity detail ? I'll keep trying with old data but so far it's no game changer as far as I'm concerned, as I'm: 1. not gonna ever buy PI if my life depended on it. So I can only hope we does a plugin for real software. 2. not paying 90* quid for something that only helps with galaxies. *feels a bit mean imho to only get a tenner off for owning the other two.

Do what I'm doing - and badger Russell for a PS plugin like he has done for the others. His reason not to is dubious. does make me wonder if there was a deal with PI made...?