Quetzalcoatl72

23 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

2. Look at FWHM / HFR value produced by imaging software

In nina are the graphs available for manual focus right away or only with a focuser plugged in?

18 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

What sort of equations?

this headache here

7 hours ago, scotty38 said:

I use the ZWO EAF and getting it set up/understanding it is not trivial either imo. There are plenty of videos to help but I struggled massively getting a nice curve etc until I read a post on here with some suggested settings. I've since tried to find it again to thank the author but failed.. Will have another look but anyway I think the focuser is a great tool.

That's the problem, I don't want to learn algebra to improve my images. I've seen tutorials on FWHM / HFR curves and stuff it goes right over my head, I'm incapable of understanding maths and equations 

11 hours ago, Andrew_B said:

I looked at getting a Sony mirrorless camera (NEX-5N) when I decided to try and get back into astrophotography and in stock form their red sensitivity isn't as good as you might want, especially in comparison to your 600Da. I ended up getting a secondhand Fuji X-A3 which even in stock form has reasonably good deep red sensitivity that's good enough to get nice bright images of nebulae and is even usable with narrowband filters. The Fuji was also easier to use with a cheap wired intervalometer, and while the Sony can be modified to do the same, it apparently involves some soldering.

I then managed to break the X-A3 and replaced it with an X-T100 which has the same (or very similar) 24MP sensor that may be the same as the one in the A6000, and which has similarly good out of the box red sensitivity as well as a few extra features that made it better for normal photography. I was considering repairing the X-A3 and doing an astro conversion when I found a secondhand X-A3 that had already been full spectrum converted that cost no more than I would have spent on parts to repair and convert my existing camera. The conversion that had been done was to remove the hot mirror covering the sensor and replace it with a fused quartz window which has a very wide bandpass from UV through to well into infrared (something like 200-2000nm). It works brilliantly and I've been blown away by how much it records with an H-alpha filter even with integrations of only 60-90 minutes

The Sony looks good but I've read that it is one of a number of Sony models affected by the 'Star Eater' bug where overly aggressive noise reduction that can't be switch off ends up removing fainter stars because it thinks they're noise or hot pixels. This problem kicks in when bulb mode is used and is obviously a problem for astro although 30s and shorter exposures aren't affected. Apparently the NEX-3 / NEX-3N and NEX-5 / NEX-5N models don't have this problem so they could be worth a look.

 

Hope this info is useful and hasn't come too late!

I have an NEX 3k, but it's super old, surely I'd want something less than 5 years old to keep up with the competition. Only used it for daytime stuff, looks very noisy now. I still want a camera for everything, there's a site that does mods and you can clip on a filter for normal astro. I have a a7r on my watch list but reading what you said I'm less sure, because I still have this sony E mount f14 lens sitting doing nothing.

1 hour ago, powerlord said:

I always focus on a bright star with a bahtinov. it's effectively infinity - don't see why you'd try to focus on the target. I suppose the argument is atmospheric disturbance, etc-  but frankly I've never had any issues focusing on a bright star. If you don't have one, get an electric focuser - its sooo much easier when the mount and scope is stable. And I suppose, make sure you have the right grill spacing for your OTA for the bahtinov.

certainly mine never 'move around'. I always get a clean 6 spikes.

I assumed auto focusers were for people who do everything indoors, do they know when a star is out and correct it?

I have most of my problems sorted out now but it seems when I do go out on the rare occasion, focusing seems to be the main issue. I use a batinov mask for my RCT 8/f8 scope because it's impossible to tell focus otherwise when looking at the diffraction spikes I notice they move around a lot so when I think the middle spike is centered the left or right part of it seems to move up and down so I can never get it to stay still to make sure I know it's 100%.

I have a lot of broadband cables across the sky so I think that's causing the problem, which I can't avoid obviously, They also make collimating difficult as I see it distorting the ring pattern. I always thought you focus on the brightest stars which is what I do, but I've also been told you focus on the target which could be impossible as the stars are usually smaller and hard to tell the diffraction spikes. Bright stars would have to be above 30º in the azimuth to clear any wires. My images have looked fine through the cables above f6 otherwise.

also looking for a focus mask for this? any available to buy in the uk? can i just make my own easy enough, any special shapes?

3 hours ago, Adam J said:

It certainly looks like you either dont have the corrector reducer fitted or you have fitted it incorrectly. The corrector should be fitted directly after the focusing ring. You then add the shortest of the three extension tubes after the corrector and the sensor should be 55mm from the end of that tube not the end of the corrector. 

Adam

so i can only use this scope with the reducer at f4.5 when it's advertised as both 4.5 and 5.5 otherwise i get terrible commas?

50 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

I think you need to use the reducer / flattener and use it at 180mm FL. That was how I understood it. (I'd be interested to know as I am considering the FMA180 as a widefield scope)

one thing I can tell you is that it's extremely high quality. I just can't wait for darker nights so I can spend more than an hour testing it out.

2 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Did you have it set at the correct backfocus of 55mm?

not sure, I used the 2 smallest extension tubes. Just checked the manual and for "photographic mode" you use the reducer connection tube and reducer for f4.5 and extention 2 and reducer tube for f5.5. I could try that next time. Still don't fully understand backfocus. Extention 1(the one i used) is shown to observation mode

I bought the askar 180 triplet ed super from flo because it had good reviews I've seen what people have captured for this. Thought I'd try it out on m32 which is my main reason why i got it. Obviously the worst time of the year to do so, but desperate times! If you look at the image I captured 2 180 stacked(broadband cables constantly blocking it) you will see that it has terrible star shapes going on. I'm guessing coma? this was taken at f5.5 220mm with my asi533

On 22/06/2021 at 00:24, Gfamily said:

What sort of mod are you thinking about?

I would  say the only thing to check is whether the Sony lens you bought has the right mount for the A6000.

i'm not sure, what do people usually go for?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ALLPOWERS-Portable-Generator-Emergency-Technology/dp/B081DSC1HD/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KJEGPKJZJYAVDYJ5BHD2 was looking into this one, that is quite a lot of wattage

8 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

Although they quote these figures they will be peak loads. In reality when tracking the mount probably draws about an amp or 2. Again the dew heater controller can probably peak at 10 amps, but most dew heaters probably only draw about an amp at 12V. A bit more for other bits and pieces, but I doubt if your set up draws more than about 5 amps on average. (I've just got a new power supply for my kit with an ammeter built it so I will know for sure soon). With this in mind, if you want 8 hours worth of power you want 8x5amp=40 Amp hour. Ideally you probably want double this to prevent battery damage. There are lithium options, but the cost of these is pretty steep.

To connect to the leisure battery you could use metal hose clips - these will give you a good connection to the battery.

I think on maximum I'm out 3 hours because I'm not the one driving on location, come to think of it, will I even need a dew heater for that short of time? could depend on time of year I guess.

On 03/06/2021 at 07:57, jambouk said:

If going away from home where there is no mains power then you need batteries. Leisure batteries are best, but heavy. Work out how many watts everything needs per hour of use. Work out how many hours you want it to last for. Then I would double that number, and then ideally double that number again. That is the size of the battery you need. 
 

you need to work out how to make your connections more stable. Unreliable power supply is not acceptable. 

my leisure battery has huge stumps for connectors so they aren't 100% secure because I'm using large croc clips attached to cig lighter. I'm looking at my equipment and I don't know what they output, how would I know? tried looking up my neq6 mount and it says 5a, the dew controller I have is 10a I think? what is that more its only heating up something, Do i count the cig cables and an output source too?

On 03/06/2021 at 08:43, Clarkey said:

I agree about the leisure battery. I have a 110 amp hour battery with a case I built myself which has 12v and USB outputs etc. It will run my full imaging rig for a 12 hour session without problem - but it is very heavy. I use a small collapsible trolley to move it around.

With regards to the laptop, I will get at least 4 hours from mine and once up and running with the screen off probably nearer 6. I also have a lithium laptop specific power pack which will double the battery life and supplies 19V directly.

Krisdonia Laptop Power Bank 25000mAh Portable Charger with Type-C Port + DC Port + Dual USB (QC3.0 Quick Charge) for Laptop, Tablet, Cell phone, Macbook, Camera, Projector and more: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

If you are only getting a couple of hours I would look for a new laptop. It only needs to be a low spec to run imaging kit and a smaller processor will use less power. I picked up a second hand Lenovo for £100 which works fine.

Didn't know anyone replied to this, but anyway thanks, I have a deep cycle leisure battery but it's 75amps, only used it to power the mount, lasts about 3 hours then it drops below 12v at half bar, it has liquid cells not gel. The connectors are awkward huge stumps so I can't use those rings everyone seems to use.

12 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

@Quetzalcoatl72 that eclipse image has come out a treat. Nice one.

I had 10 sec out of the entire event to grab mine, poorly focused and rather over exposed. (i won't share it on here....😃)

the last eclipse i did was out of focus, disappointed because it was larger, bring on 2026! almost full eclipse then

On 07/06/2021 at 20:52, Simon Pepper said:

What’s the best way to capture this? Time lapse, video, short exposers, tracked or untracked? Thanks 

I'm not sure myself i just take 3 minute videos, i found that i cant stack all of the 3 minutes because the moon moves so fast it breaks the stacked images so the limit is probably 1 minute or 350 frames

On 07/06/2021 at 17:48, ecuador said:

A bit late to reply, but you might be interested in a comparative test I did here: https://astro.ecuadors.net/imaging-the-sun-in-white-light-and-baader-solar-continuum-or-other-color-filters/

tldr; The solar continuum was the best from those attempted, although it works better with an ND 3.8 baader photo film, while an O-III filter does have some benefit, and even a CLS was better than without any additional filter in my testing.

yeah, I didn't know anyone replied to this. I did end up getting the eclipse with basic stuff. looked at that comparison and I have that oplong filter but I thought it was just for night time astro so I didn't bother. Here's the result in white light stacked

On 19/06/2021 at 21:24, nfotis said:

 

If you have already a 2"  nosepiece, that's OK. You shouldn't have any trouble with 2" filters (this sensor is quite small, even in the IMX464 version)

The price of 1.25" IR cut and IR pass filters is quite reasonable. If the QHY version includes these already, that's a plus.

 

The IMX464 is quite intriguing, if you want to make Moon mosaics as well as planetary shots, I don't know if the software support is good though:

https://player-one-astronomy.com/product/neptune-c-ii-usb3-0-color-camera-imx464/

N.F.

 

bought the asi462 and ir pass and uv filters, i wonder if the pass filter would help with imaging venus when it is bright

On 12/06/2021 at 22:19, Gfamily said:

I'm afraid I don't know whether the A6000 can send its image stream directly to a PC, which you might want to do for planetary imaging.

Certainly, for deep sky or skyscapes you could use an intervalometer to capture multiple images to be downloaded and stacked separately.

I bought a small scope for more wider field of imaging so now this camera will be exclusively for milkyways and normal photography. are you sure these cameras don't need to be modded?

the dovetail slits are too narrow for the right bolt size to go through. bolt for the head is 8mm, dovetail slit is 7

On 18/06/2021 at 18:26, Second Time Around said:

I'm not sure what you mean - can you post a picture?

If you mean that the camera is to the left of the mount, that's because space is needed to open up the hinged screen on my camera. 

Luckily, with my mount you can change the angle of the altitude axis so that the scope can go on either the left or right hand side.  Apparently, some mounts allow this, some don't.

could this setup work? I would need something to fix the ball head to the dovetail somehow, not sure what screws. I will only be using this for milkyway shots now as i've bought myself a powerful smaller scope which is about the size of that finder in the picture. the dovetail u see is used on the top of my stellar lyra and the larger losmandy goes on the bottom to attach to mount.

3 hours ago, nfotis said:

My impressions from an IMX462 are quite favourable (got the ZWO version, but I guess that most editions will be comparable).

I use the ZWO IR cut and IR 1.25" pass filters.

If you want a larger sensor, the IMX464 offers double the megapixels (and it would be very useful in Moon mosaics etc), at least Player One sell a planetary camera based on this sensor.

N.F.

 

Does it even matter if you use a 1.25" filter rather than a 2". I use 2" lenses and LP filter

2 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Are you wanting colour or mono camera?

Your f/8 scope with a 2x barlow will be a decent match for one of the 2.9um pixel cameras, so you got the 462 (colour) or the 290 (mono) to choose from there. The 290 also comes in colour flavour too but is slightly less impressive on paper in terms of read noise than the 462. The 462 does have quite a bit of overlap between the different colours of it's bayer matrix, which isn't bad but can lead to a distinctive colour 'look', but as always colours can be tweaked after the case. It also has excellent IR performance so is a really versatile camera in my opinion.

The 224c is no slouch either and is an excellent camera with slightly larger pixels (3.75um) and it can be had cheaply. 

To be honest any planetary camera is capable of producing top class images. On the list of 'things that will harm the quality of your images', the choice of planetary cam is pretty low down. 

Thanks, probably Monochrome, as my asi533 is a MC and I don't want to get into the whole filter wheel business, not worth it IMO for my bortle 8 zone. I used a barlow lens with my f/8 and in the images you could actually see the sensor of the camera which can probably be fixed with a good IR filter. Speaking of filters do you know any that people use that bring out the details and better contrast, It probably doesn't matter much being where I live.