Ags

Thanks, Keeping it all the same and cycling through each channel sounds like the best approach. Shooting each channel for one third the time of a mono image sounds like I will get a lot of noise - how to manage that? Is wavelet sharpening specifically for color images? I don't currently use Registax, only Autostakkert (which doesn't seem to have wavelets).

@ralph-in-the-sky, maybe paste the image into your post?

I point at the object and click point and track. The mount tracks perfectly for several minutes, then nosedives. I don't think there is an option to start tracking without choosing a target first?

It's teeny! It's made of wood!

I have a filter wheel coming soon with some cheap RGB filters - I am just wondering about the right way to use them. Because red will be the sharpest, do I shoot a long sequence of short red frames, then increase the length of frames and shoot shorter sequences of blue and green? My reasoning being red will provide the detail/luminance and the blue and green will only be used for color where sharpness is not so important, and longer individual frames for blue and green will lower noise. Or do I just shoot the same number of frames in each color with the same settings?

Either you can align your AZ-GTi on a few stars, then ask it to Goto a target, or you can level your scope, not align it on any stars, point it manually at the target, and ask it it to track the target. I do the latter.There are two buttons labelled "Goto" and "Point and Track" in the Synscan app user interface.

Spent a couple of hours on goto last night, no issues. The problem definitely only happens with point-and-track.

I have a power tank actually but it feels like off-putting lump with my small and light setup. I've been on the lookout for something unobtrusive I can strap to a tripod leg 😃

Sorry should have been clearer - 8 non-rechargeable batteries for a total of 12V.

The default 8 AA batteries.

The firmware is up to date. It only seems to happen with point-and-track not when the scope is two-star aligned, so it's probably something in the software / firmware. It happens both with the Synscan Pro Windows app and the Synscan Pro Android App.

I really like my AZ-GTi - it is precise, stable, small, handy and just all round amazing. But sometimes... it just starts slewing straight downward when it's meant to be doing point-and-track. It's mostly annoying as I can just blindly slew upward until Saturn is back on the chip, but why does it do this? Is it a known issue? Could it be an electrical fault? I don't know if it is related, but the mount has a lot of backlash on the Alt axis.

I want a bigger telescope 😕 Surely a C6 will fit on my AZ GTi?

I tried a binned capture tonight. It's less noisy as one would expect. Not a great night - I only managed one minute of cloud free capture.

My scope has a resolution of about 1 arcsec, and the pixels are less than 0.5 arcsec, so would I benefit from 2x2 binning?

Skymax 102, ASI178MM, Wratten 29, 10ms frames, 800x600 ROI, 64% of 180 seconds. I can see a hint of a cloud belt and the Cassini Division!

@Ant are you ok?

That memory was implanted in you by the aliens to cover up their nefarious activities! 😀

@Keltoi This was my first light thread:

@darkskyastronomy how dark were your dark skies? From a semi-rural location in Welsh Valleys with binoculars I have seen central core plus faint disk extending to either side, and traces of structure in that disk.

I don't use a barlow. In earlier experiments drizzling seemed to give some benefit. I will have a go without drizzle. And here it is, the 10 ms sequence reprocessed without drizzling, with the same sharpening in gimp. @vlaiv you say that on this particular night 10ms made a difference... But is there ever any reason to use longer exposures? Why not just shoot 10ms or less every night?

The wind was blowing tonight and the seeing was atrocious, so I thought it was the perfect night to test what would happen with different exposure lengths on a night of proper bad seeing. I shot three 4-minute sequences of 10ms, 17.5ms and 30ms to see if very short frames really would give a benefit. ASI 178 MM, Skymax 102, Wratten 29 filter I am picking up very little detail on the planet. I suspect the strong red filter I am using suppresses the detail as the difference between the bands of the planet is mostly in the blue channel (I think). @vlaiv I used a smaller ROI this time - 800x640. It is probably still too big but the AZ-GTI spontaneously slews at random moments, so I like to have a bit of time to countermand the slew before the planet slips out of view. I will try 640 by 480 on the next outing - and then I might give those 6ms frames you talk about a go 😃 30ms frames (best 37%) 17.5ms frames (best 15%) 10ms frames Final image (with a little sharpening done in Gimp):

To make mine a bit higher I bought a Uni tripod extension tube. The height is fine for me as I observe sitting down when doing visual, and for imaging I appreciate the load capacity of the low tripod. Also, to be clear I have the related Report 112 Astro version.

No, max height fully extended is 88 cms. I have one.

I bet when you reassemble it there will be one screw spare with nowhere to put it 😀