Trying out the CCD omg lol....

[Celeste]

Ok, I jumped in the deep end, stuck the CCD in the scope...set it to the double cluster....played with a few buttons and it's now taking some exposures. I can see some stars on the screen....but no cluster in sight hahaha Oh well...live n learn and all that...

Edit: Well....how strange, no matter where I point the scope, the image on the screen is EXACTLY the same No matter what settings I use, exposure times etc it's all the same

[Doc]

I would say dead/hot pixels.

[Stephen]

If it's no where near focus, that would result in the same effect (just seeing the hot pixels) wouldn't it?

[steelfixer]

Said with tongue in cheek but have you took the end cap off ?? lol

[Celeste]

I'm just a lost cause haha....I had the manual in front of me, followed exactly what it said to do.....and still couldn't get it to work Argh....it worked ok doing the set up and in daylight with a pin hole in foil...as it says to do....other than the dots...it was just black which progressed to a light grey after doing so many exposures....I used the setting in the book for deep sky/clusters/open clusters etc....I will have to keep trying, any suggestions on making sure I have focus? I tried the check focus option but the area is so small to look at I couldn't tell if anything was visible.

And YES pmsl...the end cap was off I used it as 2" size...took the 1.25 adapter off

Oh and my scope needs collimating badly....I just seem to make it worse BAH do you think someones trying to tell me something like give up? haha

[Rusty Strings]

How are you confirming that the object is in the field of view?

If you are doing it with a wide field ep then replacing it with the CCD then the focus will be way off and, as us video camera types are finding out, the image is probably so faint as to be invisible. Also the CCD chip will in effect be like a 6mm ep and very eays to miss your target.

[Celeste]

6mm? blimey....how do you get all of the intended target with that? Hmmm....I will have another go tonight. It got a bit late for me by the time Jupiter cleared the rooftops, so I packed up.

[Stephen]

6mm? blimey....how do you get all of the intended target with that? Hmmm....I will have another go tonight. It got a bit late for me by the time Jupiter cleared the rooftops, so I packed up.

Mosaics or smaller targets Focus is key though, I use a 50mm extension for my EPs and NO extension for the 314L.

You want some software that will allow you to do continuous (looping) shot. You could repurpose PHD for this if it works with your camera.

Set it off at 2s exposures, that should be enough to see stars. Then work on the focus (ideally using a Bahtinov mask.)

You will see nothing if you aren't near focus.

[Celeste]

Ok I think imaging is a huge deep hole...the more you dig...the deeper you go haha, it's whole new minefield of kit I shall just play along with the CCD for a bit longer, see if the bug really bites (to warrant the cash for a better scope/camera etc) and gain experience using astroart etc. I have CS5, but do I need to save files as .Fits? CS5 don't support those. I don't have a mask, is it essential for starting up? Oh then I gotta figure out these darks and flats lol...blimey why can't they make an astrocam that's point and shoot...job done haha

[Stephen]

Start by getting stars on the screen, forget the mask forget everything.

Find the stars

[ncjunk]

Better to start with a very bright star like vega. That way something should still show up even if you are way out of focus. Then practise on vega and have a play with focus.

It will give you some practise finding stuff with a small ccd.

Make sure the finder scope is aligned properly as well.

[Celeste]

Yup...well i'm making some progress I did Vega, and found that I can't use the cam in the 2" size, it NEEDS 1.25" to get the focus......so i'm now trying m13, theres some image appearing and you can tell it's a cluster BUT....my mount is not too good at staying still haha, theres some blurring (slight breeze and it's off) But i'm getting there If this goes right...maybe a new mount is in order.....plus bigger scope...hahaha

[Celeste]

I forgot about this thread....but I finally got an image, I only had ONE 30 sec sub out of 30 that wasn't blurred or had something flying through it lol.....so I had a quick play with it and managed to get this, not the best but a good start (I think lol) Alot of noise and lost stars but heyho it is an old camera it had seen better days many moons ago haha.....I shall keep trying....

[lukebl]

Hi there. Just wondered what cam you are using. I see your sig says 'Starlight Xpress cam' but not which model. I have a couple of old SX cams myself, and they are very sensitive, so you should be able to get good results despite the small sensor.

[Celeste]

Oh lol it's the MX7C....an oldie:)

I will put it in my sig now I forgot the number of it when I put starlight in my sig haha DOH

[lukebl]

Oh lol it's the MX7C....an oldie

As I said you should get some good results with it. I have an old MX716, which has a similar small sensor, and it can produce surprising results. My best was this M27.

[Celeste]

Woah nice can you tell me what settings you used exposure times etc? Please

[lukebl]

Woah nice can you tell me what settings you used exposure times etc? Please

It was 15 x 5 minutes imaged with my 250mm f/4.7 Newt on an NEQ6. Admittedly it was with an H-a filter. Guiding with a such a small field of view is especially critical, and was challenging even with the NEQ6.

[Celeste]

Yeah i'm not using decent kit here lol....my mount isn't up to long exposures, the image wobbles ALOT because my motor kinda 'snaps'....it drops a touch then 'snaps' back up. It needs looking at for sure but if I got my hands in it...it won't work again lol. I can hear it 'clacking' every few seconds, and I can feel the vibration in the scope. There's the normal sound of the motor then it 'clicks' and the image jumps.