OSC - What a unexpected disappointment

[ncjunk]

Great image Ian. I think the OSC is just in the box until I suss out the smaller Pentax 75SDHF, which I am embarassed to say I've not yet used since getting it in March. The mono is on there at the minue, I'm sure the OSC will come out again!

Hah! I can beat that...my QHY8l has spent a year and a half in a box! (It kept haunting my dreams,,,,"you never use me")

[George]

Ahh, witchcraft ...... Yes, that's what it is!

I think increasing the bats spittle and decreasing the brimstone would bring out more HA........just my opinion

[ollypenrice]

Great image Ian. I think the OSC is just in the box until I suss out the smaller Pentax 75SDHF, which I am embarassed to say I've not yet used since getting it in March. The mono is on there at the minue, I'm sure the OSC will come out again!

I'll PM you my address, Sara. Get the Pentax in the post immediately...

Olly

[swag72]

Sorry Olly, it's all ready to rock and roll following an airing last night before the clouds came.

The focuser is very nice and I am pleased that it focused with minimal fuss. Not managed to take a piccy yet and off to Madrid on Friday for a few days. I am looking forward to using it ............... Sorry!!!!

[ianaiken]

I'll PM you my address, Sara. Get the Pentax in the post immediately...

Olly

I like your optimism that the courier could manage to deliver it!

[Coco]

Interesting post because just started the same target this week with the ATIK 428 OCS, I use an IDAS V4 and the 428 sony chip which isnt too dissimilar to the 285 I suppose.

This is only a WIP consisting 8 x 300 seconds, the reason I use 300-480 seconds is that the stars seem to bleach out in my skies when using 600 seconds, maybe my 285 chipset is a bit more sensitive

Anyways I'll post this quick 40 minute image..

[swag72]

Holy Moly - Wasn't expecting to see this thread again!!

So Guy, what's your thoughts on the OSC?

I have to confirm that mine hasn't been out of the box since the start of this thread and I shall sell it on sometime soon, just sitting gathering dust! I've got my eye on a 460 to give me some wider fields and of course, it will be mono!!

[ollypenrice]

Good result, Guy. How about some longer subs for the faint dust and some shorter ones for star colour?

It seems like an age since I used my OSC.

Olly

[steppenwolf]

I was amused to see this thread come alive again, I must say. I can't believe that you haven't tried again with the OSC, Sara. I just don't get this loss of colour business at all and I use an LPS filter for every shot and I have awful UK skies! Don't give up on it yet, Sara, you're missing out on a great resource.

As we are all laying bare our 'trunks', here's mine (with some reasonable colour surely) using just 12 x 300 second exposures

[Coco]

Indeed, ive seen some fabulous images with OSC, I always wanted an SXM25C but sadly couldn't afford one at that time, I am however extremely satisfied with the 428 OSC.

I have to say though, in the beginning I was getting extremely poor results until Harry page pointed me to his video on flats, it wasn't necessarily the flats routine but the OSC stacking and de bayer

that AstroArt does in the compilation its much MUCH better than DSS ever did.. I tried Maxim but through my arms in the air in frustration..

The colour images I was getting prior to using AstroArt were washed out like Sara's first attempt.

http://www.harrysastroshed.com/AA4flat.html

[Coco]

Good result, Guy. How about some longer subs for the faint dust and some shorter ones for star colour?

It seems like an age since I used my OSC.

Olly

I'll give that a bash.. make a star layer from shorter subs and use it over the longer ones, sounds simple enough

[nytecam]

Out of curiosity, did you first nights with a mono camera and processing go so much better? Just trying to suggest that one nights imaging and one quick stacking session might not be the best criteria for making decisions?

My thoughts too Full flight on one night - never!

[r3i]

I'll give that a bash.. make a star layer from shorter subs and use it over the longer ones, sounds simple enough

Olly's proposal sounds like a great idea - do you know how you go about blending the star layer and the dust layer together? I'm a PS novice and not familiar with all the different layering methods.

[Tinker1947]

Can i ask a question after reading through this thread, does a OSC give a better representation of the colour of a DSO, than a Mono CCD when the Mono uses filters and the operator gets to determine how many subs of what type he uses, where as a OSC gets whats there but just needs processing properly....??

[Shibby]

Tinker, the only real way of getting an accurate colour balance is with G2V star calibration; this'll apply to any colour imaging.

As I think was said earlier in the thread, I don't think this is the most colourful region of the sky. Here was my only attempt taken some time ago - obviously, it's much noisier being DSLR and unguided, 2min subs:

[ollypenrice]

Olly's proposal sounds like a great idea - do you know how you go about blending the star layer and the dust layer together? I'm a PS novice and not familiar with all the different layering methods.

Here's how I'd do it.

1) Image with lots of background sky (galaxies, PNs). Make the starfield stretch using a curve which rises steeply but flattens early. Get the background to be the same as the main image (measured with colour sampler tool) but with smaller stars.

Paste the starfield over the main image. Set opacity low, 25%, and erase the starfield layers where there is faint stuff or main object of interest underneath. Soft edged erasor, of course. Bring up the opacity and if it looks seamless flatten and you're done.

2) Pesky image with stars against nebulosity. Make the curve of the star layer more like that of the main image but be careful not to stretch out the star colour. Place this image under the main one.

Operating on the main one use Noel's Actions or Martin B's Star Layer method (on here as a sticky) to select the brighter stars. When you expand the selected area around the stars don't do so by much. You only want the cores and the start of the coloured outer part but no nebulosity.

Erase the top layer stars within their selection circles. Any star colour now? If you want more, go to the bottom layer, try a Gaussian blur and a boost in saturation, and see if that does it. Happy? Flatten and save.

Olly

[Coco]

So Guy, what's your thoughts on the OSC?

Love it Sara, I made a good choice, wish I had held out for the M25C or 460 OSC but thats life aint it

I love MONO especially Ha images and would be content to continue that route, but after 4 years of imaging and not completing

many final images to a standard I'm happy with I think I found a satisfactory compromise.

[swag72]

Glad that you like it Guy - Shows that not one size fits all!!

[r3i]

Here's how I'd do it.

Thanks Olly

[Coco]

Olly's proposal sounds like a great idea - do you know how you go about blending the star layer and the dust layer together? I'm a PS novice and not familiar with all the different layering methods.

Try Doug's (namreg)

tutorials..