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First light FSQ106EDX III - IC1396 in Ha

perfrej

By perfrej
in Imaging - Deep Sky

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perfrej

perfrej

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Yes! Clear skies last night, albeit with a humidity that prompted me to quickly make a temporary extra dew shield. Capture details:

Subject: IC1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula

Mount: NEQ6 (needs re-tweak...)

Scope: Takahashi FS106EDX III (US only Version of FSQ106ED)

Filter: Baader 2" 7nm Ha in SX Wheel

Camera: SBIG ST8300M

Focus: Focusmax (first time for me!)

Guide: SSAG on Orion SHorttube with PHD and ASCOM Pulse, medium dither

Capture: Nebulosity 3

Pre-process: Nebulosity 3

Reg/Int: Pixinsight

Processing: Pixinsight, 1 autostretch, nothing else (2 minutes of work!)

22 x 10 minutes of Ha

15 Flats

30 Bias

Full res JPG http://filer.frejvall.se/IC1396-AS.jpg

It was nice to finally get some data. The field is reasonably flat and the collimation is spot on. There is, however and to my disappointment, some focuser slack resulting in a small tilt of the image plane. Also, my NEQ6 definitely needs to be re-tuned after the summer hibernation. I'll put the scope on the 10Micron mount in a week or two and ditch the guiding ;)

IC1396-AS-1024.jpg

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perfrej

perfrej

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Thanks!

The focuser is very good and can probably be tightened a tad, which, most likely, would curethe problem. It has stunning build quality and feels like some 1963 medical unit; solid and painted a warm hospital almost white with just a touch of green in it. Wonderful!

/per

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perfrej

perfrej

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I drilled some in a Lakeside for the FLT-98. A new mounting hole in the aluminum profile, cut a corner on said part and increased the focuser axis attachment tube from 6 to 8 mm. Ian King can most likely deliver a new mounting plate and a tube but I was in a hurry ;)

Yes, the EDX III is the model to get. It includes a better rotator situated after the focuser, not before as in the normal version with the captain's wheel. Focuser is the same and it is better prepared for the refucer from what I've heard.

/per

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perfrej

perfrej

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I have thought about how to handle this, processing wise. In fact, it is quite good as it is but there is some noise. So, here is what I think is "good enough" right now:

BIAS subtraction from lights and flats, then flat application to lights (Neb3).

Star alignment, image integration, STF autostretch aplied to image, ACDNR with 0.5 amount (PI).

Auto contrast, save to JPG (PS).

Never done such a simple process...

Full res JPG: http://filer.frejvall.se/IC1396-ACDNR-PS.jpg

/per

IC1396-ACDNR-PS-1024.jpg

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perfrej

perfrej

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No, it's not a mosaic and the chip is standard proportions and 5.4um pixel size. I do like the camera very much in spite of som folks' opinions about the Kodak chips. It will server me for a several years until something really cool comes along.

/per

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perfrej

perfrej

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Yeah, an FLI would be nice. I did, however, start the photographic part of this hobby not quite two years ago and have accumulated, among other things, an EdgeHD, a Hyperstar, a Tak, a 10Micron GM2000HPS mount and two reasonable CCDs with accessories... But it's on the hit list ;)

One could debate how much is won by going much below 2"/px, but I, for one, do think that there is a bit to gain.

/per

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davew

davew

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There's a lot of discussion about Tak focusers on the Tak forum. They make very good focusers but some are lacking. The usual answer is, " Phone Fred at TNR ". Even the mega bucks after market focusers show faults at the kind of quality you'll get from the glass and Mounts.

I can't tell from the posted image if the top right is duff or not. I just have a feeling it is.

Get tweaking Per :)

Dave.

Oh..... just spotted your link. Those stars top right are way out aren't they ? Phone Fred :eek:

On the up side, there's a very close double in the Elephant and you've split it very nicely

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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That's looking pretty darned crisp, Per. Odd about the focuser. I see a tiny bit of image shift in mine on occasion but no tilt. I'm sure it will adjust out. It couldn't be tilt at the chip or even just the filter?

The issue with the 106 is focus drift with temperature which drives some people nuts. You are robotocially refocusing between frames? If you do that you should have it sorted. Certainly no sign of any issues here.

Are you going to try the reducer? It's even faster on yours than on mine. Hold onto your hat...

A guest used an 8300 chipped QSI in our FSQ85 on this target and I thought it was a very nice camera, the small pixels giving a fine grained result. It was great data to take into processing. He sent me a large paper copy and that's lovely.

More, more!!!

Olly

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alpal

alpal

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There's a lot of discussion about Tak focusers on the Tak forum. They make very good focusers but some are lacking. The usual answer is, " Phone Fred at TNR ". Even the mega bucks after market focusers show faults at the kind of quality you'll get from the glass and Mounts.

I can't tell from the posted image if the top right is duff or not. I just have a feeling it is.

Get tweaking Per :)

Dave.

Oh..... just spotted your link. Those stars top right are way out aren't they ? Phone Fred :eek:

On the up side, there's a very close double in the Elephant and you've split it very nicely

On the other hand some people are getting shots like this with the Tak

so it must be a great scope:

http://upload.pbase....378304/original

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davew

davew

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It's not me discussing the merits or not of the Tak FSQ focuser. It's people who own them.

Mine isn't an FSQ focuser but it's still got slop.

Dave.

Edit. That sounded stroppy didn't it ? Not meant to be Alpal.

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perfrej

perfrej

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Yep, top right is a little off. I did refocus after five frames and then went to sleep, which is my modus operandi ;)

I'll get to tweaking that focuser soon. I'm have put the M26C on for the next run and then there is no filter wheel that could potentially flex. I'll study the instructions and drawings and see what I can find. It should be fixable.

Thanks all!

/per

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perfrej

perfrej

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OK, found a description from someone who talked to Fred at Texas Nautical, the supposed super-experts on Taks. I have tightened the focuser and now it feels just like the Feathertouch that I had on my FLT-98 - no flex what so ever. This is encouraging! Tomorrow night is forecast as being clear, albeit with high humidity. Dew-bands are inbound today and a new SBIG guide camera is on the way as well. Hopes coming up!

I examined the curvature of each of the 22 exposures comprising the image and found that the collimation got worse, frame by frame. This must be due to temperature changes. I re-focused after frame 6 and that moved the lighter colored sector from upper right to lower left, and after that it slowly climbed back to upper right - consistently. That, in itself, is encouraging as well and the result just has to get better with a tighter focuser.

So, let's see what Wednesday night can yield in terms of RGB, this time with the M26C at the back of the scope. Also thinking about writing a VB application to tell MaximDL to re-focus between each exposure. Studying....

/per

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