Atik mono CCD workflow - A push in the right direction

[peroni]

Hey

I'll be starting on the path to mono CCD and narrowband imaging next week when my new Atik 460ex gets delivered. But where do I start?

So far I've been imaging with DSLR:

APT camera control software

PHD guiding

CdC target selection

Astrotortilla plate solving for position

DSS for image stacking

Photoshop post processing

Is any of this software used in CCD narrowband imaging? or am I back to the drawing board?

I see Atik has Artemis Capture for CCD camera control and Dawn for image processing.

Where do I start when I get my new camera? Should I use some of the software I am familiar with or start with Artemis or something else?

A push in the right direction please.

[Freddie]

I (like many others) like Artemis a lot as it is nice and simple/obvious how to use, so a swap from APT and then everything else is the same other than the need to take images from the different filters and combine in PS.

[DaveS]

You should be able to download drivers for the Atik from the APT site, then you can capture as before.

Having said that, since moving to CCD I do my capture and processing in AstroArt 5. I still use PHD for guiding.

[carastro]

APT does work with CCD cameras, but I'd give Artemis a try, it's great.

Everything else should be the same, though I don't use Astrotortilla so no idea how that works.  

You'll need to select for fits files and mono when you stack in DSS.  

My only disappointment with Artemis is that I can't dither with it.  The latest version you can but it appears it will only work if you have an Atik guide camera.  I wasn;t prepared to buy another guide camera and change my entire set up so I can dither with Artemis, so i often change over to APT purely for this facility.  

I use Artemis for frame and focus which incidentally is excellent, you will notice so much difference to a DSLR.  Use binning whilst framing and focussing and this will speed up the download time, and also will show much more detail of the target object, which you can also stretch on the log slider.  I also find that if you invert the image (under the log slider), that this often shows up the target much better.

Once I have done this I normally set up the guiding and switch to APT so I can dither.

N.B. don't forget to switch off dithering before you start capturing.  

Carole 

[Thalestris24]

Hi

One of the biggest changes, I felt, was the need to have to wait for the ccd to cool to it's working temperature before being able to image. However, my only experience is with the qhy8l so I don't know how rapidly Atiks cool. Oh, and then to have to 'warm up' the camera at the end of a session. Also, with the qhy8l I had to calibrate it first - set gain and offset for the best dynamic range. In my case, nothing much else changed really as I continued using APT

Louise

[carastro]

I don't find it takes long to cool down.

Carole 

[Thalestris24]

I don't find it takes long to cool down.

Carole 

I think mine takes about 7-8 mins plus some stabilisation time. That's not long but it's something different from a dslr. I've got into the routine of doing the PHD2 calibration whilst I'm waiting Every minute is precious for me!

[lensman57]

I think mine takes about 7-8 mins plus some stabilisation time. That's not long but it's something different from a dslr. I've got into the routine of doing the PHD2 calibration whilst I'm waiting Every minute is precious for me!

Atik cools down very quickly although it is best if it is cooled down in steps but  even so from ambient to -10 takes about a couple of minutes at the moment even with a step cool down routine.

I am not sure if Artemis capture has this routine now, it did not have it while I used to use it, Nebulasity can do it with a script but I always get an Error message, SGP can do it very nicely and then warm up but it cost about $100.00.

A.G

[Thalestris24]

Hmm maybe I could speed mine up somewhat. At the moment I have a 3 deg cooling/warming step with a 3s pause. It can cool down very quickly (without the steps) but perhaps that puts a stress on the camera circuits etc. So seems a better idea to be conservative. All the too-quick warning messages worry me a bit!

Louise

[Thalestris24]

Clouds came in earlier than expected/forecast so I just timed the qhy8l warm-up time. It actually only took 5 mins for a delta of 15 deg. I'll check the cool down time next time.

Louise

[peroni]

I had thought that I would just set the camera temperature and away I go. All this talk of cool down time and warm up time suggests things are not as simple as I first thought.

[ollypenrice]

I capture in Artemis and stack/calibrate in AstrArt 5.0 then run DBE and SCNR green (for RGB) in Pixinsight before going into Photoshop for the non-linear processing.

I can't say I like DSS. It is very slow and not very transparent. Test changes to stacking and calibrating parameters can be applied and tested in AA5 in literally a matter of seconds even with my huge full frame files. Many guests who see me use it here buy it on the spot.

If your intention in dithering is noise reduction (rather than boosting resolution through Drizzle stacking) then the odd manual movement between subs will work fine. Dithering is out for me because I run a dual rig and timing them both would be too much hassle.

Olly

[carastro]

I had thought that I would just set the camera temperature and away I go. All this talk of cool down time and warm up time suggests things are not as simple as I first thought. 

Honestly it doesn't take long, and with Artemis and set point cooling, you can watch the temperature as it falls.  You can do the cooling in the time it takes PHD to calibrate.

If your intention in dithering is noise reduction (rather than boosting resolution through Drizzle stacking) then the odd manual movement between subs will work fine

Yes I have tried that when running Artemis, but a dither between each image would be preferable and it would save me having to keep watching the subs so I know when I reach the end of a 10 or 20 minute sub.

Carole 

[ollypenrice]

Honestly it doesn't take long, and with Artemis and set point cooling, you can watch the temperature as it falls.  You can do the cooling in the time it takes PHD to calibrate.

Yes I have tried that when running Artemis, but a dither between each image would be preferable and it would save me having to keep watching the subs so I know when I reach the end of a 10 or 20 minute sub.

Carole 

True. Dither is good if you can get it to work. We never could with Nebulosity/PHD and the 14 inch. It never found the right position to restart and wasted all night tryng.

Olly

[thohem]

For dual rigs you could start two instances of apt for each camera. If your lights have same duration you could start both with Isboxer simultaniously. Dithering would also be possible. If I see the stars ever again with this weather, I'll give it a try