Tim star Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 HiIts taken me a while to make my first post mainly becuase I was waiting until I had a half decent photo to post. So here is my attempt at M104. Only 5x5 min subs, 5 darks, 10 bias and 10 flats. I observe from an elevated position just south of Bristol and have pretty good dark skies, especially to the South and East. I also am fortunate to have a site in Cornwall near the coast where the sky seems very black but it is often rather windy. I have a SW Equinox 80 Pro with HEQ5 Sysnscan and I must say am very impressed with this setup. Although obviously a beginner I started to get reasonable pictures straight away, only limited by patience to take enough subs and skill in processing. I have an Orion Magnificent Miniguider package which seems to work though to be honest the HEQ5 seems to track pretty well over 5 minutes or so. I did notice elliptical stars at the edges of the FOV and thought this was a guiding error but of course what it needed was a field flattener. I have the Televue TRF2008 0.8x FF/FR which was a bit pricey but gives nice round stars right out to the edge. I usually crop a bit anyway. Camera is Canon 1100D modded by "Cheap Astrophotography" which was brilliant - he needs a better name. I bought photoshop elements since the full program is so expensive but I have just done a 1 month free trial of photoshop cc and admit it does seem more flexible and resourceful, might go for the monthly subscription.I have had a lot of "fun" trying to set up a semi-remote system. I would prefer to sit in the shed with a nice blow heater in my face looking at the monitor than stand around in the freezing cold. I obtained 10m USB repeater cables from Trixes which seem to work OK for the camera on Live View and the Guide cam. I tried to use EQMOD and its clearly a great system but I did get frequent freezes which was very frustrating and I think may have been due to data loss in the long cables. So I have the Southern Skies Sky-Fi linked to an ipad with Sky Safari and that works great.I seem to have found that the imaging/refractor side most appeals to me, I like to have a record of what I have seen, though sometimes a wish I have a really big scope to look though. I soon found of course that planetary work with my setup is a waste of time.Now, another reason for taking the plunge and making a post is that I have a bit of money to spend, and, more importantly, spousal approval. The obvious thing would be to step up to CCD imaging. I looked long and hard at the Atik 460 but am thinking that if I settled on a 414 I could buy another HEQ6 mount with roughly the same budget which I could keep at my second site to avoid lugging the mount and tripod about all the time. I know the FOV is small but I could continue to use the Canon for wide field and use the 414 for little faint targets.Anyway, nothing too original here but thanks for a great forum, its informative and sometimes amusing to read!Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowjet Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi Tim and welcome to SGL, nice introduction and quite obviously a dedicated imager, with a good degree of success with your image of M104, however, I would repost your thoughts on CCD imaging into the imaging sections, where you should find a wealth of helpful suggestions in connection with your future proposals, enjoy your Astrophotography and the forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slim80 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi Tim welcome to SGL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damnut Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi Tim,Warm welcome to SGL, great intro and a stunning image. look forward to seeing more of your work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Spock Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi Tim, welcome to SGL I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterCPC Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi Tim and welcome.Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saganite Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Welcome to SGL Tim. A beautiful image ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtreemchaos Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 hi Tim and welcome to the wonderfull world of SGL from south wales,very nice pic mate,i look forward to seeing more from you. all the best charl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToxoLight Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi Tim and welcome to the lounge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Lloyd Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hello and welcome Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesM Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hi Tim and welcome to the forumClear skies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Hi Tim and welcome to SGL from another dedicated and mad imager! A great introduction and image A step up to a CCD is a good improvement for sure. I guess that it's a personal thing about what field of view that you'd like between the Atik 414 and 460. I had a 460 for a while and it was a nice camera. Have you checked out the field of view calculators out there? FOV calculator If nebula's are your thing, you may find the 414 a little small and may lead toa mountain of mosaics to fit stuff in.Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippie Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Welcome to SGL Tim . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michigander Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Welcome to SGL, Tim!Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cylon Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Hello Tim and a warm welcome, look forward to seeing more of your workCylon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeobrien Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 That's a great image.Sent from my Hudl 2 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Presland Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laudropb Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charon Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Welcome aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizibilder Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Hello Tim and welcome to SGL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notty Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Hi Tim ,welcome to SGL. I wish my first pictures were as good as that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarsG76 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Welcome to SGL and Clear skies, from down-under Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonicfishcake42 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Great pic, thanks for posting! Enjoy the site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.