Captures from last night

[barkingsteve]

Evo 925 at F/6.3, 385c camera and astronomik cls non ccd filter. Saved as viewed and fiddled with in photoshop.

 

 

 

[RobertI]

Very nice, some lovely colours coming through, what kind of post processing did you do, just to get an idea what the original looked like. 

[widotje]

Ah, looks like you had a very satisfying tour of the universe, congrats!

Cloudy nights in my area yesterday unfortunately. 

You might want to mix exposure times for the globular clusters as it also brings out the core.

Cheers for sharing!

[barkingsteve]

2 hours ago, widotje said:

Ah, looks like you had a very satisfying tour of the universe, congrats!

Cloudy nights in my area yesterday unfortunately. 

You might want to mix exposure times for the globular clusters as it also brings out the core.

Cheers for sharing!

thanks. Funny story, i have been using sky safari 5 plus  to control the scope since i got it a few months ago. i had a few issues with connection drop outs, tracking and the scope slewing by itself. Decided to try celestron's sky portal last might, no issues    i just added M13 to my original post, tried using dss for the first time, seems to have helped a little with the core but i will take your advice on board, thank you.

2 hours ago, RobertI said:

Very nice, some lovely colours coming through, what kind of post processing did you do, just to get an idea what the original looked like. 

thank you. just the usual brightness, contrast, levels, curves and colour balance. i basically fiddle until it looks a bit better than original. here are a couple of unedited saved as viewed

 

o7

 

 

 

[RobertI]

Interesting to see the originals, I assume you are using Sharpcap or similar to do the live stacking/adjustment, does it alllow you to do live adjustments?

I find that Starlight Live is very good, and the 'live' adjustments are so effective, that post processing does not really improve things.

I guess what I am trying to say is that in theory your 'live' adjustments can produce images as good as you post processed images....if the live stacking software allows. 

[barkingsteve]

Hi Rob,

Yes i use sharpcap and you can make adjustments, i use sharpcap as i got pro  a year free with the cam. Problem is the laptop screen i think, they always look better on the laptop but when i transfer them to my desktop, they look a bit meh.  i am always open to suggestions so i will try starlight live in the near future   

[RobertI]

Unfortunately Starlight Live only supports Starlight Xpress cameras, Sharpcap is supposed to have some really good features too though. Good luck and keep posting! ?

[noah4x4]

There is a possible reason why the SkyPortal APP works fine, yet SkySafari drops out. In the SkySafari APP you can set the wireless refresh rate. The default is 4. In SkyPortal  you cannot adjust this and the default is lower. Setting a lower rate in SkySafari may fix your connectivity problem. It worked for me.

However, I also needed to disable my Evolutions internal WiFi and switch to a SkyPortal external WiFi accessory.  Pre-2016 Evolutions and WiFi dongles have the woeful SkyQLink chip. Later models have the Zentri Ppty chip that outputs a 'Celestron xx' signal that is 20x stronger. A recent (January 2018) firmware update also improves Celestron WiFi. 

[barkingsteve]

Thanks Noah4x4,

the scope is only 2 months old from FLO, the handset is the usb type so i am guessing it is a recent incarnation of the evo. I will try skysafari again and change the refresh rate, hope this fixes the random slews too  

[noah4x4]

Hi Steve,

Even though your scope was purchased merely two months ago, allowing for its shipping from China, delays in warehousing, retailing etc it is likely to have been manufactured in 2017. Mine on delivery had firmware that was two years out of date.

In August 2017 and December 2017 Celestron issued important firmware updates that improve both the Evolution's motor performance and its WiFi connectivity with the APPs. My guess is reducing the refresh rate to 2 or 1 (from 4) will improve SkySafari performance. But additionaly do upgrade your firmware as Telescope manufacturers and retailers don't do this before despatch given the kit is carefully boxed on leaving the factory, which could be many months ago.