First Mono image the soul nebula with new version and now Flats help

[Danjc]

2 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Yes, is that actually in the filter cell?

Not exactly sure what you mean by in the cell ?

10 minutes ago, Adam J said:

Need to see a picture from the other side of the filter.

I will take it out and have a good look when I finish work. 

[Danjc]

7 hours ago, Adam J said:

Need to see a picture from the other side of the filter.

I have had a real good look and can’t see anything from the other side of the filter.

whatever it is it seems to be on the surface whether it is just something that could be cleaned easily or a possible defect with the coating I haven’t got a clue....

Edited September 5, 2019 by Danjc

[Adam J]

1 hour ago, Danjc said:

I have had a real good look and can’t see anything from the other side of the filter.

whatever it is it seems to be on the surface whether it is just something that could be cleaned easily or a possible defect with the coating I haven’t got a clue....

Could be delamination if so it will be covered by warranty but equally it might be fungus. Difficult to say. All you can do is clean it and see what happens. I recommend baader optical wonder fluid and a pure cotton bud. I have been cleaning optics for years some people say don't use cotton buds but not ever had a single issue so long as you use the correct fluid and don't push crazy hard. You could also send an image to daader directly. 

[Danjc]

15 hours ago, Adam J said:

Could be delamination if so it will be covered by warranty but equally it might be fungus. Difficult to say. All you can do is clean it and see what happens. I recommend baader optical wonder fluid and a pure cotton bud. I have been cleaning optics for years some people say don't use cotton buds but not ever had a single issue so long as you use the correct fluid and don't push crazy hard. You could also send an image to daader directly. 

I did contact FLO and had a prompt response from Ian King who advised me to try and clean it. When I did it did seem to remove it I then brought it back inside after cleaning it in the garage and it misted over and you could still see it ?

Ian did say he genuinely thinks the mark is not what is causing the flats issue but FLO have kindly said I can return it which is very good of them. 

Can anybody recommend another capture program that I could try. 

[Adam J]

5 minutes ago, Danjc said:

I did contact FLO and had a prompt response from Ian King who advised me to try and clean it. When I did it did seem to remove it I then brought it back inside after cleaning it in the garage and it misted over and you could still see it ?

Ian did say he genuinely thinks the mark is not what is causing the flats issue but FLO have kindly said I can return it which is very good of them. 

Can anybody recommend another capture program that I could try. 

There is always residue left and the mist will stick to it. I normally do a few iterations of cleaning, however, if you cant see it under normal lighting / no mist then its not going to cause a flats issue.....the thing being that flats are supposed to remove the effect of something like this, its partly why we use them....

[david_taurus83]

Do the other filters produce better flats?

[Danjc]

7 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Do the other filters produce better flats?

Not sure if this is better but this is with a 1,25" CLS-CCD I have previously taken while doing lots of test images.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Danjc

[Danjc]

I have also ordered a dedicated light box which should help. 

[david_taurus83]

That shape of the vignetting certainly looks better but that's under exposed. The K value on the bottom should be around 0.3 for a well exposed flat. You can change the settings for it to display 16 bit info but that's just personal preference.

 

If I was you, I'd take a series of daytime tshirt flats with all the filters and see how they come out. If the others come out ok then you can look at why the Ha might be producing the flats like it is.

 

Also, you should be trying to expose for longer than 0.1 second for flats. I try and do all my flats at around 5 seconds by dimming the light source for each filter until the histogram is around a third of the way from the left. Or try to get the mean value to around 20k/22k if using 16 bit values. I can use a single master flat dark that way to dark calibrate all the flats.

[Danjc]

1 hour ago, david_taurus83 said:

That shape of the vignetting certainly looks better but that's under exposed. The K value on the bottom should be around 0.3 for a well exposed flat. You can change the settings for it to display 16 bit info but that's just personal preference.

 

If I was you, I'd take a series of daytime tshirt flats with all the filters and see how they come out. If the others come out ok then you can look at why the Ha might be producing the flats like it is.

 

Also, you should be trying to expose for longer than 0.1 second for flats. I try and do all my flats at around 5 seconds by dimming the light source for each filter until the histogram is around a third of the way from the left. Or try to get the mean value to around 20k/22k if using 16 bit values. I can use a single master flat dark that way to dark calibrate all the flats.

Thanks for the advice it’s a great help I will give it a bash when I get home from work at 4am 🙁

i will be able to use the morning sky though and will also try my new light panel. 

I have been using the flats aid in APT but i will do away with it and just go manual using the histogram 

[Danjc]

Unfortunately @david_taurus83 I was unable to take any daytime flats but used my new flat panel. Flats taken in a dark garage to dismiss any chance of light leak and with the advice you gave re k value, ADU and histogram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[david_taurus83]

The Lum looks perfect but I dont know what's going on with that Ha. Did you buy it new? Can you ask for a replacement as I wouldnt be happy with that unknown artifact on the filter surface.