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2.12.19 A knotty problem!


Rusted

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Sorry to hear that Charl. 🙁 Get well soon! 👩‍⚕️

I'm struggling with variable cloud.

How about this for fine detail?

Inverted and augmented in imppg.

Is it real, or not? :icon_scratch:

2.12.19 12.31.jpg

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29 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

No, elf & safety won't allow it here 😂

Dave

You don't want to do it like that... :wink2:

Get a proper set of railings. :thumbsup:

PS: Those are  not Christmas lights.

P1400357 rsz 600.JPG

Edited by Rusted
Additional info.
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An SGL member who hasn't posted much recently but used to be a very regular contributor to the solar imaging section addressed the problem by installing a pier that came up to the bedroom window :)

James

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7 minutes ago, JamesF said:

An SGL member who hasn't posted much recently but used to be a very regular contributor to the solar imaging section addressed the problem by installing a pier that came up to the bedroom window :)

James

It can be done. Mine is14' high in a square pyramid of 4x4s.
Only clad at the top with 3/4" ply within the observatory dome, above 1st floor level.
Bases are fixed to massive, pyramidal concrete anchors with adjustable height steelwork.
Totally isolated from the building except at ground floor level of compacted gravel.
Others have used precast chimney blocks.

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2 hours ago, Pete Presland said:

Nice little prom there

Thanks. :thumbsup:

I am still severely handicapped by my lack of skill with the processing software.
Sadly, I often see more on the monitor during capture.
Than the dregs left behind in the bottom of the pot after giving the video a good stir.  :icon_mrgreen:

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the fine detail is certainly real and yes you captured it :)

 

It looks like you may need to adjust the -200mm on your pst collimator a little bit however.  That 150mm objective should be roaring out some smoking hot raw data with that 174 sensor.

 

You can pop the collimator section off the front of the  etalon cell (the two larger spanner notches on the outside perimiter, not the smaller one around the optic), and this is a standard telescope 48mm filter threads.  Just use a standard tube extension to get deeper in the tube without cutting it. 

 

 

 

 

463787190_bigprom.jpg.907e12264abbf92e5b5245f04b190c46.jpg  <--- you should be seeing something like without processing.

 

 

 

Edited by BabyPepper
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Thank you both. This may not be the best place to discuss the mechanical details but it raises a number of issues.
I like to think of all the solar imagers and modders out there who never ask questions on forums.
So they must rely on random opinions and hope it helps.

An interesting suggestion BP but my etalon is in the approved position. Though certainly worthy of further experiment.
You may not have noticed that I am using a 1.25 GPC to correct the f/8 objective.

I usually see very much finer detail than your posted image on my 25" monitor. [Seeing permitting.]
If the camera can capture all that fine detail "live" then I doubt there is very much wrong with the basic set-up.

Processing software is always my Achilles Heel. Operator error!?!?
I have now given up on Registax because of the constant crashes during Alignment.
It was actually making my final images look much worse than the individual video frames after stacking!
So Autostakkert is exercising my few remaining brain cells now. With returns to Registax only for Wavelets.

Last night I found a ~2 hour YT streamed video on solar image processing by Simon Tang @ Telescopes.net/Asteroid Hunters.
Well worth watching and I intend to study it repeatedly until his exact methods sink in.
The way he used iMPPG and other free softwares was quite startling in their immediate effect.
I find his methods and online treatment rather more "accessible" than other help videos.
I shall have to note the exact video times for the vital bits to reduce the effort in wading repeatedly through all "the padding."

I have a number of mechanical & optical issues I'd like to address. The tilt of the internal 90mm D-ERF is an unknown.
I get a lot of asymmetrical variations in brightness which is not addressed by the tilt plates but does change with etalon tuning.

The D-ERF sits on an original Celestron baffle which is just jammed in place to allow full aperture clearance for the hot light cone.
A full aperture front D-ERF would allow easy access instead of being buried half way down the tube. Downside is the very high cost.
The Aries D-ERF was too similar in basic price to warrant the large investment.
I'd have to add 25% VAT on top of the price + freight + customs clearance + import taxes. Making the Baader D-ERF [almost] a bargain.

I have a motor driven etalon tuning project waiting endlessly on delivery of shorter timing belt from the UK.
It's usually a 3-4day postal service but has been weeks!
I think they must be ordering in from China whenever they get a hit on eBay[UK].
The sole, Danish, online dealer had run out of precisely the belt length I needed.

I'm very tempted to make a skeleton H-alpha OTA to give me easy access to all the components on collimatable cells in a rigid assembly.
My 180mm/ 7" iStar could make an interesting PST mod donor but is f/12. The cost of the full aperture D-ERF would be terrifying!
Perhaps I really need a Quark but the QC sounds dreadful and I daren't invest that much until they can guarantee success!

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14 hours ago, Rusted said:

Last night I found a ~2 hour YT streamed video on solar image processing by Simon Tang @ Telescopes.net/Asteroid Hunters.
Well worth watching and I intend to study it repeatedly until his exact methods sink in.
The way he used iMPPG and other free softwares was quite startling in their immediate effect.

Thanks, a very cool material indeed!

Reminds me I should finally sit down to making a video tutorial myself.

 

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8 hours ago, GreatAttractor said:

Thanks, a very cool material indeed!

Reminds me I should finally sit down to making a video tutorial myself.

A difficult task for such complex, yet abstract subject matter.
Though no doubt something you are well able to achieve. :wink2:

Too many video tutorials are overlong and far too full of detours. IMHO.
Understanding the whys of the effects achieved may well be beyond many imager's ability.

Perhaps it is the Darwin effect and imagers really must be highly competent specialists.
They must be able to absorb and retain lots of fine detail to succeed.
An academic mind,  being gifted or having an innate ability are vital to achieve anything really worthwhile.

If imaging was too easy then we would be swamped with countless, perfect images.
A "Press Here" button may never be possible until we all have access to AI.

And what then? We could rapidly become intellectual pygmies.
Faced with a technological force completely beyond our comprehension.

Everything we believed in would wither overnight.
The "hunger" for knowledge, like our genetic hunger for things, would simply vanish.
We would become mere spectators of our own demise.

Perhaps the real truth is, that if it wasn't very hard, then imaging would not be worth doing.
We "mere mortals" must make do with constant practice and tireless effort to polish our skills by iteration.

There really are no short cuts even for those with ample funds for equipment.
Though having constant, perfect seeing conditions must be considered as cheating. :wink2:
 

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One of the best programs i have ever used for Image processing,  of all things is "Virtual Dub"  I use it on all of my data now, as the very first processing method.

 

  It does processing to the entire video, not just the single stacked frame.  

the only thing it does not do right now is align and stack, but it will in a future update.  But it will make your videos clear enough so that most of your registax registration errors stop.

 

Check it out!  It will never crash on your windows machine.     

 

 I can show you how to use it with two or three diagram images too, no tutorial required.  

 

http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/

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Hi BP and thanks.

What do I gain with Virtual Dub?

Second question: What is that amazing telescope in your avatar?
That looks like a skeleton solar refractor top end with an internal D-ERF.

PS: I have just found the details of your solar refractor on CN.
Thought it looks as if you have made some changes since then.

I'm very tempted to turn my iStar 180/12 R35 into a folded, solar refractor.
Though the image scale would be huge at 2160mm f/l.
And highly seeing dependent.

The Zerodur flats would be better protected with a full aperture 180mm Baader D-ERF.
[At the cost of several kidneys] Rather than my present 90mm internal D-ERF.

P1220689 rsz 600.JPG

Edited by Rusted
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1 hour ago, Rusted said:

Hi BP and thanks.

What do I gain with Virtual Dub?

Second question: What is that amazing telescope in your avatar?

That looks like a skeleton refractor top end with an internal D-ERF.

with virtual dub you can pre-process 100% of the frames of the video before dumping it into registax / imppg / pipp / autostakkert and extract literally 10,000% more detail.  (not an overestimation)     You can add false color to your raw data as well. Change gamma, change exposure. Stretch histogram. Basically 100% of everything you are already doing in photoshop / image editors.  Can do cropping too.  Video resizing/ upscaling.  Add labels, overlays, tags, earth scales.

 

Can overlay multiple videos on top of each other with transparency as well, along the lines of aligning calcium k-data withe hydrogen alpha data-   or white light data mergerd with both cal-k and h-alpha. 

Virtual dub is the future of all astronomy in my opinion, it can be tailored 100% to astro imaging.   It can even capture data right from the camera like firecapture/sharpcap. 

The skelescope you see in my avatar is exactly that :)  75mm D-erf,

 

i built it myself using all hand tools. 160mm x 1600mm -   No milling required, nothing precision at all. honestly i didnt even use a ruler or measuring tape. 100% eyeballed, proving that precision really does not mean too much (telescopes were handbuilt for two hundred years)   The scope utilizes an internal A-focal collimated Lunt Ls50c etalon.  I have custom h-alpha optics manufactured to achieve this,  (yes in china because nobody else in the world can supply them without a bank loan) 

 

You can see a bit more of my "Skelescope"  on  flickr.   I am in the process of making a step by step guide showing people how to build a successful truss systems for solar imaging.   (using the 17" mirror as an extreme example)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/163396781@N07/?

This is actually a prototype telescope that is in the process of being replicated by a very well known European telescope company, (with permission from me)

 

 

 

 

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Hi BP and thanks for the link to your Flickr pages and for the Virtual Dub suggestion.

You have been a busy boy!   :icon_mrgreen: 

I can definitely feel some plagiarism is required. :wink2:

Copying being the ultimate expression of admiration. Or words to that effect. :biggrin:

Your solar images are excellent. :thumbsup:

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