Altair 26c Sensor Analysis & settings LCG/HCG

[JonHigh]

HI all. I hope someone can help me out? 
I have an Altair 26c that I have been using for a while now and been very happy with it as per previous images/posts I have shared. However, I think I could be doing better with regards to its settings in APT and Read Noise levels. Currently, I have been using it by and large at Gain 120, Offset 50 with about 3 Min exposures in Ultra Low noise mode and in LCG mode. I have now got a SharpCap Pro licence and ran the Sensor Analysis routine and came up this info (see attached). It would seem running the Gain level at 300 would be most beneficial. 
As I understand at Gain 300 is the switch over from LCG to HCG? So should I be running APT in HCG or just keep it in LCG at Gain 300? If I do change it to HCG at 300 does that correspond to '300' in both apps as I have seen that these values can change EG 300 in one app means 150 in another??  Confused! 
Also the Offsets in SharpCap started off with 794 should I keep to that?

Hope this makes sense and appreciate any help. 

Edited January 17 by JonHigh

[JonHigh]

Well after some experimenting I have decided to go back to LCG at gain 100. Looks so much better to anyone else seeing this post. 

[PhilB61]

Interested in your decision, is this based on the quality of images, reduced noise etc from some back to back testing of various settings. I've generally left my AA26c in HCG and gain 100 more because I don't want to waste precious imaging time with experimentation, so am interested in your findings.

[JonHigh]

Hi. Yes I definitely hear that!!! Waited months for someone to help me but in the end I had to figure it out when the skies cleared on those rare occasions. Hate wasting on experimenting too but once it’s done it done  

I have been using my AA26c for ages on 100 LCG but heard the DR / read noise is better once changing it to HCG. I found that the results from using gain 100 at HCG were notably noisier. However, that said I realized after the fact was that I had kept the subs at the same length of 3mins. Probably should have drop it to 2 mins. But hey the results I’m getting are very good using LCG (as pictured) so I’m not sure sacrificing the apparent noise for a bit more DR is worth it even if you’re getting a few more subs in. Likewise I will be trying it again at some point as I will need to drop my exposures to compensate for the higher gain. Also I manually switch from LCG to HCG so I might go to 300 LCG (Ultra Low Noise mode) instead of 100 HCG?  Just have to experiment further I guess. 
 

Edited Thursday at 16:56 by JonHigh

[PhilB61]

Very nice image by the way

[Vash]

Just got a 26c myself so thank you for the information. Would be great to hear what others are using but maybe the camera is not too popular? 

 

I like how you can choose to use HGC or not but I don't like that Sharpcap won't let you choose for sensor analysis and instead turns it on at some point that it deems, seems a very odd choice from Sharpcap.

[JonHigh]

30 minutes ago, PhilB61 said:

Very nice image by the way

Thanks for the compliment. Looks good enough that I might actually print this one out! 👍🏻

[JonHigh]

16 minutes ago, Vash said:

Just got a 26c myself so thank you for the information. Would be great to hear what others are using but maybe the camera is not too popular? 

 

I like how you can choose to use HGC or not but I don't like that Sharpcap won't let you choose for sensor analysis and instead turns it on at some point that it deems, seems a very odd choice from Sharpcap.

It is a fantastic camera. It has taken a while to understand it and I still need to do some experimenting with it. I just wish we had clearer skies more often so I don’t feel like I’m missing precious acquisition time! The fun of AP!!!

I think Robin has done that so it’s more akin to the automatic switch over like ZWO cameras so you don’t have to think about it. I quite like the variability in having it fully manual. 

Enjoy your new camera. 

Edited 17 hours ago by JonHigh

[Vash]

18 minutes ago, JonHigh said:

It is a fantastic camera. It has taken a while to understand it and I still need to do some experimenting with it. I just wish we had clearer skies more often so I don’t feel like I’m missing precious acquisition time! The fun of AP!!!

I think Robin has done that so it’s more akin to the automatic switch over like ZWO cameras so you don’t have to think about it. I quite like the variability in having it fully manual. 

Enjoy your new camera. 

Thanks, I am looking forward to testing it out if I ever get some clear skies! 

I can see the logic in making it automatic but it would be great if there was an option, especially for sensor analysis.