Embarrassing Jupiters webcam clinic

[Telescope40]

Hi Stuart and others. I'm back. Much better conditions tonite. Another Jupe using my ED100R frac no barlow. Think I'm getting better with focus and processing. May have overdone as main EB very dark.

Sky conditions take the majority of the credit.

Any comments welcome.

John

[iamzoso60]

Well, this is only my second attempt with a neximage, a 2x barlow on my Mak 127. its better than my 1st, that's about all I can say.

[Space Cowboy]

Hi Stuart and others. I'm back. Much better conditions tonite. Another Jupe using my ED100R frac no barlow. Think I'm getting better with focus and processing. May have overdone as main EB very dark.

Sky conditions take the majority of the credit.

Any comments welcome.

John

Well done John better focus for sure but yes maybe overdone the wavelets Now get that sharpness with a Barlow

[Space Cowboy]

Well, this is only my second attempt with a neximage, a 2x barlow on my Mak 127. its better than my 1st, that's about all I can say.

My first guess is that focus is out but without knowing what settings you used it's hard to tell

[iamzoso60]

I agree about the focus, but I cant seem to get a sharp image on the computer screen. I concentrate on a moon and get that as sharp as I can before turning the "The Big Guy", but I cant really see any detail and pin my hopes on processing.

The avi was set to 15 fps and recorded 1200 frames. After reading the comments in this thread I am about to try at 5 fps and record for about 2 mins. I am also trying with a faster shutter speed and gain set low.

Maybe tomorow know as the clouds have rolled in, just after I set everything up. DOH!

BTW, this a great thread for us novices. Thanks.

[Space Cowboy]

I swear those clouds sit and wait until we get everything set up lol

Probably best if you use 10fps and do 3-4 mins. I've been assured by the Planetary imaging master Neil Philips that unless the focal length is near 10 metres rotational blur is not an issue up to 4 mins.

Can you see Jupiters moons on your screen? With the gain set high you should see them which will indicate your focus is good or at least close.

Are you using Registax to process? What wavelet settings do you use as it almost looks like the image has not been sharpened after stacking (thats if the focusing is not out).

What capture software are you using? I use Craterlet or vxAstrocapture. Don't have your gain too low... I never go below 50%. Make sure gamma is at 0.

[iamzoso60]

I use Registax and Amcap for capture, but have now installed Sharpcap to try.

Wavelets, probably around tha 6-10 mark and I have been having gamma around 50%, when capturing.

I can see the moons and try and get them as a shrp point of light, before adjusting gain and then they dissapear.

I'll try running last nights avi through registax again but this time taking more care of the wavelets.

[Space Cowboy]

Try all the wavelets in the 30s and 40s. 6-10 is far too timid With over a 1000 frames stacked you need to be quite agressive

[turbotim]

Hi, im new to astrophotography and was wondering if you guys could tell me how to improve this pic. And should i try to take video longer of the planet because this is a pic from a 15 to 30 second avi. And do you think i need to adjust my exposure and what is exposure? This was takin with a modded lifecam studio at 10fps 640/480. I tampered with it a little in registax. Thanks for your help, tim.PS. This is the first time i actually can see a cloud band in my pic!

[Space Cowboy]

Good start Tim!

Your avi needs to be 3-4 mins long so you've got over 1000 frames to work from. Exposure is the shutter speed which needs to be 1/25 or 1/33 of a second for Jupiter.The faster the shutter the darker the image will become.Your image is not too bad for exposure maybe slightly too bright.

What video capture software did you use? Most people use vxAstrocapture, Craterlet or Sharpcap.

Have a read through the tutorials that are linked on page 1 of this thread.

[turbotim]

Hey thanks for your help! I was using sharp cap and it has an exposure setting slide bar, when i slide it all the way to the left it will go to -13 and sliding it all the way to the right it says 0, I will study those tutorials. So witch way would i slide it to dim the pic? And i will try a 3min avi and let ya know what happens ive never took one that long, Its gonna be rough cause i don't have a tracking telescope, but that doesn't mean im not gonna try! Thanks for your help again!

[Space Cowboy]

Your welcome Tim!

Slide bar to left is slowest shutter speed...not sure how slow your particular cam goes. Keep your gain setting around halfway and adjust shutter speed to get the correct brightness. That's going to be tough manually tracking! Try using "Castrator" linked on page 1. This crops the avi footage so your image does not move around for aligning in Registax.

[turbotim]

Thanks again you have been a big help. I'm finally understanding exposure and have never even messed with the slider before, so this is gonna be exiting. The only problem is the sky has been filled with clouds for 2 days!

[iamzoso60]

I've taken on board the tips I've been given and here is my latest offering. Focus is better but I need more work on processing.

[Space Cowboy]

Definitely better but you should be getting more detail from the processing. What settings did you use, how many frames stacked and how much wavelets?

Maybe if you posted the raw image (after stacking before sharpening) just to see what it looks like.

[wils07]

Ah very nice thread plenty to read

I have the same webcam as you so all i need to do is get it flashed and set up. I think im going to use registax for now as it looks easy to use and the online guide is easy to follow . Have you used this prog with your philips webcam stuart?

Cheers Paul

[Space Cowboy]

Welcome Paul!

Registax is for processing the avi (video) footage after it has been captured with a program like Vxastrocapture, Craterlet or Sharpcap. All these are mentioned on page 1 of this thread.

Personally I capture the video with Craterlet and then process in Registax.

Here is an excellent Registax tutorial by Kokatha Man :

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/110593-registax5-1-dbk21-colour-cam-tutorial.html

[wils07]

Are all the pics in your albums done with the philips webcam?

If so what did you use to get them at that size ie moon shots and saturn do you use a 2xbarlow or bigger with the webcam as im impressed with what you have done.

[Space Cowboy]

Thanks Paul, yes most are with the Philips cam. The last moon pics were with a 3x barlow. Jupiter also 3x and 4x.

My skymax 127 has a focal length of 1500mm combined with the webcam chip being equivalent of a 6mm eyepiece images soon get very large when barlowed up.

[wils07]

So the cam works out at 6mm nice so with my telescope`s 650mm focal length and 2 x barlow thats x216 as at the moment im getting x144 with my barlow and 9mm ep.

I hope i manage to pull off some nice pics when i get some good clear nights to test it out.

[lulu57]

I love the title to this thread: "Embarrassing Jupiters...".

You have the power to embarrass gas giants - impressive!

What did you do?

Make a comment about it losing its Southern Equatorial belt?

[wils07]

Ok im now up and running so im going to give it a go tonight if all is well but as ive never used wx so are these settings going to work for me

Camera running 640x480 (i420)

Exsposure

full auto disabled

auto exp disabled

Brigh 50

gam 67

gain 80

shut 1.25

fps 10

Colour.

contr 58

satur 40

white bal auto or should it be outside mode?

modes: colour

Im gonna have a go but i have no clue if the above will even work/

Cheers Paul

[Space Cowboy]

Gamma needs to be 0 and Gain about 60 but depends how bright it looks on screen. Don't go below 50 with gain as this causes onion rings in processed image. If the image looks too bright increase shutter speed to 1/33. White balance should be auto. Saturation should be high at least 70 so your maximising colour detail.

I would try taking images with different shutter speeds i.e 1/25, 1/33 and even 1/50.

Good luck!

[Space Cowboy]

I love the title to this thread: "Embarrassing Jupiters...".

You have the power to embarrass gas giants - impressive!

What did you do?

Make a comment about it losing its Southern Equatorial belt?

LOL!

Gas is always an embarrassing subject

[wils07]

Thanks just trying to get used to the program until i go out in the dark lol . Should i set max frames to 1000 so it better for stacking and in the type option that gives you these options...

light

dark

bias

flat

Should it be set to dark for night or left on light?

Sry for the 101 questions but i wanna be sure i have the best chance of getting something to show.

Cheers Paul