Embarrassing Jupiters webcam clinic

[Space Cowboy]

I let the video run for 3 or 4 mins giving 1500-2000 frames. Don't worry about the light,dark, bias etc thats for long exposure stuff.

[wils07]

Wow this is going to be harder than i thought i have just done 3 avi files and all of them just look like a big yellow ball and it does not seem to focus to well with the webcam. I just wish i could see the moon to test the webcam out on something easy to see and help me get used to using wxastrocapture.

[old_eyes]

OK. Here's my contribution.

Taken about 23:00 30/10/10 with a DBK21 on my Nexstar 6SE SCT at f10.

15FPS captured in IC-Capture with gain set very low. Figured out the problem with weird colours using Y800 codec.

1000 frame AVI processed in Registax 5 with best 280 frames stacked.

I am quite pleased with it because you can see the great red spot. However, some questions:

1. Selecting the reference frame. I could see which were bad frames - there was some cloud around and the image was ballooning and wobbling all over the place - but I could not see much difference with the 'good' frames. None stood out as reaaly sharp. How do you pick a reference frame?

2. Still don't quite understand what I am doing with the wavelet sliders. Layer 1 and 2 didn't do much so I adjusted three and higher. Is that what you do, find something that looks OK to you?

3. Tried going to f20 with the Revelation x2 barlow from their eyepiece kit. Image much softer and very hard to focus, but I got a couple of videos. Processed them the best I could, but then compared them to the f10 image scaled up by a factor of two with a little Gaussian blur added, and the f10 image interpolated was much better than the f20 image. Is that a cheap barlow at work?

old_eyes

[Space Cowboy]

Wow this is going to be harder than i thought i have just done 3 avi files and all of them just look like a big yellow ball and it does not seem to focus to well with the webcam. I just wish i could see the moon to test the webcam out on something easy to see and help me get used to using wxastrocapture.

Its tricky to start with Paul and yes the moon is a much easier start. Just getting a image on screen is a achievement itself. I remember when starting with a webcam I could not even find the Planet with a Barlow...turned out my scope was so far out of focus it became invisible.

[Space Cowboy]

OK. Here's my contribution.

Taken about 23:00 30/10/10 with a DBK21 on my Nexstar 6SE SCT at f10.

15FPS captured in IC-Capture with gain set very low. Figured out the problem with weird colours using Y800 codec.

1000 frame AVI processed in Registax 5 with best 280 frames stacked.

I am quite pleased with it because you can see the great red spot. However, some questions:

1. Selecting the reference frame. I could see which were bad frames - there was some cloud around and the image was ballooning and wobbling all over the place - but I could not see much difference with the 'good' frames. None stood out as reaaly sharp. How do you pick a reference frame?

2. Still don't quite understand what I am doing with the wavelet sliders. Layer 1 and 2 didn't do much so I adjusted three and higher. Is that what you do, find something that looks OK to you?

3. Tried going to f20 with the Revelation x2 barlow from their eyepiece kit. Image much softer and very hard to focus, but I got a couple of videos. Processed them the best I could, but then compared them to the f10 image scaled up by a factor of two with a little Gaussian blur added, and the f10 image interpolated was much better than the f20 image. Is that a cheap barlow at work?

old_eyes

Aye caramba! That's a bit too good for this thread lol I'm not familiar with the revelation Barlow but I know a 3x Tal Barlow would produce a cracking image.

Have a look at this Registax tutorial :

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

It fully explains creating a reference frame and using just the 2nd and 3rd wavelets.

As long as you don't choose a poor quality referance frame it does not make a massive difference.

[old_eyes]

Aye caramba! That's a bit too good for this thread lol I'm not familiar with the revelation Barlow but I know a 3x Tal Barlow would produce a cracking image.

Have a look at this Registax tutorial :

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

It fully explains creating a reference frame and using just the 2nd and 3rd wavelets.

As long as you don't choose a poor quality referance frame it does not make a massive difference.

That's a great tutorial, thanks for the link. Registax is very powerful, but bafflingly complex sometimes.

Thanks also for the 'reference frame' guidance. I was wondering if I was missing some subtleties that were important. Glad they are not, 'cos I couldn't see them

The Revelation barlow comes in a kit "The Revelation Photo-Visual eyepiece set includes five Plossl eyepieces, 2x barlow, camera adaptors, filters and a lockable case" for £125, so I guess the barlow is not of the finest quality. I may do an upgrade there.

old_eyes

[yeti monster]

Aye, that's far too good for these parts Old eyes! You'll be giving me a complex! now the bar is impossibly high..............

lol.

[Penguin]

How do people do manual tracking when takings AVIs for stacking? I feel that continually turning the slow-mo controls is going to introduce vibration and affect most of the frames of the video.

So is the best bet to get Jupiter on one edge and let it drift to the other before bringing it back with the slow-mo controls and then letting go again, the planet moving back and forth across the field of view?

This thread is superb. I must try to set up the WXAstroCapture settings as per the advice here before the next clear sky.

--- Penguin.

[dc509]

Have followed this and had a go tonight - my first shot with the SPC900. C925, no barlow. wxAstroCapture, forgot to note all setting but exposure was 1/33, 25fps. about 2,000 frames through registax and a quick sharpen in the gimp.

Quite pleased so far, although I've seen much better on SGL with similar kit. Any advice gratefully received...

d

[Space Cowboy]

How do people do manual tracking when takings AVIs for stacking? I feel that continually turning the slow-mo controls is going to introduce vibration and affect most of the frames of the video.

So is the best bet to get Jupiter on one edge and let it drift to the other before bringing it back with the slow-mo controls and then letting go again, the planet moving back and forth across the field of view?

This thread is superb. I must try to set up the WXAstroCapture settings as per the advice here before the next clear sky.

--- Penguin.

Movement and vibration can be combated by using the AVI cropping program "Castrator" linked on page 1 of this thread. I doubt you will get enough frames with drift.

[Space Cowboy]

Have followed this and had a go tonight - my first shot with the SPC900. C925, no barlow. wxAstroCapture, forgot to note all setting but exposure was 1/33, 25fps. about 2,000 frames through registax and a quick sharpen in the gimp.

Quite pleased so far, although I've seen much better on SGL with similar kit. Any advice gratefully received...

d

Nice image! Using 25fps will produce compressed data. The ideal frame rate with the SPC900 is 10fps. A 3-4 min avi with a Barlow should produce a cracking image!

[lukebl]

.... exposure was 1/33, 25fps. about 2,000 frames through registax and a quick sharpen in the gimp.....

I'm no expert on these things, but I think that at 25 fps you get significant image deterioration with a webcam, and really need to be at around 10 fps for maximum quality. I'm sure others will know the details.

EDIT: Sorry Stuart. You have said just what I did. Overlapping postings!

[dc509]

Thanks - will try a lower fps setting next time. Seeing was not great so no Barlow tonight, but I've now officially got the bug!

d

[Penguin]

Movement and vibration can be combated by using the AVI cropping program "Castrator" linked on page 1 of this thread. I doubt you will get enough frames with drift.

Hmm. I am trying to do all this in Linux. Unfortunately, Castrator is Windows only and although it will run under Wine, when you try to open an avi, you get "Failed in EnterBitmapGrabMode!".

If I continually track manually, then Registax seems to align quite well. In fact, if I allow the planet to drift and then keep bringing it back, Registax does ok. What is the benefit of Castrator (apart from smaller avi files)?

My main question really is whether trying to constantly track will result in poorer quality frames due to vibration and motion-blur.

--- Penguin.

Not had a decent evening's viewing to try things out for about 3 weeks now!

[Space Cowboy]

Its a shame you can't use Castrator because it would be ideal for your situation. Ideally you need a 3-4 min avi so obviously there is going to be a lot of manoeuvring during that time. Unless you are prepared to manually align every frame in Registax I doubt the auto align will be able to keep track for that length of time.

Castrator crops the avi image and fixes the planet so there is no movement and registax can align properly.

[AztecastroMcJ]

vdub (virtual dub)

can be use to delete bad frames when image dissapears of chip etc

then save as new avi and process with registax will be more accurate

[AztecastroMcJ]

My main question really is whether trying to constantly track will result in poorer quality frames due to vibration and motion-blur.

--- Penguin.

yep, u should try and not constantly track, try and let jupiter settle near middle of frame, add only track when he drifts off chip

regards James

[Zakalwe]

You want embarrassing images of Jupiter? Hows about this beauty?

Lifecam HD modded. Nexstar 8 GPS. No barlow. 20FPS (maybe I should have gone for 10?)

No idea what I did in Registax...what a piece of software that is.

First ever Jupiter image though...kinda glad I managed to get anything on the chip!

[Space Cowboy]

Looks under exposed (what was your shutter speed) and maybe over sharpened in Registax. How many frames did you stack? I'm not familiar with the lifecam so can't say whether 20 fps is suitable or not.

Focussing may be an issue too. Could you see Jupiters moons clearly?

The odd colour may be the white balance settings. I always use auto white balance.

[Space Cowboy]

Oh and what capture software did you use?

[cgarry]

Okay, here is my first attempt to image Jupiter.

Nexstar 6SE

Tele Vue x2.5 Powermate

Phillips SPC900NC

SharpCap capture software.

Stacked with RegiStax

I tried many different settings for the capture, but settled on 4 minute AVIs at 10 fps. So how do I improve on these images?

23/11/2010 20:40

23/11/2010 21:09

Cheers,

Chris

[Saata]

Sorry for a total noob question, but do you use eyepieces when taking photos? I presume not, but with a Celestron 127 SLT, will my pictures be too small to be good?

Thanks in advance...

Steve

[Space Cowboy]

Okay, here is my first attempt to image Jupiter.

Nexstar 6SE

Tele Vue x2.5 Powermate

Phillips SPC900NC

SharpCap capture software.

Stacked with RegiStax

I tried many different settings for the capture, but settled on 4 minute AVIs at 10 fps. So how do I improve on these images?

Cheers,

Chris

Sorry only just found your post. They are good images possibly focus is slightly out though that could be the atmospherics. How many frames did you stack?

[Space Cowboy]

Sorry for a total noob question, but do you use eyepieces when taking photos? I presume not, but with a Celestron 127 SLT, will my pictures be too small to be good?

Thanks in advance...

Steve

Webcam imaging is normally done at prime focus (without eyepiece) the webcam chip will produce an image magnified at the same level as a 5-6mm eyepiece. Your scope has a focal length of 1500mm so images will be a good size especially with a 2x or 3x barlow.

You can image through an eyepiece (afocal) but you need adapters to screw onto the eyepiece and its a lot more hassle. I started out doing afocal with my point and shoot camera..got some nice results but webcam imaging at prime focus is far better (especially for planets).

Below is an image of Jupiter taken using a philips SPC900 webcam and Skymax 127 (same specifications as your scope) This was taken using a 4x Barlow at prime focus :

[cgarry]

Sorry only just found your post. They are good images possibly focus is slightly out though that could be the atmospherics. How many frames did you stack?

I think you are right about the focus, I have a nice new Bahtinov Mask to try out if the sky ever clears. I stacked around 1000 out of the 2400 the AVI gave me.

This is from a subsequent attempt:

I am not sure if I was a bit heavy handed with the wavelet controls.

These were done with a x2.5 powermate, but Jupiter is still very small on the sensor. Is it worth trying a x4 or even a x5 barlow to spread the image over a bit more? Or is this likely to be counter productive since the focal length is already 3750mm.

Thanks,

Chris