Bubble nebula, 1st try

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Having recently being aquainted with this fuzzy, here's my bash at it.

200mm f/5 Newt. 0.5X FR and SC3 webcam with Ha filter added.

This could use some more processing as its quite raw - straight out of Registax - but I think it's quite nice to look at.

Might be able to do a better one when it's not so windy, but this is what I spent my evening doing.

Captain Chaos

[Jamie]

An evening well spent by the looks of it CC.

Ya gotta be happy with that mate?

[MartinB]

That's excellent CC. There's a lot of detail in that image. good work

[Kain]

Very nice CC, I like it alot.

Kain

[CELESCOPE]

Lovely CC you nailed that one , now thats another hard target under your belt , got the bubble really nice ,well done mate , its all coming together for you now .

Rog

[lunator]

CC

That a great pic on a difficult target.

Well done

Cheers

ian

[geppetto]

Well hats off to you matey

Your turning in some fantastic images and this is another one 8)

As they say on the telly, "tell me CC, what's the secret to your success?"

[moondog]

Well it looks like you pretty much nailed it first time CC !

That's a good image. There's something special about the bubble nebula.

MD

[Caz]

Thats a beauty CC, lovely detail... 8)

Caz

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Thanks for your comments guys and gals.

Well hats off to you matey

Your turning in some fantastic images and this is another one 8)

As they say on the telly, "tell me CC, what's the secret to your success?"

No secret at all, just technique.

Tracking is down to having a permanent pier with the EQ6 mounted on it so polar alignment is a once a month or less thing. The EQ6 tracks really well if the 'scope is balanced correctly. This saves loads and loads of time spent aligning the mount for each session.

Focus is down to aiming at a bright star (usually immediately after the one star alignmnet) and checking the image in K3CCD at 400% zoom.

Gamma and gain are down to luck and guesswork assisted by you lot on here. Gamma is set at maximum to spread the dim bits over as much of the dynamic range as possible, gain is set to give a workable image in an exposure time that is short enough that I can be bothered waiting for it to refresh whilst adjusting the gain.

Loads of subs are possible because I set the thing going and walk away from it for as long as I can.

The shed shelters the 'scope from the wind so I can do imaging when there's a bit of wind.

The subs are captured on a nasty old desktop in the shed and transferred indoors on a USB memory stick.

HTH

Captain Chaos

[Andrew*]

Beautiful picture.

A

[geppetto]

Interesting stuff CC

So the pier and the shed are worth the trouble by a long way 8)

[FLO]

Very nice CC 8)

I'd be chuffed to bits if I'd achieved that one.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Interesting stuff CC

So the pier and the shed are worth the trouble by a long way 8)

Absolutely Phil, the evening goes along these lines:-

5PM is dark enough to start looking outside at the clouds

If there are no clouds the shed roof gets rolled off, about 2 minutes.

Mount is switched on and aligned with a star, about 2 minutes again.

While still aimed at the alignment star the camera is mounted and the USB plugged in. K3CCD started up and focus sorted, another 2 or 3 minutes.

EQ6 told to goto whatever, about 1 minute. Meanwhile the K3CCD is switched over to LX mode, max. gain and about 4 second refresh for centering.

Once the target is aquired the time is increased and the gain turned down. I usually go for 40 to 60 second subs and adjust the gain to suit. 5 minutes there.

From start to finish thats about 12 minutes and its up and running. I go indoors and eat a meal, talk to visiting friends and neighbours, listen to my gorgeous chick talking at me etc.

If clouds arrive I stop recording and slide the shed lid back on leaving the mount tracking. Putting the 'scope lid on lets me do a dark frame while the lid gets put on.

If the clouds go away the lid comes off again, 'scope lid off and start recording again. 2 minutes this time as everything is lined up already.

It saves hours and hours of carting stuff about, polar aligning, running cables, booting laptops etc. not to mention lost time if the alignment is rushed or Polaris is in a cloud.

Another benifit is that the shed door can be locked with all the toys iinside but the roof is still off. Keeps me a bit happier than leaving the stuff unattended in the back yard as people regularly pass by walking dogs and stuff.

Next step is to put enough 12V power in there to keep the mounts powered all the time so that even the alignment bit is skipped, and motorise the shed lid with a rain sensor and link to the office computer to control it all. Most of this is not likely to happen, but its possible.

Captain Chaos

[geppetto]

Wonderful

I can really equate to your common sense practical approach to this stuff CC

and it works a treat 8)

Clear skies over your shed matey

[SteelRat]

Great shot CC - flippin well done matey

[Martin 2]

Stunning pic CC

Any chance of a photo of the finished shed?

M2

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=7008.0

Old post from when I sorted it out.

Captain Chaos

[Martin 2]

Thanks CC

Thats really great, got me thinking, lastnight was really clear here but because the forcast was for rain I didnt bother setting up but with that type of arrangement you can be viewing in a few minutes.

M2

[MartinB]

Can't you hibernate the mount so that it maintains it's aligment of minimal power?

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Tried it in "parked" but it drained the powertank even though that was plugged in and charging. And that was the HEQ5 which takes less power than the EQ6. The plan is to runa cable from the old van ('scope store now) battery into the shed and have a power distribution box between the two piers. A battery charger is already hooked up to the van for the internal lights to keep working so that ought to cure the problem. I don't know how far out the 'scope will be after a few days of being parked though. Will let you know when its hooked up.

Captain Chaos

[CELESCOPE]

I got myself a power supply from Maplins , so no more probs with pesky power tanks , its a good one asked Berns advice , runs i think 10 amps con , and 12 amps surge , i also bought an adaptor from Bern that take the scope camera and heat strip , its the dogs B**** , just leave it on all the time when i do get mt scope enclosure done

Rog

,

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Great idea Rog. I think the van should be able to power stuff as it's got two great big batteries designed to run the rear floodlights, yellow flashing light AND the basin water heater (yup, even got the kitchen sink). The gap between observing sessions should let the things recover fully as well as they should recharge in the frequent cloudy bits. Recharges at 4A or boost at 40A if the volts drop off too much.

Captain Chaos