The AZ GTI Forum

[low mural]

Yeah I kept my L-enhance on because there are 2 very bright streep lamps in that direction 😂

[dense hound]

hey if you don't mind, what is the weight of all that that's resting on the azgti mount ? and does it work ok?

[modest nebula]

I didn't weight it to be honest. It runs great. I get as low as 0.6" in guiding and I'll be unhappy if I do 1' or less

I got some more Soul Nebula. I think the data is good but I'm reaching the limit of my processing skills.

mind you it's come on a bit since when I didn't even know how to adjust curves to get colour out of a galaxy pic 😄

[low mural]

You have come a long way Beezer, it looks great!

Could I have a go with the data?

[low mural]

I have always wanted to shoot this but my cameras field of view is too awkward for it 😂

[modest nebula]

mine was tight once you take dithering into account & field rotation over several nights

[modest nebula]

I just put it in "share-your-data"

btw I've been purposely leaving the background a little brighter than I feel comfortable with on my main processing rig. When it looks good here, it looks way too dark on my phone and laptop. I don't know what it looks like for you folks

[low mural]

Yeah it annoys me that astro. Images looks a lot different on different devices. Always looks best on my laptop than anything else. In regards to my taste, I would have the background brighter than you have it

[dense hound]

close to 4 kilos you think ?

i'm just trying to figure out if the wedge can support my scope and camera which is about 4 kilos

[modest nebula]

I couldn't even guess, but I'll weigh it for you tomorrow. Which wedge do you have?

[dense hound]

i dont have one yet. that would be great, thank you. which wedge do you have?

[modest nebula]

modified Skywatcher wedge https://astro.wheep.co.uk/equipment/wedge/

[rugged jackal]

Looks awesome, well done.

I have had some small windows to do some astro but the clouds have been persistent and when clear the skies are actually pretty hazy and guiding has been as good as 0.5 and as bad as 31.

What is the best way to clean the optics, filters etc

with my 72ed you cannot remove the dew shield and getting your hand is hard - though I have tried and seem to have left some smears on the lens!

[low mural]

I just use a handheld air blower and small microfibre cloth. I barely touch the lens to avoid smearing. There is sime wipes you can get for lenses though

[woven basin]

i am almost certain the dew shield is designed to be removed

[modest nebula]

Seems the dew shield will pull off. There's a pic on flo https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-ota.html

[dense hound]

hey did you get a chance to weigh it?

[modest nebula]

no, but I'll do it now

[rugged jackal]

Thanks for that info, underneath it says it is removable - lol, I have tried several times but could not twist it, So I need to figure out how to 'pop' it off. Then I can scrub it clean with the brillo pad 😆

[modest nebula]

it's 6.8lbs, 3kg

[rugged jackal]

Good decision - my smears seem to be effecting my image quality or there is a lot of haze in front of Jupiter (star of choice for focusing)

[low mural]

Jupiter can be a overpowerong fpcus object sometimes. I tend to use Capella this time of year

[dense hound]

hmm that's 1 kg less than what i have plus my ota is a lot longer than what you have there. how do you think it would fare if i get the same wedge as yours but with no modification ?

[modest nebula]

Well, the mod allows it to clamp better. I've no idea if you'll have any issues or not without the mod

[modest nebula]

clear sky again this evenining \o/

gonna try for Triangulum. Will get some narrowband Ha early evening, then broadband later

[azure solar]

seems like it will be clear here too, terrible seeing but I want to test the new cam

still don't know what I'll try, horsehead for sure when it rises

[modest nebula]

yeh most interesting stuff is "when it rises" at the moment 😄

what new cam?

[azure solar]

touptek 533, it finally arrived after a month or so

[modest nebula]

nice!

btw, there's a guy called "Karas" on the NINA forum. He's director of engineering for Touptek. If ever you need support - message him direct 🙂

[azure solar]

ah nice, that's good to know

[modest nebula]

• NINA Discord channel I should say

[azure solar]

already liking the new cam

[low mural]

Clouds are sporadic tonight. May get the scope out later on if its still clear

[azure solar]

it started to cover up now, I might have to cut short, only 30m of data for now

[modest nebula]

it's windy tonight as well

[low mural]

Storm Debi! (Sounds like a GP receptionists name 😂)

Must be a moody storm

Apologies if I offended any Debi's or receptionists 😂

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1849691625242921/permalink/3640288156183250/?sale_post_id=3640288156183250

Anyone still looking for a guidescope on the uk haha

[modest nebula]

it's far too windy for any long exposures tonight, so let's hope many 60s exposures will be as good

[azure solar]

of course it clears up as soon as I'm done taking everything back in

[modest nebula]

yeh that happened to me too

[modest nebula]

seeing is getting quite bad now, but it's still better than nothing

[low mural]

Just popped my head out and I have cloud cloud cloud now 😔

Tomorrow is poasible, but with that storm, its very unpredictable

[azure solar]

I'm debating whether it's worth taking everything out again in the hopes that it stays clear long enough for the horsehead

[modest nebula]

I gave up. It's cloudy not cloudy, windy not windy, either way it's terrible seeing & guiding

I got a bit of Ha for Triangulum though

[low mural]

Clear tonight for me! Anyone else lucky?

[azure solar]

sort of, it's clear but transparency is horrible

very light layer of clouds incoming too

[modest nebula]

clear here too

just setting up. no idea how good it is or not

I think it might still be too windy tonight 😦

[low mural]

No wind for me tonight. Orion is not up yet so im just running phd calibration and taking test frames

Visibility is looking poor though

Cloud came from absolutely no where 😂 ffs

[modest nebula]

all good here so far. I even got guiding running well

[azure solar]

Same here, seems to be stable

[low mural]

Lots of cloud here. Hoping it will clear up

[modest nebula]

although my target is at zenith right now and guiding isn't so good 😦

[low mural]

M33?

[modest nebula]

yeh

so I figured I would get some RGB on Soul Nebula instead, but that's almost as bad 😄

[low mural]

Haha. At least you are getting something!

[modest nebula]

yeh, for now

[low mural]

Disspointing night for me, all the apps have let me down this evening. Im shutting shop

[modest nebula]

I suffered that a lot when I was using Kstars/Ekos. Never looked back since using NINA

shame I liked Ekos, but it was never stable for me

[modest nebula]

I got an hour of RGB on Soul Nebula. Can't wait to stack it tomorrow 🙂

[low mural]

I meant the weather apps. All said that is going to clear up but the clouds kept coming. I was polar alogned and focussed very quickly last night haha

[modest nebula]

The same weather apps said I would get cloud at some point. I went to bed at 3am with clear skies all night

[modest nebula]

wow I took almost 12GB of data last night 😮

[modest nebula]

ok from now on, all my narrow band stuff will be mixed with RGB data. It's so much better it's unbelievable

[azure solar]

you mean rgb for the stars or in general?

[modest nebula]

stars and it also helps reduce noise in blacks

so my plan is to get decent RGB exposure on a target then mix in the narrowband on top of that

[azure solar]

I need to try that, yesterday when I did the wizard neb I shot 300s subs so the stars are just white

btw how do you align the rgb and the narrowband image to merge them? my idea was to get only the rgb stars but idk how to align them

[modest nebula]

I load both sets of data into seperate tabs in DSS, then select one frame to be the reference frame. I then run the stack twice with either RGB or narrowband selected. DSS will align to the reference frame

alternatively, you can stack seperately and then align in Siril afterwards

[azure solar]

I'll prob do that, I don't use dss anymore

[modest nebula]

you can do it in the registration tab

[azure solar]

don't mind it being upside down, the camera itself is like that lol

[modest nebula]

my first attempt at Triangulum. It's not too great 😦

[azure solar]

much better than mine for sure (I didn't shoot it)

jokes aside it probably need some more integration but it already looks great Imo

[modest nebula]

I don't know why, but I've always struggled with this one

[modest nebula]

I got some broadband on Orion the other night. Just got around to processing it. I'm going to get a ton more narrowband and broadband to do this one justice this year. I might even start a mosaic

[low mural]

Yeah I have been messing around with my Orion. 1.5 hours using L-enhance at the moment, but I plan on getting a shed load of data on it this year

[rugged jackal]

Are there any black Friday deals you recommend for astro - filters, accessories, cams etc?

[azure solar]

zwo has some deals but I haven't really checked them

[azure solar]

flo seems to have some nice deals
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo/page/0/

[azure solar]

managed to have a go at m42 yesterday night, about 3hrs

[modest nebula]

nice

the weather is trolling me right now. It's mostly clear but will be solid cloud by the time its dark

[azure solar]

it's similar here, I got lucky with 2 clear nights in a row

[low mural]

Yep! Saturday is looking like a possibility. But here comes the moon...

[modest nebula]

Perhaps I'll try for a mineral moon pic

[rugged jackal]

wow, lovely, well done.

[azure solar]

thx

[bold heart]

Does the counterweight come usually with an adapter to screw it into the head properly? Because i dont have any fitting adapter to mount the counterweight. And if it is not the case how do i get the Adapter screw that is neccessary?

[azure solar]

I think it depends on who sells it to you, the store I got mine from had a shaft with the right thread

There should be an adapter to go from the star adventurer cw to azgti but Idk the name

[bold heart]

does anyone exactly know which measurments this adapter has?

[azure solar]

The shaft on the azgti seems to be M12 or 12mm

The star adventurer cw bar is m8

[bold heart]

ok

then i need m12 to m8 adapter

[modest nebula]

did you already buy the counterweight bar? if not, just get one with an m12 thread

[bold heart]

its enough weight for my camera and it was only 15€

so yes

[rugged jackal]

Looks like a break in the clouds for many of us tonight (fingers crossed) Please suggest some interesting targets to aim for, as a reminder my scope is the SW 72ed - with 0.75 flattener, and sony a6000 dslr (un-modded) I have access to svbony CLS and UHC filters and svbony guiding setup. Thank you.

[modest nebula]

You should use Stellarium to see what rises above your horizon. You can also tell it your FOV so you can estimate what you can see. You can even give it a false horizon acording to your view limits. e.g. here's Rosette Nebula rising just gone 11pm for me

I might also get some more moon pics tonight

I might also start the evening on California Nebula

I quite fancy this one too https://www.backyardastro.org/topic/3746-ngc-1893/

[modest nebula]

met office report shows clear sky. I see thick cloud 😡

[rugged jackal]

my guiding and imaging is all over the place, but sky is clear

except for the bright glare of the moon

started really well with total error below 1 but went up shortly afterwards

[rugged jackal]

not sure why my guiding is so awful, normally it is due to clouds/haze but it is clear at the moment, the only thing I can think is that the moon light is causing issues, any suggestions?

[modest nebula]

did you tighten your clutches on the mount?

did you re-run the calibration in phd2?

[rugged jackal]

Yeah one of the clutches did seem a little loose, so tightened them. By calibration do you mean run the guiding assistant then yes I have done that

doing it again

[rugged jackal]

Cannot rem how I calibrated this before

[modest nebula]

hold shift and click the guide button

[rugged jackal]

installed the latest version and there is a calibration option.

[low mural]

Only just set up lol. Been to take the little one to Panto (oh yes I did!)
Easy alignment and focus this evening and was imaging within 10 mins!

[modest nebula]

nice, what's your target?

[low mural]

Back on Orion, have about 2.5 hours total data so far

You?

[modest nebula]

California Nebula

[low mural]

Does that fit in frame or are you doing a mosaic?

@rugged jackal any luck your end?

[low mural]

3 Hours quick autostretch. Looking forward to properly processing this tomorrow!

[azure solar]

Looking good

[modest nebula]

No, I can't get it all. I'll just do a part of it and if it comes out great, I might mosaic it in future

[modest nebula]

Got to get some RGB data on this as well. Stars look like complete crap. The target is almost 100% Ha too

[low mural]

Yeah this looks good! How much data so far?

Here is where I am at woth M42. I am not sure if I can get much better than this.

[modest nebula]

That's looking real good!

[low mural]

Thanks! Debating whether to get more data or move on to something else

[modest nebula]

if I were you I'd move on. That one looks real good as it is

[modest nebula]

I reprocessed mine too. Far less noisy now. In fact, I might not even bother with RGB stars for this one

[low mural]

I actually like the stars tbh. Nice detail in the nebula!

[low mural]

Possible cold and clear night on Thursday!

[modest nebula]

not until gone 1am for me unless the forecast changs

[modest nebula]

visibility is amazing tonight, guiding at <0.8 most of the time. Taking 10min exposures!

[low mural]

Jealous you are out already, i went into the office today and not even home yet! Your guiding is insane!

What you shooting ?

Be extra careful with walking noise and 10 min exposures!

[modest nebula]

just a boring target tbh. Elephants Trunk. I wanted to spend an evening on it before it's gone for the year

[low mural]

Fair enough! Did you already get some data on that?

[modest nebula]

yes but on my old camera

this is what single subs are coming out like

(that's just a screenshot)

[lament lion]

New setup is now the evoguide 50ed dx, and just waiting on the Uranus c pro and the filter drawer, the svbony sv503 70ed did its purpose, between the glass and the fov plus with how heavy it is on the mount with everything else just time to try something new; will keep the svbony for solar with the white light filter but for dso no more

Also just waiting on the starizona field flattener but that should arrive sometime tomorrow

[modest nebula]

both @low mural and I have Evoguide 50ED with teh Starizona flattener. It's a good setup

[low mural]

Ok thats decent!

Guess what?

I got cloud 😭

[lament lion]

Oof sorry about that 😅

[modest nebula]

unlucky. hopefully it will clear up

mine's still guiding at ~0.5" so i guess mine's clear for now. It's too cold to go out and look 😄

[lament lion]

I do have a quick question for a cooled camera since this will be new for me how do you determine the fan speed and the dew heater strength

[modest nebula]

Leave it at defaults

fan speed is easy though - on or off 😄

[lament lion]

Ok thanks just wasn’t sure and google was giving me all sorts of answers

[modest nebula]

awww the party is over. Guiding is randomly going crappy. Perhaps I'm getting some cloud

[low mural]

It sure is cold out there, tomorrow potentially clear. Fongers crossed! How much data did you get?

[modest nebula]

it cleared pretty quick. Been on 10min exposures again for almost an hour \o/

currently on 4.5hrs of data but I reckon I'll discard 30mins of that

I should get another few hours

[modest nebula]

my target was getting low on the horizon & in the direction of some light pollution so I gave up for the night. I went to get my kit in and the lawn was actually crunchy! It's COLD out there!

[modest nebula]

Here's first cut at last night's data. I think I can do better than this so I expect I'll spend another hour or 10 on this

[rugged jackal]

lovely, love the blues, perhaps what i have, checked forecast, mostly clear, cold but clear, came out around 5pm all clear, setup, cheerfully plugging everything in and yep when I finished all cloud and now fog. Checked met office and all cloud now. ffs, sorry about the colourful language but ffs. sorry again.

[rugged jackal]

That single sub is better than all my subs, stacked, processed & finalised.

@low mural did you order the uranus c-pro?

[low mural]

Lookong good thoufh! I always find the 3rd/4th process is the sweet spot haha

[low mural]

No I decided to propose to my partner 😂 so the money had to go to other things haha

[rugged jackal]

Hey, congratulations, I guess there are things better than astro!

[low mural]

Thanks man, hopefully a wedding gift is a new astro cam though! How have you been getting on with imaging?

[low mural]

I was hoping no one reminded me though lol 😂

[rugged jackal]

Sorry was called away, imaging has been pants, mainly due to the weather, though also due to the lack of knowledge, a kind of 2 stesp back and 1 forward for me lol. Apologies for mentioning the uranus c, btw when is the ahppy day?

[modest nebula]

Congratulations dude. I assume from lack of camera that she said yes? 😄

[low mural]

Big day is April 2025 so got plenty of time to withdraw some funds and get that camera 😉 Is it still the guiding you are having trouble with?

[low mural]

Yup.. Going to have to stick with the IMX178 a little while longer 😂 at least itll operate better in these colder temps though!

[modest nebula]

Yep, at least it's not a bad cam! Make sure to re-do your darks though

[modest nebula]

I shared my data here if you fancy a crack at it https://discord.com/channels/794642864218439681/1180292531121049670

[lament lion]

Awww congratulations

[rugged jackal]

Yes as in there is nothing to guide on due to the vast grey blanket covering the sky looool, Last week when it was clear my guiding was rubbish, then on saturday when the halo moon was overhead my guiding was brilliant except for the small case of moon light pollution and a layer of high clouds so wasted effort. Last night around 5pm it was clear - nice and crisp and frost was already licking on the grass, setup, looked up and blinded by the glare of grey clouds rapidly closing any gaps in the sky. Fog next and packed away. So yeah the guiding, seeing, everything is awful loooooooool.

[low mural]

Yeah I get you 😂 The winter has some of the best targets. But Clouds come as an expense!

The summer we have just had was awful too! Much less clear nights than usual, it was also a very wet summer. Perhaps we will have better luck next year.
Also hoping to be driving by the Spring, which means I can venture out and hunt for some clear skies 😂 We could all arrange a Star party sometime!

[lament lion]

Also the smoke from fires from California and then Canada

[rugged jackal]

Clear sky but with clouds on the horizon and really windy

Anyone doing astro tonight?

[azure solar]

no unfortunately, didn't get a clear night in a while

[twin locust]

Hi

So I'm kinda looking at getting an az gti with eq wedge

Will nina work with it fine?

Will dithering work?

Does it use batteries or power?

Also how annoying is 3ppa with this mount?

[azure solar]

it works perfectly fine, all advanced functions

[azure solar]

both, you can use the internal battery (8xAA) or connect a 12v battery or psu

tppa with the skywatcher wedge is painful

[twin locust]

What would you reccomend

[azure solar]

the only other option is the william optics wedge but it's expensive

[twin locust]

Alr

Would you say it's worth it tho?

[azure solar]

I can't say for sure, I only ever used the sw wedge

if it's anywhere as smooth as the wedge on my current mount I'd say yes but that money is best spent on other stuff like guiding

[twin locust]

Oh yea

How's the periodic error?

Unguided

But does the skywatcher wedge work fine for the job for polar allignmen

[azure solar]

it's not that smooth but serviceable, considering that you want to stick to lower fl with the azgti it's not that big of an issue to have more PA error

[twin locust]

Whay would you say is the Max focal length?

[azure solar]

Imo below 400mm to avoid any kind of issue

[twin locust]

Oh perfect. I'll be fine then

[azure solar]

with my evostar 72 at native fl I couldn't go over 30s unguided

[twin locust]

Can imagine

Is the wedge stable?

[azure solar]

fairly stable, just a pain to do minute adjustments

[twin locust]

Alright

I'll look into this mount a bit more

It's really good value, idk how I haven't looked into this earlier, roughly thr same price of a swsa 2i here

[azure solar]

cheap but brings extra costs

and it's a QC lottery

[twin locust]

Nvm swsa 2i price has dropped to 650auf

[azure solar]

look for them second hand, a lot of people sell them for cheap

[twin locust]

Yea defo

[modest nebula]

I tried. It's too windy. It's pointless

[modest nebula]

Works ok for me. Takes me ~5mins to align. However, i did improve the wedge https://astro.wheep.co.uk/equipment/wedge/

[azure solar]

I found the horizontal adjustment screws to be too coarse and the vertical adjustment was kind of twitchy

[low mural]

Very windy today! Didnt bother setting up tonight

[rugged jackal]

Too windy and now too cloudy, yucky weather for weeks

[lament lion]

Yeah definitely should have done the mod to the skywatcher wedge and not go and get myself the William optics wedge, comparing stock to stock William optics wedge just seems more stable but with the mod for the skywatcher I’m sure it’s just the same and don’t have to spend what $300 for a wedge, also the fine tuning seemed easier on the skywatcher wedge, to bad the William optics just seems to finicky and I’m always struggling fine tuning in the polar alignment in Nina

[twin locust]

does the az-gti not perform well in windy condition?

how is the overall performance of the mount?

is it reliable?

[rugged jackal]

I amy be wrong but I believe most setups would struggle in windy conditions. It is not the tracker issue but the whole setup being buffeted by winds causing shakes and hence blurry images.

[rugged jackal]

Depends on your expectations, personally I wanted the cheapest tracker I could get, when I purchased it I was totally new to this hobby and did not want to dip my toe with anything more expensive. However, costs do add up quickly when you start to add other components, the big issue with the AZ GTI is quality control but if you are good with DIY, you could service it yourself and improve the tracking and backlash. If you are certain about this hobby then you may want to look into a bigger and better tracker depnding on your budget.

[twin locust]

Alright, I'll look at the swsa gti

[low mural]

Mount performance overall is generally good. Each mount performs differently but they are all capable of decent astrophotography. I had problems with the az-gti and windy nights but like most mounts, you can improve the sturdiness by lowering your payload and getting a sturdy mount and tripod.
The Az-GTI is defo worth the money.

[stone panther]

I've recently ordered a GTi, anything I should know regarding storing and using? (So I dont damage it)

[azure solar]

just don't forget to untighten the RA clutch before use and you'll be fine

dec has to be tight to work but RA is the opposite

[stone panther]

Thanks

[modest nebula]

lovely clear sky tonight, but it's still a little windy

should be good enough for me to grab some RGB with short exposures on some of my narrowband targets

[stone panther]

Just to check, with the GTi; should both clutches be tight when in operation? And how should I set them when stored?

[azure solar]

DEC clutch tight and RA clutch loose when using

[stone panther]

Okay, so loose clutch screw. I'm terrified of breaking it 😅

[modest nebula]

why RA clutch loose??

[azure solar]

the clutch on the RA locks the mechanism

it can't move

[stone panther]

Oh right, every where I saw online suggests tightened when operating. I'm mainly concerned with how I should leave the clutches when I'm not using

[azure solar]

when not using both tight

[stone panther]

Thanks for the help

[modest nebula]

ok my RA clutch is the opposite. When it's loose, the mechanism can rotate by hand. When it's tight, it can't be rotated by hand. If I loosen the clutch on RA, the tracking will slip. Or perhaps I'm just misunderstanding what you mean

[azure solar]

if it's tight it can't rotate by hand but the motors will also struggle to move it

[modest nebula]

hmmm mine doesn't

[azure solar]

unless I misunderstood it in the first place, I've always known that the RA has to be loose for it to track

and that's how I've used mine

[stone panther]

Mine seemed fine moving with it tight, maybe I should just tighten it gently

Hoping for first light on Wednesday if the bloody English weather gets itself together

[rugged jackal]

all very cloudy yet again here in brum.

[rugged jackal]

that is the first i have heard of this, i fully tighten both clurches and it tracks ok, can some please enlighten me?

[stone panther]

No way, I've just got back from Brum. I'm studying at the university

[twin locust]

So I've heard a lot of conflicting things about this az gti then

So idk of this is worth getting over a swsa gti

I've heard that you need an eq mod cable to connect the mount to laptop

[modest nebula]

eqmod cable is more reliable and allows you to use better 3rd party driver software like Eqmod or Green Swamp Server. You can just use the standard Skywatcher software over wifi if you want

[azure solar]

I'll look it up later but I've always heard that it worked that way

[azure solar]

The sa gti is more user friendly for sure

[rugged jackal]

The az gti is a small tracker which can work using battery or a power adapter, and you can also connect and control using the built in wifi feature and via the eqmod cable. My experience with this tracker is that is much better controlled using the eqmod cable and a power adapter ensures you do not run out of power but ofc you need to have a power source nearby. I certainly would recommend the eqmod cable but it is not cheap, I paid £25 from amazon.

[modest nebula]

I've added some RGB stars to my Elephants Trunk & been fiddling around with it. I think I pushed it too far, but it looks ok from a distance

[lament lion]

2nd rig getting there, just waiting on the Uranus c pro and filter drawer, and then the field flattener from starizona got a email last week they should have a shipment in January so I should expect it sometime late January to vary early February, going to have the svbony sv503 70ed on the az gti for solar or if I want an extra 100mm focal length

-ignore the cables I couldn’t be bothered to take them off when I was putting the guide scope and camera on the evoguide 50ed dx (don’t want to lose those cables I have a habit of cables going into the cable drawer and never able to find it again)

[modest nebula]

work in progress - Tadpoles Nebula

[rugged jackal]

looks great, I am astro-ing vicariously loool

[modest nebula]

and here's the inevitable reprocess. I was able to get a much cleaner image

[lament lion]

Ok so camera came in, all I need is the field flattener and I’m all set, camera and filter drawer is on old scope since it’s going to be clear tomorrow, also I did a smooth brain thing, long story short I didn’t know the eq cable is different for both the mounts, I tried for hours downloading uninstalling and updating firmware trying to get it to connect, the az gti is rj12 but the sky watcher star adventurer gti apparently needs rj45 according from a quick google search

[azure solar]

Doesn't the sa gti use a normal usb cable?

[lament lion]

It says usb type b cable could also be used but working with the new eq cable so I guess I’ll try it later to see if the usb is better

[lament lion]

Ok everything is almost charged will set up and balanced for tonight since it’s clear just finishing up charging on the charging station and we will see I have to put the charging station on the tripod since the power cable for the gti is short and the longer cable is hooked up to the camera for the cooling

[lament lion]

Ok so far this is the guiding on the sw gti, could have dialed in more but the cold got to me and gave up so it could be less than this but I’ll take it, I never had this kind of numbers on the az gti

[tough scaffold]

Hi guys, can you help. I am using l-enhance filter for first time with canon 600d/t3i unmod and I get very low signal according to nina statistics. I tried 6 min subs with 800 iso on Heart nebula and got pretty bad result.
Don't understand why signal is so low. Nina shows signal barely attached to left side. It's about 4 hours of data. Should I up iso or try more exposure. Attached stretched image

[azure solar]

unmod

There's your problem

6 min is a lot too for a dslr, on mine I did 3m with the l-enhance

[azure solar]

back in action

will get some m31 data and will move later to rosette as it rises

[lament lion]

2 hours and 9 min with a cooled camera out did 4 hours with non cooled also had to really darken the background since it’s not the best with 2hours in a bortle 7-8

[rugged jackal]

how are you guys getting clear skies, me over my sky it is wall to wall clouds - frustrated, bored and hobby is literally dead, no astro for weeks.

[modest nebula]

Yes it frustrates me too. Even clear nights recently have been bad. Not sure what we can do about it over than move to another country

[lament lion]

1st clear sky for me in months that wasn’t to windy to set up, I know the pain

[rugged jackal]

thank you, i am glad that someone is getting some action, I have not had any luck for weeks, last time I setup I had problems with a really bright moon and ofc wind. Like @modest nebula stated nothing we can do though one of the retailers does sell a cloud dispersion gun but all sold out 🙂 perhaps we can all chip in and buy a house on a hill in Tenerife, I have a tenner to start the pot rolling looooool.

[modest nebula]

I found an ideal villa in Tenerife with a nice flat roof that I could afford, but the boss said no

[lament lion]

Or find the person around that’s been buying Astro gear constantly around us and have a little chat with them… 👀

[modest nebula]

will be clear for me this evening \o/

[low mural]

Still lots of cloud round here for me. Wondering when I will see the stars again...

[modest nebula]

there's this weird veil of cloud making its way south & will expose my area at about 8

[rugged jackal]

Wet & miserable for me here - patchy and now the moon coming through the clouds, Jupiter visible through a small gap in the clouds.

[potent turret]

my az-gti rig

I can’t test it, because 4 months of cloud

[modest nebula]

nice. Is that a counterweight from Aliexpress? I think I saw some like that on there

[modest nebula]

spent some more time on Orion Nebula last night, gathering a ton more 30 sec exposures. Might try to get some Ha next time

[potent turret]

the weight is from the star adventurer, but the rod is from another Sky Watcher mount

The rod is longer, but the picture cut it off

[tough scaffold]

I am at the very limit of eq wedge)

I have done astro mod to my dslr. It's 2.5 hours with l-enhance, 3 min subs. Looks like my sensor overheats a lot. Very noisy image

[modest nebula]

did you take dark frames?

[tough scaffold]

yes, 20-25

[modest nebula]

at the same temperature as when you did the lights?

[tough scaffold]

yeah, right after taking lights

[rugged jackal]

That is the closest I have got to some astro this month!

[rugged jackal]

beautiful capture, well done.

[rugged jackal]

anyone had any luck doing astro during the holidays?

[azure solar]

Not really, last session was before christmas

[modest nebula]

no, but it looks clear for a few hours this evening

[rugged jackal]

I don't trust this weather pattern, I have tried a few times - setup and it clouded over and one time even started drizzling.

@modest nebula which filter have you been using? What would you recommend?

[modest nebula]

I'm using the SVBONY SV220 Dual-Band 7nm Nebula Filter. It's great but when I bought it, the 1.25" version was just over £60. It's now over £100. I'm not sure it's such fantastic value anymore

[rugged jackal]

I was looking at the sv220 too - seems to be mimicking the l'extreme, at around £60 it is does represent good value, however the hike in price is ridiculous. I suppose they think if it is selling then why not get the max profit out of it.

BTW I cannot believe but I am doing some astro tonight.

[rugged jackal]

what do you think of this filter:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Svbony-Telescope-Narrow-Band-Observation-Astrophotography/dp/B085ZTDZ8N/ref=pd_ci_mcx_pspc_dp_d_2_t_2?pd_rd_w=KGB1I&content-id=amzn1.sym.8db49f41-2d78-4c1c-bc3b-fb9e44b9efb4&pf_rd_p=8db49f41-2d78-4c1c-bc3b-fb9e44b9efb4&pf_rd_r=BVX09PAMRCW3S66WV2B6&pd_rd_wg=ECpt4&pd_rd_r=80eae1ba-bf28-4fc4-9979-e613b6c692eb&pd_rd_i=B085ZTDZ8N

[modest nebula]

That's only a single band filter designed for mono camera

[rugged jackal]

Thanks for the info, that saved me getting tempted... looool.

[rugged jackal]

Last night's effort - The Seven Sisters, please feel free with advice to improve.

I am still failing to get decent flats!!!!???

[azure solar]

clipped blacks?

[rugged jackal]

I am still pretty awful at processing images - many people here have helped but not enough practice due to incessant clouds but perhaps too much darkening to hide the motes etc which the flats failed to remove. So I have been too heavy handed.

I'll try again

[modest nebula]

can you post the raw stacked tif?

[rugged jackal]

ok will do

[rugged jackal]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nL9knR6fy-PUoZ0k2Dx_pp0AekhQhlCr/view?usp=sharing

apologies for the delay in sharing the data.

[modest nebula]

ok give me a few mins

wow there's a lot going on there 😮

[rugged jackal]

Oh dear, in my defence there was lots of haze around last night but I ploughed on and had some good guiding with peaks where it went haywire but it is the best session I have had in months! I also know I am not getting my flats right. The flats and darks, biases were taken immediately after the session at the same ambient temp.

Oh and ofc there was also 80% moon and the moonlight is adding to the light pollution gradient.

[modest nebula]

This is best I can manage

There's a few weird things...

Some of the stars are flared inwards toward the centre. But the stars at the outer edges are fine. Not sure what's going on there

Your red channel has completely different vignetting shape to your green and blue. It makes background extraction very hard. I had to split channels and do each separately

and you have many dust motes

on the plus side, you have good focus and low noise

I wonder why you have such bad vignette. Do you have any 1.25" filters in your setup?

[rugged jackal]

@modest nebula thanks for the help, much appreciated. FYI I was using a svbony CLS filter 1.25 inch - I think these are too small for my sensor - could be effecting the red channel. Basically I need to remove all the parts and give it a good clean.

and get a better light pollution filter like the SV220 - waiting for a price drop - lol - I cannot justify to myself any more expenditure considering the weather and how little use I am getting.

[rugged jackal]

Yes I did use a 1.25" filter - a CLS filter.

[modest nebula]

I suspect that filter is too small for your camera and scope. I bet that's what's causing the vignetting. Try pleiades again without any filter and very short exposures - 30 sec or less

[rugged jackal]

Great - I'll do that, I'll clean the rig and use it without the filter and at 30 secs.

[modest nebula]

I've been working on a new image processing script in Siril for OSC narrowband data. I'm pleased with the results so far

far less noisy than my previous efforts

[rugged jackal]

Lovely image, love the colours, @modest nebula remind us your current setup and how are you able to image in this weather system.

[modest nebula]

I can't. I'm just reprocessing old stuff & perfecting my postprocessing technique

[rugged jackal]

you are certainly improving, great image.

[modest nebula]

This intrigues me too. I'm going to research it to see if I could make one https://alanz.info/pages/alkaidmount.html

[queen thicket]

@rugged jackal hi.. I have all the same gear as you but have now moved to a dedicated zwo camera.
I love my Sony a6k and I've used it with the Svbony cls upto 5 minute exposures.

If your trying to Polar along the nina will do this : yo use your Sony with the nina software you'll need to use the unofficial driver. I can help with this. THEN you can use nina's 3-poont polar alignment feature (plug-in).

I can help as much as I can

[rugged jackal]

Hi Karl, thanks for the offer but I am now pretty good at TPPA in NINA and have managed to get below 00.00.10 on some nights. The biggest frustration is the poorly constructed wedge with too much give in the Alt adjustments. @modest nebula has instructions in his website on how to improve it and I am contemplating doing this at some point. I like my A6K but it is not great for astro work exp on nebula but not bad when using to image galaxies, clusters, stars etc.

I want to move to a dedicated astro camera most likely the Uranus-C pro but I am holding back because of the lack of use due to the constant cloud cover. But having seen @modest nebula's image above I am really tempted to get it. loooooool.

[rugged jackal]

That would be very interesting, keep us updated if you do decide to take up the challenge.

[queen thicket]

No worries. Yes the Sony is good for stars and clusters.
The Ha signal it blocks (stock sensor) is too much hence why I wanted a dedicated.
Getting tge pa figures that you have is really nice and it's nice to see you confident in doing so.
I've never liked the wedge but we should expect better from it.

I have also contemplated taking it apart to see if I can make it better.. I was thinking of making some Teflon pads. I'll have a look at your suggestion. Thanks.

Yes the uranus-c is good.
Player one is alao good as they have the built-in tilt adjustments.
I'll catch up on this thread tomorrow.

Take care.

[lament lion]

So yeah I found out the blue artifacts I was getting from the Uranus c pro was light leak from the filter drawer mini, also upon testing out and changing the svbony uv ir filter for the opolong uv ir filter I found out I also installed it on backwards don’t know for sure if it really matters but I switched it to the right way regardless

[lament lion]

Well that was fun while it lasted had a few hours of partly cloudy skies and clouds again till at least 2 weeks looking at all the weather apps

[modest nebula]

https://astro.wheep.co.uk/equipment/wedge/

[rugged jackal]

I appreciate the offer and rest assured as many people here can testify I am not shy with calls for help looooool.

@karl which Uranus-C have you got - pro and the uncooled version?

[queen thicket]

I bought the zwo 585mc (un-cooled) version.
Although it would be nice to make use of the cooling I just don't have the time to setup and the weather is absolutely crap (UK). So I'd just be throwing finances away. I'd rather spend on other astro gear / my kids.

Nina reports my sensor at 8.4 celcius on most nights so I'm cool with that, pardon the pun.

[pure zephyr]

So just wondering where I can get help with my az gti eq mod this is my gear and my az gti won't guide properly I use my zwo120mm mini and the scope it came with and I'm getting really bad numbers I set my scope to 120mm in the settings and still the same problem so I set it to 800mm and it fixed it but now everone I've spoke to said it's not fixed any help would be appreciated 😁😁

Canon 550d
Az-gti eq wedge
Skywatcher 72ed
Zwo asi 120mm guide cam
Asi air

[azure solar]

Setting it to 800mm might make it make fake good numbers or something

How's your polar alignment?

[rugged jackal]

Make sure the payload is well balanced with your counterweights and the scope is well centered on the mount. Also the guide-scope should be fairly well focused and have decent contrast that allows PHD2 to make timely corrections, I also suggest that you are accurately polar aligned, I use NINAs TPPA and is a useful tool in getting decent polar alignment.

[pure zephyr]

So I try to get my pa to about 0.45 or less

[pure zephyr]

I use asi air to control my guide and my cam and pa I aim for under 1 sec

[rugged jackal]

I use a mini pc, and I think most people on this discord do the same, so I am sorry I cannot advise on the asi air, hopefully someone can help, however, your PA alignment of less than a second is impressive esp if you are using the SW eq wedge which is pretty poor.

[pure zephyr]

Ok thanks for helping 🙂

[rugged jackal]

@modest nebula apologies if I am asking too much, but can you advise on all the various costs I can expect to pay for the IMX858 based camera if I order from China. As you know I have been saving to get the Uranus-C and your RisingCam equivalent is very impressive, so I understand the cost of purchase does not include tax/handling fees so which extra charges should I budget for?

[rugged jackal]

Sorry you seem to be more advanced than I am, so not much help really.

[pure zephyr]

Ok no probs why do you say that ?

[rugged jackal]

I say that because I am the one shouting for help all the time, loooool.

[pure zephyr]

O right didn't no that I've just joined 🤣

[rugged jackal]

Anyway welcome to this little corner of this discord community, all of the people here are very helpful and hopefully we can get right advice concerning your guiding issue.

[pure zephyr]

Thank you 😊 I hope I can get some help 😊😊😊

[modest nebula]

I can't find the exact amount that I paid in taxes, but I think it was exactly £50 on an order that was £480

the Risingcam is nice, but the selling point over the Uranus-C was the HDR mode, and that still doesn't work properly. So if it was me, I'd get whichever is cheaper

[rugged jackal]

In my experience the best guiding I got on the az-gti was a total error of around 0.6 on a nice clear night, but most times I am effected by haze, high clouds & increases in light pollution - when the moon is out etc.

[rugged jackal]

Thanks - so the extra charge was £50 - I assume that was the VAT portion being collected and no handling fees by the courier?

[modest nebula]

let me try again to find the pdf file with all the chargers listed

[rugged jackal]

Great, thanks buddy.

[modest nebula]

I can't find the pdf outlinging the fees, but it was deffo £50. I found the payment receipt to UPS

[rugged jackal]

Thank you for your help. Much appreciated. Annoyingly player one have raised their prices!!!!!

[queen thicket]

Question : I understand electronics a little so please bare with me.
My brother in law just gave me this. Would this be OK for the skywatcher Az-gti?.
Thanks.

[modest nebula]

just the for az-gti? or will it also need to run the camera & pc?

[modest nebula]

Tuesday and Wednesday look REALLY clear

[queen thicket]

Won't run the laptop as its 19v. If I can find another battery of 19v then I'll look into it as not too worried at the moment.
Laptop is good for 2-3 hours on its own battery.
The zwo I'm using is the 585mc so no power needed.

[modest nebula]

then it should run just the azgti for a good while

[low mural]

Yep, Astro Benn the ghost is popping up again because clear skies have appeared on the weather radars

Not sure what to shoot for yet, any suggestions?

Horsehead just seems too generic, but I haven't had a good go of it yet. Thats a possibility

[rugged jackal]

Good to see you again. It has been v quiet here because of xmas and ofc the awful weather, can see some blue sky-ward but not holding my breath but both orion and horsehead are on my to-do list, would love to see your efforts.

For the money what would you guys recommend as a good OSC camera filter?

[potent turret]

im having clear night and using az-gti on pleades in vilage bortle 2-3 zone.

gonna take about 3hr of data

its interesting to see pc temp using openhardwaremonitor outside at -10C tempeture

[rugged jackal]

If clear here in Birmingham, I'll try to get the Pleiades too, good luck to you too.

[potent turret]

Good luck for you too, also thanks!

[rugged jackal]

Thank you, fingers crossed, lol.

[queen thicket]

Enjoy.

[queen thicket]

Hope all goes well

[potent turret]

thanks!

[modest nebula]

Horsehead is a good option. I've always fancied Jellyfish too

[potent turret]

how the progress?

[rugged jackal]

Not very well now as you can see I am under some decent clouds. Earlier the session started badly when I discovered my flattener has some a cloudy circle right in the middle which could not be cleaned of, any suggestions would be welcome, anyhow TPPA was good the clouds ever since.

[potent turret]

maybe put a dew heater on the flattener?

[rugged jackal]

The cloudy circle can only be seen when held up to the light and I could not remove it when I was gently cleaning it using some lens wipes and tissue. Not sure why I have this and how to get rid of it.

[potent turret]

frosty

[potent turret]

i dont think that you should wipe, i think it may damage the lens

[rugged jackal]

Too cloudy to carry on, back inside now. the flattener was bought inside the house and the circular cloudiness has gone - so I think you are right i should keep it warm, - i do have a spare dew heater.

[modest nebula]

I ran my Orion Nebula data through Siril for stacking. Thought I'd see if it was better than DSS. It takes a little longer "06:27:33: Total execution time: 9 h 04 min 44 s" 😮

[modest nebula]

and I think Siril does a slightly better job of stacking than DSS, especially if you tell it to weight the stacking by background quality or FWHM

[potent turret]

I think too that siril is better the dss, but i wish that you could easily stack multi nights in siril like dss…

[modest nebula]

I just chuck them all in the same directory and let Siril get on with it

[potent turret]

Ok

[azure solar]

if you don't need different calibration frames that's one way ye

[modest nebula]

if you have different calibration frames, then you'd need to modify the script to process them separatly. The scripting language is quite straightforward though. I think the key would be the "merge" command so you can merge the calibrated & registered lights sequences so you can stack them as a single sequence

Perhaps Sirilic can do this for you? I've not tried it

[potent turret]

ill have to try sirilic with some old youtube tutorial

[modest nebula]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJHz1dEy62c

[potent turret]

Ok the 3h integration time Pleiades with a Sony a6000, on a Samyang 135mm lens at 2.8f and of course a az-Gti eq mode. Bortle 2-3. I don’t really care about these semi triangle star shapes, I only care about noise and color. I can stretch the image more to get lots of dust lanes but there is more noise then. And I found that the best and most natural way to post proscess astrophotography images is to just stretch it and leave it be. I don’t use blur x bc it basically fakes the images ( and I can’t afford pixinsigth), and the denoize softwares just blur the image. So ill just add more data to this target.

I took 1000iso and 90s exp btw

Do I need to and more integration time to this picture? and if I do will I see the dust lanes without adding more noise?

[modest nebula]

the weather still looks good for tonight and tomorrow night \o/

[queen thicket]

Oh yes. I'm out. Are you uk? Wind maybe a little issue.

[modest nebula]

hmm yes perhaps a little breezy but hopefully won't be bad tonight

[tough scaffold]

made peltier mod to my canon 600d. The sensor temp droped from 40 to 20, but the downside was that the camera was full of condensation and some corrosion inside. Now it's semi dead. Camera works only when usb is connected, display dead. Looks like I need new camera)

[queen thicket]

What's your target? Leo for me i think after some longer and shorter sub's on M42.. Trying to get to 4/5 hours this year.

[modest nebula]

I thought I might start on Jellyfish. If it's going well I'll stay on it otherwise move to Horsehead

mind you, I've never got a decent Rosette either...

[tough scaffold]

Cigar galaxy 3h with l-enhance filter. Was shooting heart nebula, and when it went out of vision continued on galaxy.

[tough scaffold]

Btw here is my evolution of soul nebula.
First was without astro mod dslr and about 40 C sensor.
Second with astro mod and 40 C degree sensor temp
And last with astro mod and 30 C degree sensor temp. It's overedited, just wanted to see how much data could be extracted
Wanted to shoot with 20 degree sensor but looks like my camera will not survive this)
ps all with l-enhance filter

[queen thicket]

I was thinking rosette but I don't have the right filters.

[modest nebula]

guiding @ 0.8" this evening \o/

long may that last!

[tough scaffold]

nice. I can get 1.5 at best

[modest nebula]

I've been thinking what I'll get next after the az-gti. I've been reading up about the SW EQ5 and I found that it's actually a clone of a Vixen GP. There's also other clones from other manufacturers & they all look pretty much the same. I quite fancy the Meade LX70 with a Terrans Industry onstep kit. This will give me a slightly better equivalent of a SW EQ5 Pro for ~ £450 new

[modest nebula]

I'm on 10min exposures tonight 😮

guiding getting better too

[low mural]

Im shootong 4-5 min subs I think. Guiding is 0.8 for me which is the best I seem to get with this guidecam.

[azure solar]

seeing a guide graph without a correction at every step is weird lol

average harmonic drive graph

[modest nebula]

hrmm I got some cloud coming over 😡

[modest nebula]

That's normal for harmonic drive though, isn't it?

[azure solar]

yep

[modest nebula]

and I guess it depends what you have your MnMO set to as well

[azure solar]

yeah that too, it's very low at 0.10

[modest nebula]

mine's 0.2 and 0.3 respectively

[azure solar]

honestly I just copied the settings from another umi user and haven't touched it since, works more than well enough for me

[rugged jackal]

I am out too, imaging the Pleiades with a dew heater wrapped around the flattener which had been suffering from condensation, this seems to be helping. However, it is windy and cold so not great guiding - the error has been rising and I am at 1.40 error at the moment. 35 second subs, taken 64 already, loool.

[modest nebula]

and now I have serious cloud that doesn't show on the Met Office weather radar

hopefully it'll blow over soon

[azure solar]

Idk what's worse, incoming clouds on a good night or clouds to no end

[rugged jackal]

Fingers crossed, what are you imaging tonight?

[low mural]

Dont say that 😢

Im getting some serious gradients around horsehead, cant seem to pin point its origin. Alnitak probably isnt helping though

[rugged jackal]

Is Orion high enough for you, too low for me.

[low mural]

Yeah just about lol

[rugged jackal]

You must have clear line of sight facing south, I am surrounded by the local housing and their trees. looool.

[low mural]

I really need to smash this street lamp though...

[rugged jackal]

I agree, loool, wish my sky was that dark though,

[modest nebula]

and looks like clouds have gone

[azure solar]

that's some really good guiding for an azgti

[modest nebula]

so now do I stick on Jellyfish or move over to Rosette?

I think I'll move over actually. Jellyfish is quite dim & not that impressive

[rugged jackal]

Now I have clouds but strong wind, hopefully roll on past me

[rugged jackal]

How are you getting such good guiding?

[modest nebula]

I dunno. Sometime it sucks but tonight it's going well

[modest nebula]

damn planes 😮

[queen thicket]

Out but all over the place. Useualy sub second at roughly 0.4. Windy 😡.
I'll keep going on Ic1795 (Fish Head).

@queen thicket absolutely awful

Better now.

[low mural]

2 hours in so far! So nice to have a clear night like this again 😂

[modest nebula]

looking good!

Rosette so far

[low mural]

Looks nice! I think I can squeeze a fair bit of rosette in my fov. I am yet to shoot this target!

I really want to commit to a big project this coming galaxy season. Like 15-20 hours of something

Perhaps M81 but I am nit sure if I have enough resolution to bring out the IFN

Why did i decide to get married and remove my chance of upgrading my camera

[queen thicket]

Crack on 😊

Re-edit of my last years Iris while waiting for the wind to doo one!

[modest nebula]

ffs why can't every evening be like this?

mind you, I'm kind of glad in a way. I'd be broke

[low mural]

Got some clpud creeping my way, may do calibration and s3e where we are at afterwards

[modest nebula]

that's probably the cloud I had made it way up there

[low mural]

Its still around and pretty thick too. Im packing up

Quite happy with 3 hours of data though

And still early enough to do some processing. Just taking flats atm!

[modest nebula]

still clear here. guiding went bad for 30mins but I think that was because I was over next door roof and their insulation is bad - heat haze I reckon

[low mural]

Yeah I get the same over some houses, also lots of smoking chimneys round here. How much data you got oj the rosette now? You doing 10 min subs?

[modest nebula]

I was doing 10min, now reduced to 5min. I want to get the sub count up so I can dither & drizzle

and, Karas from Touptek has just sent me a new firmware to try. He claims it fixes HDR. I'll try it later in the week

[modest nebula]

Only 3.5hrs of data so far. I want to get at least another 30mins

[low mural]

These chunky stars are hard to process. Gnna need another 2-3 hours on this I think. Hopefully we get another night like tonight!

[low mural]

Oooo nice, hopefully its working!

[modest nebula]

That's looking amazing so far though!

I'm trying Siril live stacking so I can see progress. It looks like a scene from Star Wars at present 😄

[low mural]

Thanks! Had to chuck away aboit 45 mins of data because of the street lamp lol. So thats about 2 hours in total.

[low mural]

Wow, crazy amounts of satellites haha. The data itself is looking clean though !

[modest nebula]

some of that is planes. We get a lot of planes overhead from the London airports

it'll all disappear when I stack it for real though

[tough scaffold]

Is livestacking hard for cpu? I have mini pc with celeron cpu, looks like it will be hard for him

[modest nebula]

I dunno, probably not. I share the hard drive on the telescope PC & run the stacking on my main PC

[queen thicket]

It shouldn't. If your subs are 60 or so then it really shouldn't take that long for a CPU to stack. If it does have issues then there is something wrong with how clean your windows / Operating software is.

[modest nebula]

here's 1st quick process of last nights data. It looks like pretty good data and as always I'll process it again and again until I can't get any more from it. I think it still has more to give though

[rugged jackal]

Wow, lovely image.

[modest nebula]

looks like the clouds won't hold off tonight 😦

no more sky for me

[modest nebula]

@rugged jackal did you get anything last night?

[rugged jackal]

I worked on the Pleiades as you had suggested, I believe I fixed the fogging issue with the flattener by attaching a dew heater to it, the subs look cleaner but had significant cloud bombing the session. I got about 250 subs at 35 sec each, removed about 40 dodgy subs and currently stacking the data with Siril.

[rugged jackal]

No chance of clear skies for me tonight or the rest of the week.

[queen thicket]

Sorry.. Don't know how to remove the laughing face (mistake) I do apologise.

Just had a go at my last night's : 1st try at tge Fish Head.. After the wind issue's I got 45 mins of 1 hour taken of 180 second's sub's.
I'm happy enough.

[rugged jackal]

No worries, I get the sentiment whether to cry or laugh. looool.

[modest nebula]

here's my final, for now

[rugged jackal]

Great shot, Lovely colours and seperation.

[modest nebula]

I could fiddle with this forever. I must find a way to standardize colours

[rugged jackal]

Is this from last night?

[modest nebula]

Yes

[rugged jackal]

Even more impressive, did you stay up all night?

[modest nebula]

until about 2:30am

got about 5hrs in total

[rugged jackal]

lol, I was in by 11pm, too many clouds.

[modest nebula]

I had that issue earlier in the evening but they blew over after about 30mins

[rugged jackal]

Remind what your setup is?

[modest nebula]

Skywatcher Evoguide 50ED with Starizona Flattener, sv220 narrowband filter, Risingcam IMX585, guided

and of course, the az-gti 😄

[queen thicket]

Smart setup. I'd love to play with that.

[modest nebula]

it's undersampling a bit with the 50ED. A 72ED would be perfect though, but then I wouldn't get the ideal fov

[rugged jackal]

Nice, and the new camera is producing some lovely crisp images, imagine if you manage to get to a darker site.

[modest nebula]

yeh that's the plan

[rugged jackal]

And you got a good deal on the SV220 - 2 inch for £60 is a bargain compared to the prices now.

[queen thicket]

Exactly.. As you know I'm using 72ed.. The grass is always greener 😂. I need to get my 135mm f2.8 on the go.. Just don't have the time & it's complicated to work out

[modest nebula]

No, it's a 1.25". I wouldn't get a 2" for that money! However, even the 1.25" is over £100 now

[queen thicket]

Oooh.. I'm on the lookout for an sv220!

[rugged jackal]

what about this filter - it is less than £100 https://www.365astronomy.com/zwo-duo-band-dual-bandpass-narrowband-imaging-filter-1.25?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5fPrvcTOgwMVdoVoCR2_QQGWEAQYASABEgJNv_D_BwE

[modest nebula]

I saw that one, and I was going to get it. However it's quite a wide bandpass. It's deffo better than nothing.

Bandwidth: HA (15nm) OIII (35nm) <--- sv220 is 7nm on both bands

[rugged jackal]

Oh right, OK

I have heard good things regarding the SV220. Looking at your images - certainly doing the job. You are in Bortle 6/7?

[modest nebula]

yeh, depending on which way I point the camera

luckily, the milky way rises in a darker part of the sky for me

[rugged jackal]

Do you have a dedicated processing PC or use a generic laptop like I do? I ask because Siril has been running since 12 ish and only a quarter of way through!!

[modest nebula]

I use a desktop pc that I do everything on

[modest nebula]

Siril can take a while, especially with a huge number of subs. Last time I did Orion, it took 9.5hrs!!

[rugged jackal]

Sorry so many questions, what is a dark library and how do you make it, supposed to help reduce time getting calibration frames?

[modest nebula]

dark library is only really useful if you have a cooled camera so you can guarantee your darks will be the same night after night

if that's the case, you can take your darks once and store a single master dark image for each exposure length that you're likely to use

[tough scaffold]

anyone knows is it ok that some dots are not on the line?

[low mural]

Great work @modest nebula

[modest nebula]

I've just installed that latest firmware for the Risingcam & run a dark frame. It's no longer clipping \o/

now I can't wait for some sky!

[low mural]

Theres some bad reviews on this filter, I was going to get it and opted for the l enhance instead. Have you got a new cam yet? Not. Sure how well a narrowband filter will work with a stock cam

[low mural]

Awesome! I have got clear skies tonight but its my partnets birthday and I have to make another sacrifice

[modest nebula]

I hope she appreciates it 😄

[low mural]

She does want a framed print of my horsehead image when its complete though. So I will accept the compliment and keep the gear indoors until next time 😂

[modest nebula]

Make sure you sign it. It might be valuable when you're world famous 🙂

only problem with updating this firmware again is that i have to create a new dark library

[modest nebula]

I notice Ogma now sell the Touptek IMX585 https://getogma.com/products/AP08CC

[queen thicket]

🤔. It's a 1.25. I'd rather save and wait for a 2". Thanks anyway

Goo so far. Fish Head again

[rugged jackal]

The Stacked Pleaides if anyone is brave enough: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h6AkOdOU4Kte1yDwZ6N4jIVadEV4AYUB/view?usp=sharing

I think it is better than my last attempt. Still far too many dust motes, not getting my head around flat frames.

[modest nebula]

unexpectedly clear skies, so now I get to test HDR

ok kicked off my Rosette sequence again in HDR mode. guiding at 0.7"

more or less the same quality as last night but my levels are VERY much lower. I guess that means I can expose for longer or image brighter targets without overexposing

desperately want to go image Orion but it's not trivial to change filters

hmm, 10min exposure

at this rate I could do a 20min exposure 😮

[modest nebula]

i swapped filters. This is 2mins on Orion

I've never been able to do 2mins on orion with IR filter. It's always washed out in 30 secs

[rugged jackal]

What, 20 mins exposure - amazing

[rugged jackal]

Which filter are you using for the Orion?

[modest nebula]

just an IR filter

[queen thicket]

Your HFR looking really nice. It's the same story for me tonight. Good HFR and guiding..
Maybe you live near me!!. I'm on Ic1795 again.. Got 4.5 hour's so far tonight. If yiutlr still out, enjoy

[modest nebula]

tbh the HFR here is looking high but I think it's being confused by the larger stars. I live in SE England

[queen thicket]

I've just packed up. I'm also SE (Suffolk).
Looking forward to seeing your image

@modest nebula I ended up with 4.5 to add to my 0.75 of Ic1795 (Fish Head). Will stack over next few days.

[tough scaffold]

Autorestart guiding was disabled at nina and phd lost star after some clouds. So only 15 min of data. Anyway scope was out of focus. Focusing with narrowband filter is a bit hard
fossil nebula

[queen thicket]

Ic1795, Last nights stack.
A crappy edit on Lr mobile.
Will edit properly later or tomorrow.

[rugged jackal]

My efforts:

210 subs, 35s, iso1000, siril, gimp,

[modest nebula]

nice, can you share the stack again?

[queen thicket]

Me? (sorry as confused)

[rugged jackal]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h6AkOdOU4Kte1yDwZ6N4jIVadEV4AYUB/view?usp=drive_link

This is the stack only, no processing.

[modest nebula]

My process is pretty much the same as yours. I think if the flats were better, you'd have great data here

[tough scaffold]

@modest nebula Want to try livestack. I shared nina folder with main pc but siril does not see network folder. Do you do somehow else?

[modest nebula]

I usually use Astro Live Stacker https://github.com/gehelem/als

[rugged jackal]

Thank you and nice process.

[rugged jackal]

My main issue is flats

[modest nebula]

also, you have this weird vignetting artifact but it's different for each R, G and B channel

e.g. Red is a background gradient

Green is slight vignetting

and blue is similar

but different, especially in the uncropped version

I had to split the channels & then fix the background with Graxpert separately for each channel

[queen thicket]

As said : Final Edit 3.9 hour's of IC 1795.
Taken over the the last two nights but had to not include my 1st nights worth but was only 0.75 of an hour (45 minuites)

Ic1795 for the first time using the 585mc,

Really happy with it.
I'm done with this target this year as I think I've gotten the best using my setup that I have plus spring targets are Comming 😊.

63 x 240.
No calibration frame's but debating flat's & I'll maybe take flats.
Dithered

✅ Astap
✅ Siril
✅ Astrosharp
✅ Pixinsight
✅ Lr to finnish

✅ Az-gti
✅ 72ed
✅ Zwo 585mc at gain 252
✅ Phd2
✅ Svbony ir/uv cut

[rugged jackal]

Yeah I can see the variation, not sure how I can remedy this before pre processing, I know I have to improve my flats - I use a flat screen, then the flat wizard in NINA to give me a histogram approx 1/3 to the left but i get a red image and if I increase the ADU I get weird vignetting - not sure what to do, is it a focus thing?

[modest nebula]

perhaps you can try a quick stack without flats just to see if they're the cause of the issue?

[rugged jackal]

OK I'll try that

[rugged jackal]

Stacked without flats:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UfQESKOvqra7oyVHvMvzcuz2LGivOA96/view?usp=sharing

[modest nebula]

https://www.amazon.com/SVBONY-Telescope-Astronomy-Astrophotography-Compatible/dp/B09XQY6RG2 <--- 50% off. It's slightly older technology with an IMX294 sensor but that's still a nice price for a cooled camera

[azure solar]

That's an incredibile price but I still don't trust svbony

[modest nebula]

That didn't really tell us anything. The weird gradient is still there, different on each of the R, G and B channels, and the lack of flats show up even more sensor dirt so the flats were doing something just not a lot

(that's an exagerated auto-stretch)

[modest nebula]

My sv505c was fine, and other people are getting good results with this sv405cc. I think SvBony are ok for their higher end stuff

[rugged jackal]

Amazing how dirty my image train is, even though I clean it, I will have to use my APS-C sensor cleaning kit to remove the crap from the sensor. The upside to the new stacked result is I can see more dust! but not the one I really want.

[queen thicket]

Agree.

[rugged jackal]

It's the weekend - and ofc clouds, clouds and more clouds

when is the next clear sky?

[modest nebula]

perhaps a little on Sunday evening, and Monday evening looks great

[queen thicket]

Yes, Sunday as Beezer said.

[rugged jackal]

Great see you there

[rugged jackal]

Typical Birmingham is on the edge of some cloud cover!!!

[rugged jackal]

What's happening tonight?

[queen thicket]

Not as good a I said 3 days ago. 23:00 start time for me if I head out.

Wednesday better but moon is Comming

Thursday we're ALL out 😉

[rugged jackal]

All clouds as far as i can see - lol.

[low mural]

No chance tonight for me. Fingers crossed for tomorrow and thursday!

[modest nebula]

1am onwards should be good for me, but I'll be asleep by then 😄

[rugged jackal]

tomorrow does not bode well for me according to the met office app

A quick question, what is the purpose of a IR/UV filter and when do you use it and what would you recommend?

[azure solar]

used in dedicated cams that don't have an intergrated ir cut filter, prevents star bloat because uv and ir light focus at a different point than the usual wavelengths used for imaging. you use one for broadband targets

[rugged jackal]

Oh ok, so it is used with dedicated astro cameras like the zwo or the touptek cams when imaging galaxies, clusters, and stars?

[azure solar]

yes

[rugged jackal]

So no good for my sony A6000, lol, I noted a big price difference between different makes - does the quality actually vary that much between brands?

[azure solar]

you sony already has one installed, that's what astromodding is for. The main things I'm aware that change between different brands is the range of light blocked and there was something about transmittance (I think?)

I don't think it makes sense to buy really expensive uv/ir cut filters but something like an optolong should be fine

I bought the svbony just because it's cheap but it works well

[rugged jackal]

I am a big fan of svbony because of the reasonable prices and fair quality.

[azure solar]

their recent stuff seems fine, I'll keep avoiding their cameras tho

[rugged jackal]

Yeah, except I have one as a guide cam, lol.

[modest nebula]

lovely clear sky right now. shame it's not dark 😮

[rugged jackal]

It is lovely now but met office saying it will fairly cloudy for me tonight, 😥

[low mural]

Yeah I am right in that band of. High cloud. However I will be setting my gear up just on case 😂

Might just leave it shootinf through the night and dig out some frames thay were cloudless 😂

[modest nebula]

and south east is clear enough to be tempting but I just know it will suck

[rugged jackal]

I like the confidence and bravery, what will be your target tonight?

[low mural]

Im going to try and get some more data on the horsehead 😊

[rugged jackal]

This target is on my bucket list, but too low for me in the SE as it is obstructed by selfish people locating their houses and trees in the way of my astro ambitions.

[modest nebula]

I'm going to try Horsehead next I think

it doesn't rise until later in the evening though, so I'll start on Pleiades again with HDR mode to see if it's finally working properly

[rugged jackal]

Guess what has been dropped off today:

[low mural]

Congrats dude!

Say goodbye to your crazy flat frames!

I swear im not jealous of you and @modest nebula ......

[modest nebula]

wow nice!!! Now you'll be begging for clear sky

now you've got to make sure you get your backspacing correct between the camera and your flattener

[rugged jackal]

Thanks, hopefully this will improve my photography, the loyal sony was great to learn a lot of things, and I am grateful but I decided it was time to get a dedicated astrocam. And after seeing @modest nebula images I went for the same camera.

[low mural]

currently browsing the web with my online banking app open 😂

[rugged jackal]

Yeah - I am always begging for clear skies loool.

[rugged jackal]

I know that feeling, been doing that for the last 6 months loool.

Any suggestions for first light?

[rugged jackal]

Is that hard to do? My flattener is 55mm (I think)

[modest nebula]

No it's not hard. You just have to read the manufacturer specs to decide which extension tubes to use to get 55mm

tbh it should come with the tubes you need

remember as well, your field of view will probably have changed, so bear that in mind when picking a target

[rugged jackal]

and which software do I need to install?

[modest nebula]

for what? to use the camera?

[rugged jackal]

Yes, esp with NINA etc

[modest nebula]

NINA may have Player One native support, so first just plug the camera in, load NINA and see if there's an option in the equipment/camera tab

[rugged jackal]

Right, so no need to get the drivers from player one?

[modest nebula]

just checked my NINA and I do see Player One drivers built in

so, just load NINA and you'll be good to go

now to check PHD2...

no PHD2 doesn't support it natively, so you'll need to install the Player One ASCOM drivers

when using software, it's best to pick any native option first, then if it doesn't have it, use ASCOM

[rugged jackal]

Great, thanks for the info, I'll do that.

Also what is the best gain, temp, fan speed?

[modest nebula]

this one, right?

https://player-one-astronomy.com/product/uranus-c-pro-usb3-0-color-camera-imx585/

[rugged jackal]

Yes, it is the Uranus C pro

I believe it is the Player One equivalent that you have.

[modest nebula]

so if you scroll down to the graphs on that page, it says...

Performance
HCG open at gain=210.

the second graph down shows the readout noise drop at 210 gain

so there's your answer. Gain = 210

then, you want to follow Cuiv video to work out what the offset should be

that same page has some info on backfocus too

I set my temperature at -10 when imaging

you should also build a dark library. Set a sequence in NINA for 10 frames each of your usual exposure length. I normally do 30, 60, 120, 240, 300, 600. You can do these during the day with the lens cap on & the temperature at -10. Let it run, save the darks and you don't need to do them again until you update camera firmware

same for bias frames

[rugged jackal]

Great help, thanks.

Sorry @modest nebula but why do I need to have this camera working with PHD2, I use a seperate guide-cam?

[modest nebula]

true, you don't 😄

just me being daft

[rugged jackal]

[modest nebula]

@rugged jackal I just noticed this on their website Power supply is not include in camera package, high quality 12V 5A power supply link: https://player-one-astronomy.com/product/12v-5a-power-supply-dc5-5-x-2-1mm/

did you get the PSU as well?

[rugged jackal]

No I did not get it as it seemed to rather expensive and I have a 12 volt adpter already so was hoping to use that

At this price they should actually include it with the cam

[modest nebula]

yeh agreed. 12v psu are not hard to find though, but make sure it's enough amps

[rugged jackal]

This is how I have connected my camera - Telescope+Reducer+0mm adpater then the 17.5mm adpter+20mm Adapter+camera

it is like the above diagram but with the reducer after the telescope

which now thinking about it seems wrong

[azure solar]

any place to screw a uv/ir cut into? you'll need it with the uranus-c

[rugged jackal]

Yes into the reducer at the top

[azure solar]

ok cool, you just need to make sure you have the right backfocus then

[azure solar]

didn't notice that they get to 55mm just like that, seems like you're set

[rugged jackal]

Right great, thanks, now I am dithering whether to setup because I can see big black clouds in the west!

[modest nebula]

lovely clear sky here for now

I hope to get a few hrs

guiding working at 0.7" right off the bat. It's still & crystal clear right now. I wish it would stay like that

[azure solar]

done setting up, sky isn't great but better than nothing

[modest nebula]

testing this HDR mode on Pleaides right now https://astro.wheep.co.uk/livestack/

only 20mins so far of 120sec subs

prior to HDR mode, I could barely get 30sec subs without it overexposing

will try pushing it some more 🙂

[low mural]

Just about to put my little one to bed, hopefully it stays clear!

[rugged jackal]

High clouds and more rolling in for me.

[rugged jackal]

So I am following @modest nebula live stack, next best thing for me tonight loool.

looking nice

[modest nebula]

it's mirrored vertically for some reason 😮

[rugged jackal]

Is that with the dual band filter?

[modest nebula]

no, just IR cut

I'm onto 5min exposures now

[rugged jackal]

Right, nice tight stars and decent nebulosity already,

[rugged jackal]

Your guiding is amazing.

[modest nebula]

I think the livestack stretch is quite conservative

[rugged jackal]

Remind what is your bortle level?

[modest nebula]

6/7

actually, let's call it a 6. The part of the sky I'm aiming at is reasonable. The other direction is just orange sky glow

luckily, the milky way rises in the darkest part of the sky for me

[rugged jackal]

Can you see the Milky way?

[modest nebula]

lol no 😄

[rugged jackal]

Another thing for me to see

lol

[modest nebula]

I can see pleiades, I can see a smudge where orion nebula is, and if I use binoculars, I can see a smudge where andromeda is, other than that, nothing much else

[rugged jackal]

I am only 4km from Birmingham city centre, plus the M6 to the north hence Bortle 7-8.

[rugged jackal]

same for me - smudges, lol.

[modest nebula]

Do you have any dark sites nearby?

I bet if you drive an hour west, it's real dark

there you go, get your tent out 😄

[rugged jackal]

30 frames at 5mins ?

[modest nebula]

no I started at 60, then 120, then 240, now 300. This is my first test of HDR mode so I don't know what it can do

[rugged jackal]

What is HDR?

Better than my attempt last week, lol.

[modest nebula]

these IMX585 sensors have 3 modes, LCG, HCG and HDR. The LCG is for real bright targets but it's quite noisy, HCG is for dim targets and it's low noise. HDR is supposed to be best of both worlds but Touptek could never get it to work properly. 6mths later, it might be working. Player One never bothered with HDR but I guess it's possible that they can enable it at some point

[rugged jackal]

Right, looks like Touptek might have got it to work. Perhaps if playerone customer can ask them nicely they might enable this feature.

[modest nebula]

I didn't process this data yet so it might not be much good

guiding still good here

[rugged jackal]

Your guiding setup is impressive, how are you getting this stability?

[modest nebula]

it's much the same as yours

[rugged jackal]

The euipment is the same but there is a bif difference in the end result, loool.

[azure solar]

Haze, stadium lights and smoke. All in the direction I wanted to shoot

[modest nebula]

oh wow 😮

[rugged jackal]

That'll give you a nice gradient at least.

I thought my skyline was bad.

[azure solar]

I'm shooting the flaming star nebula now, at least it's higer up

still hazy as hell tho

[rugged jackal]

It is really hazy, hence why I thought I'd wait for Wednesday night

[azure solar]

it's the only clear night in like 2 months so I'll take it

[rugged jackal]

my ir/uv cut filter should be delivered tomorrow

[azure solar]

meteoblue says that it will get cloudy at around midnight so it's a short one too

[modest nebula]

apparently it should be cloudy here, but it's guiding at 0.7" still, and I'm getting great star count (600!)

the live stacker isn't doing as well as I would like though, but it's fine for what it is

I think my fun is over 😦

[low mural]

Just finished setting up and the clouds have come to join me 😂

[modest nebula]

I've switched to 60sec subs now. I think it's mostly clear with a few clouds, but enough to ruin longer subs

I might get another 20mins 🙂

[low mural]

Its clear enough for me to shoot but defo some haze! Guiding is at 1.40, really need to yograde my camera gear lol

[modest nebula]

I went outside & thought I'd made a mistake packing up. it looks clear, then I noticed the hazy moon and the high level cloud

[low mural]

Staring to clear up from me. A quick 15 second exposure from my normal camera to try and locate high cloud haha

Guiding at 0.9 now which is better

[modest nebula]

yeh so HDR mode is NOT ready for prime-time

[low mural]

Oh really? Do you send touptek feedback?

[modest nebula]

hmmm it's weird. DSS won't stack it correctly

Siril seems to do a decent job.

then it looks good in Graxpert...

then Siril looks like this when opening the output from Graxpert

like I say, weird stuff

then when I do an histogram autostretch, it looks ok. preview autostretch is fked up though

ah, I enable "high definition" on the preview autostrech and it's all good

[low mural]

How odd...

I have just fonished up, clpuds rolled in. I have 4. 5 hours of horsehead data, lets see what I can bring out!

[modest nebula]

hmm well this isn't bad but not sure it's better than HCG mode especially if that's over 2hrs worth of subs

it's certainly not very noisy though

[low mural]

1st process. Still more to do, it is tough with the bigger stars and so hard to bring the noise down! Will reprpcess tomorrow!

[rugged jackal]

@low mural I know you will improve this image but this one looks great to me, I'd be proud to get something like this, lol.

[rugged jackal]

So much to this astrophotography lark, so much to learn, thanks for all the info.

[low mural]

Well with your new camera, you are one step closer! My camera is so outdated now lol.

[modest nebula]

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/900797-hdr-mode-on-touptek-camera-16-bit-range/page-2#entry13200271 <-- a write up on my HDR findings

[rugged jackal]

Nicely done, good writeup.

Ready to make my dark library, how many subs should I be getting, Also what is the best offset for gain 210 (I am hoping somebody might know) - saves me understanding Cuiv's instructions, lol.

[azure solar]

I would skip darks tbh, just do biases

[rugged jackal]

OK, I have read that advice too, that darks are not needed for these cameras.

[azure solar]

yeah they're so low noise to the point where they're really unnecessary

for biases I took 50x0.001s exposures and made a master file

[rugged jackal]

OK that sounds good, and quick too. lool. Any chance you'd know the offset?

[azure solar]

you have to find that out, go to the imaging tab, take a bias frame and check the statistics panel

you'll have a peak that's very close the left edge of the graph, by increasing the offset you'll move it to the right. It has to be at least partially detached from the edge

[rugged jackal]

right, so take images at 0.001s look at the histogram and keep increasing the offset until the peak is not touching the left side.

[azure solar]

pretty much, on my case I didn't make it completely leave the edge, like 2/3 of it

don't know if it's bad tbh

[rugged jackal]

OK, thanks

Offset 20 might be it

[azure solar]

yeah seems fine

weirdly low value but I guess it depends on the sensor, for me it's 250 on the imx533

[rugged jackal]

Thanks for the help

[modest nebula]

I don't get this "skip darks" thing. Even if it is low noise, it's not zero noise. Every little bit of noise extraction helps. It also fixes any cold/hot pixels

personally, I'd say of all the calibraton frames, darks are the most useful

[azure solar]

what cuiv calculated is that you get less than 1 electron per pixel of noise. cold hot pixels get fixed by stacking no?

[modest nebula]

no, not if they're the same in every frame. If you don't use dark frames, you rely on the hot/cold pixel fixes in your stacker to find them and fix them instead

[azure solar]

that's what dither is for tho

[modest nebula]

I've learnt not to trust everything Cuiv says

[azure solar]

that's for sure but I haven't really noticed any significant improvement by using darks

I'll try again with last nights data to see if there's any difference

[modest nebula]

dither will move them around in relation to the stars in the hope that they'll average out. But dark frames will fix them completely before they're stacked so you don't leave it to chance. Personally, then chasing the best image, I'd take any help I can get & seems a shame to leave some optimization on the table because it "hardly" makes any difference

especially when it's so easy to do

[azure solar]

since we're talking about calibration, do you have to apply bias frames to light frames too? following the siril manual calibration guide it only applies them to flats

[modest nebula]

I've been using Sirilic recently. Seems better for sorting stuff like that.

looks like Sirilic wants to subtract biases from each image. I'm not using flats though so perhaps it will do something different if I do

[azure solar]

lights, darks and flats all have read noise so yeah Ig I have to subtract biases from all three

[low mural]

Yeah darks are a must for me at he moment 😂 my amp glow and hot/cold pixels are insane with the imx178!
Bias frames were useless for my camera though, i take dark flats instead and it massivly reduces the amound of noise (relatively) i guess calibration frames have different effects depending on your camera sensor and whether its cooled or not.

I am so jealous of this dark libary stuff though 😂 darks take up a huge part of my session 😂

[modest nebula]

sv405cc is still cheap on Amazon (<£400). This guy uses one and his stuff is amazing. I guess you could ask him if he'd recommend it. https://discord.com/channels/794642864218439681/1195850437866295297

the only problem I see with Evoguide 50ED is the pixels are large 4.63um which would massively undersample

[azure solar]

it would be decent for a future upgrade, at least for that price

[rugged jackal]

https://www.svbony.com/sv220-dual-band-7nm-nebula-filter/

Best price I've seen for this filter, but is it worth it?

[azure solar]

I'm not sure if they include vat when browsing

[rugged jackal]

In the cart the shipping options are £8 for 15-20 day shipping, £10 for 7-15 day shipping or £15 inc free import handling and tax minus new customer discount total is £114, not sure what that means though.

[azure solar]

I think that on the third one the first move your package to a local warehouse and then ship it to you so it seems like it wasn't imported or something

[modest nebula]

I use the 1.25" version of that. I'm quite happy with it

[rugged jackal]

Your images have been very good which is why I am looking to get the same / similar filter but the prices are rather silly for some glass.

[modest nebula]

Yep. Like I've said before, they charge for results not for build cost

[low mural]

Not sure how much further I can push this haha. Im going to go for more data. Tomorrow night is looking goood

[rugged jackal]

Lovely image and beautiful reds.

[rugged jackal]

I know but does not help us lot, like @low mural says money or lack off is holding us back. Otherwise we would all move to the canary islands, loool.

This looks interesting - using 2 filters to get Ha, Oiii, Sii data - at a reasonable price but I cannot find any reviews or images for this set.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/narrowband/askar-2-colour-magic-c1-haoiii-and-c2-siioiii-duo-band-filter-set.html

Tonight is no good either

And the glow from the West

Lol

[low mural]

Haha yeah no good for me tonight

[modest nebula]

it's mostly clear for me but on closer inspection, lots of very high level cloud. If I get the gear out, it will end in frustration

[rugged jackal]

I am hoping tomorrow is good for me, fingers crossed

so any thoughts on this filter set: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/narrowband/askar-2-colour-magic-c1-haoiii-and-c2-siioiii-duo-band-filter-set.html ?

[azure solar]

I was interested in them but found no feedback

I struggling to understand how wide that bandpass is

ah found it, 35 and 15nm for the ha oiii and 35 15 for the other

quite wide but explains the price

[rugged jackal]

I agree, the concept looks interesting and the price is good but no reviews or feedback on google or youtube, though the sample image does look pretty good, but these are marketing gimmicks.

[azure solar]

they could have been taken in perfect skies for all we know

[rugged jackal]

Exactly, used under Bortle 1 or 2 skies, not Bortle 8, loool.

There are many reviews and vlogs on the D1 and D2 - 6nm filters but nothing for the C1 and C2? loool hence why I am asking here.

[azure solar]

they could be new

I would buy a normal dual narrowband like the sv220 and the color magic that has oiii and sii, at least on aliexpress you can buy them separately

[modest nebula]

temptation was too much. the scope is out 🙂

[rugged jackal]

loool, welldone, what will be your target tonight?

[modest nebula]

not sure. I've just tested horsehead and the camera is wrong rotation, and I don't want to rotate it yet

I might jsut get a test shot of it

[rugged jackal]

will you be live stacking ?

[modest nebula]

perhaps, if I can find a good target

[rugged jackal]

how long did you take to do your TPPA?

[modest nebula]

less than the time it took my burgers to defrost

I'm going to go rotate the scope for horse head

[rugged jackal]

hahaha, notsure how long that is but an interesting new way to tell the time. looool. I hope you can provide the link for the live stack. It would good to see how the horsehead image builds up.

[low mural]

You're coming for me

I have put my data in #1021002743080558642 if anyone fancies a go

[modest nebula]

ok it's livestacking. Unfortunately, it's mirrored for some reason and I can't make it look right in the live stacker. Will have to do that in post. I'm also still fiddling with sub lengths. Damn that star is BRIGHT!

it's giving halos on the narrowband filter. I've never got halos before!

single subs are coming in like this, for 180s

hating the halos though. I'm going to do RGB stars another day to mask the halos

[rugged jackal]

nice stacking, impressive colours but yeah the halos are visible too.

[modest nebula]

wow, I just found a massive fault in my processing chain. Now I have to go back and redo ALL my images

Siril is saving fit & tif in 32bit mode. I usually load into Gimp to process, but Gimp was saving in 16bit! Lost a ton of precision there

ok we're done for tonight I think

[low mural]

Yeah and its a pain in the ass to process too 😂 i didnt even bother with star removal

[modest nebula]

I think I'll get some RGB stars & blow out that bright star so it's big enough to cover those hideous halos

[lament lion]

Omg I forgot all about this forum, got a Astro camera let’s go!!!!! I’m loving and jealous at all the pictures I’m still waiting on clear skies….

[rugged jackal]

Yeah hopefully tonight is clear.

[lament lion]

Last night was clear for me but decided not to, it being 6 degrees fahrenheit and the wind chill making it feel like -15 was just to cold for me to handle and I’m upset, first clear night in well over a month so

[rugged jackal]

The cold is a definite demotivator, it will be -3oC tonight, sorry but we use proper units here looool. .

[modest nebula]

oh cmon, you'll only spend 5-10mins in the cold

[rugged jackal]

Takes me 10-15 mins to setup, 10-15 mins for focus and up to an hour for TPPA, that is just to start looool 😆

[modest nebula]

wow 😮

my TPPA is literally 5mins. I've laid some slabs in the lawn to mark where the tripod goes so I'm 90% there already when I place the tripod

[rugged jackal]

I need to mark my lawn with something so I can place the tripod in the right place every time but I have not come up with a discrete solution.

[modest nebula]

find some small round stepping stone slabs and sink them into the grass

[rugged jackal]

Yeah need to put something down, I'll see if I can find something tonight.

Any suggestions for a cool target to image tonight, I only have the uv/ir cut filter tonight?

[modest nebula]

what reducer/flattener do you have?

[rugged jackal]

StellaMira 0.8x

[modest nebula]

You can just get Pleaides

Orion

Andromeda is a little big for you

[rugged jackal]

Orion is possibly too low for me at the moment

[modest nebula]

Triangulum is good, but I've always found that one tricky

[rugged jackal]

I was thinking of sticking to BB targets - I like the look of the Triangulum

Yep I think Triangulum is the one to go for.

Thanks.

[modest nebula]

it's not the brightest of easiest to tackle on first attempt. you'll probably be disappointed

if I were you, I'd do one you've done before so you can compare

[rugged jackal]

I have done the Triangulum before

using the sony ofc, lol.

[modest nebula]

ok cool that sounds like a plan then

[rugged jackal]

Otherwise it will be andromeda yet again or the Pleiades

done it too many times

Just a future thought - since we have the same camera can we combine data on the same target ?

[modest nebula]

I have a different scope to you so perhaps not

or perhaps it will work, never tried it tbh 🙂

[rugged jackal]

well we can certainly try sometimes,

[modest nebula]

might actually be an interesting experiment

[rugged jackal]

Yes, it would be interesting - I am sure there must be a work around lol.

[rugged jackal]

Setting up, but camera won't work with NINA, then noticed sensor is reading at -300oC, restarted camera is not available, had to restart several times for camera option to be in the drop down list.

notice the -300/-10oC

worked really well yesterday for the bias and darks

Any suggestions?

I did install a new version of NINA beta yesterday

[rugged jackal]

Panic over it turned out to be my USB hub

[modest nebula]

I bet it's your USB hub causing this issue 😄

[low mural]

Thinking of maybe getting an uncooled 585 🫣

I have £350 but I cannot see myself saving anymore this side of the wedding 😂

[modest nebula]

Wait until after the wedding & spend all your wedding gift money on it. I'm sure the wife will be understanding

[low mural]

I am just thinking how well the uncooled will hold its value

[azure solar]

it's still a beast for planetary, I'm sure it will hold

[low mural]

Buy it and then a year or 2 down the line sell it towards the cooled version

[azure solar]

the touptek tec cooled version is 550usd btw but there's the usual issue of having to buy from the meowastro guys

[rugged jackal]

Well you were correct 😂😂

[low mural]

Yeah I am uncomfortable with that 😂

Zwo's uncoooled 585 is a pretty good deal tbh

Its a shame altairs fan cooled one is a bit steep in price l. Migjt see what they can do

[rugged jackal]

I am finally doing some astro, lol:

[azure solar]

nice

[rugged jackal]

Thanks

Pity the moon is nearby

[rugged jackal]

The Uranus C pro is $569 directly from Player One - and includes delivery and customs, I paid for it using paypal pay in 3.

[low mural]

If only i could do pay in 3, paypal hates me 😂

[low mural]

Aye look at that!!

[rugged jackal]

Now I am looking for a decent price on a dual/tri band filter lol then I can target 'narrowband' objects.

[modest nebula]

Your mean exposure numbers are way high. How long are you exposing for?

you have a massive offset too

[rugged jackal]

180 seconds and offset at 20

is the offset too high?

[azure solar]

looking at that statistics page yeah it looks high

[modest nebula]

to me it looks like the overall image is too bright. You probably want to reduce your exposure. That median value of almost 24k should be something like 5k

you've got a lot of clipped white pixels (which may not be a bad thing if they're ultra bright stars)

[rugged jackal]

I have reduced the offset to 16, exposure time to 120

[modest nebula]

leave offset alone otherwise you need to redo your calibration frames

[rugged jackal]

ok. back to 20