Ritchey–Chrétien enjoyers thread

[harsh matrix]

I want to get one.

[thorny path]

im impressed by packaging. that apple-esque sliding box. i got sticker and magnets

i will say the glass looks better than the sharpstar .95

[frosty shard]

It was hard to discern, maybe M51 will be easier

[harsh matrix]

that's not terribly surprising

M51 is really easy in dark skies

you will probably see structure in it too

[frosty shard]

Only visually just saying

[frosty shard]

Why we cut things short

[harsh matrix]

fuqn ell

yeah my stuff frosted up too

it was still such a surreal thing though

[analog portal]

This is the only time I have to use a dew shield on my RC, as my secondary will frost up. Oddly enough, during heavy dew nights it doesn't get dew on it.

[ripe crystal]

Wha…

why is the line so straight

I sacrificed a liver for it

Worth it

[frosty shard]

Also we got the Antennae!

[thorny path]

skies are clear today

gonna test new cc

[harsh matrix]

locked on to no stars, so there was no movement to track

[frosty shard]

classical Cassegrain?

[thorny path]

Credit card

No I got new .75 coma corrector

For my newt

[frosty shard]

IMAGINE NEEDING A COMA CORRECTOR
-# THIS POST WAS MADE BY RITCHEY–CHRÉTIEN GANG

[thorny path]

Lmao

[harsh matrix]

TRUE

[vapid patio]

No

Too stright

[thorny path]

Waited for Cygnus to rise

I realize I have a good view of Cygnus from my roof

[harsh matrix]

Cygnus has some of the coolest Ha structures

on a massive scale too

[harsh matrix]

@thorny path this is why I can do long guide exposures lmao

periodic error basically doesnt exist on my AM5N

i got lucky too

[brisk swift]

[harsh matrix]

that was the problem

[frosty shard]

2-4 arcseconds? Man, I'm gonna have to see what my Wave 150i is capable of, but I doubt it'll be that good

[analog portal]

my gem45 is around ±7.5 arc/sec (a good bit better than my gem28) and 10min subs on both while guiding aren't an issue.

i might have to fire up the minipc to check guidelogs and see how bad my guiding is though

[brisk swift]

cem45?

[analog portal]

gem

[brisk swift]

it exists wtf

[analog portal]

i was looking for a cem40 but this was available so i grabbed it

[brisk swift]

Ah

[analog portal]

dunno what my next mount will be, but it'll be on a pier instead of a triopod. 😅

[brisk swift]

I'm either getting a cem45 or cem70 (I think)

[analog portal]

cem70 is what i was thinking if i went to a big 10" RC

[brisk swift]

im getting a 8" RC

[analog portal]

or even a ... edgeHD 11"

[brisk swift]

I still wanna future proof if I upgrade

[analog portal]

the cem40 would handle the 8" RC, but as far as future proofing. i dunno.

[brisk swift]

but I gotta few months for them to come in stock

[brisk swift]

cem70 is definitely my choice right now but idk

I'm gonna go with the flow

[analog portal]

i was thinking of getting a nexstar 6se for a travel visual setup. so i guess my next mount would be that silly thing

[blissful marlin]

Wait....

A RC 6 only costs 550€?!?!

Holy fuq

Gonna sell my swsa gti get a heq-5 and replace my redcat with a rc 6

:[

Probably have to sell my redcat for 300$

And the rc 8 already costs over a thousand

[frosty shard]

JOIN US.

[blissful marlin]

[frosty shard]

My fellow RC enjoyer...have you considered an RC6 :)

(Idk what mounts you have but my RC8 + Wave 150i is far closer to "grab and go" than I ever expected)

[analog portal]

i have a gem28 and gem45. the gem28 is 'portable' in that it easily fits in my mid sized sedan, but not quite as much as the nexstar would be

[frosty shard]

To be clear, not a serious suggestion, the Nexstars are pretty compact

I'm still debating whether I'd pick an RC over an SCT for purely visual use

Perhaps for planetary work, but at the same time I'd probably pick a Maksutov over an SCT for planetary

[analog portal]

i'm leaning to the sct for visual and planetary. the central obstruction for the sct is 14% by area, whereas the rc is 20%

i was looking at marks in my 8" rc and had spikes 😅

mars*

[frosty shard]

I got the RC because it can do pretty much everything reasonably well - I don't foresee myself getting a dedicated visual 8" scope for some time

[analog portal]

i have to travel for anything half serious for visual work. otherwise i'd have at least an 8" dob

[frosty shard]

This is true. I've wanted to test apodizers or other methods to reduce the diffraction spikes

But overall I'm fine with them

[analog portal]

they don't bother me, i wasn't expecting to resolve anything in the eyepiece looking at mars anyway lol

[frosty shard]

Were you able to see any detail?

The ice caps were easy at 125x, but that was near opposition

The other edge that the RC has over the SCT is that I can drop to 38x with my 42 mm eyepiece (5.25 mm exit pupil)

Then again I probably am in a weird spot with preferring Cassegrain scopes but also wanting to use low power

[analog portal]

nah, didn't see any detail

i only had my 25/32mm plossl out, and the 10mm luminos(?)

it's supposed to be clear tonight, and down below freezing. seeing is below avg, as usual. not sure if i wanna take out the rc8 or just the little frac.

[frosty shard]

For imaging or visual?

[analog portal]

imaging

from b6 😬

[frosty shard]

Probably the frac honestly

I know, sacrelige

[analog portal]

i don't have a nice mid range 700-900mm option for frac, i used to but i sold it. now i just have my at80edt with the .8x reducer at 384mm lol

[frosty shard]

when you mention freezing temps I am reminded of this

Though I was literally in a marsh so humidity was ridiculously high

[analog portal]

i also have stupid high nighttime humidity

although tonight it seems tame, nothing over 60%

tomorrow night back to the normal 75%

[vapid patio]

Got my oag lads

Since i have a 3/4 sensor i will have no problem with having to lower my prizm more

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix I got my oag to focus on a far tree but good lord all night i couldn’t get it to focus in a star. Could never even see a out of focus star

I was doing 7s exps and 70 gain and couldnt see the slightest hint of a star

[analog portal]

what guide camera do you have?

[harsh matrix]

Did you put the OAG in front of your filters or behind them?

[frosty shard]

Tangential: have any of you attempted to use your RC for terrestrial purposes?\

An SCT or Mak is objectively better (and more portable) but I just love the idea of someone going birding with an astrograph

[vapid patio]

I have no filter installed

I think my asi120 is not sensitive enough

And my scope is at f/9 so yeah

[frosty shard]

@harsh matrix you're moving away from an ASI120 due to low sensitivity, right?

[harsh matrix]

I intend to, yes

[analog portal]

https://tenor.com/view/suicide-gif-6663866775991680387

[vapid patio]

You ise a oag?

And 120mm?

[harsh matrix]

Yes

Also where were you pointing your scope?

[vapid patio]

M81

And alllll around

I'm gonna point it at the cancer star cluster tonight and see

[vapid patio]

HOW CAN YOU GUIDE WITH IT

[harsh matrix]

Oh i couldn't really get guide stars around M81 or M82

I got lucky one night and had really good transparency and that's how I was able to guide I guess

The problem with guiding near galaxies with the 120MM and an OAG is that the brightest stars are barely above the noise floor of the camera

I also had to crank the gain up to 95 to be able to guide anywhere close to galaxies.

[harsh matrix]

This is probably what you need to do if you haven't already @vapid patio

And make a darks library for the guide cam in PHD2 while you're at it.

Those 2 things will give you the best chance.

[vapid patio]

Dark library, I have never understood

Do I just take darks?

And ok will crank the gain up

@harsh matrix

[harsh matrix]

You can make a dark library in PHD2 by clicking the dark library option in one of the drop downs on the top left of the program UI, iirc.

That will take the darks for you and you don't have do do anything beyond clicking a couple of buttons.

[vapid patio]

I use asiair but same same

[harsh matrix]

Oh boy

[vapid patio]

But doesnt it matter if i change my exp time?

Uh oh what

[harsh matrix]

Idk if you can do that in the ASIAIR and somehow I forgot you used that even though I knew

I think you can do it

You'll have to look it up

[vapid patio]

You can

It’s a setting

Let me try it out

[harsh matrix]

It does but it should take darks for every exposure time you tell it to take them for.

[vapid patio]

OK, yeah

*Ok

It automatically does it for all exposure length

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix

This is all i ever see

Any ideas?

[harsh matrix]

Is your imaging camera in focus?

[harsh matrix]

@vapid patio

[vapid patio]

Yea it is @harsh matrix

Sorry, my phone died

[harsh matrix]

Okay

[vapid patio]

On a star cluster right now

[harsh matrix]

Where in the optical train do you have the OAG

Is it the very first thing after the imaging camera?

Or is there a filter drawer and then the OAG

I had to get the OAG as far ahead of the imaging camera as I could last time I shot at native.

I also had to push my guide camera as far in as I could get it

[vapid patio]

Theres a small spacer

[harsh matrix]

If you dropped the prism too far down, it could be causing your problem.

[harsh matrix]

The 11mm ring one right?

Something like that anyway, might be 6.5 mm mb

Don't remember

[vapid patio]

Yep

[harsh matrix]

Yeah that's too far back tbh

Without the reducer, i wouldn't have been able to reach focus if I had the OAG there.

If you have a filter drawer, you want the filter to be as close to the imaging sensor as possible anyway.

[vapid patio]

All good

Maybe I need to slide it up?

Have more distance to the main sensor

[harsh matrix]

Yes

Is that the ZWO OAG?

And do you have any of those extension rings that came with the 120MM still installed?

[vapid patio]

Sadly yes

I took the extension ring off

[analog portal]

i use the little extension even on my sedna-m to get my oag in focus. it's a pain sometimes. i have one guide camera that i move around between three setups 😅

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix

Have more space now

Filter wheel two spacers

[harsh matrix]

That should work

[vapid patio]

Filter drawer

[harsh matrix]

You gonna have to find focus with the imaging camera again

And hopefully it's not too far in now

Wouldn't be the end of the world if you swapped the OAG and the piece after the drawer

[vapid patio]

Ok yeah

It’s cloudy rn

Weird thin cloud

So no go

[harsh matrix]

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix

Get ready for a kiss my boi

I got stars baby

Definitely need a higher sensitivity camera

[harsh matrix]

Yeah for sure

Now you see my struggle

Guiding on galaxies with like, 5 SNR stars 😭

[harsh matrix]

[oblique sun]

@harsh matrix is differential flexture variable or sm

ik u said u got it at 60s but i was doing 120s subs fine, now suddenly i cant do 60s without minor trails and the guiding is fine

[harsh matrix]

It depends on the altitude of your target iirc

So yes, it can change throughout the night.

But differential flexture is an issue if your guiding is good but your subs consistently trail

[oblique sun]

thing is my target is near its peak so its altitude isnt changing much

[undone sedge]

and this is why my asi120mm will perpetually live in one of my bedroom drawers

[vapid patio]

It will live on my red cat

[vapid patio]

Yeah, no way I’ll be able to guide on faint galaxies

[harsh matrix]

😭

[harsh matrix]

Same

[harsh matrix]

You can if you get lucky and find a few bright stars near them.

I've been lucky a few times

Depends mostly on the orientation of your OAG tbh

[analog portal]

those look a little out of focus.

do you use the 120mm in bin2 by any chance?

[harsh matrix]

@vapid patio this is also what I did to help the SNR

If you enable binning, you'll need to remake the darks library though

Only downside

[analog portal]

i think i found the most sharpened sct image in the history of sct sharpening

https://www.astrobin.com/qel9kl/?nc=all

it looks like he painted that with acrylic paint and a sponge

[oblique sun]

i was about to say "wdym its not bad"

then i clicked on the image to zoom

bribe whoever owns astrobin to remove that image

[analog portal]

i suggested it for iotd

[vapid patio]

yep! and i didnt really try to get in focus

and clouds

[vapid patio]

only took 5min

[pine path]

big RC

[ripe crystal]

[frosty shard]

This has inspired me. To only upload deep fried images to astrobin

[harsh matrix]

😭

[vapid patio]

So do i turn it on then remake darks?

And i dont have the cap for it what do i cover it wity?

[analog portal]

you don't have the cap for the scope or the camera?

[vapid patio]

My guide camera

Bought it used

[analog portal]

if it's in your OAG just take darks in bin2 with the scope covered, it'll be dark unless you have a light leak

[thorny path]

oag just came in

idk how far in the prism should go

its right above the sensor, or about but still

maybe too far in

[analog portal]

You won't know until you have to focus it. 😅

[thorny path]

Oh well

[vapid patio]

@analog portal what does it look like? If your prism is covering the sensor? Or casting a shado

[vapid patio]

But darks is optimization of your sensor not imaging train yk?

[analog portal]

I misread that.

[pine path]

even bigger RC 🥳

[analog portal]

I thought it was guide camera spacing, not prism

[analog portal]

I only mentioned the scope since it would be easy to not remove the camera to take darks.

[harsh matrix]

Puuurty

[vapid patio]

where is this big boi held?

[pine path]

Calar Alto observatory

[frosty shard]

Forgot to share this with y'all. This is my scope wagon – how I cart my RC around town

Strain wave mounts my beloved. That's 10 kg of counterweights I don't need to haul

[harsh matrix]

TRUE

[vapid patio]

Sick!

[harsh matrix]

Well guys, I really wanted to take the RC to the B3 skies to see what it could do...

But...

The seeing there this weekend is complete trash despite excellent transparency and little to no clouds.

So I'll take my RedCat 51 and get a legit first light with it.

I want to get IFN around M81 and M82.

Then I may shoot some Ha after I get back home to add to M81 and M82

[vapid patio]

100% you can do in a night

My first night redcat and asi533 in my b3/4 backyard i was able to do it

[harsh matrix]

BTW it's looking like I'm going to have to clear nights there

So I'm planning to stay for 2

I'll be even more impressed if I get another night on em

Also tomorrow might clear out here at home which means I might get to trial run my system, redcat and all before I go.

I'm so excited to see the first full image

[harsh matrix]

https://app.astrobin.com/i/laimtr

GEORGE coming in clutch with the not oversharpened SCT image

[thorny path]

oag came in

clouds for this week

[harsh matrix]

never fails

[analog portal]

I didn't even order anything. 🥹

[frosty shard]

Might be my Askar 52 mm guidescope coming in

Sorry guys

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix

This looks better now

Got some more spacers

[analog portal]

Good God Almighty.

[oblique sun]

are the spacers scattered across the floor

😭

[vapid patio]

It’s those little thread things

[vapid patio]

What?

[analog portal]

How much backspace do you need

[vapid patio]

A lot

[undone sedge]

ah yes
the clouds here around north georgia are most certainly caused by the fact i have a .5mm spacer on the way, + a used 2600mm (arriving monday and tuesday respectively)
i wont be able to use the 2600mm for a good while though so atp these clouds are here out of spite

[ripe crystal]

Backfocus lover 🥰

[frosty shard]

My thread on CN for visual RC usage just got the skamtebord treatment

[thorny path]

rick creatin

[ripe crystal]

Riche Crétin

[brisk swift]

Rickey Creating

[frosty shard]

rich cretin

[brisk swift]

rich eating

[oblique sun]

rikte criten

[vapid patio]

Rike critn

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard i took a look at the coma cluster

I'm certain I saw the 2 brightest members of the group and averted vision revealed like 20 or 30 more diffuse blobs.

That was crazy

[analog portal]

Through the 6"?

[harsh matrix]

Also i looked at M51 while it was at zenith and I could see every part of the galaxy clearly

Even the dust being thrown off into the companion

[harsh matrix]

Through my 8" dob

[analog portal]

ah

[harsh matrix]

I'm in very dark skies rn

SQM last night put it at firmly bortle 3 when the conditions were best

Conditions were and are changing very rapidly.

So I'd say it was more like bortle 4 on average last night

[analog portal]

The most amazing view I had was through a 16" go-to dob up at Cherry Springs. I was looking at M101 as if it were EAA

[harsh matrix]

I'm an idiot and I forgot to look at M101 at zenith

But I could see the spiral structure

When I looked at it when it was at about 30 degrees

[analog portal]

There were some monster scopes up there, and a few were kind (brave?) enough to let others take a peek through

[harsh matrix]

It was partly cloudy though so it was not an ideal view

[analog portal]

i had a measely 8" sct to keep me busy while my rig was running

[harsh matrix]

I did look at Bodes around 50 degrees and saw it like it was EAA

Cigar was very much similar

It wasn't hard to see why they call it a cigar

[analog portal]

i never got to really do visual around home. just planet staring.

[harsh matrix]

Visual at home after experiencing these skies actually just makes me depressed

I don't think I'm going to bother with it much anymore other than to look at the moon or the planets.

[analog portal]

indeed. i thought it was cool to see fuzzy galaxy cores and didn't think much else was possible. now i don't even bother trying.

it's raining here now, and suddenly i'm even more depressed 🌧️

[harsh matrix]

I knew it was possible to see more than cores, thought the cores were cool too ofc.

I just didn't really believe it lmao.

Now I'm disappointed i didn't try this sooner.

[oblique sun]

every time I open this and see veloren talking abt how good dark skies are I get more sad🔥

i will never be able to go to a dark sky, not for a few years at least

[frosty shard]

As much as it's nice to go to Bortle 2 skies and see thousands of stars naked eye...I think visual astronomy is still worth it in the city. Especially if you can share it with others.

[analog portal]

I can see globs and some bright pn (with the uhc filter) from my b6 deck using the RC. ofc the bright orion and lagoon nebulae as well. i never got into the 'star splitting' stuff.

[frosty shard]

I was out at a Bortle 4 site last night, and I actually managed to spot the honse haed galaxy with the 8" RC and SV240!

[vapid patio]

my bad backyard seeing

[harsh matrix]

Fu

[vapid patio]

send your scope out to me "trust"

[vapid patio]

like look at this @harsh matrix 2s exp i dug up

[harsh matrix]

2 seconds??!? 😭

[vapid patio]

yeahhhhhhhh idk how but aye somehow

[harsh matrix]

i mean in all fairness

my 5 second test shots for framing were showing a ton

[vapid patio]

let me see

[harsh matrix]

those sorts of skies are really hard to be exhausted of.

[harsh matrix]

i didnt move any over

i guess i can move one over

[vapid patio]

for real. i love just looking up you can reallllly see the milkyway

[vapid patio]

hehe

[harsh matrix]

my redcat photobombed

completely raw stf

[vapid patio]

woooow not bad

you can see RHO opchoohoo

[harsh matrix]

yuppers

my DSLR is a very noisy one too

it's 14 years old

[vapid patio]

a unit of a camera

what camera

[harsh matrix]

Canon 600D

and i got it full spectrum modded

i had no UV/IR cut filter for these 2 nights since it doesnt fit with my 24 mm lens which i used for these shots

my other option, a 75-300 mm, is too cropped in for what i wanted to do but it would enable me to use the clip in uv/ir cut filter i have

so i gotta cope with some pretty gnarly stars

at the minimum, i got the galaxy. That's really all i cared about

[frosty shard]

New guidescope just dropped

Just to be clear. I haven't actually dropped it

[oblique sun]

aw

why not

[analog portal]

I suppose that's a competitor to the Evoguide 50. I'll stick with my goofy 60mm f/4 achro and fma180

[frosty shard]

But better – you can stick a diagonal and eyepiece in it too

[analog portal]

I have 25x70 binos that are better

280mm focal length, more aperture. not ed though, but who cares for visual at that wide a field?

and i can use both eyes lol

[thorny path]

Clear skies Saturday

[analog portal]

i have a shot tonight, that's about it. not much to do with it.

[frosty shard]

I got the Askar since it really is the maximum utility I could possibly achieve:

• The primary reason I got it is because my Orion 8x50 has poor eye relief and fixed crosshairs, so it's not a great experience (as in it's scratched my glasses by now).
• I find myself using my finder as a rich field telescope relatively often, so it's nice to be able to swap eyepieces.
• It can still double as a guidescope or wide field imaging scope (once I pick up the EvoFF reducer/flattener).
  I probably would have been served better with a pair of binoculars as a visual observer, but this thing can do pretty much anything I need it to.

I'll probably pick up some proper binos in the near future

[analog portal]

I can only use my binos if my contacts are in 😅 pretty much all visual has to be done this way. my eyes aren't the same, and i can never focus the binos w/o contacts (or glasses, but that's rough).

[frosty shard]

I've gone to great lengths to ensure I have long eye relief visual equipment everywhere I possibly can

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix

WOOHOOO

LETS GOOOO

[frosty shard]

Alright since my guide cam is finally coming in...what should I image first? I'm going to be stuck with a stock DSLR for the moment

I'm thinking of doing M65 and M66

[harsh matrix]

DO IT

or M81 and M82

btw the redcat shot this

[frosty shard]

This seems to frame pretty nicely

[harsh matrix]

love the scope camera combo

[harsh matrix]

VERY in my humble opinion

[frosty shard]

Actually I just realized I have to shoot these

I'm planning on sending my first astrophoto with the RC to my friend in San Diego for her wedding

When I was in San Diego with my 8" SCT, M65/66 was my go-to deep-sky object of the spring

Lots of good memories

[harsh matrix]

then do it for sure

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard did your Xena-M ship yet?

[vapid patio]

a friend got this with my data

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1332071848241922240/1332796644403445911/Mid_processing.png?ex=67ee3ada&is=67ece95a&hm=06a035c874abb50adce78b4b8b86dc740a22667e9bd24d1b0564f3c956cc377d&=&width=854&height=856

[vapid patio]

ehh???

[frosty shard]

Yes finally

[analog portal]

are those the colors you were aiming for?

[vapid patio]

not sure

its what i got though haha'

[analog portal]

lmao

[vapid patio]

its 12hr now

[analog portal]

your friend nuked the green out of that process, making everything blue/gold/orange instead of red and some magenta/purple

[vapid patio]

oh on the reedcat image?

[analog portal]

yours, i dunno what you did to get that, maybe add some blue/green saturation in curves lol?

[analog portal]

yeah this one

[vapid patio]

yeah yeah he knew that he said he will redo it '"never has"

[vapid patio]

for my rc image???

[analog portal]

sounds like the friends i loaned money to

yeah, that pastel looking result is bizzarre

i guess it is nearly Easter though 😉

[vapid patio]

haha yeahhhhhhhhh

you want it??

12hr hehe

going for 20 ATLEAST

[analog portal]

sure give it to me baby, uh huh uh huh

https://tenor.com/view/pretty-fly-for-a-white-guy-the-offspring-all-the-girlies-say-uno-dos-tres-quatro-cinco-cinco-seis-gif-23272870

[vapid patio]

wrong discord for that 😭

https://media.giphy.com/media/EqQMru2LefApc7GhIv/giphy-downsized-large.gif

[analog portal]

oh snap

that's a bbg

[vapid patio]

that better?

color wise dont look at background

[analog portal]

not by much, if at all

[vapid patio]

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18bsoM3HgbjZ9K6DelGh9Rm5S9RLaO0eT?usp=drive_link

ight well you try loser smh

[analog portal]

lol

i think i've seen this before

i remember the "i cropped it"

[vapid patio]

lol yeah i use same folder for everything

[analog portal]

which is the final stack?

[vapid patio]

should be newsest labeled one

the one that says 180

[analog portal]

i found a whirlpool

got it, thanks 🙂

[vapid patio]

lol thats in there too

[analog portal]

looks really clean. i think this is going to rock

[undone sedge]

@harsh matrix quick, tell me my seeing is too bad for an 8” rc for galaxy season next year

[analog portal]

Ah don't worry about it. Go hard or go home. 2x drizzle your data, sharpen the shit out of it, then resample it down again.

[undone sedge]

could do reduced

hmmm… tempting…

especially since i’d just need to get the RC, reducer, and probably a counterweight bar + counterweight for one of my mounts

…i think the am-5 should handle it…

i’ll ponder.

[undone sedge]

alright fine i’ll get an 8” carbonstar with the reducer

(soon™️)

[analog portal]

I'm going with this. 😅 I should walk away before I spend hours tweaking over this stuff.

[undone sedge]

annnd never mind, that reducer isn’t gonna work too well with a .67 reducer

[analog portal]

what mean?

[undone sedge]

mega typo

my camera isn’t gonna work too well with the .67 reducer

[analog portal]

ah

you have some sort of imx585 jobbie?

disregard that stupidity

i'm gonna go eat sunchips and watch tv. ciao

[undone sedge]

imx571

[vapid patio]

aaaaaahhhh ok yeah i get it

[harsh matrix]

No

Get one and shoot reduced

It'll be faster than your SVX's

even on my worst nights of seeing, i came out with solid image with more detail than i would have with a smaller scope

i dont think seeing is going to be as limiting as you'd expect it to be.

[harsh matrix]

[harsh matrix]

but are/were your galaxies this sharp?

[undone sedge]

small, itty bitty problem
my camera won’t work with the reducer

[harsh matrix]

I think the worst parts about the image dont have anything to do with the sharpness or detail lmao. Your setup is carrying it's weight very well. Looks like you could have a small light leak and you keep getting a magenta bias.

since youre shooting OSC, dont do a full 1.00 on SCNR, do like 0.5 instead

and worst case scenario, you can target any excess green with curves or color masking.

that way you can avoid that large color balance offset that keep happening

[harsh matrix]

wdym?

the apertura reducer?

[undone sedge]

yeah
my sensor is too big i think

[harsh matrix]

nope

example images on HPS with imx571 images shot with the reducer too

[undone sedge]

hrm

[harsh matrix]

im planning on getting a 571 specifically to use with my RC

your corners probably wont be 100% perfect if your collimation is slightly off but im not too sure

[undone sedge]

once you get the 571 let me know how stuff looks

[harsh matrix]

i havent tested my own DSLR on it yet but ive gone around AB and looked at everyone who uses a 571 with the RC's

i havent seen any serious flaws with the combo, if any.

the 8" RC is more likely to support it well over the 6"

[undone sedge]

and if you get the 8” i’d love to borrow your 6” just to do some testing with it, wouldn’t keep it

[harsh matrix]

it's not if, it's when

[undone sedge]

i have no intentions of having a 6” reflector

[harsh matrix]

and tax return day is coming fast

[undone sedge]

except for testing

[harsh matrix]

[undone sedge]

but yeah its either an 8" RC or i get a TS-optics f/5 newt shipped over from europa

can you uncouple the mirror from the apertura rcs?

[harsh matrix]

btw i keeping the reducer and stuff when i get the 8"

[undone sedge]

idrc ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[harsh matrix]

a guy on CN was making deouplers for the RC's

[undone sedge]

since the 6" works less-well with the imx571 i'd prolly test it native

[harsh matrix]

he probably can make one for you if you inqure

[undone sedge]

oh nice

[harsh matrix]

well im only assuming it works less well

[undone sedge]

i'd probably look into upgrading the focuser and doing that decoupling

[harsh matrix]

i dont know for sure atm

[undone sedge]

touche

[harsh matrix]

mostly because of the size of the mirrors

but the secondary is fuqing huge

it probably can handle APS-C unironically

[harsh matrix]

when i get the 8" there's several upgrades ill have to make to the OTA and focuser to be very happy with it

there's some "bugs" to fix with the 6" that im just not necessarily sure i want to invest the money to fix quite yet.

[undone sedge]

yeah

especially if you're upgrading to the 8"

[harsh matrix]

mostly because i want the 8" and ive always planned to sell the 6

[undone sedge]

im not worried about timeline here since I'd really like to use it for galaxy season

nebulae can be handled by the svx rigs no problem

but i'll hold off on final decisions for when you get an imx571 + 8" with reducer

[harsh matrix]

Thats gonna be a while, just be aware.

[undone sedge]

not an issue, the double svx rig will probably be perfect for a while

id just love more reach for galaxies

(714mm fl copium)

[vapid patio]

Light leak?

I dont see any

[harsh matrix]

It's just that your background isn't very even, that could be because your DBE wasn't as good as it could have been

Rob's attempt at your data doesn't show any signs of one so I might be mistaken.

You'd be extremely lucky if that's the case.

[vapid patio]

Never seen it on any other photos

Look at my link i sent

[vapid patio]

DONT SCARE ME

Oh i know why

I made a weird mask

[harsh matrix]

BRUH

Alright then you a lucky mofofo then

[vapid patio]

You had a problem with light leak?

[analog portal]

https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/ChrSprPkPAkey.html#seeing

this seeing forecast uses 11-14" aperture equipment as a guide

[runic violet]

It does not I can show you the results

You should not trust images in the age of blurx

[analog portal]

dunno what other apps/sites use, but smaller scopes are less impacted i think, looking through less of a swath of atmosphere

[runic violet]

There's no reason to anyways because the starizona apex 0.65x is almost perfect

And it does actual field flattening unlike the 0.67x

[analog portal]

the ccdt67 keeps the field flat also

[runic violet]

It's just a reducer it does not flatten

When you use it you're relying on the inherent flatness of the RC

[analog portal]

that would explain the operative word "keeps" in my statement.

[runic violet]

I should also say I have the results for the ccdt67 with imx571 osc and the 6" RC

Which is better than the 8" but still a bit meh

[harsh matrix]

Correct

[runic violet]

It was good enough for the lunar eclipse I failed to image but I wouldn't use it for dso myself

[harsh matrix]

The images I've seen with an APS-C on an RC aren't bad at all as far as flatness goes. Only the extreme edges had some elongation.

Nothing totally unacceptable imo.

[runic violet]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/247347265226801153/1325715128410308629/image.png?ex=67a8f62d&is=67a7a4ad&hm=b2955ab8cf4c7fa59295073d0a09367f944ecf4960bdb5fb40eb4116e83197a3&=&format=webp&quality=lossless&width=963&height=931

This is the Apex

[runic violet]

RC native?

[harsh matrix]

It may have been but I think it was reduced

I don't remember now

Been too long

[harsh matrix]

Thats excellent though as far as flatness.

[runic violet]

That's important because rc native is much more lenient for obvious reasons

Either way I would not consider the 0.67x for anything larger than the 533

Cause the apex exists

Also secondary point: the RC6/8 becomes mildly unusable with imx571 mono due to the sheer weight bringing the decoupling issue without the focuser tilt adapter

That can remedy it a bit but you will constantly struggle with changes in altitude

Of course if you fix that problem then it works just fine

[analog portal]

what do you mean by "decoupling issue"

[runic violet]

The focuser is attached to the primary mirror on GSO closed tube RCs

So if you have significant weight/fov you can start getting miscollimation that's altitude dependent

Basically mirror flop

[analog portal]

ahh.

[runic violet]

You need to either get a truss tube RC that has no such weakness (10"+)

Get someone to machine you a decoupling adapter

Buy an existing decoupled RC on the used market

[analog portal]

i get that with my player one artemis-m pro and filter wheel 😦

[runic violet]

get a tilt adapter and accept the consequences

Or just use a small light camera like the asi533 where it's not that apparent

Less weight, less fov

[harsh matrix]

The 10" also have problems with the stability of the optics but it's an entirely different set of issues

Iirc they have legit mirror flop and not weight induced "flop"

[runic violet]

Wdym

[harsh matrix]

No matter what you get, there's always going to be a trade off

[runic violet]

10" closed tube or 10" truss

I mean some issues are worse than others

The decoupling thing basically costs $500 to fix

Fwiw I have a decoupled 10" closed tube and it's the best imaging instrument I have

[harsh matrix]

I might br thinking the closed tube mb

The truss tubes do come with focusers which are all total garbage

You have to budget one of those in no matter which one you pick.

[runic violet]

all of these focusers are the same and they're all pretty garbage

you can kind of get them to work for 533 osc but its not optimal

[harsh matrix]

The carbonstar one is slightly better than the rest though I suspect it's also not very good.

And it has bad light leak problems.

[runic violet]

it looks exactly the same

i don't see how its better

they've added some curves to the 1.25" to 2" adapter but that's about it

oh and the knobs are different

but this is the "linear bearing" design

[vapid patio]

like this?

@analog portal

[analog portal]

very much improved

[thorny path]

For getting auto focus offsets with an OAG. Should I turn off guiding ?

[harsh matrix]

Carbonstar RC

Not newt

It's different on the RC.

[harsh matrix]

BlurX did something really bad to the details but the colors are fantastic and the background is great.

[vapid patio]

I can fix

[harsh matrix]

Do it

[runic violet]

doesn't matter

same focuser

[harsh matrix]

Yes

[harsh matrix]

I was under the impression that they were the same, however, the tensioner screw on the bottom is not the same at all.

And that's where the main difference is.

[runic violet]

huh

[harsh matrix]

Mine and @thorny path focusers have an Allen head screw as well as the grippy bit.

So you can use an Allen head wrench to get extra torque on the screw allowing for better bite and weight handling.

Those marketing pictures have the wrong iteration on them I strongly believe.

You can see how large the head of the tensioner screw is and how it has a divot in the top.

[runic violet]

better pictures

[harsh matrix]

The head in the marketing pictures don't have this for some reason.

[harsh matrix]

Thats not the linear bearing crayford though.

Neither of those are the linear bearing crayford these come with stock.

I'm considering getting one of them in the future if they're better than the stock one but i don't see a huge reason atm.

[runic violet]

these are the "upgrades" but they're not actual upgrades

[harsh matrix]

Point is, the stock linear bearing crayford with the upgraded tensioner screw is very good at handling extra weight.

Mine doesn't slip at all with a full mono rig + oag on it.

And as far as I can tell, there's no play in it whatsoever.

I tried to get it to flex or move with my hands, with all of my strength, and couldn't get it to budge.

[runic violet]

you re talking about these tensioners?

the 3x3 grid

[harsh matrix]

No

Thats completely different

[runic violet]

i don't see how

[harsh matrix]

I'm not home atm so I can't send a picture myself.

I'll see if i can find one

[runic violet]

are you talking about how the screw itself looks?

because that's irrelevant

there seems to be two types of GSO focusers and I wasn't aware of the type that doesn't have tensioners

I remember the 3x3 grid

[harsh matrix]

Holy fuq i never noticed

The marketing pictures are all wrong

[runic violet]

that's the confusion here

[harsh matrix]

No i mean how it functions

[runic violet]

i don't see how this is different from what you probably have

this is the "old" RC focuser

i wouldn't expect them to change from it

it has the ability to tension to be semi-usable on certain setups

[harsh matrix]

They did

This is what it looks like now.

There's a little Allen head screw inside the tensioner which you can use to get extra torque and it removes risk of slippage for moderately heavy mono systems.

I don't have a 571 mono or one of those 6200MMs to test it with a very heavy camera but I do have a fully loaded 7x2 AFW with a large OAG and my 533 MM and it handles the weight incredibly well.

[runic violet]

you're telling me you're just tightening the lock screw even more

that's the difference?

i thought you were talking about the actual tensioners

so it is the same focuser as the carbonstar newtonian but with an allen screw

actually no that photo is a newtonian

[harsh matrix]

It's the carbonstar 150 newt, same focuser as on the RC, just a different base plate.

[harsh matrix]

The difference is like I keep saying, you get more torque by using an Allen wrench, therefore you remove the risk of slippage, and you get more milage out of the stock focuser.

Apertura knew the stock GSO focusers were a problem so they added that upgraded torque screw to mitigate or entirely eliminate the issue.

[runic violet]

it doesn't really matter because you can buy an allen screw for a few bucks

the focuser seems to have gotten worse actually because there's less tension control, but maybe they were unnecessary

tightening the lock screw has come to the mind of everyone who had that focuser and usually doesn't end up meaning a lot but if it works for you that's good

[runic violet]

you were saying differently

[runic violet]

i.e. the usual end result of doing so is that you get uneven movement that can end up jamming, because the other tension screws need adjustment first

[harsh matrix]

No the screw on the top is a lock screw

There's a single tensioner screw on this focuser and it's that Allen head one.

Thats the entire point.

[runic violet]

what are these

[harsh matrix]

The stock GSO focusers are deemed garbage because they slipped with even moderately sized payloads under the finger tight tension you were allowed with just that adjustment.

[harsh matrix]

Screw holes for an EAF

There's nothing in them.

The rest of the screws hold the assembly together.

[runic violet]

Those used to have screws in them

¯_(ツ)_/¯

idk if you want to check

[runic violet]

yes because you couldn't tighten them without jamming (or what was really needed, more careful adjustment)

getting screws isn't really an obstacle

[harsh matrix]

I can't check rn

But jamming with this focuser isn't a risk unless you're sticking stuff down around the tube on the inside.

[runic violet]

jamming would happen due to unevenness between the rail and the shaft, which can happen due to uneven force or misalignment

if your focuser is working that means you don't have that problem

[harsh matrix]

Idk if this is relevant but the drawtube moves freely with that torque screw removed.

So if there are screws in there, idk what they're doing.

Cause they ain't holding the drawtube in place.

There's quite literally no tension on it with that screw gone.

[runic violet]

yeah cause that's not what they do if they're even in there

since its not clear to me how these newers focusers work anymore this is what it looks like on the SW focuser

lock on the top, tension in the middle

i think it might be a terminology issue because the "tension" screws are putting the shaft in tension not the rail

you can call them adjustment or parallelizing screws

[harsh matrix]

Thats not at all how this focuser is laid out.

[runic violet]

yes its a different focuser

[harsh matrix]

It has changed significantly from there.

[runic violet]

this is SW not GSO

this one just has labels, can't find one that labels the GSO

[harsh matrix]

This is all the manual says, and again, the tensioner is the wrong screw.

Looks like the same knob as the ones for the compression ring.

[runic violet]

that really doesn't matter its just a m4 screw

if you encounter such a focuser you can just plop a m4 allen in it

[harsh matrix]

If it's manufactured in a manner where it won't jam like youre saying they do, and it doesn't already come with on you can torque down with a screwdriver/Allen head wrench, you could I suppose.

If a caveman like me can't make it jam with the tensioner, I don't think this particular focuser jams like the original GSO variant it's modeled after.

Thats how they want you to install the EAF bracket

There's no warning about screws you shouldn't touch on either side of the tensioner like you'd expect if there were screws there.

[runic violet]

they would be set screws and usually wouldn't matter, but I'm getting the impression there is no adjustment there and only at the top of the focuser

[harsh matrix]

If by adjustment, you mean the ability to lock it down, that is correct.

It's an incredibly simplistic design

[runic violet]

Not lock it down, adjust the shaft

[harsh matrix]

O there's nothing at the top of the focuser.

It has 2 guide blocks on both sides of the rail to keep it in line, and just that single tensioner screw as far as I can tell.

[runic violet]

[harsh matrix]

https://youtu.be/B6UipLHfMZQ?si=aMcTWu5LUWfCbXC5

This guy tears it down completely

But i think he over tensioned that knob.

The manual says to do a quarter turn of tension, after you get it finger tight, with an Allen wrench

Didn't even realize it said that.

I've been doing a quarter turn this whole time because it works great

[harsh matrix]

Yeah this one doesn't have roller bearings or anything up there.

I didn't realize you were talking about those deals, normally there are bearings or something there if you see that on a focuser.

[harsh matrix]

Doesn't look much better tbh 😭

Are you still applying blurx after desnoising? At any stage?

Maybe even running it twice?

[ripe crystal]

strange al

[harsh matrix]

Yes @runic violet there's nothing in these holes, they're just to mount the EAF bracket.

Side and top down

[vapid patio]

IT WAS BLURX AT 13

[vapid patio]

Yes I did

After denoise

Only ran it once

[vapid patio]

Ohhhhhh

That's whyyy

[analog portal]

I run noisex, blurx, add some noise back, background neutralization, denoise again, blurx again. by the time i get done* processing my owl nebula image it looks like messier 63

[harsh matrix]

yes

running it after any kind of denoising at all makes it hallucinate

it's meant to be used once, before you do any denoising, and before you do any stretching

finally just pulled the trigger on the Xena M

[ripe crystal]

:(

You wont guide on noise anymore….

[harsh matrix]

lol i fuqing hope not

part of the issue is my bortle 8/9 light pollution but there's nothing i can do about that 💀

[ripe crystal]

Bigger scope

Bigger mount

Bigger cam

BIGGER

Trust

[vapid patio]

OK, yeah will do

[vapid patio]

8/9???

can you even see the moon? 😭

[harsh matrix]

Yes lol

I can only see 3 stars in the little dipper here

Vs being able to see all 7 with direct vision in bortle 3

[analog portal]

it's hard for me to see that in my b6 sky, ofc i'm usually not wearing my glasses

[vapid patio]

You guys make me feel lucky

[ripe crystal]

The clouds are as bright as the moon man

Its crazy

And there is this skyscraper that emits a green beam of light into the sky

Makes northern lights when its cloudy or bad transparency

I love my b9 sky

[harsh matrix]

you should

[harsh matrix]

sometimes brighter

sometimes at like 3 or 4 am i look outside and wonder if the sun is already out

theyre so bright

[analog portal]

when there's low cloud cover here, you could be outside during a new moon and think it's a full moon out due to the city glow reflecting back down.

[undone sedge]

reason #1 i will never, ever move to a city if i have anything to say about it

[harsh matrix]

you should move to one

it's so much fun

and the convenience is so worth it

[undone sedge]

…nah, i’m good…

[harsh matrix]

imagine not wanting to suffer just to do what you enjoy

[frosty shard]

Mine arrived today

[harsh matrix]

I dislike you greatly right now

when do you think you will get to use it?

I ordered it but it's not going to ship until the 7th at least

cause theyre on holiday

[frosty shard]

maybe this weekend, but I gotta figure out how I'm supposed to do astrophotography with my rig

[harsh matrix]

https://tenor.com/view/just-do-it-shia-la-beouf-do-it-gif-4531935

[frosty shard]

I need to use my tablet for controlling everything (I have a Surface)

I don't have a dedicated control PC for my rig yet

[frosty shard]

First light for the Askar: this was a handheld shot with my DSLR

[harsh matrix]

Handheld?!?!

[frosty shard]

Yup. Took a lot of patience and trial and error with focusing

But I am too tired to set up my rig tonight

I just realized, once my reticle eyepiece gets in, I am totally gonna use my RC as a guidescope and manually guide some subs with the Askar

[harsh matrix]

HUH 😭

[frosty shard]

*I'll be taking some subs with the Askar

The only thing I don't have is the flattener, but I can still image without it lol

[brisk swift]

askar?

Which one

[frosty shard]

52mm Super ED guidescope

[brisk swift]

Ah

[frosty shard]

249 mm focal length

[brisk swift]

its basically a redcat

[frosty shard]

Not as-is, but it'll be a cheapcat once I add the field flattener

It's extremely convenient that the Askar appears to have the same optical prescription as the Evoguide 50ED

so the Starizona EvoFF field flattener works for both

I'd wager the Sky-Watcher flattener would also work

[brisk swift]

I was kiddin

[frosty shard]

Well I do plan to seriously image with it once I get the flattener in

[brisk swift]

it's a doublet

its gonna have CA

[frosty shard]

With SD glass it'll probably be fine

Also that's why I have my RC

[harsh matrix]

TRUE

for those perfect, tasty, excellently corrected images

[frosty shard]

Why have chromatic aberration when you could just...not

[harsh matrix]

YUP

[frosty shard]

In all seriousness, SD doublets can achieve good color correction on par with apos. They're just restricted to only bringing two colors into perfect focus

[harsh matrix]

theyre great for learning AP

[frosty shard]

I wouldn't do near IR or UV imaging with it, but it's likely good enough for getting the same kinds of images you could get from a RedCat or SQA55

[brisk swift]

SQA55 has 1 SD and 1 ED

[ripe crystal]

Buy from Astronomy Plus 😼

[analog portal]

I noticed a significant difference between my WO Z61 doublet and the AT80 (and 115) EDT when it came to star size and CA

[undone sedge]

oh yeah

the jump between my z61 & svx102 was immediate

[analog portal]

did your z61 have weird star shapes? like, not totally round but almost like octagons?

[undone sedge]

sorta

somewhat square

[analog portal]

i often used mine with an imx183 and had similar star

s*

[undone sedge]

i used mine with a canon t7i & a 533

[undone sedge]

this was with the 533

[undone sedge]

oh
pinched optics iirc

that's a really bad case of starfish stars

my pinched optics before i fixed it

[analog portal]

here's a bright one as well

it was a fun learning experience, my first apo scope.

[undone sedge]

yeah

it was very nice when i upgraded to my current triplet

[analog portal]

I bought this dang RC8 for galaxy season, and last year it was almost all rain/clouds and this year so far it's the same. damnit!

[undone sedge]

i've only gotten my m81/m82 image out so far

it's been too cloudy & rainy

[analog portal]

last year all i got was the needle galaxy 😐

[undone sedge]

need to get my m63 lum capture done before the semester ends so i dont need to cope with lum in B6

[analog portal]

i did try the leo triplit with my newt, but only action the rc got was in may 😅

[undone sedge]

yeah, im interested to see how my may is gonna pan out since i'll likely be in b6 with half the sky behind my house, so no virgo

[analog portal]

virgo is tough for me, the nothern half of my east->west is in b6, southern half is facing b7 light dome

[harsh matrix]

guys help

there's too many galaxies in my m81 m82 data

[undone sedge]

yeah, if i can i may go up to my b4 location for a few days to get a short m104 project done

thankfully towards the end of the month and throughout the summer i'll be working the observatory again & doing research so i'll likely do a lot of my photography from up there in the summer in b4 with all of the sky

[harsh matrix]

ive counted like 5 or 6 large background clusters at this point

[undone sedge]

there's one pretty large cluster under m81

[harsh matrix]

there's 2 huge ones above M82

[undone sedge]

er - m82

excuse me

[analog portal]

I just got done reprocessing that needle data. 5h45m worth.

[harsh matrix]

very sharp

[undone sedge]

sharp as a....

as a...

as a needle

i'll take my leave

[analog portal]

i had to bx each filter before combining due to the star spikes not aligning properly. dunno if it was the stuff @runic violet was talking about with the focuser/primary or something else.

[runic violet]

You should post your raw images if you want a diagnosis

[analog portal]

dump a link here?

[runic violet]

A screenshot of the issue and of the corners would suffice

[harsh matrix]

there's like 3 here actually

[analog portal]

kk

[harsh matrix]

no noise reduction

10 large clusters

and those were just the ones i masked out so starx wouldnt eat them

[harsh matrix]

are you shooting in mono?

[analog portal]

yeah

[harsh matrix]

are you doing blurx correct only on each channel individually?

[analog portal]

the b/g filters line up, and the red and lum line up. each was done on different sides of the pier

[analog portal]

yeah when i processed it to fix the issue.

[harsh matrix]

running blurX on correct only on the individual channels can cause that

were they misaligned before doing any blurX?

[analog portal]

oh no, i didn't read that properly, it wasn't in correct-only when i ran it. i sharpened each filter's stack before combining

yeah the last two screenshots are just the integrated rgb stacks combined, no other processing

[harsh matrix]

it's still going to result in that since you're still deconvolving each individually

[analog portal]

well, histogram stretch ...

[harsh matrix]

these ones?

[analog portal]

yeah

[harsh matrix]

o

[analog portal]

individually brought this result

[harsh matrix]

nvm then guess thats just fuqed

that's thanks to GSO's brilliant idea to couple the primary mirror to the focuser

[analog portal]

so the part on the back of the rc where i screw the focuser on is physically attached to the primary?

[undone sedge]

such a stupid idea

[harsh matrix]

idk about physically but the 2 are connected in some way

i havent actually seen the assembly yet so i cant say for sure

[oblique sun]

how bad is it cause i wanna buy one

[harsh matrix]

[harsh matrix]

not bad if you use a light OSC setup with a small camera sensor

a big, heavy, bulky mono setup will be a problem

[oblique sun]

I do but i want to upgrade eventually

with mono 533 and filter wheel

[harsh matrix]

i have a mono 533 and a fully loaded 7x2 AFW

it doesnt seem to be an issue for me at least

but people with bigger camera sensors struggle more

[analog portal]

i am going to be using my 533mc for the time being anyway for galaxy season.

[frosty shard]

Also if you plan to use your RC for visual, I haven't encountered any problems related to the focuser. I've used heavy diagonals and eyepieces with mine

[oblique sun]

no plans on using it for visual

i have a 150mm collapsible newt for that

actually maybe I'll use it on the planets since higher fl

[runic violet]

why is it blue and orange

did you scnr it

anyways the whole focuser slop thing has nothing to do with color issues

that's imaging/processing technique

[runic violet]

that's what barlows are for, better off with the newt there

[oblique sun]

why's the rc worse?

CENTRAL OBSTRUCTION?

oops caps

[runic violet]

CO is quite bad for planetary visually

[runic violet]

anyways you are supposed to loop RGB to maintain cohesion between the channels and avoid changes in conditions/seeing from affecting one channel differently

since I image at high FL I loop RGB over and over again, people do more coarse loops at lower FLs

its quite a common issue with people's data

[analog portal]

well not quite scnr, but when playing with curves i dialed the green back too hard. basically the same result. 😅

[runic violet]

uh.. don't

[analog portal]

i had never considered looping. i figured to shoot blue at zenith and red away from the light pollution.

[runic violet]

Yeah that doesn't really work

you're deliberately bloating one channel more so getting channel mismatch is guaranteed

coarse mono rgb looping should be standard practice, and fine looping is basically required for high FL work

[analog portal]

i will keep that in mind for sure. so is it single exposures in a loop or a couple at a time?

[runic violet]

do you use nina

[analog portal]

yeah

[runic violet]

just 3x L smart exposures than 1x r, 1x g, 1xb on loop

the number of L exposures can vary depending on your preference/target

if i do 2-3 min exposures that's basically looping every 12-18 minutes

and you only dither after a loop not during a loop

[analog portal]

thanks for this advice 🙂 i'm going to be doing this from now on with mono rbg imaging.

[runic violet]

what is the setup anyways

[analog portal]

that was done with my 8" rc + artemis-m pro and 36mm antlia lrgb. off-axis guiding.

[runic violet]

no reducer?

no flattener?

bin 1x1 or 2x2

[analog portal]

bin2, i believe i did have a flattener in at that time

[runic violet]

the 2" TS 1x flattener or something

[analog portal]

yeah i think that's the one

i took it out after i realized i didn't really need it with the sensor size

yeah it is the "TS Optics 2" corrector for GSO Ritchey-Chrétiens" the scope itself is a carbon fiber TPO one, basically GSO i guess. i have a moonlite focuser on it, but an undersized one. 2" CS version.

[runic violet]

is there a reason you prefer 2x2 at native over getting a reducer to go 1x1

[analog portal]

i had the ccdt67 and was using it for a while. i really don't like the imx492 in bin1. it might work if i had longer integration, but with the sparse time i get, i really have to stretch it hard in bin1 and you can see some banding.

i should say my imx492

[runic violet]

ah

and you use darks and dark flats and flats

[analog portal]

yeah

i have antlias 7nm sho filters, my first set. they have a wierd pattern to them that shows up in flats/lights. i dunno if that's normal or if i got a bad batch lol. i never bothered to find out. usually it calibrates out just fine. lemme see if i can find an example.

the s2 has a similar pattern

[runic violet]

this is a well known issue, its what the 294 is known for

spectral nonuniformity

not all the pixels have the same response

[runic violet]

it becomes very apparent with narrowband

[analog portal]

interesting. these are the sort of things i wish i knew before buying it 😂

[runic violet]

its not a bad camera it works okay with careful calibration and sufficient integration

but the imx571 is better

since you have 36mm filters already you could just replace it eventually

but with imx571 fov+weight and reduction the RC flop might start to be an issue

[analog portal]

i bought this as a compromise to the imx571. i had an asi183mc pro and got this artemis-m. it's a little heavier than zwo's model. i knew about the dark flats and amp glow, those aren't a big deal. the nonuniformity though is new to me.

i picked up a 533mc pro and was thinking of biding time with a 533mm pro or being patient and getting the imx571mm 😅 i mean i do have three scopes, technically.

[runic violet]

dark flats are necessary because of the nonuniformity thing

[analog portal]

it's coming back to me now. i was aware of the short exposures causing nonuniformity, making the flats/darkflats a little longer in exposure length for good calibration. i didn't know it also impacted long exposures.

i've seen some really good stuff done with this sensor in bin1. i think thomas did a lot with his redcat this way.

[runic violet]

these issues are a far cry from what the asi1600 was like

or the unholy 183mm

or see see dees

[analog portal]

doesn't the asi071 have some strange issues as well?

[runic violet]

or the god forsaken 294mc

maybe, never used it

[analog portal]

whatever happened to thomas anyway? nm, i see he's still here

[oblique sun]

whats bad about it

planets are super bright its not like its bad there

[harsh matrix]

Something about how it affects the airy disk

I said it's not really relevant for photography but that got shot down

[runic violet]

CO means lower contrast

[runic violet]

does it affect visual more than photography, yes

is it irrelevant for photography, no

[harsh matrix]

Looks more like lower clarity rather than worse contrast to my eye.

[runic violet]

depends on what you mean by those words

I use the words resolution, contrast, and sharpness to describe what's going on

resolution is set by aperture

contrast is the well contrast at low spatial frequencies