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  #1  
Old 01-04-2017, 10:56 PM
Fifth Element (Ushi)
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Orion Starshoot 5mp Imager - please help

Hey Skygazers,

I am a total rookie in astronomy. I joined in 2010, but have only really started down the rabbit hole, so exciting its ridiculous.

I am currently using and Orion Astroview 120st with a 2.5 Barlow and I have a 25, 10, 6 and 4mm eyepieces. Also a neutral and blue filter.

I just picked up the Orion Starshoot 5mp camera today from another Ice in Space user(thanks John) and its working which is great.
My problem is that I can see Jupiter through my eyepiece, I can see the bands and the moons but as soon as I attach the camera, the colour of Jupiter changes to this yellowish circle...you would think I was looking at the sun
I tried adjusting colours, saturation and every other dial but the image does not refine. Also I couldnt actually take a photo.
John did warn me that it would take a while to work it all out, feeling a bit lost really.
Honestly any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys xx
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Old 01-04-2017, 11:42 PM
Mickoid (Michael)
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Don't know much about CCD imaging but are you just replacing the camera after removing the eyepiece without refocusing? I think you would have to move the focuser to a different position than where it was for the eyepiece to get Jupiter in focus when viewed on your laptop.
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Old 02-04-2017, 11:24 AM
Fifth Element (Ushi)
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Thanks for that, I think I may have gotten distracted by everything else and not re adjusted the focus, as you suggested...I will try again
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Old 02-04-2017, 11:38 AM
spiezzy
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Hi Ushi
yes Michael is correct once you have Jupiter in you Eyepiece and replace it with the camera you must refocus the image and maybe fiddle with the Gain and brightness of the camera controls to get the image good have another go at it takes a lot of practice to get it right but you will get there :thum bsup:
cheers Pete
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Old 02-04-2017, 12:19 PM
Fifth Element (Ushi)
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Thanks Pete, really appreciate the support xx cloudy skies tonight but I thought id fiddle with it in the daytime to familiarise myself with the system. I cant seem to figure out the actual taking of an image, but Im about to set up and try again. have u used a ccd imager at all?

Thanks again,
Ushi
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Old 02-04-2017, 08:50 PM
Fifth Element (Ushi)
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Update, after a couple hours of staring at a computer screen and trying different settings, I now have a photo and video of some palm trees I worked out the ccd system and im rather pleased with myself, so thanks guys xx hopefully we get some clear skies this weekend, cant wait to try it out
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Old 04-04-2017, 07:27 AM
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sil (Steve)
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Yes, imaging is a steep learning curve and not initially intuitive. Having photographic experience means nothing and sometimes less than that to help you take a "photo" with a telescope. These small "eyepiece cameras" are nowhere near as good as your eye so taking the eyepiece out and popping the camera in you dont get anywhere near the same detail and colour you see throuhg the eyepiece. plus slight tolerance differences in construction means the camera isn't necessarily seeing what you saw through the eyepiece so you often have to hunt around a little to recenter the planet. Plus as pointed out above, you need to refocus to ensure the sensor is at the focal plane. As the small sensor size in these cameras makes the camera perform like a short eyepiece at around 5mm or less (not sure if there is a correct term for eyepieces around 5mm vs those around 30mm, wideangle and telephoto fit for the numbers but not the optics). So as with an eyepiece size approaching 0mm the magnification is increased and atmospheric conditions (seeing) start to blur the view and even make the target "swim" in the view.

Add to this you are typically never ever pressing a button and taking a photo. Instead you take a video and then process that to an image by using the best hundreds or thousands of still frames from the video. The software supplied with these cameras is often poor too, FireCapture and SharpCap are free alternatives written with astrophotography in mind and well worth getting to grips with one of these and you'll find plenty of people can help with getting things running smooth for you.

I hated the orion planetary camera and its software and gave it away and went with a zwo as an upgrade to my modded Toucam. hopefully your starshoot performs well for you, I dont doubt it will and probably a first step on a downward spiral of Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
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Old 04-04-2017, 09:57 AM
Fifth Element (Ushi)
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Thanks Sil,

Woahh... My brain has just been overloaded and its awesome. Thanks so much.
I have downloaded Registax and haven't had a chance to play around with it as yet. I know what you mean in regards to the clarity when looking through the scope vs with the imager, but compared to trying to align my phone with the eyepiece anything seems better.
I think it will definitely be a steep and time consuming learning curve, but Im really excited.
And yes...definitely already showing symptoms of Gear Acquisition Syndrome...looking at a single/dual axis motor drive at the moment
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  #9  
Old 04-04-2017, 02:10 PM
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sil (Steve)
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A vital hint. Don't delete your video captures because they look swimmy. Keep EVERYTHING you capture, initially you'll get poor results but as you learn and try different programs you'll find ways to VASTLY improve the images using the same data. I learnt the hard way You'll need tons of hard drive space too of course.

Grab yourself PIPP and AutoStakkert! too, both free and will help with different issues. Registax can be tricky to align frames if the target drifts, You can use PIPP to center the target and output uncompressed cropped images with say jupiter only and that will help registax. Autostakkert is similar to registax and can give you a pretty decent sharp planet shot plus it can do great work on surface footage of the sun and moon too. BTW mostly all you get doing planetary is just the planet and tons of black. So recording a region of interest or PIPP cropping to a smaller size helps a lot. lots of megapixels at the camera dont matter, you want lots of frames in a short time (few minutes) to try to not lose possible detail as your target planet rotates. learn and enjoy, dont let initial disappointments put you off, those are normal for everyone.
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