900nc see's first light on Jupiter

[asimov]

The weather gods smiled upon us in SA last night. Hard to rate the seeing, it came & then it went. Perhaps a 5 or 6/10.

I captured these & more using Lesters C8 at my place, then rushed out to his place & we plugged the 900 in my C91/4 & Lesters Meade 14" & got heaps more. Plenty of stacking & processing ahead :doh:

Took at least 2 AVI's to get a feel for the 900's settings, but straight away I realized it's superiority over the 840K....Plenty of gain = less grain than the 840K = less pain! Exactly what I had hoped it would do. :thumbsup: (minimal onion rings but still present on some)

All these images are slightly different; I was playing with gamma & gain as I went.

All C8 images/10FPS/1000 frame captures/1000 frame stacks just to see what I got. Straight out of registax, no processing as yet. :D

[Dennis]

Wow - stunning images with heaps of detail from the C8. Can't wait to see your results from the C9.25 and 14" Meade.

Great job!

Cheers

Dennis

[davidpretorius]

these look great asi, i played with the sharpness control when i changed my 840k into a 900nc and found it to be not helpful for planetary.

this will be the first BIG comparison!

[iceman]

Wow, they're great! Some of these best i've seen from a C8. With more selective stacking and deconvolution, these will be absolute rippers.

Can't wait to see what you got from the 9.25 and 14"er.

[asimov]

Well, I only got one from the C9.25, & that turns out to be a dud. I must of had the focus out slightly or something. I only got one 'cos as you can imagine, when theres a 14" less than a meter away, all you wanna do is plug into that bigger aperture!! ;)

Heres a real quick one from the 14" 100 stacked, taken with the 840K

More to come after I get a couple of hours sleep. :hi:

[h0ughy]

wow stunning! love that detail!

[acropolite]

Excellent detail Asi, goes to show the 8 inch is quite a capable instrument.

[Lester]

Well done mate,:thumbsup:

Looks like the seeing conditions are the fuel that powers the performance. Well processed, glad to see you have got rid of the bright colours. Keep it that way, thanks.:whistle: ;)

[ving]

so you are selling the 9.25 then :P

great images asi. cant wait to see more from the new cam :)

[Robert_T]

These are so good Asi, amazingly so for a C8:eyepop: , absolute rippers with lovely fine detail and stuff-all grain. The c14 shot is another pearler.

Well done!!!

[John K]

Unprocessed you say? Holy cow, great images! and encouraging results on the 900.

Cannot wait for my 900 unit to arrive!

[Lester]

Don't know if I am a help or Hinderance,

But I just had to try and find a bit more colour for the 14" SCT shot.

[davidpretorius]

brings a man to tears, how much fun are you guys having.

that c14 is great!

[matt]

Think you'll find that's not a C14 Davo.

Is a 14" from the rival camp:scared:

[davidpretorius]

that is about the 5th time i have called lester 14" a c14. I must be married with children!!

[asimov]

I'm getting a Celestron sticker to put over the words 'meade'....less offensive to us celestron owners....

[davidpretorius]

:d

[davidpretorius]

:D capital d dave..i mean Dave

[asimov]

:confuse3:

Edit; Identical shots but the 2nd one, colour planes split & LR deconvoluted. The decovolution has also brought out some onions....why can't they just present themselves only at the kitchen table in the evenings like good little onions?

AAAAAAHHH!!!!

re-stack!:mad2:

[davidpretorius]

that is awesome!!!!!

[asimov]

Onions? *sigh*

[iceman]

Wow, the detail in the GRS is amazing. Looks like you've got some white spots in the GRS.

That seeing had to be better than 6/10! Amazing shot, well done.

[Lester]

I can see you are a Celestron man through and through.;)

The C8 shots have more colour and are more pleasing to the eye :eyepop: than the bland Meade SCT 14, where Jupiter looks like a wind swept desert, could be looking at Mars for all I know.:sadeyes:

I can see a bias against Meade comming in here. Think we need a Good Victorian AFL umpire to blow his whistle.:whistle:

But on the other hand I really like what you are doing with the C8 Mate.:thumbsup:

Goes to show that good seeing conditions are more important than aperture. Meade 14" shot at 2-3/10 seeing and Celestron 8" at 7-8/10.:)

[asimov]

Hi Lester. :lol: Nah no bias here; I'd use anything with good optics, the name means nothing.

A good victorian umpire.....Don't make me laugh:rofl:

[davidpretorius]

when are you guys going to venture into optimized colour mode???

http://www.astrosurf.com/astrobond/ebrawe.htm

there is a new update for the 900nc, rob_t is using it. It is still colour, you can go 5 or 10fps, but i find it better than standard mode on the toucams

[matt]

DP

I've dowloaded this pdf for upgrading the Pro II.

Will this serve the same purpose?

I think it's a little easier to understand.

http://home.online.no/~chhauger/Upgrading%20your%20Toucam.pdf

[asimov]

Why bother If I'm getting shots like these? Seeing is king.

[matt]

Coz we want to...

[asimov]

Another one; Trying to get these white dots/swirls/patches in the GRS to show up more.

Very interesting..:confuse3:

[davidpretorius]

that is a nice simple write up. There are two things you can do to your toucam.

1. load macros into the toucam (both 840k & 900nc) to allow for raw colour mode and also optimized colour.
2. convert your 840k into a 900nc, by loading the 900nc binaries into the 840k

Both processes use wcrmac to load the macros or binaries.

Basically you want to
1. copy the 900nc binaries into the directory as stated in your link. This is for converting the 840k into a 900nc
2. unzip the macros (http://astrosurf.com/astrobond/BERaw.zip) into the C:\Progam_Files\TWIRG\WcRmac\macros Or in the path where you installes WcRmac
. This is for allowing either 840k or 900nc to work in raw modes
3. plug your camera in
4. fire up your capture program ie k3ccd or qfocus etc
5. fire up wrcmac
6. BACKUP YOUR CURRENT binaries as per your link above
7-1. Load the binaries if you want to convert the 840k into a 900nc OR/
7-2. Choose the mode you want to work in ie optimised colour or raw colour mode

When changing to optimized colour mode etc, it is important to load the macro / mode and then choose frame rate (maximimum of 5fps for colour raw mode) and then press "restore default settings". you can then play with saturation etc from there!

Hope this helps

[davidpretorius]

are you stuck to that seat yet asi, get up and have a walk around and stop playing with that lovely data!

Another great one!

[iceman]

Indeed it is, but the optimised colour can give you a better shot in both good and bad seeing.

I've been using optimised colour for months now, i'm happy with it.

It's not a drastic improvement, but I'd take anything that will give me even a 5% better image. Especially when it's a zero cost 2 minute thing to do.

[matt]

DP

Is there anything different or additional in the process you've just outlined to the pdf link I've provided?

cheers

[asimov]

Well, I'm just a bit scared of stuffing something up. I'm not all that computer savvy. I keep reading the part where it says "WARNING!! you will kill your camera if you make a bluu!!"

When I first got a computer it became a tradition of mine to visit the computer store for it's weekly 70 buck reformat because I stuffed something up :lol: "look out! here comes passion fingers" they used to call me..:rofl: :rofl:

[asimov]

Davo, I'll do you a deal....You install the mod in person when you come up for a visit to shoot some AV's thru the scopes Lester & I are playing with!

We gotta meet in person before I do the wild thing & move to the land of the big white APO refractors! :)

[davidpretorius]

The main thing i was pointing out is there are two different things you can do.

I would follow your pdf link as it is very good for converting your 840k into a 900nc for using the yuy2 codecs etc.

steps 2 & 7-2 are only for changing the capture mode from normal to raw or optimised colour.

[davidpretorius]

It would be an absolute blast!! Yes, i am trying to work out a way!

[asimov]

:rofl: Go fer it d00d!

I don't want to..:D

[Lester]

Couldn't help myself,

had to throw up a 14 SCT taken slightly after Asi's as a comparison.

Really shows Asi's processing skills comming into play. The detail on the C8 image is fantastic. Tried a enlargement of the GRS but my PP skills were not up to it.

[matt]

DP

Am a bit confused.

I'd like to install the Optimised Color mod... but when I reference the macro library in Wcrmac I see this option:

Set Optimized Colour (Non Raw) mode AND Special Factory settings.

Is that a RAW mod... even though it states it's a "Non Raw" mode????:shrug:

[asimov]

Oy! No pics from a meade in this celestron thread!:mad2:

How insulting! :eyepop:

:rofl: :D

[davidpretorius]

go the optimised colour (non raw) one matt.
Basically, raw colour mode is for extra special seeing, as you only get 5 fps. With the optimised colour, you can use 5 or 10fps.

Also colour raw mode records in b/w and then you have to convert it to colour

[davidpretorius]

sort that meade maniac out asi, take some screws out of the focusser or something!

matt, also make sure you change modes (optimised or raw colour), choose a frame rate and then "restore default settings"....then change gain, gamma etc.

I do this everytime i start just to make sure!

[davidpretorius]

nice one lester, don't let them crazy celestroners bug you!

[matt]

why are we restoring default settings?????

what default settings? Doesn't the camera stay in optimised colour after you've set that as the mode?

[davidpretorius]

your default settings are the optimized or colour raw mode once you have run that macro ---- true. It should stay like that!

i spose like collimation, temps, changing the compression option to "full uncompressed" in qfocus and restore default setting, these thing are quick easy things to do even if unnecessary. But all things that can bugga up a great seeing night.

I would hate to find out that for some reason it doesn't default, or maybe it was still in colour raw mode and i forgot to go back to optimized etc.

Given the small amount of great nights, i do not want to leave anything to chance!

[asimov]

I did that last week Davo, but he's still gettin' good pics! :doh: May have to over-tighten up a few on the corrector me thinks! :D

[Robert_T]

hey Asi,you ready to sell that 900nc yet?

[John K]

Ok guys, I am ready to do the colour optimisation thing to my 900. Not going to the full colour raw mode, just colour optimisation.
I have downloaded wcramac v.1.0.79.zip and macros bond version 1.4. However, the macro :
'Set OPTIMIZED COLOR (NON RAW) Mode AND Special Factory Settings'
does not come up.
Have followed the instruction as per the link http://www.astrosurf.com/astrobond/ebrawe.htm#AviRAW and unzipped the files under the macros directory.


Any clues????? you help appreciated!


John.

[davidpretorius]

what is in the following directory?

you unzip thse macros into this directory and then when you fire up wcrmac, all should appear

[John K]

beauty, thanks Dave, so all I had to do is put the updated macros in the macro directory and replace the old ones.
All done and I have run the program, so assuming that I am running now with enhance colour mode! Testing later tonight.

[Rigel003]

Fantastic images, Asi. Really promising already. Look forward to seeing more!
Graeme