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graham.hobart
17-05-2014, 05:13 PM
Hi folks. This is NGC 5247 taken recently- my first light with the new RC 10.
It was shot with a full frame Canon 5 D mark II and the original GSO focuser that came with the scope. It was guided with an off axis modded guide scope with a barlowed Lodestar.

I request critique on several points and to that extent have posted the uncropped frame.
As you can see there is no flat frame correction - my flat box is hopefully being constructed now (thanks Pete).
This has only been calibrated with darks and bias frames stacked median sigma with DSS and slightly processed in Star Tools and PS 5.
It was approx 4 hours 15 minutes of lights-mostly 1600 ISO but some 800- I started shooting ISO 1600 because I thought the clouds would come back but actually got three and a half hours one night clear!
My queries are
1/ considering the article Paul (Haese) wrote about reflections in his RC 8- is that what I am suffering from in the top middle of the shot? Maybe from Spica off camera?
If so should flocking the baffle sort it as in Pauls fix (sorry Paul to namecheck you but you seem to be the guy with most experience a la GSO RC's)
2/ there seems to be a general fogginess in the picture which is maybe not all the gradient. Taking away the fact that there was a Moon and I have light pollution, and it was a DSLR whose EXIF was getting up to 30'c after a while - is is there still likely to be any improvements I will be getting when my feather touch focuser gets here- i.e is there an element of poor focus that would be improved with more rigorous technique (too small Bahnitov mask, crud focuser, etc)So if you imagine that frame flat corrected with say, focus max running a CCD - do yo think some of that fuzz would go or should I move house or try narrow band?!!
I mean some of the stars seem to be in focus - which brings me to the next point. I have borrowed a Tak scope to collimate but haven't tried yet as I saw no point till my focuser turns up, but looking at the stars in the corners is there a way to predict or have an idea about the direction of collimation by looking at the stars in each corner? I have included the four corners in magnification and the ones in the bottom left are not that bad really.
Sorry for the long winded note but I thought I would celebrate passing my 1000th post recently in style! (only took me four years!!)
Please feel free to flog this pommie Tasmanian and let me know your learned opinions. Being the token pommie at work and working in Tas you do develop a thick hide!!:lol:
Thanks mates
Graham
Pictures are firstly uncropped frame, then crop of top left then top right then bottom left then bottom right :thumbsup::cloudy::cloudy:

graham.hobart
17-05-2014, 05:21 PM
NB there are some issues which will be addressed hopefully shortly- for example I haven't mentioned differential flexure or the off axis vs on axis guiding with a focal length of 2000mm, but I have on order an STT 8300 with self guiding filter wheel (thanks again to another Peter) -
But I wondered whether that is having an impact now?
Graham:thumbsup:

Paul Haese
17-05-2014, 05:50 PM
I would not worry about that reflection. Maybe move the scope just a little to the south and the reflection should disappear.

graham.hobart
17-05-2014, 06:58 PM
So no need to rush inside with the furry wall paper then?
Cheers Paul.
I have to say I am pretty impressed with what I have got already- maybe my standards are low but I love the bigger image scale, and the focuser is not THAT BAD considering!, and the carbon fibre seems to hold focus point for hours - I have it permanently outside so it is at near ambient mostly in Winter.
All in all a good purchase for the cost.
One day when I am all growed up I might buy a more expensive scope. Till then my family are first, obs second. And spending hours tweaking is a distant third -maybe even fourth behind basic photos 101 with a good camera and or a DSLR.
Just good enough for my office wall or home is all I ask. Really need to get all my software sorted again, had it working well with the QSI, sold the QSI, now awaiting the SBIG so she's apples ? right:lol:

graham.hobart
17-05-2014, 07:01 PM
and I can't believe it has taken me since 2008 to reach 1000 posts. My excuse is kids works then telescope then post!
Still seems a tad slack compared to some posters here, maybe I am a man of few words......
:P

ericwbenson
17-05-2014, 11:11 PM
If you point the scope somewhere else nearby and the streak changes direction or goes away, then it's an off-axis reflection making its way onto your CCD. Flocking or more baffling is the only solution, however it may not be worth the trouble to get rid of it if it only affects a small percentage of your images (ones near really bright stars).



The flat field problem will not be cured by the focuser/mask/FocusMax or the like. The left to right gradient might be the moon (flats won't cure), and the black rectangle at the bottom is probably from the OAG (flats will cure). You need to take flats for the center glow, period. However there is a chance that even flats will not totally cure the center bit. You may have sky glow reflections off the anodized aluminum baffles/adapters creating a hot spot in the center of your image, the cure for that unfortunately is flocking again. But hold off until you have good flats to see if it's really a problem. Remember flats are an essential part of the image process, they remove gradients caused by the combination of sky glow + optics vignetting, and smooth out the uneven pixel response inherent in any CCD. The moon gradients you can only process out, or don't do broadband imaging near the moon!



Short answer, no! I always guess wrong if trying to work it out in my head ahead of time. Turned the knob, see what happens and keep going or go back...iteration is the only way.

The problem with RCs is you have 6 degrees of freedom to worry about (secondary tip/tilt, lateral/vertical and primary tip/tilt), not counting the secondary spacing, camera orthogonality and actual darned focus position! Yikes it's a wonder anyone gets an RC to work!

But it can be done with methodical processes and patience. The Tak scope is the best (only?) way to start, get everything centered then goto star testing and learn the how the image reacts to turning each knob.

From what I can tell your image show off-axis astigmatism (the oval stars rotating 90deg in different corners), that you can't get rid of without a corrector lens assembly, or cropping the image, but you can minimize it with good collimation. And focal plane tilt is evident (bottom-left corner showing disk like stars = out of focus). This can be caused by imaging train crookedness, or simple miscollimation (e.g. curved field more curved on one side). So I think the message is: collimate!

Best of luck,
EB

graham.hobart
17-05-2014, 11:41 PM
Yikes!
Well thats what I was talking about!
Many thanks Eric for that- as I mentioned earlier I will attempt to climb the collimation mountain when my Star light focuser gets here. You have certainly given me lots to think about.
Have also a light box to do proper flats on the way.
Just like to iterate - I really appreciate the help I have had from this forum and hope this forum stays as is in the future, a beacon of star light in that dark night, or as Monty Python said, like a stream of bat's pi** in the night!!
thanks
Graz:thumbsup: